What It Means To Go Meta

Understanding Meta Concept: The term meta refers to stepping outside, zooming out, or transcending a certain situation or thing to become aware of it. It connotes self-reference, self-reflection, and self-consciousness. The awareness comes by creating a distance between oneself and the situation or thing being focused on. This could be as simple as using language while being aware of it, or a character in a movie breaking the fourth wall and directly addressing the audience.
Meta in Art and Media: In media, 'going meta' can appear as characters in a TV show or movie breaking the fourth wall - that is, acknowledging they are part of a fictional world. An example given is a character set in ancient Rome knocking on the screen to address the 21st-century audience. This shows awareness of the character's setting within a movie and a connection with the real-world timeline.
Dictionary Definition of Meta: The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the term 'meta' as showing or suggesting an explicit awareness of itself or oneself as a member of its category, being cleverly self-referential, more comprehensive, transcending or transcendental, or situated behind or beyond.
Going meta in Different Fields: The concept of 'meta' can be attached to various domains or concepts, like metaphysics, meta data, and metacognition. This implies that the concept of 'meta' is applied in different fields and has probably been used many times in varying contexts.
Significance of Meta: Many scientists and computer programmers, who should have a deeper grasp of the concept, do not fully understand the significance of what meta entails. This indicates the complexity and the depth embedded in the understanding of the term 'meta'.
Association of Meta with Abstraction: To 'go meta' is also described as going one level up in abstraction. For instance, a character in a video game becoming self-aware and interacting with the player would be a form of going meta.
Meta as a Powerful Concept: The power of the meta concept lies in its ability to provide a new perspective or dimension to reality. This breakthrough can solve serious structural and existential problems and lead to a deeper understanding of life and existence.
Limitations of Understanding the Meta Concept: The challenge of the meta concept is the difficulty in communicating its existence and understanding to those stuck within a single plane or dimension. The awareness of a higher dimension might seem unfeasible to them until it is experienced.
Example of Going Meta in Art: An example of the meta concept in art is René Magritte's painting "The Treachery of Images".
Meta understanding in various contexts: This section discusses the concept of meta understanding in various contexts such as art, emails, physical mail, and video games. For instance, a painting of a pipe labelled "this is not a pipe" is seen as both a pipe and not a pipe depending on the perspective. Similarly, in emails, the meta data includes the IP address, the servers it passed through, geographical locations, and so on. This data cannot be found by merely reading the email content, it requires meta understanding. Physical mail also has metadata like the type of envelope, post office stamps, fingerprints, and other information that reveal more about its origins. In video games, meta elements include on-screen elements (HUD), cheat codes, online strategies, and more. These meta elements give an added layer of understanding, allowing one to manipulate the usual rules.
Reading implicit information in reality: Reality often contains implicit elements that extend beyond what is explicitly stated. To master domains like science, spirituality, business, and so on, one must be able to read between the lines and understand hidden information. The cultural bias towards making everything explicit ignores the importance of implicit data in truth-seeking.
Examples of meta learning and language use: Meta learning, or learning to learn, enhances the learning process. Paying attention to how language is used and how it shapes thoughts and worldview can lead to profound insights.
Limitations of explicit understanding: There's always more than what's being explicitly stated in reality. The assumptions that truth can always be made explicit and that explicit information is all there is to reality are flawed.
Meta elements outside of game content: In the context of video games, cheat codes are meta elements that exist outside the game content. They permit the violation of the game's physical rules, granting characters god-like abilities.
Lucid dreaming and self-referential humor: Other examples of going meta include lucid dreaming, where one becomes aware that they're dreaming and gains control over their dream experiences, and self-referential humor, where jokes are made about jokes.
Influence of Language on Perception of Reality: The language one uses significantly shapes one's perception of reality. Personal vocabulary, thoughts, and the way one understands reality are deeply connected. Expansion of personal vocabulary enhances communication effectiveness and the ability to think more complexly, however, can also introduce certain limitations. Language shapes the worldview by carving the world into distinctions that we are familiar with. The specific language that one uses also introduces a set of restrictions and possibilities to the way reality is perceived. Going meta on language means recognizing its influence on reality.
