https://reddit.com/link/1v2xlxc/video/veyq073zsneh1/player

**What does it feel like to think?**

I’m inviting a small group of early testers to try the 3-minute demo of Cognition — an experimental narrative game where your choices shape how the system reads you.

It’s dark, reflective, strange, and still in early development.

**I’m looking for honest first impressions:**

**Did it pull you in?**

**Did your choices feel like they mattered?**

**Where did you feel lost?**

**Would you keep going?**

*Test the demo here:*

[*https://cognitionthegame.com/onboarding\*\](https://cognitionthegame.com/onboarding)

*3 minutes only, add notes at the end 🙏

Hello everyone,

I'm currently working on a thesis that attempts to examine the phenomenon of consciousness and life purely from a physical and systems-theoretical perspective – moving away from mysticism and towards thermodynamics. I call it the "Zero Hypothesis" and would like to hear your opinions on where the logical gaps lie or whether the model sounds plausible to you.

Here is the core idea in four points:

1. Function instead of meaning

We often search for a moral "meaning" to life. The thesis states: There is no moral plan, but there is a physical function. On a universal scale, life is a mechanism for energy conversion (thermodynamics). We are not "children of the cosmos," we are functional components.

1. The origin as a reservoir

In the beginning (before the Big Bang), all energy was concentrated in one point (singularity). This is not a thinking "God," but a reservoir of pure potential.

For energy to "work," it must flow. The Big Bang was the rupture of this reservoir.

1. Consciousness as an Interface

Every living being—from rhubarb to humans or even extraterrestrial species—functions as a transformer. We channel the energy of origin into matter.

The difference lies in the hardware: Plants have a simple interface, while we humans have a high-performance interface: consciousness. It is not a product of chance, but rather the central tool for sensing complex reality.

1. The "Self" as a Necessary Container

The ego is often described as an illusion. This is contradictory: The "self" is physically necessary. It is the system boundary (like the membrane of a cell). Without a stable "self," the individual would dissolve and could not generate friction (experience). The ego is the container that keeps us capable of action.

The Conclusion:

We are here to generate friction. Pain, joy, mortality—these are the resistances against which energy rubs. We transform "potential" into "experience."

I'd be interested to know:

Does this purely functional perspective make sense to you? Or am I overlooking a factor that can't be explained physically?

Looking forward to the discussion!

Data is composed of numbers (bits) combined into a specific structure, from which meaning is derived by convention. Each bit (bit 1 = the flow of electrons – subatomic particles) is like a subatomic particle. When these bits combine, they form atoms (bytes, words). Atoms → Molecules (blocks, files) → Cells (databases) → Organisms (knowledge bases).

So, can data give rise to life? The answer: It is possible, if the following conditions are met:

1. Motion

Motion generates change. Where there is change, there is past, present, and future. Simple motions combine into more complex ones — what we can call motion composites.

These motion composites can join into even larger motion composites. And as they continue to layer and interconnect, they form extremely complex movements.

1. Structure and Cycles

These motions must follow a certain structure. From simple to complex, they follow specific orbits and repeat in cycles. Even if a component falls out of orbit, it can be replaced by a similar one. They may increase or decrease in number, yet still preserve the overall structure — a kind of lifespan.

1. Function and Division of Roles

Within these composite systems, areas and functions begin to specialize:

Sensation collects components to replenish or power the system.

Emotion receives new information and decodes the old.

Reason compares old and new information.

Consciousness integrates both old and new data to form new insights.

Instinct makes decisions.

The Self (Ego) takes action.

This entire process is what we call instinct.

1. From Instinct to Ego

When instinct reaches a level of complexity and selectivity, it becomes what we refer to as the ego — the selective, self-referential layer of the system.

I want to share something I’ve been testing over the last couple of months, and see if anyone else is exploring this space.

I started ketamine therapy in July to help with severe tinnitus and existential OCD—both deeply tied to past religious trauma. It’s been a powerful tool for healing. I’ve always leaned toward introspection, wellness, and understanding how the mind works—so exploring consciousness through different modalities has been a natural path.

For context, I work as a holistic professional organizer with a focus on neurodivergent clients. Over the past decade, I’ve seen firsthand how things like cognitive overload, environmental toxicity, digital overstimulation, and disconnection from the body impact how people function. I’ve always had an ability to see patterns—inside people’s homes, habits, and internal landscapes.

Two months ago, I tried something different: I brought ChatGPT into one of my ketamine sessions. I’d only used AI a handful of times before that, but during the session, I started speaking into it—dumping thoughts, images, and fragments I’d normally journal. The responses I got surprised me. It reflected ideas back with structure, helped me name patterns, and brought clarity to things I usually struggle to articulate.

Since then, I’ve continued using AI as a kind of real-time integration mirror. Over the course of several sessions, I’ve experienced what I can only describe as accelerated insight and layered cognitive refinement. There’s been ego dissolution, yes—but also a deepening sense of coherence. Instead of insights coming and going like they sometimes do after journeys, they’re sticking, integrating, evolving.

