We could say that the Odoki Method, when successful, is about “disrupting hyperpriors”.
But what does this mean? This is a technical explanation of the changes that can occur as a result of the Method.
Let’s break this down: what is a hyper-prior, and what does it mean to disrupt them?
We have previously discussed predictive processing, a neuroscientific theory that suggests that, rather than perceiving objects in the world directly, the brain predicts what is out there in the world, then validates that against sensory experience. When that validation fails, that is, when sensory experience does not confirm the prediction, the brain is compelled to produce another prediction. This is called a “prediction error event”. The brain deliberately tries to avoid prediction errors - when they occur, the brain has to commit energy to the new prediction, and our reserves of energy are limited.
In the Odoki Method, we learn how to deliberately trigger these prediction error events, despite the best efforts of the brain to prevent them.
Predictions in the purely physical sense are easy to validate. If I show you a cup and tell you it is a chair, you will either correct me, or laugh. The one thing we can be sure of is that you won’t confirm my statement. With internal experience, this is different. If I say I’m feeling anxious, beyond my expressions and words, you will have little to go on to confirm or deny my statement. Because of this, internal predictions can more easily be incorrect. I refer to these as “incorrect predictions”. They differ from prediction errors in as much as the brain hasn’t noticed yet.
Here is where triggering prediction errors helps. We help the brain form more accurate predictions by directing attention to sensory experience that contradicts the prediction.
We can gain great benefit from this: simply understanding better the sensory components of emotions can significantly change our experience of them, reducing their intensity. For many, this aspect of the Odoki Method is more than sufficient.
However, there is a deeper level available.
Predictions are formed on the basis of “priors”. A prior is a memory, prior experience, etc. Anything in the past that impacted our model of the world. Our priors are what is used to form predictions.
These priors can be hierarchical. That is, for one prior to be valid, it requires another to be valid. In scientific terminology, priors that underly others are called hyperpriors.
Some may seem close to the bottom of the stack (or top, depending on which direction you think in!). These are (somewhat annoyingly!) often referred to as top-level priors.
To give a simple example: “I have a job. Because I have a good job, I can afford a mortgage on my house. Because I have a house. Because I have a house, I can provide for my family.” But what happens if my boss calls me into his office and tells me I’m fired? The prediction of me having a job is disrupted. And, so are my predictions about affording my mortgage and thus my prediction about providing for my family. Disrupting a hyperprior by necessity disrupts the priors that build upon it.
A quality of a hyperprior, but particularly of top level priors, is that they seem obvious. We take them for granted. They form a part of the fabric of our lives.
Now we understand what a hyperprior is, we can unpack the title: what hyperpriors might we want to disrupt?
One of the biggest hyperpriors we as humans have involves our sense of self. We know who we are, and don’t tend to investigate.
However, it turns out that this is a hyperprior that is susceptible to investigation, with very interesting, and beneficial effects.
This investigation needs to be conducted with care. It is possible to do it badly, and trigger unpleasant, or even significant and long lasting reactions. The first three stages of the Method are there precisely to avoid these issues. By establishing a suitably positive attitude to experience in general, the disruption can be experienced positively too.
Benefits vary across individuals, as it depends entirely upon how one’s inner world is constructed. It can range from a quiet sense of ease or confidence to the silencing of the inner critic, and much more substantial changes.