In the selfist model there are two general forms of knowing:
Uniself Knowledge
In uniself, I believe there is an evolving set of knowable things. I am accustomed to believing that I know a growing percentage of what is knowable on a topic or range of topics. Because the totality of what is knowable is imagined to be infinite, uniself knowledge usually takes into account value, as well. For example, in uniself, I might admit that I do not know every microscopic detail relative to a topic, but I know what is most important and therefore what is valuable.
I can visualize the total set of knowable things relative to my own knowledge and their value in the following way:
In this way, the uniselfist concept of knowledge is based on infinite potentiality, but limited usefulness relative to my goals.
Triself Knowledge
In triself, knowledge is not a measurement of what I know relative to what is knowable, but rather a state that extends from a decision I make in my moment: do I know?
In my moment, I always have a state of knowing, in the same way that I have a state of health. To illustrate, I might measure these states numerically as a score, with 0 being the complete absence thereof, and 100 being the maximum possible. I can imagine a health score of 0 as dead, and 100 as being at optimum health. In knowledge: a 0 would signify imagined ignorance, and 100 would be imagined certainty.
There are four states of knowing, as illustrated in the diagram below.
I can maintain multiple states of knowledge in my moment. For example, I can decide that I cannot know some part of my moment, while also deciding that I can know others. Or I can decide that I know who I am, but I have decided that I cannot know what is happening in the far reaches of the universe. Or, I may decide that I can know how to grow my company, but I cannot know how God operates.
In all cases, I have decided that there is something to know and that I have a knowledge relationship, or state, with that thing. There are four general states.
State 1 – I cannot know
The lowest state of knowledge is the decision that “I cannot know”. I am aware of a thing, but I do not believe I can know the truth of it. In this state, the sum total of knowable things may seem infinite, and I may not have tried to enumerate or quantify them.
The decision that I cannot know expresses itself in many ways:
- There are things outside of my awareness.
- There are things I can never know.
- There are things I can never know that I never know.
- There are other people who know things I do not or cannot know.
In the state of “I cannot know”, there is an endless horizon of both things that can be known, and things I cannot know. It is a decision that reduces me to a state of permanent ignorance. In my thirdself, even the most confident and knowledgeable characters admit the existence of a class of knowable things that they “cannot know” — such as the experience of other people. For example, a famous intellectual will readily admit that he cannot know the subjective thinking of another person.
State 2 – I can know
With confidence and conviction, I can ascend from “I cannot know” to “I can know”. Though “I can know” is an intermediate step to the subsequent state of “I know”, it is an important state in which I build my conviction. “I can know” means that there is skepticism with regards to my capacity to understand a knowable thing, but a general belief that the truth of the matter can be known.
The state of “I can know” drives me to explore and search for that which I seek. In my thirdself, “I can know” is expressed as the pursuit of spiritual, scientific, or social truths. “I can know” drives the accumulation of knowledge I believe will reveal more of what I seek to understand. My thirdself exists primarily in this state.
State 3 – I know
“I know” arrives with certainty and conviction. I continuously challenge what I can and do know until my direct experience and my knowledge are perfect composites of one another. I know only occurs when I have understood and harnessed my desire.
However, “I know” can be undermined if I have an incomplete foundation of conviction, or when I desire something in my second- and thirdself. The only way to achieve “I know” is to abandon the entire uniself knowledge apparatus, which instills doubt and ignorance.
State 4 – I am
The highest state of knowledge is being, or “I am”. Being is the absence of knowing, and only that knowledge that is absolutely true can lead me to this state. In the state of “I am” I do not awaken, for I am not ill.
Additional
My moment is always rooted in my actual Being. My secondself experience of thoughts, feelings, sensations, aspirations, and my thirdself experience of a natural world are inward emanations from my Being. I experience knowing as a state in my moment; the totality of my experience at any moment, extending to my second- and thirdself horizons.
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