Mocca Gallery

Signal-to-noise-ratios compare the level of a desired signal to the level of background noise. Choice is implied. Some information (like a radio station) is labeled as signal and other information (like other stations) is labeled as noise.

When a baby is born, I suspect his experience is undifferentiated. All signal. Pure non-duality. All that is – is one. An amazing experience, but not great for physical survival.

So, the child learns to differentiate. That is Mother. This is my hand. That is food. This is not. He learns to focus. By adulthood his ability to focus on desired signals is automatic and constant. And it extends to non-physical things like good and bad, right and wrong.

But we forget that the act of focusing on one thing is really just the act of filtering out everything else. What we don’t focus on becomes invisible. And it has become so automatic that we don’t realize we’re doing it. By now the choices about what is signal and what is noise is made at the subconscious level.

Since I’ve become aware of this, I’ve been trying to turn up my noise levels in an attempt to let more information in. I’ve discovered that trying to understand everything is a big hurdle. If I open my eyes and my mind and don’t think too much, don’t try to label or categorize things, I see more. Sometimes understanding comes later, sometimes it doesn’t. Also, being at peace with paradoxes and allowing them to be, is essential.

As an interesting aside – sometimes a person’s belief in his self-created reality is so fixed, he needs help getting past it. Native American Indians found ceremonies involving peyote helpful in this regard. Peyote helps increase one’s awareness of perceptions, sensations, and inner mental activity. Consciousness expands to include all these responses simultaneously. I like to classify peyote as a de-hallucinogen because it removes the hallucinations of everyday life and exposes the reality hidden beneath it.