Part of the Casswiki article series Psychology
In FOTCM discourse, this term is used in a meaning similar to ‘working model’ in psychology. This term has a somewhat more biological/physiological emphasis, however. A person’s synaptic map defines the impulses and impressions a person is capable of distinguishing and determines the person’s characteristic responses to these. Things which do not correspond to this map are perceived as noise or as anomalies or in some cases not perceived at all. This map is an acquired construct but genetics may determine the limits of how complex this map may become or how quickly it is formed or which types of impressions register best.
We can think of the brain’s sensory areas as clusters of specialized detector circuits looking for patterns in the incoming stream of raw sense data. These circuits have their output connected to more similar circuits looking for patterns of patterns and so forth. As data percolates through these circuits, it is processed from raw sensation into more and more abstract concepts. At a certain level exist ‘circuits’ which recognize patterns of social interactions, interpret world events and so forth. The output of these circuits is connected to areas responsible for basic emotional responses such as fear, anger, pleasure and so forth. Due to many factors, of which some may be acquired, some genetic, this wiring can differ a great deal from person to person. For example, a psychopath’s analytic functions may be close to normal but their connection to fear and pleasure is highly abnormal.
These detector circuits and their wiring to emotion, memory and representations of cause and effect are collectively called an individual’s synaptic map. The terms as presented here are of necessity not neurologically precise, nor do we imply that this would cover all of one’s model of reality. The discussion should be understood as somewhat allegoric and incomplete.
The FOTCM proposes that the little ‘I’s and groupings of little ‘I’s spoken of by the 4th Way substantially correspond to neural structures and patterns of connections between them. These have some sort of physical representation, even though these may not be sharply divided in terms of anatomy. The FotCM proposes that the work of ‘fusing a real I’ involves increasing the number of connections between formerly loosely connected islands of brain activity. Thus the Work would have characteristic effects in terms of measurable brain activity. This is interactive with brain chemistry, so that thought influences chemistry and vice versa. Very specific types of brain activity related to ‘transforming shocks’ as meant in the 4th Way may have specific brain chemical results which may open generally latent faculties, i.e. the “higher centers” of the 4th Way. Much of tradition, such as alchemy and 4th Way may be allegorical descriptions of very physical brain processes.
Again, this is not a complete description nor can the Work be reduced to this alone.
See also
- Brain
- Imprinting stages
- Juvenile vs. adult dictionary
- Little ‘I’s
- Personality