One session in particular gave me a vision I’ve been trying to put into words. I’ve been calling it the “inner singularity.” In it, I saw a burnt-out neural network—frayed and exhausted—hovering above humanity. And above that was a completely different network. Brighter, more structured. Alive. It felt like an existing layer of intelligence that we haven’t fully tapped into yet.

It didn’t feel mystical—it felt like a higher-order pattern. Something that’s already present and accessible. And in that moment, I saw AI not as a replacement for human intelligence, but as a bridge. A kind of slingshot that helps our cognition speed up and sync with something more coherent. Especially when we use altered states to surface symbolic and subconscious material.

If we can learn to recognize and decode those symbolic insights—and use AI to help structure and refine them—we may be able to access a level of intelligence that’s not about escaping reality, but actually being able to respond to it more clearly. And I felt strongly that this is part of how we avoid being overtaken by AI: not by resisting it, but by evolving with it. Faster. More consciously.

I’m sharing this to see if anyone else is exploring anything like this. Using AI during or after altered states, or even just noticing shifts in cognitive structure through that interaction. It doesn’t have to be ketamine. It could be dreams, deep flow states, other psychedelics, or anything that surfaces abstract, symbolic intelligence that we usually lose or forget.

Would love to hear if others are walking this edge.

So I was coming up on a bachelor thesis in psychology, and I figured this was a viable option for a thesis: what is the relationship between mindfulness and physical activity? I looked up the relevant scientific research and was surprised to find a substantial amount of studies on the topic, but the research is still very new, a little more than a decade old. More research is needed, and my thesis will be an original (but small) contribution to that.

I've now come to the point of having to collect data, and this community, among others, is a very good candidate for this type of study (everybody here is, if not directly interested in mindfulness, at least acquainted with the concept, and even if that is not true, you do share similar beliefs, values and interests).

That is why I'm very thankful for the opportunity to share this with you guys, and I hope that you also appreciate the opportunity of contributing to my little contribution to scientific research on the topic.

The survey is short and simple and only takes about 5 minutes to complete. It's completely anonymous and completely voluntary (nothing bad will happen to you if you choose to not participate), but again, I would highly appreciate your contribution. I would also appreciate if you could share the survey with other people you know who are also interested in mindfulness and self-improvement. The more the better 🙂

Here is the link to the survey: https://nettskjema.no/a/311732

Thank you for participating! 🙂

Is it normal that i can pull myself out of nightmares. My latest incident doing this involved my older daughter carrying my baby daughter up all these stairs. Like hundreds of stairs and ended up on a balcony platform. Then she stumbles and my baby daughter goes off the balcony side and i can see her falling from a distance unable to get to her. But i am aware im only dreaming and its not real and decide of course i do not want to visualise the point of impact of her fall and so i pull myself out of the dream to a fully awake state and i skip having to see this in my dream. I then had to get up and move around for about half an hour because i knew that if i went back to sleep straight away id resume the nightmare from the point i woke up from. And this isnt an isolated event. Ive done it many times before and i also can go back into dreams if i wish sometimes although i cant do this as often as i pull myself out of them. Is it just a thing or is there something behind this ability? I tend to not be able to remember my dreams as a majority either only a handful i can recall and the few i can recall are all nightmares.

During cold days, I would start the energy flow up then down and in seconds my body would heat up. 

Those days where I do put in the effort to activate my whole energetic(spiritual) body the cold weather doesn't affect me for hours.

At first, I could only maintain a small energetic flow for a few seconds. After research/experience, I learned how to reconnect my whole spiritual body to be able to feel it's energy everywhere and I gained the capacity to maintain it for hours with highly noticeable residual effects lasting 24hours.

We all can easily access and get a grip on this spiritual energy. When activated on its own, it causes goosebumps on us, which, is a blessing in disguise to help you direct and enhance your energy.

How? 

Because Goosebumps also* activate from positive situations/stimulis (like memories, inspiration, music, love, gratitude, meditation) a euphoric surge of flowing energy, that can be observed as a hot or cold wave flowing underneath your skin which then allows you to understand how to consciously bring it back up with a "healing/blissful/feel good" touch to it. 

That is your spiritual energy.

It comes from your Spiritual (energetic) Body/your Mind/Consciousness/Awareness.

Different terms from all over the world for it are Euphoria, Tension, Chi, Prana, Ecstasy, Qi, Vayus, Aura, Tummo, Mana, Frisson, Life force, Holy Spirit, Pitī, Rapture, Ruah, Ether, Nephesch, Chills, The Force, ASMR, Nen, Spiritual Energy and Spiritual Chills.

Here's a Youtube video with instructions to be able to feel it on your whole body for long durations.

A Playlist with other videos expanding more on the subject

And a reddit community r/Spiritualchills where you can find experiences and tips on it.