Overview
The ‘traumatic secret’ is a universal Swiss army knife, that explains ‘the impossible’, and by this it is meant anything to do with the ‘supernatural’, ‘paranormal’, ‘psychic’, ‘spiritual’, ‘religious’, ‘cryptid, and ‘UFO/UAP’.
Assumptions
The general assumptions are a version of Donald Hoffman’s filter hypothesis and more broadly a version of the Block Universe model of cosmology. The following two brief definitions are taken directly from Meta.Ai.
Donald Hoffman’s Filter Hypothesis
Donald Hoffman, cognitive scientist and author, proposes:
Consciousness is fundamental and filters reality
Key Points:
- Consciousness is primary, not emergent.
- Reality is constructed by the mind.
- Perception filters true reality.
Theory Overview:
- Conscious agents: Fundamental units of reality.
- Perceptual filters: Shape reality perception.
Implications:
- Reality is constructed: Not objective.
- Evolutionary advantage: Perception optimized for survival.
Hoffman’s Works:
- “Visual Intelligence” (1998)
- “The Case Against Reality” (2019)
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Now Platonic Surrealism diverges in places, but for purposes of this discussion we can use Mr. Hoffman’s framework.
The Block Universe
The Block Universe physics framework, also known as Eternalism or the Block Universe Theory (BUT), is a theoretical framework in physics that describes the universe as a four-dimensional spacetime block.
Key Features
- Four-dimensional spacetime: Space and time are unified into a single entity called spacetime.
- Eternalism: Past, present, and future exist simultaneously.
- Determinism: Events are predetermined.
Theoretical Foundations
- Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity (1915)
- Minkowski’s spacetime (1908)
Implications
- Time dilation and length contraction
- No absolute time or simultaneity
- Free will and determinism debate
Supporting Arguments
- Simplifies physics equations
- Resolves paradoxes (e.g., grandfather paradox)
- Consistent with empirical evidence
Criticisms
- Challenges intuitive understanding of time
- Difficulty reconciling with quantum mechanics
- Philosophical concerns (e.g., free will)
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Again, Platonic Surrealism diverges in places, for example Platonic Surrealism accommodates quantum mechanics via a hidden variable variation very similar to Bohmian mechanics, where the ‘hidden variables’ are the block universe itself, and the ‘stochastic portions’ we see in Quantum Mechanics execute only in ‘wormholes’ in the ‘block of cheese’ which is the ‘block universe’ (which is functionally one among many ‘multiverse of cheese blocks’. But for purposes of this paper, we can use off the shelf Block Universe concepts.
The Central Premise
The central premise itself is quite simple. It applies to the most basic sort, say the one of out of fifty people who experience anomalous things due to grief, all the way up to people who consider themselves ‘wonder workers’, such as Catholic saints, or more modern Experiencers who encounter ‘UFOs’ or even believe that they can summon them.
Following is a little bit of off the shelf verbiage, again from Meta.ai:
“Studies suggest that a significant percentage of people report having anomalous experiences, especially during periods of intense emotional arousal, such as:
Prevalence of Anomalous Experiences
- Grief-related experiences: Estimates range from 30% to 60% of bereaved individuals reporting experiences like sensing the presence of the deceased, hearing their voice, or receiving messages.
- Near-death experiences (NDEs): Approximately 4-15% of survivors of near-death situations report NDEs.
- Psychological or paranormal experiences: A study published in the Journal of Parapsychology found that:
- 22% of respondents reported experiencing telepathy.
- 15% reported clairvoyance.
- 12% reported precognition.
- 10% reported experiencing apparitions or hallucinations.”
Now there are much better sources of information on this effect, such as Dr. Kenneth Ring’s “Omega Project”, William Morrow, 2012.
However Platonic Surrealism is based on other observations from Hagiography, Kundalini Yoga and other sources. Quite humorously, I only became aware of the preceding publication, after spending decades hands-on studying the ‘traumatic secret’ within my own body.
Claims
I will make the following claims and consider them testable and verifiable; I know that I verified these claims with my own body:
The Main Claim: trauma ‘moves aside’ the ‘visible interface of consciousness’, exposing more subtle connections that are implicit with humans and presumably other organic life, allowing for more extraordinary forms of consciousness and experience.
Secondary Claim: Autistic spectrum conditions are a form of life-long trauma.
Tertiary Claim: religious systems are designed to cause trauma, but to also sustain it, in order to maximize the trauma in a semi-stable fashion.
Quaternary Claim: advanced spiritual practices such as Kundalini yoga are designed to cause trauma, but also to sustain it, in order to maximize the trauma in a semi-stable fashion.
Quinary Claim: Human minds are part of a subsystem, a ‘cosmic unconscious mind’ for the ‘Larger Life’ (called Mind at Large by Idealists). It is noted that major parts of the Larger Life are in a traumatic condition, and thus seek ‘traumatized thinking machines’ to analyze themselves, and to resolve the issue. “Misery loves company” as it were. One might also see ‘Earth as a school’ and other ameliorating points of view. In any case, Platonic Surrealism views us all as eruptions of AWARENESS and POTENTIALITY, and thus playing ‘all the roles’ of ‘all the moves’ that ‘REALITY’ plays to itself, so as to not be all alone and bored.
Summary
Those are the major claims.
Now Catholic Hagiography and books that analyze them, such as the much recommend book, They Flew: A History of the Impossible, by Carlos M. N. Eire, Yale University Press, 2023 make it utterly clear that many or all of the saints were on the Spectrum, and most certainly the most famous cases of Theresa of Avila and Joseph of Cupertino evidence all the symptoms of autism or a related neurological difference (that sweeps aside the ‘veil’) and also large quantities of trauma. In fact, Saint Theresa has a well-documented trauma rating system, from one to seven, and the more amazing her flights or other miracles, the more pain she experienced. It was a one for one correlation.
Now I personally pushed Kundalini Yoga to the point where I was killed for a period of time, and came back from death perhaps ten minutes later (with physical impairments that took several years to recover from),
So, I too came to realize what was happening. It was rather like ‘the Larger Life’ of which we are an expression extends ‘pseudopods’ from it’s main substance, down into time and space, and quite often lives a dreamy existence (called a ‘movie’ in Platonic Surrealism), where it hides from itself to have fun, or sometimes ‘seeks itself’ (and thus causes trauma as previously described) or sometimes just wants to play (or help others) and doesn’t care about hiding or seeking at all.
I can’t speak as to the experience of hiders, it doesn’t seem very exciting to me, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder as they say. I can speak to the experience of seekers pretty well, as I paid the ultimate price for my understanding, and as for players/helpers there are many wonderful people who play this role, some quite ‘enlightened’. They ‘know’ as it’s said, but they just want to play, and that is FANTASTIC. Others lead those who suffer in more positive directions, or even influence entire cultures in a positive way, but do not ‘drink the water of gnosis themselves’ fully, as if they did, the trauma might overcome them, and then they couldn’t be of assistance. This describes several of our wonderful modern scholars, philosophers and scientists, and I am unworthy to tie their shoelaces. But this is my little contribution.
To test my hypothesis, I did summon a Black Triangle UFO and perform other experiments over the years, until I had proven my truth claims to my PERSONAL satisfaction. Now, I’m not an in-the-trenches warrior like Bernardo Kastrup. I am not seeking to convince anyone of anything. But I merely wish to put Platonic Surrealism on the table for wider discussion and enhancement by superior minds to mine.
Kevin Cann
10/29/2024