Limitations of Scientific Approaches: Scientists typically operate within a set framework without questioning its foundations or origin. The principles and assumptions that scientists operate on are not necessarily empirically derived but can be grounded in dogma or belief. Going meta on science involves critically examining the foundations of science, which includes aspects such as the nature of causality, time, and space used in scientific experiments. This process of going meta on science also uncovers a circularity problem in science - the method to derive the scientific method may not itself be a valid method.
Going Meta in Political Debates: Going meta in a political debate means recognizing and detaching from personal biases and perspectives. This entails realizing that the purpose of a debate does not lie in either party winning, but in recognizing the biases, personal survival agendas, and defensive mechanisms of each party in the debate. This approach is a step towards resolving conflicts, not by arguing on the same plane, but by examining the higher dimensions involved, including identifying personal biases and using mindfulness to self-reflect.
Challenges in Resolving Problems: The majority of human problems cannot be resolved on the same plane they are contested on, which is why many problems seem unsolvable. The concept of going meta can be seen as a potential solution as it involves examining problems from a higher perspective beyond the current plane of thought.
Strengths and dangers of attachment: Leo Gura talks about the universal human tendency to develop attachments, such as to religious beliefs or ideas about relationships. These attachments can lead to conflicts and misunderstandings because they limit an individual's perspective, making them resistant to other viewpoints. These attachments can be to anything, from belief systems, to relationships, to ways of doing things, and they often impede progress.
Meta move in conflicts: Gura proposes the concept of a 'meta move' as a solution to conflicts such as wars or arguments in relationships. Meta moves involve stepping out of an entrenched position or body of beliefs to see the larger context or multiple perspectives, creating the opportunity to shift to a higher level of understanding and resolution.
Meta concept in various fields: Gura discusses how the concept of 'going meta' applies in various fields, such as art, film, and even games like chess, where, for instance, the rules of the game are changed each turn. These shifts to a higher level, or the creation of a game within a game, bring in new layers of strategy and complexity.
Meta-Worldview Exploration: Gura emphasizes the value of exploring multiple worldviews without getting attached to any particular one. Most people have strong opinions about different worldviews but very few have explored them at a deep level. The exploration of these worldviews helps to gain understanding about life, reality, and oneself. Nonetheless, this exploration requires effort and emotional labor.
Value of Meta-Recognition: Leo underscores the importance of meta-recognition, or the ability to recognize one's involvement in a situation. He suggests that recognizing and halting a negative cycle of actions, such as an escalating argument, allows individuals to break free from toxic patterns. This will allow for problem-solving on a higher level and prevent further conflicts from arising.
Limitation of Being Meta: Although going meta is powerful, Gura notes that it is not easy due to the tendency of humans to get attached to a specific framework or way of thinking. Breaking free from these attachments requires emotional labor and hard work.
Transcendence and Meta-Logic in Arguments: Leo explains that even logic can be broken down into a meta argument because the basis of logic and what makes an argument valid differs, leading to different forms of logic. He posits that often, logic and argument are arbitrary and used to defend biases formed by individuals' survival agendas during upbringing.
Examples of going Meta: Leo provides specific examples of going meta: writing books on how to write books, creating a video game about making and selling video games. He also mentions a private forum on Actualized.org dedicated to discussing problems within the public part of the forum.
Meta Humour: Humour can transcend boundaries through meta humour, with examples being the skit "Who's on First" and certain jokes in James Bond movies. In the TV Show, House of Cards, meta humour is apparent when the lead character talks to the audience about his actions.
Application of Pickup Principles: Leo explains how the principles of pickup, when internalized, can make a man attractive even when explicitly stating them to the woman. He also shares a personal experience where he met a woman who was a copywriter for Tony Robbins, and successfully attracted her. He narrates how even though he explicitly explained his pickup techniques to her, they still worked because she found his confidence attractive.
Problems in Logistics: Despite successfully attracting the woman, he acknowledges that they were unable to sleep together due to logistical barriers, primarily her sharing a hotel room with a friend. However, he retrospectively realizes that he could have secured a neighboring room in the hotel for them to be together.
