Cont'd...LINK to August 8th, 2013 Thought Post

A living thing above all desires to vent its strength.

Friedrich Nietzsche wrote that thought.

That thought is at the centre of Nietzsche’s philosophy, Will to Power.

"Physiologists should think again before postulating the drive to self-preservation as the cardinal drive in an organic being. A living thing desires above all to vent its strength - life as such is will to power -: self-preservation is only one of the indirect and most frequent consequences of it."

 Friedrich Nietzsche

‘Beyond Good And Evil’, (1886)

People above all desire to express their strengths.

We above all desire to express our strengths.

That is a good starting-thought for another perspective on a philosophy for living.

We have strengths. We perceive our strengths in our conscious minds. Awareness of our strengths also exists beyond our conscious minds. We have desires. When one of our desires is met neurons in our brains automatically self-administer a dose of reward. That’s a fact of our brain chemistry and electrics. We have emotions. Most of them, perhaps all of them, do us little good. Rather, emotions seem to cause a life-long series of challenges. We have thoughts. Often, if not always, our thoughts are entangled in emotions and desires. From time to time, our strengths are at the centre of our thoughts.

Two human abilities rise above all others: intelligence and self-control. Every human being possesses these two abilities at birth. To a certain degree, and the degree varies from person to person, we develop these two abilities over time. The amount of intelligence and self-control we develop determines the extent we are able to express our strengths.

A philosophy for living must focus first on the interplay between personal strengths, thoughts, emotions, desires, intelligence, and self-control. And, a life is lived in full when intelligence and self-control are harmoniously applied to emotions, desires, and thoughts so they enable the expression of strengths. Intelligence and self-control must be applied to:

• work around or counter emotions,
• create and direct desires, and
• create and direct thought.

These three processes enable the expression of strengths. These processes involve a conversion of internal energies into actions. And actions, which have external form, bring about external changes…we perceive those changes as results.

Life, of course, is much more complicated than personal strengths, thoughts, emotions, desires, intelligence, self-control, and how they interplay. Regardless, and this is specifically intended to cover spiritual considerations, a philosophy for living must include these human abilities and their interplay. None of them can be excluded or denied. None of them is contentious. Other aspects of the human condition, including spirituality, are contentious and so they must be dealt with later rather than up front. Also, up-front simplicity is an important consideration. When it comes to sharing a philosophy for living - less is better.

Removing contention, maintaining simplicity, and re-ordering for presentation this philosophy for living covers: 

• intelligence,
• self-control,
• emotions,
• thoughts,
• desires,
• personal strengths,
• the interplay between them, and
• energy – the essential ingredient for life. 

Intelligence

Intelligence is innate. This applies even when our lives are most-brief. Intelligence exists in our genes, intelligence generates our first breath, and intelligence generates our first heartbeat. When we are normal and healthy intelligence grows. With each moment of life we receive internal and external stimuli. Our brains experience chemical flow, electrical activity, and the growth of neuronal connections. All of this allows energy transfer, which, when we boil it down is information transfer. With billions of neurons and trillions of neuronal connections, over time, we build a vast storehouse of information in our brains. Our ability to access that storehouse of information and use it is, in a word, intelligence. Some argue that intelligence is predestined, that is, we are born with a predetermined upper limit. Perhaps, that is true if intelligence is defined in terms of cognitive capability as measured in IQ, SAT, and EQ tests. Perhaps, that is an understatement. Certainly, we lack the tools to state such things with certainty. We do, however, possess scientific evidence to prove physical neuronal growth occurs throughout life. These ongoing neuronal changes are caused by the addition of information and the storing of it. We learn as we live. Each of us has the ability to gain knowledge as a life-long process.

Self-control

It seems people are born with the potential to have and develop self-control and the degree of potential varies from person to person. As one example, some newborn babies exhibit a calm nature while others exhibit a distressed nature. It seems some people are born with a predisposition to self-monitor. Others learn how to self-monitor. When intelligence is applied with self-monitoring people have the ability to self-regulate. And, to some degree, all people self-regulate. Self-monitoring and self-regulation combine to form self-control. These attributes are wrapped up in the concept will power.  

