Content vs Structure - Going Meta Is A Super-power

"It's the structure, stupid."

• Content vs Structure Distinction : Leo introduces the concept of differentiating content from structure, emphasizing that while content refers to the specifics within a given framework, structure pertains to the rules, formats, or constraints that define the possibilities of what content can exist.
• Examples Illustrating Content and Structure :
  • DVD Discs : The physical disc and encoding format represent the structure, whereas the data on the disc is the content.
  • NFL (National Football League) : The NFL acts as the structure, setting the rules and parameters for the teams, games, players, and organizational operations, with the specific teams and games being the content.
  • English Language : Language is the structure that shapes what can be thought or expressed, influencing the content of speech and writing.
  • TED Talks : The specific format and audience of a TED Talk constitute the structure, offering a platform for a diverse range of topics (content) to be shared.
  • Video Games : The medium of video games provides a structure with its norms and standards, while the different genres and titles make up the content.
  • Schools : The educational system's structure dictates what can be taught, and changing this structure could alter the fundamental nature of the schooling experience.
• The Trap of Content : People often get engrossed in content without paying attention to the structure that enables it. Leo uses the analogy of being wrapped up in a football game on TV without considering the structuring entities like the NFL or the television itself.
• Dream as Example of Overlooking Structure : When engrossed in a dream's content, people fail to realize they are dreaming (structure), leading to being tricked by the dream.
• 'Going Meta' as Gaining New Dimensional Insight : Leo explains 'going meta' as stepping back from content to observe the structure, uncovering a hidden dimension and allowing for significant shifts in perspective and understanding. For example, understanding that religion is not just about specific beliefs but also about the overarching structure of ideologies.
• Practical Applications of Going Meta :
  • Understanding Used Car Sales : Rather than focusing on specific cars, going meta involves studying the processes and structures of how cars are bought and sold.
  • Studying Structures of Religions : Instead of adhering to one religion, going meta means examining how all religions fit into a broader structure of ideologies and transcending that structure.
• Importance of Understanding Structure : Leo emphasizes the power of shifting focus from consuming content to a deep study of structures, leading to a richer appreciation and understanding of various aspects of life.
• Appreciation and Limitations of Meta Perspective in Entertainment : Leo enjoys behind-the-scenes documentaries because they offer a meta perspective of the entertainment industry, pointing out various aspects of film production. This meta perspective simultaneously enriches understanding but can also diminish the magic of the content by exposing its flaws and production realities.
• Illusion and Disillusionment of Content : When individuals delve into the structure of something, like a movie, they can no longer enjoy it with the same naivety. Leo likens the thorough understanding of a movie's making to the realization that reality’s content is often enjoyed without knowledge of its creation, which can be disillusioning.
• Hypnotizing Effect of Good Content : Good content, such as a horror movie, can engross and emotionally affect viewers, distracting them from the underlying structure. Recognizing this, Leo suggests that being too analytical or "meta" during such experiences can spoil the enjoyment.
• Content vs. Structure in Religion and Culture : Religion and culture can be deeply engrossing, with the potential to hypnotize people to the extent that they become resistant to analyzing the structure of their beliefs. Leo highlights that going meta can be threatening, inciting fear, anger, or discomfort when deeply-held beliefs are challenged.
• Culture's Arbitrary Nature : Leo points out the arbitrariness of cultural norms and values, noting that each culture believes in its superiority without recognizing the commonalities and arbitrary nature of cultural systems.
• Science as a Structured Lens : Scientists can become so engrossed in their work that they overlook the structural "keyhole" through which they view reality. Leo posits that science offers just one narrow perspective and structural understanding is required to see beyond it.
• Structural Similarities in Religious Disagreements : Leo illustrates how Christianity and Islam, while differing in content, share similar ideological structures, making them more alike than adherents realize. He echoes this sentiment with the Sunni and Shiite divide, suggesting that their violent disputes over lineage are based on a minor content discrepancy rather than large structural differences.
• Atheism and Theism Structural Similarity : He argues that atheism and theism are both belief systems with structural similarities, despite appearing as opposites in terms of content.
• Hypnotizing Power of Content : Leo conveys how content can become an illusion that engrosses individuals, preventing them from seeing or understanding the underlying structure, as demonstrated by heated disagreements within religions or between belief systems.