Refusal to pay for anything in a relationship as a negative principle: Leo recounts an instance where his refusal to pay for anything, even a hotel room, cost him a potential relationship. He emphasizes that attraction isn't rooted in what is being verbally communicated but rather in the honest signals sent through embodying masculine authenticity, confidence, humor, and detachment.
Masculine authenticity and confidence in attracting females: According to Leo, the ability to embody masculinity authentically is what attracts females. It is not about what you say verbally, but the subliminal messages you are able to send. Achieving this understanding and applying it authentically is what attracts females, regardless of any pickup lines they might be aware of.
The powerful effect of meta authenticity and admitting mistakes: Sharing uncertain feelings and insecurities, like not knowing what to say to someone initially, is a powerful and effective opener because of its authenticity. Being able to admit a mistake or to share negative aspects about oneself communicates honesty and courage, which are attractive traits.
Meta lying, self-deception, and denial: People, when they lie, not only deceive others but also themselves. Successful self-deception and denial require deceiving oneself that one is deceiving and denying. This multi-layered deception necessitates the recognition that one is deceitful and in denial, with the further understanding that they're deceiving themselves about their self-deception and denial.
Meta selfishness: Leo suggests that when you call someone out for being selfish, it reveals your own selfishness. The only resolution, according to him, is to eliminate selfishness within oneself. If done, the selfishness of others will cease to bother you and, ultimately, lead to spiritual transcendence or nirvana.
Nettie Nettie method of self-inquiry and going meta: The Nettie Nettie method, a spiritual practice of self-inquiry, involves going meta or transcending everything. This requires recognizing that you're not any physical attribute but something beyond, ultimately leading to awakening. Like in the Zen analogy of the finger pointing at the moon, going meta is understanding that the pointed finger is merely hinting at something beyond itself, i.e., the moon.
Applying meta concepts in various domains: The concept of going meta can apply to various domains like metaphysics, meta-science, metapolitics, metaphilosophy, and metalogic. In the field of mathematics and logic, it's learned that logic itself has infinite complexity, which can even lead to discussions on meta metalogic and meta-meta metalogic. This concept opens up infinite possibilities for exploration and understanding.
Concept of Infinite Layers of Logic: Going 'meta' introduces the notion of infinite bedding of logics where each logic requires a 'meta logic' to ground it, and each meta logic requires a 'meta meta logic' to ground it, and so forth, leading to infinite regress. Such systems are finite and closed, each existing within a larger system or frame. But, as reality is ultimately groundless, all logics ultimately lack solid grounding.
Meta Philosophy: Traditional philosophy contains varying schools of thought, often conflicting with one another, leaving the question of which is the 'true' philosophy unanswered. Meta philosophy steps outside of these paradigms to examine philosophy itself and the ways its conducted, thereby questioning what it even means to know which philosophy is superior or truer than another. After such inquiry, there's realization that traditional philosophy is broadly relative, grounded in personal biases and ultimately groundless.
Meta Politics: Conventional politics often involve tribal disputes, win-lose scenarios and battles for policy dominance. The concept of Meta politics goes beyond these and aims at raising the collective consciousness, recognizing the biases, and shifting focus from winning policy battles to fostering love, understanding, and the spiritual development of society.
Meta Science: Meta science involves in-depth critical examination of the foundations of science with an aim of improving them. This involves questioning and deconstructing empirical methods in science to unveil concrete scientific proofs. This is akin to scrutinizing the method of anything if one aims to master it.
Meta Business: Contrary to conventional business practices that solely aim at maximizing profits, meta business concept emphasizes creating a more conscientious business outlook. This encourages critical evaluation of the broader ramifications businesses have on society, and the aim is to create a more eco-conscious business environment.
Meta Relationships: Meta relationships are centered on creating a third entity above oneself and one's partner. This creates a sense of unity and mutual surrender, allowing for healthier and more fulfilling relationships.
Meta Spirituality: Departing from the practice of adhering blindly to one spiritual school, meta spirituality uses a more eclectic approach. It comprises the study of multiple spiritual practices, extracting their best teachings and practices, and aligning them to understand what they all collectively aim at achieving.
