The Cybernetic Culture Research Unit was a kind of fringe art/philosophy group based at the University of Warwick in the early-mid 1990s. Their work was wildly transdisciplinary, playing with Continental notions of “theory-fiction” and a nascent psychedelic transhumanism, not unlike the Californian “New Edge” subculture of the time. Whatever the strengths and weaknesses of the CCRU and groups like them, their bold approach and enthusiasm to these new ideas were indicative of a new wave of optimistic engagement with the future. Sometimes this optimism could seem perverse, like the “Fatal Strategies” of Baudrillard, in that it required the ability to imagine futures beyond the exhaustion and collapse of contemporary societal institutions.

This extreme form of optimistic engagement with the future is alive and well. Transhumanism has become a strong movement which is rapidly gaining respectability, thanks to science and technology beginning to deliver on some of the early visions. It is a movement with multiple themes, sub-groups and representatives, such as Humanity+, the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford University, or the SENS Foundation.

But these are all fairly mainstream, even “respectable” organizations, not exactly the same heady flavour as the CCRU. Where does a young would-be transhumanist go to get something a little more edgy, artistic, philosophical, countercultural, immediate… something they can get involved with right now, rather than sitting on the sidelines?

Zero State is a cell or node within the Transhuman X (TX) network – an informal association of radical, counterculture transhumanists. Groups under the TX umbrella primarily differ from other transhumanist organizations in that we choose to explore our ideas through art aswell as science, and we prefer to focus on action that can be taken now, rather than deferring to some imagined future where everything has worked out fine.

We are dedicated to experimentation, and finding ways to communicate experimental ideas in popular formats. True experimentation is about exploring the parameters of common experience, pushing out into the space of possible alternatives.

“If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences”

- W.I. Thomas

“Humankind cannot bear very much reality”

- T.S. Eliot

The Zero State worldview – known as “Doctrine Zero” -  is part transhumanism, part neo-gnosticism; it is the idea that you have lived your entire life in the darkened basement of reality. By modifying your beliefs, perceptions, and cognitive capabilities (“expanding your mind”, as Timothy Leary would have said), you can become aware of different aspects of existence. The process of self-modification begins with psychological techniques, including examination of your beliefs (and the nature of belief in general), and points toward a future in which humanity is transformed by emerging technologies. Within DZ, the content of a belief is not nearly as important as its ability to guide your perception of – and engagement with – the world.

In addition to being the name of this school of thought, Doctrine Zero is a group of people committed to exploring and testing the boundaries of their beliefs, perceptions, and lives. The name “Doctrine Zero” itself is that of a briefly mentioned anarcho-surrealist group in “The Invisibles” by Grant Morrison. Like Mr Morrison’s graphic novel series, DZ is built upon a neo-gnostic worldview. Gnosticism began as an essentially religious idea, which in some quarters has recently developed into something more broadly metaphysical.

Although strains of gnostic thought appeared within paganism, judaism and christianity (spawning the likes of neo-platonism and kabbalah), gnosticism itself is arguably older than any of these. Its strength is that it is essentially a very simple idea. The idea is that there is something subtly, yet vastly wrong with the world: We are unwitting prisoners within it. That idea, of course, can be expressed through the prisms of any number of belief systems. The post-war/postmodern world has seen both an explosion of technology and the revivification of ancient gnostic impulses.

DZ’s brand of neo-gnosticism is essentially atheist (i.e. not anti-theist, just not necessarily requiring any reference to religion) and transhumanist. The idea is that the Universe manifests in ways that are beyond the perceptual capacity of human beings, for both neuro-psychological and sociological reasons. As an example of how perception is limited by our neural “wetware”, just think for a moment about why it is that certain insects can see in the ultraviolet spectrum and we can’t – how the term “visible light” refers only to what is visible to humans – and what implications that has for how much “reality” we perceive visually. Then, take a moment to see if you can imagine plausible equivalents for your other senses, and other potential senses which human beings do not possess.

A second example is the fact that some things (such as face recognition or the tone or ‘gist’ of a social situation) can be more easily - intuitively – grasped by most people than can other things (such as complex mathematics). This is because human brains have developed dedicated computational resources to deal with phenomena common in our evolutionary history. Psychologists call these specialized resources “modules”. A person with an artificial “maths module” wired to their brain could, in principle, perceive mathematical problems and their solutions with the same intuitive ease with which you and I perceive a friend’s facial features. In comparison with the kind of perceptual possibilities evoked by this line of thought, humans have small minds.

Not only are we limited in this respect from the outset, but we humans tend to further limit our perceptual range in order to be functioning members of society. To fit in, we implicitly agree to perceive “consensus realities”. In other words, we focus on (and therefore perceive) only those aspects of existence which we expect others to agree with, or react positively to.

DZ is based upon the idea that one could, in principle, remove the various perceptual filters imposed by our brains and societies, and perceive a much wider arena of Reality than that previously thought to exist. This is achieved through a range of techniques. For example, psychological techniques can be used to overcome rigid social conditioning and maintain vital mental flexibility. If more power is required, one might climb the ladder of techniques to employ tools such as psychedelics or gene therapy. The further up this ladder you climb, the more speculative and powerful the required technologies become. One might argue that you can’t remove perceptual filters without imposing others, but there are techniques for dealing with that, too.

If you would like to know more, drop us a line - info@doctrinezero.com - or visit zerostate.net.
- Amon Zero