• Attachment to Atheism or Theism : Leo Gura points out that individuals often resist the idea of going meta because it would disrupt their deeply held beliefs. By refusing to transcend and examine atheism or theism from a structural perspective, they remain deluded, unable to see that both positions can be equally misguided.
• Conflation of Drugs and Psychedelics : Mainstream society frequently misunderstands psychedelics and typical hard drugs, categorizing them as equally harmful due to their surface-level similarities. However, structurally, they are fundamentally different; psychedelics can be therapeutic and anti-addictive, whereas hard drugs are generally harmful and addictive.
• Overemphasis on Politician Identity : Voting for politicians based on superficial identity markers like gender or ethnicity without considering deeper structural factors, such as policies and moral development, is a mistake. Leo asserts that it's crucial to scrutinize the structure of their abilities and potential governance rather than get caught up in their identity.
• Cable News Structure Affecting Content : The structure of cable news prioritizes sensationalism, mass appeal, and advertiser interests over comprehensive and unbiased reporting. Viewers often don't realize their perception of reality is being shaped by the selective content filtered through these structural biases.
• Fox News and the Hypnosis of Content : Leo highlights that outlets like Fox News capitalize on viewers who prefer not to question what they are presented with, leading to a form of hypnotic reinforcement of their existing beliefs. This hypnosis prevents viewers from acknowledging the possibility or the value of examining the underlying structure of news and ideologies.
• Illusion vs. Reality and the Importance of Going Meta : People tend to accept the content they are exposed to as reality, not realizing it's structured in a specific way to create an illusion. Fox News viewers, for instance, are unaware of what they're missing by not comparing their news source with others due to being trapped in the content's illusionary quality.
• Reluctance to Go Meta : Many individuals do not investigate structures or question their realities, content in the belief that they have a firm grasp on what's real, leading to what Leo describes as 'paradigm lock'.
• Structure of Platforms like Facebook : Leo explains that platforms such as Facebook have structures that shape their content significantly, allowing for the manipulation and propagation of ideas - advantageous for some, like foreign entities aiming to influence elections, and problematic for others. These structures support ideological bubbles by reinforcing pre-existing viewpoints through algorithms.
• Religion as a Structure : Religion in practice has a rigid structure with strict parameters that dictate how followers engage with it, which can limit truth-seeking and cause practitioners to miss out on other experiences.
• Academic Philosophy and Universities : These institutions function within structures that prioritize their maintenance over the pursuit of genuine truth, evidenced by the constraints placed on the methodologies and topics that can be discussed or researched.
• American Healthcare as a Dysfunctional Structure : The structure of the American healthcare system benefits certain individuals like doctors and pharmaceutical companies, but overall, it is dysfunctional for many others, emphasizing symptom treatment over curing diseases.
• Education vs Indoctrination : Leo contrasts the structures of education and indoctrination, illustrating education as a means of discovery and indoctrination as a fixed system that stifles independent thought and inquiry, prevalent in both religious and public schooling.
• Novelty and Restrictions in Different Mediums : Society often becomes enamored with a single medium or structure, missing out on the range of other experiences available. These include various forms of art, science, and scholarly disciplines, as well as different styles of teaching, like the Montessori method that promotes independence and inquiry over rote learning.
• Understanding and Redefining God : Leo offers a structural perspective on the concept of God, emphasizing it as an experience rather than a belief, which typically differs from mainstream religious conceptions, encouraging viewers to go beyond preconceived notions and surface appearances.
• Diversity in Human Psyches and Minds : There is a significant structural diversity among human beings in terms of genetics, biology, brain types, and personality, contrary to the common assumption that everyone shares the same perception of reality.
• Diverse Human Minds and Psyches : Humans have structurally different minds and psyches that process information and react to substances distinctly due to genetics and biology, demonstrated by phenomena such as instant mathematical calculation ability and perfect memory.
• Common Structures in World Religions : Surface-level differences between religions like Christianity and Hinduism mask deeper structural similarities. Deep study reveals commonalities suggesting a universal human spiritual inclination, which some interpret as evidence of a deeper truth about God.
• Authority in Science and Religion : Despite apparent differences, science and religion share a structural reliance on authority for establishing truth, contradicting the notion held by many scientifically minded people that these institutions fundamentally differ in this regard.
