A work-in-progress document on the whole philosophy behind Art of Co, and more profoundly, behind the philosophy of coism.
Coism is a life philosophy and human analysis system based on changing behavioral patterns (human process variables) through optimization in favor of a higher good (meaning).
Coism is a philosophy in which the experience of life lies in the exchange between self and the outside world.
Coism is the philosophical perspective that the subjective experience lies in the interaction between self and the world, and that subjective experience can be optimized by having a strong internal point of lotus.
Coism treats the self as a variable that creates a certain output when in the worldly environment. It is based on the belief of determinism, and the meaning can be created.
Coism is an addition to existentialism, in which the world is meaningless and humans are condemned to the freedom of giving it a meaning. Both philosophies agree that humans have the choice what to worship (value).
Additional thought here: we all worship something. Even Nietzsche, who praised against any type of value systems, worshiped something: the destruction of meaning.
Coism is similar to Freud’s analysis of the world between ego (consciousness), superego (self) and id (external world).
Inspirations for coism
- David Foster Wallace, This Is Water
- Alan Watts, Sudden Enlightenment
- Michael Singer, The Untethered Soul
- Mindfulness, Tim Ferriss and buddhism
- Lifestyle Engineering
- Coaching
Principles of Coism
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Humans are deterministic behaviors which have reaction patterns between the self and the world created (based on past experiences and physiology)
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Reality is the product (result) coming out of the interaction between the self and the external world
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Humans have the choice to optimize for a specific outcome in reality (meaning, which mark they want to leave / which impact they want to create)
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Humans choose to do so to optimize their subjective experience of life (meaning, being in a state of fulfillment or whatever they’re looking for, even if unconsciousness and not serving their highest good) - humans act in their own self interest to optimize their life experience
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In order to change the subjective experience, we have the choice to change the self or the external world.
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It is by the self that we influence the external world, and it is through changing the self that we can better influence the external world.
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By being in a position of observer, we can analyze the self as a set of behavior/belief variables that can be changed through specific techniques (NLP, coaching methods, psychoanalysis, etc).
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The ultimate goal is to figure out our own patterns of current self and decide whether we want to change them in worship (optimization) of something.
First essay explaining the principles
The first premise is that the humans perceive through their own subjective reality, which is created through the state of consciousness. The real identification therefore lies in the conscious observing body (the observer), instead of in the self or in the world. The observer can analyze interaction between the self and the world, whereby both the self and the world function based on modulable behavioral patterns.
Observer <> Self & World
The second premise is that humans (the observer) can gain awareness around the fact that modifying the action of the self will influence their subjective experience in terms of emotional states, for example going from being angry to grateful. While the world can be changed as well, for example through building a service, it is only by changing actions of the self that we can apply changes to a system with certainty - it is (almost) impossible to change the outside world to fit our own fulfillment criteria.
The third premise is that humans want to change their subjective behavior to optimize for alignment, which is behind the feeling of fulfillment.
What coism is truly about
Even though coism is based on the principle that reality is being conceived by the observer, creating our subjective experience, coism is not an approach to seek distance from what happens, but one that recognizes the power of each party (observer, self, external world) equally.
For example, mindfulness focuses a lot on the power of the observer, but not on the power of self. As another example, business coaching focuses on the power of changing the external world, as do universities and professional training centers. Only a fraction of institutions and people focus on the third components with as much importance - namely, to focus on the power of changing the patterns of self. It is the patterns of self that will influence our actions in the world, and hence change the world in return.
Let’s get concrete. Even if we learn a new skill, it doesn’t change our approach to learning. We will learn another new skill with the same methodology, and most probably, we’re not efficient in it. Most of the time, trainings focus on influencing the external world - meaning giving you new business skills which will give you new career opportunities. Or, if you are already a step further, you can do mindfulness trainings, which will help you to calm down, especially when you couldn’t influence the external world.
But we don’t focus on ourselves. Here is a simple way to do it: see yourself as a machine, which is working on a specific hardware (your body) and software (your mind). Somehow, we gain consciousness - most probably through a biological combination (but scientists aren’t sure). We are now able to witness our hardware and software - and furthermore, we can tweak and change it!
