Greg Reese Report - The Causality of Government
Aired: 2026-01-27
Duration: 04:33


=== Half a Second of Bliss (03:06) ===

[00:00:06]  In the Mind Wandering Discovery by Killingsworth and Gilbert, over a quarter million data points showed that people were not focused on what they were doing for about 47% of their waking lives.
[00:00:18]  And the less focus they had, the more unhappy they were.
[00:00:22]  Decades of research show that nearly half of daily life consists of automatic behaviors executed without conscious decision-making.
[00:00:31]  Unconscious, automatic brain activity precedes conscious awareness by about half a second, and in most cases, will help keep you consciously oblivious to half of your waking life.
[00:00:43]  There is a default setting that our nervous system goes into whenever we lose focus and wander.
[00:00:49]  Scientific studies have identified it as the default mode network.
[00:00:54]  This is what Buddhism calls ignorance and Gurdjieff called waking sleep.
[00:00:59]  Many spiritual traditions have diagnosed the human condition as one of chronic inattention and have taught various practices to remedy this problem and help us wake up.
[00:01:11]  But this chronic inattention is big business for authoritarian governments, which is why there has been so much invested into covertly programming the subconscious mind with media.
[00:01:21]  If people are content to live half their life unaware of themselves, then a governing system will manage their lives for them as they see fit.
[00:01:30]  The unconscious brains of billions are programmed to make predictable choices without ever activating conscious awareness and critical thought.
[00:01:39]  And that's old-fashioned compared to the latest neural implant science.
[00:01:44]  The claustrum is a thin, irregular sheet of neurons present in both hemispheres of the brain and has more biodirectional cortical connectivity than any other structure.
[00:01:54]  It is believed to be the conductor of the orchestra that binds together all sensory streams into a unified conscious experience.
[00:02:03]  In the Kobesi study of 2014, electrodes were placed between the left claustrum and the anterior insula of a patient who is conscious and performing tasks.
[00:02:13]  When they turned the electrode on, the 14 Hz signal caused an immediate shutdown of conscious awareness.
[00:02:20]  The patient had a blank stare and was unresponsive to commands, but continued to perform their automatic behaviors.
[00:02:27]  Once the switch was turned off again, the patient experienced immediate recovery with no memory of the interruption.
[00:02:35]  If consciousness can be switched off with a 14 Hz signal, and most people are already operating unconsciously half the time, the implications for autonomy are profound.
[00:02:46]  Focused self-awareness brings more happiness and success, and for regular practitioners, much more.
[00:02:54]  Meditation experts have significantly changed their own brain structure and are operating on levels unattainable to those with a wandering mind.
[00:03:03]  But for the beginner, this higher consciousness is achieved with the simple practice of becoming fully aware of whatever you are doing at any given moment.

=== The Path to Enlightenment (01:20) ===

[00:03:12]  This is expressed succinctly with the Zen proverb, before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.
[00:03:18]  After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.
[00:03:22]  A significant amount of the population is mostly running on autopilot and making decisions based on subconscious triggers.
[00:03:30]  And there isn't much you can do about that.
[00:03:32]  But if you truly want freedom, the default zombie mode of thinking must be overridden through regular daily practice.
[00:03:39]  It doesn't cost anything, and you can start right now.
[00:03:42]  Chop wood, carry water, means whatever you are doing, do it with presence.
[00:03:48]  Like Thick Not Han famously wrote, daily chores are not chores.
[00:03:53]  They are opportunities to practice mindfulness and experience the miracle of life by being fully present.
[00:04:00]  When everything we do is done with intention, only then can we claim to have agency over our own self.
[00:04:07]  And without that agency, there will be an authoritarian state to administer it.
[00:04:13]  Greg Reese Reporting.
[00:04:28]  The Rees Report is now fully funded by my Substack subscribers.