• Survival Across Economic Classes : Survival concerns exist for both poor and wealthy individuals, manifesting through different content such as basic needs for the poor and social status-maintenance behaviors for the rich, pointing towards a deep structural similarity in survival.
• Nintendo Games - Content vs Structure : Criticisms about Nintendo's repeated use of the Mario brand overlook the structural differences between the games. Each new installment has a unique game design, with the Mario character serving as a familiar branding wrapper.
• Structural Basis of Corporate Success : The success of major corporations like Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Netflix isn't solely due to the quality of their work or ethics, but primarily due to structural advantages that enable monopoly and market domination.
• Wealth and Power as Structural Phenomena : Millionaires and billionaires achieve their status not just through hard work but also by exploiting structural opportunities and navigating systems in their favor, often supported by a pyramid-like structure unsustainable for all.
• Going Meta and Understanding Success : Leo encourages developing the ability to go meta, i.e., to recognize the difference between content and structure in order to prevent suffering caused by an illusion of content, and to aim for success through understanding and leveraging structural factors.
• Consciousness as the Ultimate Structure : Consciousness is the ultimate entity within which all content exists. Understanding the structure of consciousness is essential for comprehending life and overcoming the influence of its dynamic content.
• Shared Structures in Ideologies : Diverse ideologies and political perspectives may have different content but often share similar structures. Liberals and conservatives, for example, represent different stages of cognitive, moral, and spiritual development which inform their discord.
• Personal Development through Structural Understanding : Lasting personal transformation and fulfillment come from working on the psyche's structure rather than being distracted by the ephemeral content of everyday experiences, aspirations, and ideologies.
• Wealth and Structural Hierarchy : Wealth, power, and the notion of being self-made are deeply intertwined with structural hierarchy. To become wealthy, one must exploit existing economic structures, often designed as a pyramid scheme. This is not universally sustainable; for millionaires and billionaires to exist, there must be a hierarchy.
• Identity and Ideology in Wealth Accumulation : Millionaires and billionaires may struggle with the guilt of acquiring wealth through inequitable structures. To continue accruing wealth without moral conflict, they adopt ideologies that make them oblivious to the suffering they cause and justify the maintenance of the hierarchical structure.
• Structural Maintenance for Wealth Preservation : Wealthy individuals actively work to maintain the hierarchical structures that enabled their wealth. This involves political influence, funding think tanks, and promoting ideologies to prevent the collapse of the hierarchy and to rationalize their position.
• Consciousness and Going Meta : Understanding and solving structural problems is key to becoming a powerful creator in any field. The ability to step back from the content of consciousness and see the bigger structural patterns is a crucial skill. All life experiences are content within the overarching structure of consciousness.
• Relative Nature of Content and Structure : Content and structure are relative; there are nested orders of the two. Ideology can be seen as a structure, religion as its content, which in turn is a structure for specific types of religion such as Christianity, and so on down to individual practices and beliefs.
• Mastering Life by Understanding Consciousness : The most important structure to understand is consciousness. Everything is content within consciousness, including ideologies, religions, languages, and physical reality. Mastery over life comes from studying the structures of consciousness and going meta on life’s contents.
• Immersion in Content and its Consequences : Being hypnotized by the content of success and power prevents individuals from going meta, causing suffering both personally and for others. To change one's life meaningfully, one must become adept at understanding structural issues.
• Life as Content within Consciousness : Every aspect of life, from religions and ideologies to human relationships and activities, is content within the broader structure of consciousness. Understanding this structure is the key to resolving life's challenges and avoiding the bewilderment of being at the whims of content.
• Real-world Examples of Content vs Structure : Leo discusses various real-world domains, illustrating the differences and similarities in structures, largely independent of content. Examples include religions, science, liberal and conservative psyches, cult psychology, nationalism, and clan warfare.
• Liberal and Conservative Structural Differences : Liberals and conservatives not only differ in policy positions (content) but also in cognitive, moral, and spiritual development (structure). Understanding this structural difference can shed light on the deeper dynamics behind political disagreements.
• The Need to Go Meta to Solve Complex Issues : Addressing content alone, such as in clan warfare or nationalism, cannot resolve the underlying structural issues. Lasting solutions require a meta perspective that understands the shared structure behind seemingly diverse conflicts.
