\u2018Nothing\u2019 gets burned out.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Herein lies the big challenge. The burnout feeling is real enough. However, to grasp what really gets burned out, one must take an uncommon view of reality \u2014 no magic, of course. What gets burned out happens at the subconceptual<\/a> level; therefore, hardly or not conceptually graspable. Trying to get a conceptual take on the happening will not readily lead to a solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This way, people with a florid stage of burnout frequently take a long time \u2013 many months \u2013 to painstakingly grow out of it, with a huge cost to themselves and society. They don\u2019t get the support they need and deserve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even more. They may be led to actively resist looking into the necessary direction \u2014 the subconceptual one, this is: oneself as a total person. Even worse, this may leave the stage for any magical promise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Houston, we have a problem.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s not a problem far away in space but deep inside (ourselves).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Burnout is also an \u2018interesting\u2019 problem in that it also clearly shows the solution to a much bigger one. Namely, the entire planet is coming more and more together through modern means of communication. That makes it increasingly crucial for people to get real as total persons \u2014 nothing less than who we are. If we don\u2019t get real, the whole world risks massive burnout. If not well managed, this may put everything on fire. No kidding \u2014 it is happening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Please don\u2019t start doom thinking.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It is also not my intention to lead anyone to such. It\u2019s not helpful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the contrary, we have the solution at hand \u2014 inside. This same direction is relevant to the planet and each person with burnout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Human energy<\/a> = deep motivation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The feeling of lost energy = a lack of deep motivation<\/a>. This is not something you can just find or take, least of all as a pill \u2015 also, importantly, nothing to feel guilty about!<\/p>\n\n\n\n In burnout, one feels the absence of motivation altogether, thus also for little things. Even getting out of bed or starting the day may take a lot of \u2018energy.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, if you are in burnout, you are in a precarious position.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Other people (and even you) cannot grasp what is happening if \u2018grasping\u2019 means nothing but being able to conceptually place things in a mental landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hopefully, this text and other blog texts<\/a> clearly show a better way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The lesson of A.I.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A.I. researchers have tried for a long time to solve complex problems (language, speech recognition\u2026) conceptually, using logic as the primary tool. There was progress, but also a getting halted exponentially in unsolvable complicatedness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An A.I. winter wasn\u2019t followed by a spring until subconceptual solutions came along through deep neural networks, recently also generative transformational processing (GTP). Actually, these technologies have been basically around for decades \u2015 their leading proponents being ostracized. At present, some of these are heralded as the heroes of A.I.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, we have booming business. Still, few people seem to have learned that this lesson also applies to the equally booming problems of burnout and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The lesson of (brain) science<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Here, too, conceptual methods and theories have held sway for a long time. Here, too, they should keep having a prominent place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, conceptuality alone doesn\u2019t pass the mustard to grasp whatever is meaningful to us. Fortunately, cognitive neuroscience is getting there by giving attention to neuronal patterns<\/a>. The parallel with A.I. is obvious. This also started in the eighties, indeed. A seminal book \u2013 my first kickstart in thinking toward the AURELIS project back then \u2013 was Parallel Distributed Processing<\/em> by Rumelhart & McClelland (1986), followed by The Computational Brain<\/em> by Churchland & Sejnowski (1992), and a torrent of related research. Both books are still absolutely read-worthy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Increasingly, this science shows the appropriate level to understand what gets burned out. Equally, it\u2019s being ignored by almost the whole domain of burnout healers. Part of the why is that the disciplines (wrongfully) seem far away from each other. The main reason is that, culturally, we still don\u2019t see ourselves as who we are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The lesson of burnout<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The above can teach us what is most important about what gets burned out. Abstractly seen, of course, it should have been apparent all along. Under different names, burnout has been here for centuries, millennia. In ancient times, people visited a temple for a \u2018sleeping cure.\u2019 That wasn\u2019t a bad idea, after all, given their insights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Spirituality was a good direction. Now, we can combine it with rationality and science.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The way forward is clear to me.<\/p>\n