Emotions

Paul Ekman defines emotions as innate, beyond our consciousness, beyond our control, and of little value now humans are civilized. That’s what I mean when I use the word. Emotions hit us automatically. They affect us physiologically and our bodies react to them. Emotions differ from feelings and moods, both of which are flavoured by consciousness. An inverse relationship exists between emotions and self-control; when emotions run high self-control is low and vice-versa.

Thoughts

We experience a conscious phenomenon. It takes the form of a little voice, which talks to us. For most people, but not all, the little voice speaks to us from a point just inside our head, behind a point between our eyes. This little voice speaks to us without provocation. It chatters at us incessantly unless we are able to tune it out or replace it with focused thought. This conscious phenomenon is our ‘mind’. The mind is either closely bonded to but distinct from the brain. Or the mind, somehow, manages to make each of us believe it is distinct from our brain. Each person’s mind is unique. No other person possesses anything similar to it. Thought: that’s the name we apply to the process of the mind. Perceptions: in a variety of ways they work their way around the brain and then register in the mind. Memories: they are filed in the brain-library, much of which is accessible to the mind. And each person’s stupendously-complicated mass of thoughts, perceptions, and memories is unique.

Desires 

People, naturally, experience thoughts that are flavoured in such a way that they create physical changes that can be felt…much as hunger causes hunger pangs, cold causes shivers, music soothes, and sweet things taste good. These felt thoughts are ‘feelings’. They come in two types: positive feelings and negative feelings. When feelings last for extended periods of time they are known as ‘moods’. Probably, people are predisposed [genetically] to be pessimistic, neutral, or optimistic and these predispositions are experienced as feelings and moods. Probably, through the application of thought and self-control most people can influence their feelings and moods. Certainly, some people are capable of influencing their feelings and moods. The most-intense felt thoughts are ‘desires’. Desires stoke thought and motivate action. Desires can couple with emotions, causing the mind to experience its most-intense ‘calls to action’. Two interesting and intertwined questions arise: (1) Can we, through conscious thought, master our emotions? and (2) Do we possess power of will? I believe the answers to those questions are both “Yes…to a degree”. People can employ thought to control and supress emotions: the extent to which this can be accomplished varies from person to person.

Personal Strengths

Each person is different from the rest. We can see that. We can hear that. We can sense that. Each of us has natural talents. Each of us has weaknesses. Each of us has strengths. Some people illustrate prodigious capabilities at a very young age: consider Mozart. Some people illustrate manifold-and-superior capabilities throughout long lives: consider da Vinci. Some people illustrate extraordinary insight: consider Einstein. Some people possess a super-human ability to persuade others: consider Napoleon. Some people somehow know the course of their lives at an early age and they live it. Most of us do not illustrate these things. Yet, each of us possesses natural talents which, if properly nurtured and developed, can be used to achieve amazing accomplishments. Ideally, that nurturing and development begins at the time of our birth and continues throughout our lives. But, for the vast majority if not all of us, that is highly unlikely and not required. It is never too late to nurture and develop personal strengths. A person develops personal strengths by using intelligence to understand innate talents, master thoughts, master desires, and apply self-control.

The Interplay between Intelligence, Self-control, Emotions, Thoughts, Desires, and Personal Strengths

Intelligence, self-control, and personal strengths are our greatest gifts. We live our lives to the fullest when we use our intelligence to understand, develop, and vent our strengths in a manner that rewards self and delivers value to others. We draw on intelligence and think in order to formulate desires; we create images in our minds of the future states where self is rewarded and others are receiving value. We have visions of desired goals. We use self-control to focus thoughts and guide actions toward the achievement of our desired goals. While we are doing this, emotions are distractions. We must use intelligent thought and self-control to develop habits to regulate our emotions, to the extent this is possible, so emotions do not thwart our ability to achieve desired goals.

