What is BIOS

BIOS:
Throughout the evolution of man we have supposedly become more civilized, but what does that mean?

Civilized: having an advanced or humane culture, society, etc.
Dictionary.com

The definition mentions that it is an ‘advanced or humane’ society. Does that mean more complex? Does that mean that we are better than animals? Are we no longer animals?

Animal: any member of the kingdom Animalia, comprising multicellular organisms that have a well-defined shape and usually limited growth, can move voluntarily, actively acquire food and digest it internally, and have sensory and nervous systems that allow them to respond rapidly to stimuli: some classification schemes also include protozoa and certain other single-celled eukaryotes that have motility and animallike nutritional modes.(dictionary.com)


No, I think we fall into category of animal. What about nature? Are we meant to conquer nature? Or are we supposed to embrace it symbiotically? Humans are unique and I would argue that language is what truly separates us, but this is not the time for that debate. No, the topic of this debate is about the civilization we have created. We, humans not nature, created the concept of civilization and what it means to participate in a society. For that reason I argue that it is imperfect, it is chaotic, billions of free wills interacting within the norms of global society. Why do we get up and go to work? Why do we care what others think of us? Why do we gossip? Why does it matter how much money someone makes?

What I am trying to get at is the fact that we (humans) have created this society, it was not conceived by nature nor God therefore it is imperfect and chaotic. In nature we find harmony and balance, tides ebb and flood, life begins and ends. But we have tried to alter that equilibrium for the sake of advancing our society. It seems we have decided to create something complex simply because we could.

This is very hard for me to articulate. So I shall try and substantiate my thoughts through example. Let us look at the word success. It is possible that each and every one of us has our own definition of what it means to be successful. Regardless of how many definitions exist, they are all a matter of success within the society we have created. Because we have created these concepts they are all imperfect. Yet we run around like mad trying to be successful. We are always asking kids what do you want to BE when you grow up? We are training them so young to strive for excellence and to BE something or to BE someone.

I suggest that because we as humans have created all of these concepts they are no different than polyvinylchloride (PVC) or any other plastic which humans have created. We are therefore striving for a synthetic result. Yet we spend most of our life focused on this artificial life, a false reality. I must admit that the emotions we feel are real. They are chemically tangible. The joy of love and pain of loss are real because we now exist, wholly, in this imaginary world.

Honestly, what is money? Honestly…it is just a colored cloth. WE give it value worth dying for.

So, we exist in a world where all that we do is based on a manmade concept of what we should BE. Nearly all of our existence is spent chaotically chasing the imaginary. This seems to me a bit insane.

As a postmodernist would point out it is the documentation of what has happened, the highlight reels, that are our new reality for they will be what is remembered.

700 words into my diatribe and I am finally getting to the point. As I mentioned above we spend NEARLY all our life in the chaos, well that begs the question: What does ‘nearly’ mean and what are those moments like when we are not living in chaos.

The moments we are free of chaos are few and they are fleeting, but all we are doing is simply being. The quarrels of the world we live in are gone, all of our monetary issues dissolve and we simply…are. These moments are the few instances in life in which we are in a heightened sense of awareness. The sweetest irony of these instances is that we are not consciously aware of them until they are over. Have you ever been doing something, or nothing at all, and seem to just realize that you were content, free of obligation or tribulation. As soon as you realize it that moment is lost. It is not a state that is easily achieved, but we can associate it with certain activities or inactivities.

Once again I am limited by my own ability to illustrate this idea so I will use a couple of examples.

The first example is from some time I spent living in the rainforest. I had a very simple existence then, all I did was feed the animals at the zoo, read and relax. Every once in a great while, as I sat in a hammock it would seem like I could taste every flavor of the cheap beer, hear every bug and bird’s chirp and feel each thread of the hammock I was sitting in. My senses were heightened to the point that I was simply existing in every sense of the word. I would notice it and then it seemed to disappear and leave only a euphoric trace of what I had just experienced.

The second example I give you, is while kayak surfing on a big day, well big for me (8-15 foot waves). When paddling out I would see an impending wave and I would paddle as hard as I could and some senses would heighten, for example time would slow, but sound would disappear. If I made it over the face of the wave, before getting thrown over the falls, the boat would actually leave the water. Though I would be a mere 2 feet out of the water it would feel like I was flying. I cannot recall anything from these moments, but the impact with the water on the other side was like a reawakening. I know that in those few seconds or milliseconds I was truly existing, because I was free of the chaos; I just…was.

The third and final example is from rock climbing. When you push yourself to your physical and mental limit you leave chaos and can feel every sensation from your finger tips to your toes. These moments are the few instances of our sanity because we are free of the false reality.

The way I have detailed our daily lives, I believe that our lives are chaos interrupted with Brief Instances Of Sanity (BIOS). We have all experienced this and we will all experience it again. I think part of the reason I am so driven to push my own personal limits is because I seek this escape from chaos. I know of a few activities that can provide me with such clarity and I rely on them regularly. For me, I like to test my limits, others obtain this through reflection and/or mediation. Most of the time we just stumble upon these instances and subsequently slip out of them.

It may seem depressing to think that we are only sane for a minute portion of our life. On the other hand if you look at these moments like a gift you can appreciate them even more. It is also paramount that we keep in mind that life is relatively short and fragile. It may seem ironic that I find respite in risk. On the contrary, I understand that tomorrow may be the last day I get. So to live in fear of when or how I might die seems ridiculous. I don’t get out of bed every day in spite of the fact that I might die, no I get out of bed every day because I might die. It is not a matter of dancing with death, but a matter of exploring all that it is to BE.

One of the most difficult things for me to express is that we exist in both the insane and sane states, but to BE in the sane state is a matter of existing as a vessel of sensation, to experience the natural environment and all of the perceptual information simultaneously. The stimulation from the insane state is anything that is promotes the false human reality. Again these experiences are no less real, they are simply fabricated and not natural. In fact imagination, the most powerful tool in the human arsenal, is false, but can lead to these moments of sanity.

To be sane is to exist momentarily without being conscious. In moments of activity I find that when I leave my consciousness (not wakefulness) I can achieve incredible feats. A friend once told me that after she pulls a hard move (while climbing) she gets a tingle in her brain. That would probably fall into the conscious realization of the moment that just past.

You must know that this is a line of thought that is in development and I would love your feed back or examples of BIOS you have experienced.

For now that is all I have I will read this again and any comments I get. Then I will add or adjust as necessary.

THANK YOU,
Roberto