Perceptual hierarchy is the essence of physical hierarchy. The evidence can most easily be seen in the formation of the idea of what is 'good' within creative industries.
What is 'good' - who is 'good' - what style is 'popular' etc
Over time, the group mind organizes itself to create more value for skill and talent and less value for non-skill and non-talent. The measure of 'skill' changing over time - to trends and confidence levels as well as direct manipulation of the group mind via its tendencies.
Near the beginning of a perceptual hierarchy development - confidence is often associated with skill and in time as the hierarchy develops - confidence as a skill becomes a higher priority than skill itself.
So we have artists and musicians that are very good at marketing themselves and being good enough to pass as skillful and yet the same bar that was used time ago to judge what had perceptual value has been shifted and as a result the collective appreciation of art deteriorates - more and more self-entitled individuals try to 'make it' and less and less is based on what has 'value' as what required more active conscious involvement to create (eg. Discipline).
Some create their own step on the ladder of creative hierarchies with their own style by injecting a large amount of energy with confidence into projecting it into the group mind - regardless of how 'skillful' - and this then cements a new position in the hierarchy with its own branch.
There are many artists in history that have created lackluster work and yet had an innate understanding of group consciousness and how people created value - this work then went on to become a backbone of future developments in cornerstones of art.
The value spectrum can shift from 'conscious involvement' to 'emotionally charged' - then triggering emotional involvement of the viewer/listener becomes a priority over art/music that requires a lot of discipline.
The culmination of a cycle of hierarchy is had by the building up and suppression of energy by the parts of the collective that no longer receive rewards for having talent or being skillful from a merely merit perspective and this buildup eventually creates the groundwork for a reset. A fall of the hierarchy is due, due to the inherent dishonesty it has developed within itself which eats away at itself like a cancer and collapses under its own skin.
This is a cycle.
At any stage of the cycle (and the unspoken rules of the perceptual hierarchy are known to the perceptive observer) as soon as you start to participate in the rules and make a place for yourself in the hierarchy you are then bound by the hierarchy.
In order to maintain your place within the hierarchy once 'in' - you must follow the rules. You must maintain the level of 'skill' and 'confidence' you exhibited before to get you to this place and in order to progress you must increase your capacity to follow the rules of the perceptual hierarchy you are now in. As you make your way higher on this ladder - you bind yourself with more and more boundaries. Your expression becomes more and more definite in order to achieve the end of maintaining your position with the possibility of getting higher.
Be it known that when the hierarchy ceases to be fluid - the group mind stagnates - and this precedes a collapse. It must always be fluid because the group mind is always shifting - the forms that are generated by the group mind must then shift with it.
A general misunderstanding of group dynamics and the way hierarchies are formed and disbanded can be the cause of more violent shift from 'high thrones' to 'flat ground'.
Misunderstanding the nature of hierarchy from those in high places that wish to retain their position in the hierarchy forever can cause them to scramble for survival of their position and scramble to bolster the hierarchy regardless of its value standing - they then take to all manner of dirty tactics to keep their position and maintain the structure of the hierarchy. It is a game against time and against the rules of group consciousness in a bid to control indefinitely.
This concept of perceptual hierarchy generation and its cycles is universal to the creation of all hierarchy. The creative world (eg. music, art, dance) is a snapshot of how the rest of world develops and forms with civilization's cycles. The over-confident self-entitled minimum skill upholdees in this situation are politicians. In the creative world are seen more fluid cycles that chop and change more frequently than strictly power driven hierarchies of ownership or rulership.
So in the observation of the creative world - we can learn how hierarchy is developed and reset in all other aspects of life.
To provide a snapshot to see how much your mind is influenced by these invisible perceptual hierarchies and how much you already participate in them - consider the top ten artists you consider playing/making 'good' music/art and are 'skillful'.
Now analyse each one of them - consider why.
Not why anyone else thinks - but why you think.
I am reminded of an experience where a popular 'music producer' who happens to be very good at organizing loops on a screen was considered by a friend to be of the most skillful in nature simply because of the 'awards' they won and the repetition of the information of them being 'good' in the group mind. In questioning the skill of this 'talented producer' - I became an outcast. I no longer spoke the language of the hierarchy to which this person adhered and my judgement was immediately assumed to be of egoic nature - which is a common defensive projection from a person participating as the group mind having their beliefs questioned with common sense.
Why are we not allowed to discuss that which is deemed skillful or talented while within the hierarchy? Why are we not allowed to question it? Kind of like when someone says, 'Trust the science' to you - but when you question what they say (and by doing so practice science) they then may call you a conspiracy theorist. 'Science' is an information hierarchy unconsciously participated in by the group - science practiced is the art of questioning and experimentation in order to create repeatable results.
Dissect your tastes and see how much of them are conditioned by these perceptual hierarchies generated by the group mind. Identify the hierarchies of tastes. Consider what you deem valuable - consider how you and your friends generate that value.
As the immature group mind slowly realises how much the wool has been pulled over its eyes - this pressure created by honesty and common sense culminates in a fall/reset - apocalypse (awakening).
At no point of the process was any one in the group actually making a conscious decision to like or not like something - it is all driven by the cycle of the creation and fall of perceptual hierarchies - of what is deemed skillful and of merit - of taste and of trend - of popularity and of confidence - then finally of truth and honesty - which then resets the cycle and collapses the old hierarchy. It then starts again with the level of 'conscious involvement' in a craft as a major foundation for the next cycle of perceptual hierarchy.
It is therefore a more valuable skill to first understand how the group mind operates and receives and accepts information before attempting to be a rock star.
It can be said that the survival of a society on the long-term is dependent on its ability to have fluid hierarchies - the final resting place of a perfect society is one that understands its own nature and no longer requires to generate hierarchy in order to avoid conscious involvement (pain).
How much of you is really you?
How much of you did you condition yourself?
To know that, you're going to have to break down your own conditioning and analyze it.
How can you know what that conditioning is if you don't know what conditioning is?
You're going to have to put in some work and study it. Possibly, the rules of the group mind and its mechanisms have never been more openly displayed in public than in the documented history of the human today.
Or, are you a fish happy in water not needing to know it is in water...
What if the water was in bad taste? How would you know if you didn't even know what water is?
If you start unraveling this ball of string... well... you'll start to be forced to unravel the following balls of string...
Do you care? What is ignorance? What is bliss? Who am I? Am I real? Is reality actually being experienced? What in reality as I perceive it is definite?
Would I learn anything in a pain free environment? Did someone make this world or reality? Did I make it?
Am I a sadist, a mystic or a teacher? Why the hell 'a body'? What is the point of experience?
Is experience 'pointed'?
After I have gained the perception that I have the answers to these questions... am I different or better than I was before?
Can the fabric of reality be changed?
What is the fabric of reality?
How did I get here?
Regards,
Monty Cash
Co-producer at Dreams to Reality Productions
https://dreamstoreality.vision
excellent post with loads to mull over.
Hope ya well
Thanks! You too 😀
No doubt you have taken your time to write such a good post.