Other Meta Concepts: Other meta fields are discussed as well, including meta art, meta media, meta sex, and meta work, all aimed at bettering each functional performance through critical analysis, communication, and continuous improvement.
Significance of Going Meta: Meta is crucial because it helps analyze and understand structural similarities between differing ideological viewpoints and hence assists in transcending such differences. Besides this, adopting a meta perspective can help scrutinize the method of any field of endeavor and improve upon it to prevent potential discrepancies or corruption.
Adoption of Meta Perspective: Adopting a meta approach requires the ability to detach oneself from deeply ingrained beliefs and ideologies to avoid friction and disputes. This further helps in identifying our personal biases and obstacles, and opens up the possibility to go beyond such limitations to achieve more refined insight in general.
In Conclusion: Whether in philosophy, politics, business, or relationships, a meta perspective offers profound and insightful ways to manage and conquer everyday problems efficiently while allowing for personal growth.
Meta-Mastery Detaches from Identification: Emphasizes that going 'meta' allows one to gain an objective perspective on various aspects life, such as science, business, philosophy, and spirituality by detaching from identification with them, thus preventing corruption. This allows individuals to spot errors and room for improvement in various domains.
Highlighted Self-Identification with Aspects of Life: Leo highlights how humans identify with aspects of life like nationality, religion, body, mind, and status. This identification leads to attachment and results in negative feelings when those aspects are threatened or destroyed.
Process of Becoming Meta: Going "meta" involves transcending identification with finite aspects of life until you identify with absolutely nothing, leading to spiritual transcendence and immortality. But the mind's inclination is to attach to everything, making the process difficult, controversial, and confusing for many people.
Acknowledging Reality Construction: Describes how humans are always actively constructing reality while denying they're doing so. The denial maintains the illusion of reality, which is why humans get defensive and manipulative when their reality is threatened, leading to arguments and tension.
Limits of Science and Rationality: Science and rationality, while seemingly overarching, are limited because they operate within a frame of perception. This prevents an understanding of the larger, infinite reality. Scientist and rational people may not realize this if they fail to go "meta".
Infinite Reality beyond Frames: Reality is infinite and extending beyond all frames of perception. There can always be a 'larger picture' beyond any given frame like Science, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, etc.
Rationale of Why Reality is Meta: Leo explains that reality is infinite, which is why it is 'meta'. This entails that it has no limits or outer boundary and that there's always more to explore and know. However, if one remains stuck in one frame of perception or reality (like a kiddie-pool), they can remain ignorant of the vast ocean beyond. The only way to break free is by cultivating the intuition of something more and making an effort to step out of their comfort zone. Leo warns that those who refuse to do so, out of fear or laziness, will be stuck in a limited worldview believing that's all there is.
Reality and Infinity: Reality is infinite, or can be referred to as "absolute infinity." Human beings, however, are finite creatures who create finite closed systems via language, logic, thought, and symbols. We attempt to grasp pieces of reality, but these pieces are never the whole, rather infinitesimally small parts of it.
Finite Closed Systems and Being Meta: Finite closed systems possess boundaries with an inside and an outside. If you're inside the system, you're unable to fully see and understand it; it seemingly becomes the total experience. However, if you are outside the system, you realize it is only a part of something larger. Going meta refers to transitioning from inside the system to being on the outside, thus allowing for a greater and broader perspective of the whole.
Reality Composed of Holons: Reality is made up of holons, so one can always jump outside of one holon to a higher one infinitely. Any proposed boundary between two realities must exist within a larger reality, leading to the paradoxical and loopy nature of anything outside of reality actually being inside of it.
The Nature of God and Truth: Truth and reality are identical; truth is the totality of reality. By its infinite nature, truth (or God) can never be fully captured by finite systems or language. Those asking for finite proof of God are demanding the impossible, misconstruing the failure to provide such impossible evidence as proof of God's non-existence.
Accessing Truth through Going Meta: Truth can be accessed but this requires 'going meta' and stepping outside all frames of reference. Fear keeps people stuck in certain frames and prevents understanding of absolute truth. The goal is to move beyond all the frames until one realizes every single frame is only part of the larger reality and everything else is an illusion.
