Other Names for the Opaque

Because of the Opaque level's slow narrowing of attention, it can resemble what scientists of the 20th century called 'autonomous.' The bottom layer, which is capable of so much, fell into the story of the little robot mechanically ticking away at its little preordained job. And that story is neither true, nor useful, nor necessary. It is a story of inaccessible habit. Neuroscientists call it 'sub-personal'--the level that 'never' processes as experience. (Snort of skepticism.) But of course there's no real 'it' to name. The opaque is a generalization situated in a multitude of gradations, and it is also a useful concept.