Phase Shift: From Superficial To Deep

Phase Shift, from Superficial to Deep

All the polycrisis needs of us is the depth we already possess in abundance. The perspective shift is simple: from Exteroception to Interoception. We already possess all the sensory-motor apparatus we need. Phase Shift is possible. Civilization level phase shift is possible. All it takes is a shift from superficial to deep.

Is our civilization deep or superficial? To the extent that it is violent and selfish, shortsighted and unnatural, it is superficial. My own focus is on the human body and things like anatomy and medicine. Is our understanding of our own physical self deep or superficial? Do we regularly go within, commune with nature and other life forms, and act from our inner evolutionary and organic best interests? If the answer is no, then a profound phase shift is possible, one that starts from within you and every other person you know and love.

You say that it is unlikely and not possible. In any case there is no time so let’s not bother? A global internet, AI, genetic engineering, nanotechnology. Technological Totalitarianism. Collapse. This is a global phase shift. How quickly did it happen? Did you see it coming even 50 years ago? Some did but it was still a dream back then. Why is a similar breakthrough, but one that reaches deep within life, not possible?

A phase shift in chemistry is when a substance changes from a solid, liquid, or gas state to a different state. There are as many examples of phase shift as there are complex systems—in nature and in our own minds. This different state involves a fundamental change in the properties and behaviors of the substance. Phase shift phenomena occur at all levels of matter and life, from the lasing of light to oscillations in the brain. Mood shifts may be seen as a form of phase shift. The emergence of our current civilization, the Information Age, is also a form of global phase shift. The development of Modern Reason as our dominant culture is a significant historical phase shift that occurred over a long period of time and that we now take for granted. We even defend it irrationally and against our own best interests.

Phase shift is a function of metastability. A substance must cohere at a new level of stability for a phase shift to occur. A phase shift can occur when there is enough substance and input for metastability to emerge. This can happen within an ecological niche, within a society or culture, and within a single human body.

Deep or Superficial?

The frontier is you. The frontier is the human body. Change happens from within but is your understanding of your own inner self deep or superficial? Is medicine deep or superficial? Is medicine addressing the global pandemic of lifestyle diseases caused by our cultural bias—things like obesity, diabetes, stress, depression and cancer—in a way that gets at the root of the problem? Or is it generally providing symptomatic band-aids in the form of drugs and surgeries that do not address the real origins of the non-communicable diseases that plague us. Why would we not be able to solve these problems and manual others given our technological mastery? Why is it impossible to shift from superficial to deep? Do we not contain both in all their richness?

The answer is that we are tremendously superficial. We do not know ourselves deeply and are often hostile to looking deeply within. Environmentalists are often hostile to suggestions that we look within ourselves—even though we are as rich and complex a form of organic, natural life form as anything else. Institutions take time to develop and take time to wreak their havoc on our bodies and our planet. But what of our own lives? Are we not all capable of fairly rapid personal change, transformation, or phase shift? Collapse awareness does not require submission and defeat on this level.

Anatomy is the one area where all these things intersect—and our anatomical science is superficial. This is changing with profound speed as we come to understand our connective tissue matrix, fascia, and the interrelationship of all things within—and without.

There are many signs of a phase shift in our inner lives. The interest in and development of trauma theory, somatic psychology, systems theory, organic lifestyles, biophysics, interdisciplinary innovation, cultural evolutionary theory, the rise of synergistic anatomy and holistic medicine, the global movement movement—these are all signs of a coalescing and emergent perspective of life that is deep, not superficial. All the polycrisis needs is the depth we already possess in abundance. Deep Adaptation requires deep culture as its foundation Deep culture requires we reach deep within our own bodies and minds. Given the progress we are seeing in these and other fields there is great reason to conclude that a paradigm shift is occurring and that we underestimate its scope and depth.

Exteroception is what we call our conventional perceptual mode. Exteroception is the awareness of the external world and ourselves from the outside in. The five sense, taste, touch, vision, hearing, and smell are all exteroceptive, as is our outer skin, by which we know the world and our own bodies. These exteroceptive sense are the basis for all the evidence of science, modern reason, and even common sense. But clearly something is missing.

Interoception is a phase shift into a deep, inner perceptual mode. Interoception does not only tell us about our own inner condition, gut feelings, and intuitive grasp of the whole that is greater than the sum of the parts. Interoception within ourselves is the basis for understanding how other complex living systems function and the interdependency we all share. It is within ourselves that we discover the grounding, centering, stability and vitality that we need. This is the basis for the personal and civilization level phase shift we are witnessing. Deep Adaptation Forum is an excellent, if inadequate example, in my opinion.

Our interoceptive sensory motor system is very real and includes many different neuroceptors. We possess a deep core myofascial structure which we now understand anatomically and can relate to somatically, intuitively, sensitively, and mechanistically, meaning functionally and effectively. It is something familiar and because it is part of us is not mystical, mysterious, and arcane. It may have been so in the past but current anatomical and neurological science has made it accessible and even mundane. Interoception is functional. It is the basis for the healing work of somatic psychological and trauma theory. It is how manual therapists and rehabilitation specialists like myself work with posture and chronic pain syndromes. When we know ourselves deeply within we discover our own, inherent, intrinsic, and metastable animal intelligence.

This part of us does not have fancy vocabulary and does not to need it. Children and animals master this inner system joyfully without education or language and it is education and language, among other things, that strip it away from us. But this doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t discuss it theoretically and in a serious, adult manner.

Two elements are required for the deep adaptive phase shift we envision:

One of them is deep within. One of them is deep without. Both are deep. Interoception and our interoceptive sensory motor system is our intimate, familiar, and friendly companion to deep adaptive phase shift. We are the answer—it is only a matter of deep listenting.