Resistance to Going Meta: Mental fear and clinging to certain frames causes resistance to going meta. This may result from fear of losing intellectual satisfaction gained from adhering to certain ideologies, theories, or personal beliefs. The inability to let go of these causes one to be stuck at a certain level of understanding.
Consequences of Going Meta: Fear of what might happen when 'going meta' hinders individuals from achieving absolute truth. By confronting this fear and understanding where it stems from, one can progress towards a deeper understanding of the infinitely meta nature of reality.
Belief systems and intellectual attachments: Gura discusses how belief systems and intellectual attachments can limit individuals in their personal and spiritual growth. He uses the example of associating the attainment of wealth with being an evil capitalist, and points out the need for individuals to acknowledge their attachments and explicitly work towards detaching from them in order to go beyond these self-imposed limitations. This process needs to be incremental and in accordance with one's individual readiness and comfort, otherwise it might lead to recklessness.
Importance of long-term planning in personal growth: While discussing his teachings, Gura emphasizes that all individuals may not be ready for the advanced concepts he discusses and suggests using these ideas to plan out a long-term strategy for personal and spiritual growth. This might mean exploring lower stages and burning through attachments before being ready to explore higher understandings.
Honesty about one's stage in growth: Gura stresses on the importance of being honest about one's stage in personal growth and not faking being above certain desires or attachments. He admits he still have plenty of attachments but the critical difference is that he's becoming more aware of them and how they limit him, which in turn is laying the groundwork for future growth.
Delight of meta recognition: Gura encourages listeners to recognize the delight in going meta, which is the ability to step outside of a situation and recognize the hidden truths or implicit meanings behind it. Gura suggests that noticing this delight and pursuing more meta recognition can lead to awakening and a deeper connection with the divine.
Combining intellectual complexity with spiritual growth: Gura discusses that engaging with complex intellectual concepts such as logics and sciences, similar to reading works of Douglas Hofstadter, can give individuals a taste of what they can expect while pursuing spiritual work. While logic and science carry a certain whimsical and artistic charm, spiritual work offers even more of this charm outside of the logical domain. Gura concludes that realizing implicit truths and going 'meta' could lead to individuals developing an infinite mind.
Importance of Consciousness Work: Conscious work can at times be difficult and challenging but it also leads to moments of clarity, understanding, and appreciation for the mystery, awe, and wonder of existence. Consciousness work and science have similarities in that they both ultimately aim to explore the mysteries of nature.
Going Meta on the Concept of Going Meta: The concept of going meta can be applied to the act of communicating itself. For instance, recognizing that while speaking one is using symbols and language to communicate ideas, triggering thoughts in the listener. This conscious realization of the method of communication is an act of going meta.
Sense of Self within Communication Medium: An individual, while watching a video, can realize that Leo in the video is not separate but a part of their own consciousness. This means Leo appearing on the screen as pixels triggering thoughts in the viewer is a manifestation of the viewer's own consciousness.
Universe and Self-Realization: The universe and individuals are not separate, but one unified entity. Individuals are a part of the universe speaking and becoming conscious of itself. This self-realization process helps individuals to understand that they are not separate entities but integral parts of the universe.
Infinite Mind: When a finite mind has the ability to go infinitely meta, it transforms into an infinite mind. The state of having an infinite mind refers to the ability of being infinitely self-aware and being able to contemplate any part of oneself.
Value of Core Concepts: Building a solid foundation of core concepts within the mind is crucial for making sense of reality. These core concepts should not be accepted on faith or belief but should be tested and applied to various domains of life, helping individuals to better understand reality and life.
Deficiency in Education System: The failure of the education system to impart these core concepts leaves many unable to make a deep sense of reality. Aiming to fill this void, discussions like these help individuals understand and apply these core concepts to different aspects of life, leading to a more meaningful understanding of reality.
Making sense of Life: Making sense of life and reality is possible but requires effort and exploration from the individual. Such work provides necessary tools, directions, and inspiration to fuel an individuals' exploration and understanding of life and reality. The possibility of making sense of life is a profound idea that can lead to significant personal growth.