{"id":13962,"date":"2023-12-24T12:38:33","date_gmt":"2023-12-24T12:38:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/?p=13962"},"modified":"2025-08-12T04:26:16","modified_gmt":"2025-08-12T04:26:16","slug":"quality-of-depth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/cognitive-insights\/quality-of-depth","title":{"rendered":"Quality of Depth"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Most people would agree that \u2018quality of depth\u2019 is profoundly relevant to them personally. At the same time, many may disagree about what it entails. It\u2019s a challenging concept.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s already challenging to grasp \u2018human depth<\/a>\u2019 since subconceptual processing<\/a> \u2013 therefore also the difficulty to conceptually get it \u2013 is an inextricable feature.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Deep\u2019 itself as quality?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Low-quality depth may be particularly attractive but only temporarily or narrowly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I see many drug experiences as an example. They frequently involve depth without subsequent integration in the rest of mental life \u2014 pretty dangerous, logically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taking a drug may be as easy as ingesting a pill. Contrary to this, meditation<\/a>, for instance, can take quite some effort to attain depth. Many (including me) see precisely this effort as productive \u2013 or at least pretty helpful \u2013 for the quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then what are some consequences of good quality?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

People feel \u2018touched at the heart<\/a>.\u2019 They feel moved and changed in a way that at least feels<\/em> permanent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They may seek out repeated experiences of the same kind without getting addicted. On the contrary, they get mentally stronger and more self-reliant through what I call Inner Strength<\/a>. Also, when getting older, people tend to value mainly their past and present experiences of qualitative depth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This can all be seen as the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meaningfulness<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quality of depth and meaningfulness are deeply related. Something can only be (the cause of feeling) meaningful if there is quality of depth involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The present-day meaning crisis<\/a> is, therefore, very much a lack-of-quality-of-depth crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We should teach our children well in this regard. Unfortunately, meanwhile, well, you know<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Progress?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cultural progress tends to forget the quality of depth that is already there. This brings tensions between those who culturally want to go forward and those who wish to conserve. Such tensions can only be resolved by giving proper attention to quality of depth. This shows, in a rapidly evolving world, what should better be kept and what needs new qualitative layers of depth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Increasingly, in view of globally mounting complexity and factual proximity, this is becoming a necessity, and it\u2019s not getting easier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The near future<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With growing technological capabilities, quality of depth will become increasingly important in three ways:<\/p>\n\n\n\n