• Nationalism as Evolved Clan Warfare : Nationalism is an advanced form of clan warfare where millions are involved, exemplifying the escalation from inter-clan disputes to large-scale conflicts between nations driven by a common structure of in-group bias and territorialism.
• Fighting Evil as a Structural Problem : Leo describes the ubiquitous presence of evil in the world as a consequence of a fundamental structural misunderstanding. People attempt to eradicate evil with actions that are inadvertently evil themselves because they fail to grasp that evil is a perception created by their minds and is not an inherent part of material reality.
• Perception of Evil and Projection : The perception of evil is revealed to be a projection from the individual's mind, tied to relative perspectives and selfish tendencies. To effectively address evil, one must acknowledge and transcend these projections, achieving a state of higher consciousness and unconditional love.
• Metaphysical Understanding of Evil : Rather than eliminating evil through punishment or eradication, understanding the metaphysical and structural origins of evil—such as fear, selfishness, and limited ego—leads to more compassionate solutions. To address the root causes of actions deemed evil, one must undergo profound psychological and spiritual growth.
• Attracting Women in Dating as a Structural Interaction : Through his experiences in pick-up and dating, Leo uncovers that attraction isn't about the specific words (content) but rather the manner of interaction (structure), such as confidence, body language, and mood—elements that dictate the sub-communication to women.
• Context Sensitivity in Social Dynamics : Leo stresses the importance of understanding contextual cues in social environments, particularly in dating scenarios where subtle communication and non-verbal cues (structural aspects) greatly impact the success of social interactions.
• Money in Politics Identified as Structural Issue : The influence of money in politics is recognized as a structural flaw, affecting both major political parties as they navigate their survival through resources and incentives, shaping their actions and resistance to campaign finance reform.
• Conflation between Scandinavian and Venezuelan Socialism : Leo critiques the conservative misconception that conflates the socialism of Scandinavian countries with that of Venezuela, highlighting the lack of structural awareness in these arguments. He explains that the content label of 'socialism' misrepresents the divergent infrastructures, corruption levels, ideological openness, and developmental stages of these nations.
• Religious Indoctrination Across Different Faiths : Leo points out the structural similarity in how religious schools indoctrinate students. This process of indoctrination is consistent across different religions, focusing on content transmitted within the structural confines of their respective educational institutions.
• Indoctrination via Educational Structures : All religious and scientific schools, such as Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, Buddhist, and technical universities like MIT and Caltech, engage in forms of indoctrination. The degree of indoctrination varies, but structurally they're comparable, as they seek to instill specific paradigms in students without encouraging open inquiry.
• Self-Bias in Perceptions of Indoctrination : People excuse the indoctrination of their chosen paradigm, whether it be a religion or scientific materialism, due to self-bias. They see other forms of indoctrination as flawed because they differ from their own beliefs, rather than recognizing that all are essentially the same in structure.
• Repeating Patterns in Relationships : Repeat negative relationship patterns arise due to structural issues within an individual's psyche, such as low self-esteem or depression, rather than the content (partners). Sustainable change requires addressing these deep-rooted structures, not just changing partners.
• Emotions as Content vs. Structural Mastery : Emotions are content that can govern one's behavior. Mastering emotions involves understanding and observing their structures, allowing individuals to transcend and take control of their emotional experiences.
• Content Focus and Blindness to Structural Issues : Sam Harris illustrates content focus by critically addressing the content of religious texts like the Quran, while missing the deeper structural problems like low cognitive, moral, and spiritual development that contribute to extremism.
• Geopolitical Influence Overlooking Structural Factors : Geopolitical factors such as climate, geography, and historical context profoundly influence societies and are overlooked when improper content, like specific Quranic phrases, are blamed for terrorism.
• Cult Psychology Beyond Specific Ideologies : Cult psychology operates within various beliefs systems and ideologies, not limited to one religion or philosophy. This is a structural issue that encompasses broader ideological problems.
• Trump's Structural Corruption : Trump supporters focus on the content of his policies without recognizing the structural corruption and moral depravity, which is indicative of a lack of systemic understanding and personal development.
• Shared Structures Among Diverse Groups : Structurally, the psyche of Trump has more in common with dictators like Kim Jong-un, due to low cognitive development centered around impulsive, narcissistic, and corruption-prone behavior, regardless of the differing content of their ideologies.