Energy – the essential ingredient for life

We are made of energy. I mean that the way Einstein meant it when he clarified the equivalence of matter and energy. Our bodies are energy processors; we convert some of the energy contained in the substances we consume. Every cell in our body exists because it contains and converts energy. Our bodies are pre-programmed to process energy. These energy-conversion processes are incomprehensibly complex. We have identified order in these energy-conversion processes: as examples - chromosomes, genes, and DNA. We have also identified chaos in these processes: as examples – birth defects, cancers, and allergies. We understand some aspects of energy: as examples – some aspects of electricity, some aspects of the mechanisms of chemistry, and theories about nuclear forces. However, the more we learn about these things the more complexity we uncover. Our understanding of the energy that makes up our bodies is limited. Our understanding of the numerous chemical and electrical processes happening within our bodies is limited. We know energy is the essential ingredient for life and we know energy takes different forms. Some of these energy forms are accompanied by physical repercussions which we can perceive: as examples – electricity creates lightening, gravity keeps the Earth in orbit around the Sun, and light creates visible colours. Some of these energy forms are beyond the scope of our perceptions: as examples – none of us have seen an electron, none of us understand the energies that brought our species into existence, and none of us know the ‘spark’ that triggers life, apparently about 96 hours after the conception of the human embryo.

...to be continued

I believe the purpose of life is to learn.

I believe the reason for learning is growth, which takes form as the wisdom needed for personal development, the wisdom needed to understand and constructively interact with other people, and the comfort that comes with a confident relationship with self, others, and The Universe.

I believe the sequence of learning is important:

• first, we must learn about self,
• next, we must learn about other people, and
• then, we must learn about the spiritual.

For most of us, perhaps for almost all of us, the order of learning is disrupted very early in our lives. Perhaps, for many or most of us the disruption starts the very instant we are born. Our learning is disrupted by well-meaning parents, our learning is disrupted by well-meaning figures of authority, and our learning is disrupted by other not-so-well-meaning people and by ignorant, self-serving, and malicious people.

The point is, the order of our learning is disrupted early in our lives.

So, we must at some point in our lives take responsibility for our learning.

I will use the word “I” when I am making what I think could be more-contentious points. That will impress my view - life philosophy is a most-personal thing. I feel no need to give instruction or even claim my instruction would contain any value for others. I do feel some need to share.

This is part of a Philosophy of and for Life…

The Importance of the Learning Sequence

Human beings are easily influenced during their early, developmental years. We are totally dependent on others for quite some time. That’s a fact of life. During our years of infancy, we develop deep and long-lasting relationships with people, many of whom:

• do not have life philosophies or
• have adopted more-or-less by accident the life philosophies of others or
• emulate bits and pieces of the life philosophies of heroes or
• have a fuzzy life philosophy backed by a few good sayings borrowed from others or ancient wisdom. 

'Other people' includes parents, siblings, grandparents, kith, and kin. Next, 'other people' includes a variety of relationships with a range of people outside the family and near-neighbours: church people, store people, people who visit parks and playgrounds, caregivers, teachers, figures of other authorities, etc.

During our years of infancy we experience incredible growth, much of it visible to others and even more of it happening beyond visibility. We learn about others. We learn about self. Our learning is rudimentary, practical, and critical. We learn about mothers smiles. We learn about our hands and mouths.

We learn ‘Good’ and ‘Bad’ and we learn ‘Yes’ and ‘No’. And we learn much, much more…at an extremely rapid pace. When we are infants our early learning is captured by our fragile, developing minds. It registers. To the extent it impresses and to the extent it is repeated it becomes our personal set of experiences, knowledge, and memories.

All of our early learning is skewed by the actions, the needs, and the beliefs of other people.

As an infant and a child I was incapable of having a Life Philosophy. My mind was simply neither ready nor capable. This incapability carried on then diminished through my adolescence, early manhood, and into mid-life. When it comes to Life Philosophy - compared to some I am a late-bloomer; compared to others, I suspect I am a rest-of-a-lifetime ahead.

