Learning to Trust & Honor My Cognition
The 4 transformations of Variable in Human Design are about unlocking your true cognitive potential so that you can make intelligent decisions, make an impact and create value for those on your fractal line through your Outer Authority.
Your Determination, Environment, Perspective and Motivation support you in the process of differentiation. When you honor these unique aspects of yourself, new neural pathways open up in the brain, which nurture deeper senses within your body and mind.
This whole process starts with the way that you take in food, information and the experience of life- your Determination.
Determination is your body’s internal dependent variable. It’s the Color below the gate and line of your Design Sun + Earth.
Your Determination will give you insights into how your brain and physical being are best nourished internally. These are the conditions or circumstances that you best digest whatever you’re taking in.
When you honor your Determination, you strengthen your Cognition, which is the primary way your brain processes and digests whatever it takes in.
Your Cognition represents your cognitive architecture and is what gives you your inherent intelligence. This is your strongest sense.
True intelligence behind decisions comes from your Cognition and this will be cloudy if you’re not feeding yourself according to your Determination.
Your Cognition comes from the tone, which is below the color of your unconscious Sun/ Earth gates. The tone is what sets the direction of each variable.
Tones 1-3 (Smell, Taste, Outer Vision) will be left facing and Tones 4-6 (Inner Vision, Feeling, Touch) will be right facing.
If you have a left facing arrow, you have an ACTIVE BRAIN.
If you have a right facing arrow, you have a PASSIVE BRAIN.
Active Brain: The way that you intake and digest information is more focused and active. You like to be engaged in the learning process and take in whatever you’re focused on. Active brains need to be fed more regularly and don’t do well with things like intermittent fasting.
Passive Brain: The way that you intake and digest information is more receptive and passive. You take in everything without needing to be focused on what you’re learning. Passive brains don’t need to consume as much or as frequently as someone with an active brain- in fact it’s actually not healthy for you.
I have Calm Touch Determination and Taste Cognition. When I first heard about Determination, I was pretty resistant because I thought it was another diet that I would have to subscribe to. As someone who has had a difficult relationship with food and struggled with disordered eating, I was not interested in another diet.
However, through following my inner authority, I started to witness how I was already eating according to my Determination, without even being fully aware of it. And as a result, I also started to witness my Taste Cognition become stronger.
What helped me to understand my Determination was to see it as what helps me to digest the experience of life instead of just being connected with food and information. We’re constantly intaking things from the experience of being alive in a physical body and our Determination supports us in processing it through our Cognition.
With having Calm Touch Determination, I’m sensitive to the vibe and energy around me. It is hard for me to digest what I am taking in if I am in a chaotic environment. I’ve never been someone who could eat on the go. Meal time for me is a whole ritual. I love touching my food, which is why I love to prepare my own food. I can feel the frequency that was put into the preparation of what I consume.
As I began to honor my Calm Touch Determination, I witnessed how I was much more discerning with what I would consume- this is what Taste Cognition is all about.
Taste Cognition is connected to the Splenic Binary and thus is related to safety, security and intuition. Taste has a very discerning palate that is able to pick up through its taste buds and breathing in through the mouth, what and who is safe. Taste is powerful at recognizing patterns, picking up on changes and tapping into the unknown.
I can taste when someone or something is fake or artificial. This is another reason why I prefer to make my own food. I can always make my food match my specific taste, which also shifts with the seasons.
I will hyperfixate on a specific meal, type of information or teacher and take it in as much as possible. And then after a while, I will get sick of it and need a palate cleanser. I won’t want anything to do with that thing for a while, and then the seasons will shift and I’ll often find myself returning back to the same things.
Learning to trust in the power of my Taste Cognition has been one of the biggest challenges. Even as I witness my Cognition getting stronger, I witness my mind doubting it.
This has been especially true when it comes to trusting my instincts about other people. Like I mentioned, I can tell when someone is fake. I can taste it and it tastes awful!
However, in the past, when I would get this sense about someone, if I saw that other people who I trust in my life liked that person, then I would doubt myself. Maybe there was something wrong with me because everyone else seems to think that person is great.
And then as time went on, more information would come out and I would discover that my initial instinct was correct! The thing about taste cognition is that it is picking up on the unknown, it is recognizing a change or flaw in the pattern and that something isn’t safe. It might not make logical sense at the time, but over time, the truth comes to light.
As I’ve strengthened this sense, my taste cognition has become something that supports me in making intelligent decisions. I no longer doubt it, because I have witnessed its power to steer my body in the right direction.
How have you experienced your Determination and Cognition?
If you’re looking to be held and supported through your journey, here are ways we can create magic together right now:
