The Mercer Journal Podcast

Prediction paralysis stalls movement. Too many possible futures means the mind can commit to any given direction. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wardmercer.substack.com

Episode Three of “The Mind, Mapped” looks below the waterline at the formation of identity. How the process works of building the “structure” we call identity. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wardmercer.substack.com

When the system of overloaded, load increases. Too many options and the mind stalls. The ability to predict becomes strained, and overwhelm increases. This episode looks at that phenomenon. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wardmercer.substack.com

In episode one we established the waterline between the conscious and subconscious. In this episode, we take a look below the waterline. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wardmercer.substack.com

Why does movement slow down when we have many important things to do? They all matter, they’re all important, any yet, the system slows, and sometimes, even stops. Part 6 of the Movement series looks at this question. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wardmercer.substack.com

The Mind, Unbuilt Series broke down the definitions of consciousness and left us us with these terms. Receiver. First eye. Second eye. Gate. Write channel. Interpreter. What hasn’t been shown yet is the architecture those terms point at — the structure they all live inside. The Mind, Mapped reveals that structure. The Mercer Journal is an independent, reader-supported platform. You can back our wo...

The Weight of Unfinished Things (Movement Series Pt5) The Mechanics of Cognition By the Mercer Journal Why do small things left undone feel heavier than larger more complex projects? Why does the mind continually return to loose ends? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wardmercer.substack.com

The Gate Part Five of The Mind, Unbuilt By the Mercer Journal There is a moment where the conscious thinking and the unconscious truth meet, and diverge. This is when the first eye and the second eye meet, and the time when the gate is open. To explore the mind, listen to episode five. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episode...

Why We Wait for Motivation Part 4 of the Movement Series, From Mechanics of Cognition Some tasks never begin. There are many reasons why. This episode focuses on the reason of ‘waiting for motivation,’ and why this doesn’t help. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wardmercer.substack.com

The Second Eye Part Four of The Mind, Unbuilt What is “the second eye”? It is the thing that writes conscious experience into “the receiver,” the black box of consciousness. It has the capacity to observe itself observing experience. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wardmercer.substack.com

What Survived the Sorting Part Three of The Mind, Unbuilt The Sorting is complete. Only Qualia and Attention remain. Are these two things, or one thing from two different angles, and what this means for consciousness. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wardmercer.substack.com

Why Some Tasks Never Start Part 3 of The Movement Series By the Mercer Journal Why is it so hard to start tasks, even when we actually want to do them? Episode 3 of The Movement Series examines this common problem to see if there is a solution. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wardmercer.substack.com

The Unbundling , From The Mind, Unbuilt, Pt 2 By The Mercer Journal In Part 2 of the Mind, Unbuilt, we break down the definition of consciousness which has accumulated for centuries, and look at what actually constitutes “consciousness.” This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wardmercer.substack.com

Why People Talk Past Each Other From Conversations That Should Have Worked When the same problems in conversations repeat themselves, perhaps there is a variable we are missing. This series, Conversations That Should Have Worked explores these problems, and leads up to that variable. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes,...

How to Start When You Don’t Feel Like It (Movement Pt2) From The Mechanics of Cognition The common conception is that movement follows motivation. This so often is wrong. The truth is that, so often, motivation follows movement. And the hardest part of starting a fire is ignition. This is where friction is highest. The Movement series examines why the act of starting is so hard, where to see the p...

The Pile Problem The Mind, Unbuilt Pt1 The problem of human consciousness has existed for centuries. Definitions have grown and grown, and now, after so long, there are a pile of definitions. Why, after so long, has this question not been answered? What, after all, is the core of consciousness? This series, The Mind, Unbuilt, looks at this problem, and attempts sort the pile. This is a public epis...

Why the Mind Won’t Move — Part 1 of the Movement Series From The Mechanics of Cognition | The Mercer Journal ⸻ Episode Summary You know what to do. You’ve already decided. And still—nothing happens. This episode breaks down a common but poorly understood experience: the moment where action should begin, but doesn’t. Not because you lack knowledge, discipline, or motivation—but because something mu...

The Phantom Certainty Loop (The Mechanics of Cognition) By The Mercer Journal Most rumination or second guessing doesn’t happen during the conversation. It happens after. In this episode, we break down what’s actually going on in that loop—the moment when replay turns into interpretation, and interpretation hardens into something that feels certain. This is what I call the Phantom Certainty Loop....

The Mechanics of Cognition Episode: The Masking Burden On the Cognitive Load of Being Hard to Read — and a Smaller Way Out By The Mercer Journal Overview You can perform well in an interaction—say the right things, respond on cue—and still walk away drained. This episode examines why. Not as a personality issue, and not strictly as a clinical label, but as a load problem: what happens when a conve...

Some thoughts aren’t problems. They only appear to be. When the mind tries to solve what has no solution, it creates a loop—one that feels important, urgent, and unfinished. This episode breaks that loop down and shows a simple way to step out of it: not by solving the thought, but by recognizing when it isn’t a task at all. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other su...