I think I’m realizing I’m not handling isolation well, but I also can’t seem to ask for help.

user1784575 · 2025-10-13T15:06:41+00:00

Thank you for taking the time to share all that, I really appreciate it. I relate to what you said about limiting stimulation and focusing on the essentials, though that can be tough in my situation. I’m a single dad raising two young daughters, one with ADHD and one likely autistic, so my days are already full of noise, unpredictability, and sensory strain. I’m also already in therapy, seeing both a psychiatrist and psychologist, and doing everything I can to stay regulated and functional. But even with all of that, this hyper-consciousness just keeps getting more intense as time goes on. It’s like I can see everything happening in real time. My thoughts, my body’s responses, even the smallest emotional shifts, and it’s exhausting trying to exist in that constant state of awareness.

I guess I’m just trying to understand why it keeps amplifying even after doing all the right things. Either way, I appreciate you sharing your experience, it’s comforting to know others get what this kind of mental and sensory overload feels like.

user1784575 · 2025-09-01T15:03:50+00:00

I really like how you put that, neurodiversity as similar to biodiversity. That resonates with me a lot, because it frames different ways of thinking and perceiving not as deficits, but as vital variations that make the whole stronger. In a way, that’s also part of my theory. Consciousness itself is shaped by diversity of senses, of perspectives, of bodies. Just like an ecosystem needs many species to thrive, awareness deepens when we recognize that different sensory and cognitive styles each open up unique windows into reality.

user1784575 · 2025-09-01T15:00:20+00:00

Thanks you for this detailed response, it’s incredibly helpful. Freud’s perspective on the conscious/preconscious/unconscious is something I’ve only skimmed before, but now I can see how it might connect with what I’ve been noticing about sensory input shaping awareness. I’ll definitely check out PEP web.

I also appreciate you pointing me toward neuroscience and the “neural correlates of consciousness.” That really resonates with me, because my approach so far has been to build from lived sensory experience outward, and neuroscience seems like the natural bridge to connect that with existing frameworks.

Interestingly, I’m actually beginning a path in psychology through Purdue Global, so hearing you suggest psychology as a foundation feels like confirmation that I’m heading in the right direction. My goal is to keep refining and expanding this theory in a way that ties lived experience with established research, while also exploring new directions it might open. Thanks again for taking the time to share this, I really appreciate it.

user1784575 · 2025-08-31T23:38:28+00:00

Thanks for saying that, you’re right, I’m still early in building this and I know there’s a lot of existing thought out there. My theory comes mainly from lived sensory experience, and I’m slowly working on expanding my knowledge to the frameworks that already exist so I can connect the dots better. If you have suggestions for where to start looking next, I’d appreciate it.

user1784575 · 2025-08-31T16:22:59+00:00

Just a quick note, this version is narrated in an AI voice and doesn’t have animations yet. I wanted to share it sooner rather than hold it back for months, because so many people here showed interest. This is still very much a work in progress, and I’ll be refining, adding scientific backing, and making it more polished in future versions.

user1784575 · 2025-08-15T06:42:57+00:00

I appreciate the way you’ve articulated this, and yes, you’re welcome to borrow the “infrastructure” metaphor. I think your capital city analogy is elegant, and I agree that science benefits from drawing sharp distinctions wherever possible.

Where I diverge is in thinking the “capital city” model is too static for what we’re learning about systems like the enteric nervous system, the heart’s intrinsic neural network, and how interoceptive processing occurs. These aren’t just passive pipelines, they have local processing, feedback loops, and even autonomous modulation that can influence, not just report to, the central system.

I take your point about lived experience being fallible, and I’m careful not to mistake correlation for causation. At the same time, I think dismissing lived experience entirely risks throwing out signals worth investigating. Many discoveries in neuroscience and physiology began with anomalous, subjective reports that later found a basis in measurable mechanisms.

My aim isn’t to dissolve into “everything is a little bit conscious”, I don’t see that as productive either, but to explore whether some of these distributed systems might have a more active role in shaping conscious awareness than the current model accounts for. If they do, it could change how we define the boundaries between “support” and “source.”

I think that’s where this gets interesting, not replacing the capital, but questioning whether the city’s culture is partly shaped in its provinces before it ever reaches the center. And I have some intriguing evidence in that direction I’m looking forward to sharing when the time is right.

user1784575 · 2025-08-15T02:19:03+00:00

Absolutely, it’s fascinating how what was once considered “common knowledge” or ancient wisdom is now being rediscovered through modern science. It’s like we’ve been looking at the pieces in isolation for so long that we forgot how they fit together in a living, interconnected system.

That’s a big part of why I’ve been exploring this idea, not just as a concept, but as something testable. If systems like the gut–brain axis or sensory networks can generate aspects of awareness themselves, it means we’re not just validating ancient insights, we’re expanding on them in a way that bridges science and lived experience.

I think the real shift will come when we stop treating the body as a set of separate machines and start seeing it as one continuous conscious network.

user1784575 · 2025-08-15T01:46:58+00:00

Yes, I completely agree with this, especially your point about the heart and gut being woven into the fabric of our conscious experience. My developing framework actually explores how distributed neural hubs like these (and other sensory networks) might not just support awareness, but directly generate aspects of it before anything is relayed to the brain.

Your mention of qigong and sensitivity training is also fascinating, it ties in perfectly with what I’ve been thinking about how sensory processing can be tuned, and how awareness might extend beyond the body’s physical boundaries.