• Structured Mindset of Authoritarian Leaders : Authoritarian leaders, such as Trump and Kim Jong-un, resonate due to similar stage red characteristics in Spiral Dynamics. They share qualities like dominance and authoritarianism, contrary to the surprise of the media.
• Evangelicals, Nazis, and Islamists - Structural Parallels : Evangelicals may superficially align themselves with Christ but structurally, they share more characteristics with dogmatic and nationalistic groups like Nazis and Islamists than with the meta-structure of Christ's consciousness.
• Religious Materialism Across Belief Systems : Both scientific materialists and religious individuals are structurally materialistic, pursuing physical benefits or heaven with materialistic attributes. Even within evangelical circles, the prosperity gospel reflects this materialistic mindset.
• The Structural Desire for Wealth and Materialism : Religious leaders using Christ's name and symbolism to justify materialistic pursuits, such as flying on private jets, are structurally driven by the same materialism they preach against, showcasing a disconnect from Christ's teachings at a structural level.
• Identifying and Conquering the Structural Essence of Evil : Christ's approach to 'evil' was structural, recognizing that evildoing is a construct of content and that true understanding and transcendence lie in the recognition of love as an overarching, meta-structural concept.
• Trappings of Content vs Structural Transformation in Spirituality : Truly adopting the spirituality of figures like Christ involves moving beyond content-based dogma to embrace a meta-structural consciousness, which involves surrendering material and ideological attachments.
• Survival Needs Affect Structural Perceptions : Egotistical survival needs can corrupt individuals into rationalizing materialistic desires with spiritual justifications, highlighting the difficulty of achieving true spiritual transformation at a structural level.
• Applying Spiral Dynamics to See Deep Structures : Utilizing Spiral Dynamics helps distinguish between content-focused debates and structural understanding. Effective change often requires transcending content details, moving towards recognizing and altering deep-rooted structures.
• Politics and the Content-Structure Dichotomy : Politicians and their constituents generally focus on content disputes rather than structural changes needed to address issues, leading to dysfunctional attempts at solutions. True resolution requires a shift to a systemic, structural perspective.
• Metaphysical and Worldview Shifts for Problem Solving : Many societal problems stem from a lack of structural awareness. Addressing political, social, and economic issues effectively necessitates understanding the structural causes embedded in our worldview and metaphysical perceptions.
• Meta Problems and Root Solutions : The primary challenge in society is the perception and framing of problems. True solutions require deep structural understanding and change, as merely shuffling content fails to address the root existential and metaphysical issues tied to identity, psyche, worldview, and conceptions of reality.
• Structures of the Mind to Study : Important mental structures worth studying include projection, denial, ideology, biases, paradigms, self-deception, and more. These structures influence how we perceive reality and ourselves, and they're crucial for understanding self-enhancement and self-deception mechanisms.
• Happiness as a Structural Issue : Happiness cannot be achieved by altering content such as wealth, relationships, or success. Happiness is a structural problem that requires a change in the psyche's structure; external achievements do not lead to sustainable happiness as they don’t address underlying structural issues.
• Psychedelics and Expanded Consciousness : Psychedelics induce bliss by expanding consciousness, temporarily altering the structure of one's life, allowing a glimpse into a potentially permanent change in structural reality. However, the effects are temporary, and deep work is required to maintain such an elevated state of consciousness.
• Inescapable Self : The self is the main structure carried everywhere, shaping life experiences significantly. Addressing this internal structure is crucial for genuine transformation, as changing external circumstances without addressing internal structures leads to the same cycle of content-related problems.
• Understanding Actualized.org's Goals : Actualized.org's goal is not to provide content for memorization but to point towards deeper structures of understanding. True transformation arises from structural changes to the psyche, moving beyond the content consumed from various resources.
• Investment in Structural Change : For meaningful personal development, one must focus on resources and practices that promote structural change rather than content absorption. Structural change is challenging and requires revisiting resources like Actualized.org for a deeper understanding, not just for content familiarity.
• Challenges in Structural Change Implementation : Implementing structural changes demands effort and understanding. Engagement with resources should go beyond content and should involve significant structural changes in the psyche to achieve deep personal transformation and happiness.