The Tesseract

Affect is raw, immediate, and tied to sensory homeostasis—pleasure/pain, attraction/aversion. It is pre-emotional, manifesting as primal drives like hunger, thirst, and the impulse toward organic equilibrium.

Perception is literal and sensorimotor. There is no symbolic interpretation; a thing is what it appears to be. Patterning is based on direct association (e.g., smoke with fire).

Perception is undifferentiated, vivid, and immersive. The sensory field is a unified flux without a clear subject/object dichotomy. There is no reflection on perception; one is simply in it.

Cognition is pre-conceptual and reactive. "Knowing" is sensory-motor intelligence. "Will" is an impulsive, reflexive drive to move toward or away from sensory stimuli.

Identity is sensory and bodily. The "self" is the felt sense of the organism, with no reflective capacity. There is experience, but no experiencer.

Emotions become structured by narrative. Basic emotions like fear, anger, joy, and sadness are experienced in the context of a conceptual self with a personal history. Shame, pride, and jealousy emerge as the self is defined against a story.

The capacity for concrete metaphor and symbol emerges. Understanding is mythic and literal—a flag is the nation, a religious symbol is the divine. Humor is based on slapstick and simple incongruity.

Perception is structured by conceptual boundaries. The world solidifies into discrete, named objects that feel solid and separate. The "realness" of the world is taken for granted and is not questioned.

Epistemology is mythic and absolute. Knowledge is received from tradition and authority. The volitional stance is one of conforming to or rebelling against a prescribed narrative or divine will.

Identity is the narrative ego. The self is a character in a story, defined by its roles, history, and possessions ("I am my story").

Emotions become nuanced and role-dependent. Complex social emotions like empathy, loyalty, and professional pride arise, tied to systemic membership (family, corporation, nation). Affect can be regulated strategically to maintain systemic function.

Abstract, conceptual metaphor flourishes. Symbols are understood as representations within a larger system (e.g., a mathematical variable, a corporate logo). Humor becomes witty, relying on double entendre and the clever subversion of systemic rules (e.g., puns).

Perception is informed by systemic knowledge. One learns to see the invisible forces—economic trends, ecological networks—that shape the sensory world. The "real" begins to include abstract, non-sensory data.

Epistemology becomes rational and evidence-based. Knowledge is validated through logic and empirical testing. Will is strategic, aimed at achieving goals within a system through planning and efficacy.

Identity expands to include social and professional roles. The self is a node in multiple systems ("I am a doctor, a parent, a citizen").

A wider range of existential and meta-emotions emerges, such as existential anxiety, wistfulness, and a drive for authenticity. The individual can hold multiple, conflicting emotional valences from different sub-systems (e.g., roles) within a coherent identity.

Metaphor becomes self-reflexive and perspectival. The individual can use multiple, competing metaphors to understand a complex phenomenon (e.g., understanding the mind as both a computer and an ecosystem). Humor is often ironic, playing on the gap between perspectives and identities.

The constructed nature of perception becomes apparent. The influence of beliefs, culture, and personal history on what we see is recognized. This can lead to a sense of the world being slightly "virtual" or model-dependent.

Epistemology becomes pluralistic and contextual. Knowledge is recognized as relative to one's perspective and context. Will is directed toward self-actualization, authenticity, and integrating multiple perspectives into a cohesive worldview.

Identity becomes a self-authoring, integrated personality. The individual can reflect on and manage their various sub-personalities and roles, crafting a unique, authentic self.

Emotions are witnessed as transient phenomena in consciousness rather than being wholly identified with. This allows for profound emotional granularity and the stable emergence of states like equanimity, deep compassion (for the human condition), and ecosystemic grief, which are not tied to a personal narrative.

Figurative perception operates at a meta-level. The individual can perceive the archetypal structures underlying symbols and metaphors across cultures and history. Humor can be deeply philosophical, pointing to the absurdities of existence and the nature of perception itself.

Perception itself becomes an object of awareness. One can witness the process of sensing, noting the arising of sounds, sights, and sensations in consciousness. The sensory field may become more luminous, transparent, or "wavy," losing its solidity.

Epistemology is meta-systemic. The individual can think about the patterns that connect different knowledge systems. Will transforms into conscious choice—the capacity to witness impulses and cognitive patterns and to choose which, if any, to identify with and act upon.

Identity shifts to the Witness (the observing self). The individual can dis-identify from thoughts, emotions, and even the ego, resting as a center of pure awareness behind or within all experience.

Affect transforms into unitive emotions. The distinction between inner and outer collapses, giving rise to unconditional love, bliss (Ananda), and reverence that are not for an object but are intrinsic qualities of reality itself. The well-being of the whole is felt as one's own.

The distinction between literal and figurative collapses. Reality itself is perceived as a seamless, symbolic expression of the whole. Every object and event is both utterly itself and a perfect metaphor for the divine. Perception is inherently poetic and saturated with meaning.

Perception is experienced as a spontaneous, seamless manifestation of aware space. The senses are not portals through which a separate self looks at a world, but are the very expressions of the world's self-luminosity. The perceived and the perceiver are one; reality is experienced as inherently conscious.

Epistemology is unity knowledge—direct, non-conceptual apprehension of reality. The sense of a separate, personal will dissolves into spontaneous, effortless action (Wu Wei). Action is experienced as the universe acting through this particular form, without an individual "doer."

Identity is recognized as the Non-Dual Self, the entire field of awareness and its contents. The Witness itself dissolves into everything that is witnessed. The separate self is seen as an illusion; what remains is the singular, self-aware universe expressing itself uniquely as this body-mind. The sense of "I am" expands to become "I am Everything" or simply "All That Is."