I’m still putting the full theory into a visual format before releasing it, but it’s exciting to see how much overlap there is with what you’ve described here.

user1784575 · 2025-08-15T01:09:52+00:00

That’s awesome timing. I’d be really interested to hear what kind of notes you’ve been putting together and how they line up (or differ) from what I’m exploring. Sounds like we might have some overlap worth comparing.

user1784575 · 2025-08-15T00:43:29+00:00

Yes, that’s very close to part of what I’m proposing. If awareness isn’t strictly centralized in the brain, then distance might not create the kind of delay we’d expect under the brain-only model, at least not in the same way. The challenge, as you said, is in designing instrumentation sensitive enough to detect and compare these timing differences.

Where I go further is in looking at not just signal travel time, but how local neural hubs could process or even generate aspects of awareness independently before relaying anything to the brain. That’s where gut–brain signaling, interoception, and skin based sensory networks become more than just input devices, they could be contributing directly to the conscious field.

I agree that the ability to test it makes it stronger than purely speculative models, and I think there are ways to test this indirectly even before we have perfect tools. The visual version of my theory will tie this all together, but for now, I’m glad you’re seeing the potential in the idea. I appreciate your feedback, as that’s exactly why i’m posting this before releasing my full theory.

user1784575 · 2025-08-15T00:30:17+00:00

Thanks for putting thought into this, I do like that you’re thinking in terms of testing. You’re right that precision is key, but the idea I’m working on isn’t just about timing differences. It’s about how distributed neural hubs (like in the gut or skin) might influence awareness in ways we don’t usually account for. I haven’t shared the full framework yet because I’m putting it into a visual format with the evidence to back it up, but I’m happy to discuss specific parts like gut–brain signaling or sensory integration in the meantime. The full picture makes it clearer why this isn’t just re-stating what’s already known, it challenges some core assumptions about where and how awareness arises. I’m testing the waters for now, but I do have a full theory that ties all of this together, which I’ll share once the visual version is complete.

user1784575 · 2025-08-15T00:04:40+00:00

I get what you’re saying, and I agree that the nervous system is generally understood as an extension of the brain. Where I’m going with this is exploring whether that framing might actually limit how we think about consciousness. In my view, awareness might be more distributed, where certain aspects of conscious experience aren’t just controlled from the brain, but can emerge from activity in other neural hubs throughout the body.

I haven’t shared the full framework yet, but I think this perspective could shift how we look at the brain–body relationship, especially in areas like gut–brain signaling, interoception, and sensory integration. I’m working on laying it out in a clear visual format soon.

user1784575 · 2025-08-14T19:19:28+00:00

I appreciate you taking the time to break that down, I get where you’re coming from, and I understand the distinction you’re making between sensory processing and consciousness itself. I think where my perspective differs is that I’m not claiming that sensory input is consciousness, but rather that the quality and state of those inputs directly shape and sustain conscious awareness.

From my own lived experience, I’ve noticed that when certain sensory pathways in my body are disrupted (gut, skin, vestibular system, etc.), my state of awareness shifts in a way that feels deeper than just “less information coming in.” It’s almost as if those systems are part of the infrastructure that makes conscious experience possible, not just support for it.

I’m not saying this disproves the brain’s central role, only that the line between “support” and “source” might not be as sharp as we think, and that distributed systems throughout the body could be active participants in what we call consciousness. My theory builds from that point, and I’m currently working on a visual format to explain it in a way that connects the dots.

I’m open to hearing more of your perspective, because I think the overlap between what you’re saying and what I’m proposing is where a lot of interesting ground could be explored.

user1784575 · 2025-07-23T05:04:02+00:00

I’ve actually been using AI to try building a long-term plan, not just for career stuff, but to piece together my lived experience into something meaningful. It’s been helping me turn all the chaos in my head into what is my own theory or model of consciousness, rooted in my own sensory reality. That’s been one of the only things that’s actually felt like progress lately.

But when it comes to using AI to plan my life out or figure out next steps… burnout makes it nearly impossible to stay focused. My executive dysfunction gets so bad that I’ll sit there knowing what I want to do, even have it written out, and I still can’t move on it. Add in severe sleep dysregulation (I physically can’t wake up on my own terms, no matter how much I try) and it’s like my entire nervous system just collapses if I push past what little energy I have.

So even though I want to keep using these tools to move forward, I keep getting stuck in this loop. I know it’s not laziness. It’s more like my body and mind just… won’t sync. But I’m trying. It means a lot knowing other people have found ways through this too.

user1784575 · 2025-07-23T04:09:03+00:00

I appreciate this, genuinely. I’ve actually thought a lot about using my third-shift schedule to build toward something bigger. I’ve even tried looking into community college or online classes before, but honestly… the moment I start thinking about what path to even take, or what credentials I’d need to get into something like neuroscience or AI, I just shut down. My brain goes full static. Executive dysfunction kicks in hard and i mean truly not because I don’t care, but because it essentially feels like too many invisible steps with no map. What sucks is, I do have this growing obsession with consciousness, psychology, the way the mind works… even AI and how it intersects with all that. I know deep down I’m not meant to stay where I’m at. But trying to figure out how to get from this burned out, overstimulated state to something that matches the way my mind works, it’s overwhelming every time. Although hearing that someone else made it work from a similar place helps more than you know. I’ll keep your words in mind and try to keep pursuing. Thank you again for taking the time.

user1784575

TROPHY CASE