Can we wake up from our trance?
War between robots and humans has already started, and it doesn’t look like what we feared, it’s worse… AI is taking over, but there’s hope. What now?
Lately, I’ve been more and more interested in artificial intelligence. One reason could be my recent involvement in an AI project. This experience made me realize that artificial intelligence is already everywhere. It’s just not as obvious as it is in the movies.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve always loved a certain type of sci-fi. In fact, The Matrix left a deep impression on me when I was fourteen. Ironically, it became the world we now live in.
Many years ago, I developed a passion for hypnosis. I was attracted by humanist hypnosis which understands that we all have access to an elevated state of consciousness. Entering into hypnotic trance is the equivalent of the red pill swallowed by Neo in The Matrix: it opens up to another reality, getting us out of our blissful ignorance. Indeed, we’ve lost track of our true selves, while absorbing our environment more and more. Then, disconnected from our own source, we stay asleep, in one layer of reality, for the rest of our lives. However, if we can reconnect to our true identity, we can create our reality and enter the state of flow, coming together with happiness, intuition, and fulfillment.
For years I followed the work of the French hypnotherapist Olivier Lockert. He explained that entering into a state of trance can allow us to truly “wake up”. In fact, to reconnect with our higher consciousness, we need to enter into a light state of trance: gone just enough to detach from the low layer of reality, but present enough to integrate the expanded wisdom and knowledge into our reality. This “awakening” is the elevation of our individual potential and of our understanding of the world. Some call that “raising your vibration”.
I started to follow Mr. Lockert’s work in my early twenties. When I understood I could find myself, that is connect, and even reconnect to my inner wisdom thanks to this technique, I experienced a big aha moment. The first time I followed one of his hypnotic inductions, I expanded myself so much that when I opened my eyes, I felt one head taller than my usual height! That might explain why people always think I am 6 feet tall when I am barely a 5’9…
Hundreds of times, I practiced the guided self-hypnosis “expansion of consciousness”, experiencing a deep and unique trip every time. I used this state to make big and small decisions, and to understand where I was heading when nothing seemed to make sense. I confess I also used this state just to enjoy the bliss of floating above Earth, of flying above luxurious forests, and of feeling the love and light that vibrate brightly beyond our material reality. I used hypnotic inductions to heal my past and find peace in some relationships. In fact, I found so much growth and answers on this journey that I ended up taking an intense week-long workshop under Mr. Lockert’s supervision, gaining my first certification in hypnosis… But I digress.
Recently, my partner and I watched the new docudrama The Social Dilemma on Netflix. In substance, we already knew that our data is being collected. We also knew that the feeds and commercials we see depend on what we’ve been watching lately. You’ve also probably experienced yourself the sudden apparition of commercials about the one thing you were talking about with a friend a few minutes before. This intrusion in my private life tends to frustrate me extensively, as I don’t know how to keep private my private conversations.
From the documentaries on AI that I’ve watched, and from The Social Dilemma, I’ve come to really understand the dangers of AI and bias. AI does not know the difference between right or wrong. It creates a profile for everyone of us based on our own searches, the pictures and videos we look at and how long we look at them, our contacts, etc. and it keeps refining our avatar. Social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter…), as well as Google, YouTube, and so on, are the tools used to build such profiles.
The Social Dilemma explains that our data is collected and analyzed by computers communicating with each other. Based on the profile “they” build, “they” recommend content for you. For instance, if you’ve been searching for “conspiracy theory”, “they” will keep showing you such content, reinforcing the point of view you already had. The Social Dilemma teaches us that fake news spreads six times faster than true news… Shocking, yet enlightening!
The rise of extremism we’ve witnessed all over the world in recent years is partially the result of unregulated social media and artificial intelligence. Civil wars and violence keep showing up more and more in advanced societies, fed by AI.
So… What’s the bridge between hypnosis and AI? We need to wake up!
AI is already here and brings a lot to our lives. But we need to beware of our own ability to self-destruct and reconnect to our true selves to rise above our feeds. It’s the only way humanity can find a better peace, and it’s the only way we’ll keep expanding as individuals and as a group.
“The species that survives is the one that is best able to adapt and adjust to the changing environment in which it finds itself. “ — Darwin
Humanity is somehow lost and conflicted between her innate desire for growth and expansion (the unknown), and her equally innate need for safety and comfort (the known). It’s our faith in the wisdom of the world and in love and our re-connection to nature that will save us.
Humanity needs to wake up from its trance.
Let’s dare to get out of our comfort zone more often, leave the phone at home to go for a walk, watch the sky and hug a tree. Let’s dare to be alone in silence, to allow the unexpected to happen, to meet people with our heart. Let’s open our hearts to free our mind, and truly expand. There we will find true freedom.
“What makes us human is not our mind but our heart, not our ability to think but our ability to love.” ― Henri J.M. Nouwen
Perhaps after you’ve watched The Social Dilemma, you’ll want to shut down your phone and watch a few episodes of Moving Art…
To learn about “The Journey of the Heart”, visit TheJourneyOfTheHeart.com
For music, projects and more, visit AnnaCley.com
Empowering children and youth impacting by trauma: visit Vocalise.org
