Can you be reckless and still love people well? I don’t think you can. In fact, those options are two complete opposites on the consciousness spectrum. If you’re going to be awake, you can’t make decisions without considering the consequences of your actions.
“I Want To Play A Game…”
Keep this poker analogy in mind as you read: everyone has their cards dealt to them in life.
Some have a better hand than others, and we’re all betting against each other to lose.
Some of us take risks to earn a better hand.
Some of us are content to just play the hand we’re given.
Some may lie, cheat, and steal to win.
You’ve got a hand to play. You and your opponent both want to win, but do you both know the actual rules of the game?
Is your opponent bluffing and drawing cards at random? Or is that just what they want you to think? Could you call their bluff? There’s only one thing you need to know to get them to fold: Do you know that they don’t know?
More importantly: do they know that you know this?
Game Theory
This situation you’ve found yourself in has a name. In game theory, economists call being aware of the unknown (even if you can’t provide answers) your “k-level”.
Side note: There are 4 types of knowing about something:
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Known knowns: We’re aware and mindful of what we already know.
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Known unknowns: There are things we do not know the answers to, and this is all we know.
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Unknown knowns: We don’t realize just how much we know about something. The information may be dormant, subconscious, or repressed.
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Unknown unknowns: We can’t react to what we can’t see, and we can’t know what we don’t know should be known, much like asking the average person about the contents of the entire known universe.
Most economists who study k-levels say that there could be as many as 20 of them. At each progressive level, you’re more aware of how much your opponent knows. By nature, you are only aware that there is a level below you (k-1), but none above you (k+1).
At Level 0, neither you nor your poker-playing opponent know anything. You’re both just making random decisions, without any regard for positive or negative effects on each other. At this level, you’ve both just have to deal with the consequences, and you’re not compensated for it in any way. (If there are any winners, it’s through dumb luck, not strategy.) Economists would call these effects “externalities”.
At Level 1, in a different scenario, you know that your poker-playing opponent is playing at Level 0. By nature, they do not know that you’re playing at Level 1. You could sum this up by saying: “I know that you don’t know rules, but you don’t know that I know this.”
If you’ve ever heard the term, “I’m playing chess and they’re playing checkers”, that would describe you in a k-level 1 rather well.
In Level 2, the next highest stage of consciousness, you know that your opponent might’ve leveled up, but they’re still playing at Level 1. You could sum this up by saying: “I know that you don’t know the rules of the game, and you know that I know that you don’t know this.”
Theoretically, Level 3 is actually the first stage where there should be an even playing field! Everyone has the same access to information in the game, and there’s no room for anyone to pull the wool over anyone’s eyes. You could sum this up by saying: “I know that you know that I know the rules, and you know that I know that you know this.”
Hopefully by now, the k-levels are starting to make sense to you. Maybe you even know by now which one you’re on! But just for fun, let’s add one more level.
At level 4, you make a play knowing that your opponent is at level 3. You could sum up level 4 by saying: “I know that you know that I know that you know the rules, and you know that I know that you know this.”
So when would you ever see this in real life? Let’s close out with an example.
How To Write Conscious Rap
Let’s say you just received some spiritual inspiration to write your next song. Let’s say the topic is how harmful Critical Race Theory is in our public education system; you’ve got some knowledge to impart to your audience.
By nature, you know something that your audience doesn’t know. You’re probably at a k-level 2. You receive your knowledge from God, who’s probably on a k-level of 20. We’ll assume your audience is at a k-level 0.
You know that they don’t know about Critical Race Theory. Do they know that you know that they don’t know? Your song is going to educate them on how harmful it is. And with this knowledge, presumably it will raise them to a higher k-level of 1, because they’re now educated, more informed and have a heightened sense of awareness about CRT and its effects on society at large. Your music helped them learn how to love others better; this is why education and understanding provides society.
Perhaps the parent who hears your song will consider homeschooling their child. Or they’ll attend the next PTA meeting to inquire about the new curriculum. In this scenario, your music helped drive someone to take action, to make a power move. They’ve raised their social awareness and consciousness. They’ve evolved from a k-level 0 (making a random choice) to Level 1 (a more informed choice).
That’s the power we have as conscious artists!
I Know Something You Don’t Know
By nature, whenever we make content (music, blogs, podcasts, etc.), we’re assuming that we know something our audience doesn’t; we have some wisdom to give. The question is, do they know that they need to know? Or do we know that they already know it?
Such is the life of being a conscious artist; such is the life of being a Christian mystic musician.
How will you use this information?