On a physical level, it includes anything from diet changes to medicine or surgery. But the really interesting part is the mind level. It’s the software which runs our actions - which determines how we react, when we get triggered or angry, when we feel lost or confused, and how we approach problems.
But this software is modifiable with the right techniques - which would have a tremendous, long-lasting impact. Imagine how many more business deals, lovers or friends you would gain if you could change your fear of approaching people. Imagine how much more money you’d make if you weren’t scared of rejection. Imagine how different your bullying years would have been if you knew your self-worth at that time.
Life would be radically different if we changed how we function. And in order to do that, we need to create patterns of ourselves, decide what we want to optimize for, meaning which value to worship, and, ultimately, engineer the right technique to implement that change in self functioning.
Note: creating patterns of ourselves doesn’t mean you have to do it by yourself. It can be (and should be for better accuracy) with the help of others (people you know, frameworks that exists, professionals in the field, etc.)
Coism is simply to focus on the patterns behind our actions and change them in favor of a desired future.
Coism as a Human Analysis System
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Observer is the real shit (identity) which observes interaction between the self and the world.
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The self and the world act in predictable patterns (determinism) which are modulable with the right technique.
Coism as a Life Philosophy
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Life is meaningless, and we therefore have the freedom to give it meaning.
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If we give it meaning, then we have the choice to optimize for alignment between actions of self and what we worship, which leads to fulfillment.
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Fulfillment is a choice.
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There is no separation between self and world, as both interact in a holistic manner between each other (ontological design).
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But we only have complete certainty (control, visibility, power of change) over trying to change the patterns of self rather than the world.
Coism in relationship to personal development
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The subjective experience of life lies in the interaction between self and the world.
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Personal development can be achieved by analyzing the interactions and optimizing the response of self.
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It is by adapting one’s responses to the world that one can find its path inside the world.
How does coism stand on the coaching concepts of “highest self” or “highest good”?
The stance is that the term stands. Humans can be in a state of “highest good” - but only if they defined it first.
Life is meaningless, therefore it can’t be that humans should be in a certain state or gain consciousness about what they’re worshipping (optimizing for). What coism states is that actively gaining awareness and influencing what one is worshipping for can serve to an improved subjective experience.
What is Art of Co here in relationship to coism?
Art of Co is the branded approach of coism. It’s a business activity that translates coism into a philosophy, courses, reading, a strong community, etc.
Art of Co is like the Art of War - an emblem of what perfection in a field looks like. It will be my personal Principles book on the art of mastering coism, both in philosophy (intellectual/understanding) and life (practical).
Art of Co is a manifesto of life principles derived from coism. The Art of Co is about mastering the Co - meaning the space in which the self interacts with the world.
Art of Co is a set of principles to best navigate through life according to coism.
- Humans seek for fulfillment (which is why, in the absence of knowing what to worship, no drive can be found)
- Incremental small changes have a longer-lasting effect than big vision changes
Art of Co - it’s all about the Co.
The Co = the observer, self and the world.
“It’s all about the Co” translates into that “it’s all about analyzing, tweaking and optimizing the dynamics and interactions between the parties to get to my desired outcome”, which could be driven by the desire of fulfillment.
Are humans truly driven by fulfillment? Even the darkest of us, if not they’d already given up? Optimizing for fulfillment can be done without fighting against its lack, but most people don’t know that yet.
On Capitalism
Capitalism could not have worked without the idea of optimization for production of goods through investment into innovation and technology. Even if the 16th century created low food prices through optimized procedures, and then disposable income gave the incentive to optimize consumer goods, the whole line has been optimization and it will always be. Why should it change in the first place? The only question is whether 1) the goods we created are unsustainable (meaning take energy away from the planet), 2) what impact I want to have and 3) what is driving me.
On the Absurd - the search for answers in an answerless world
Sartre: abundance of freedom, live authentically, accept the full weight of your freedom in light of the absurd.
Bad faith - a refusal to accept the absurd. You think that something has meaning, meaning that you didn’t give it.
There is no one who can advise choices, as the choice needs to come from oneself.
“The literal meaning of life is whatever you’re doing that prevents you from killing yourself” (in term of absolute meaning) - Albert Camus
The void (and freedom) is a void - that you can fill with anything.