I recall, from as far back as I can remember, feeling a resistance to certain actions taken by other people. I have early memories of my parents, whose actions I remember loving, hating, and wondering about. I remember my sister, hardly any bigger than I, always caring for me and protecting me. I remember registering an aversion and a resistance to childhood bullies and certain authorities who took the form of friends’ fathers. I am recalling my nursery-school years and my tonsillectomy: My feelings and sensory observations are still crystal clear…even though fifty years have passed. Similarly, I remember registering at a very young age an aversion to and a resistance to formal religion. I remember clamping my teeth and silently accepting the physical discipline delivered to me by our school principal…knowing I had earned what I was receiving. I remember my internal forces pushing me to be the prankster, and I remember the encouraging faces and words of my young friends.

As I can recall and see very clearly, prior to and during my first years of schooling I was too young to have a Life Philosophy. Not so clearly understood by me is why it took the better part of half a century for me to figure one out. On the other hand, the need to understanding why it took so long is not strong...just a mild curiosity. I have one now and that is all that is important for the present and for the future.

I hope this clarifies why I believe the learning must follow a sequence and why I believe the learning sequence must start with learning about and understanding self. To develop my philosophy of life, I had to consider my past as objectively as possible and work to answer:

• What motivated my thoughts and actions?
• How did other people impact on my thoughts and actions?
• What improvements would I like to experience vis-à-vis the ways of the past?
• What Philosophy of Life would help me achieve those improvements?

As I considered these questions I knew seven things with certainty:

1. I needed a Philosophy of Life.
2. I needed to reach a conclusive decision about the spiritual aspect of my Philosophy of Life.
3. I needed to use thought, feeling, and intuition to build my Philosophy of Life.
4. I needed to consider, weigh, and self-test the written views of a large number of disparate people prior to finalising my Philosophy of Life.
5. I needed to ensure my Philosophy of Life focused first on my needs and desires then on consideration of the needs and desires of other people.
6. I needed to consider the effect of my Philosophy of Life on the people most-dear to me.
7. I needed to consider the effect of my Philosophy of Life on my future work.

To get the most out of life or to put the most into life, one must have a life-philosophy.

When developing a life-philosophy it is best to start by answering two questions like: 

Who are we human beings?

and

Why are we here?

Otherwise, if we start a life-philosophy without covering these first bases we will end up stalling. If we do not cover these important questions then sooner or later we will find the pieces making up the life-philosophy will not mesh or hold together.

Who are we human beings?

There are two most-common views. One says our ancestors are apes and, over eons of time, we have undergone a remarkable string of adaptations to evolve from primordial ooze into human beings. The other says we were created by a greater intelligence.

From my studies, I believe there is no material and empirical evidence to support either view. There is no paper trail to prove human beings evolved from anything but human beings and there is no unchallengeable proof human beings were created by a greater intelligence.

With no proof for either view, what does common sense tell us?

Actually, I mean:

What does my common sense tell me?

and you can test that against

What does your common sense tell you?

My common sense tells me Man did not evolve from primates let alone from primordial ooze. That is not to say I disagree with evolution. I do believe Man and other living things can evolve over time. I read about flea experiments and I believe scientists when they say they have induced generation-to-generation changes in fleas. I read about Darwin’s observations of birds and his conclusions that birds adapted to fit their environments…adapting beak length, etc. This makes sense. So, I can accept the concept of evolution. However, I do not think it is reasonable to conclude Man or any other species evolved from some other species, let alone conclude all creatures sprang from a starter-molecule or a starter-creature dwelling in primordial ooze.

My common sense tells me there is a greater intelligence out there. Two things influence my thinking: the sheer complexity of the things we perceive to be real and the baffling mystery behind those things we perceive to be alive. As examples of the sheer complexity, I cite (1) the amazing human brain, (2) the stupendously-big thing we call the Universe, and (3) the stupendously-small, sub-atomic things which we now believe we will never be able to see. Simply stated, the more we learn about the human brain, the cosmos, and the infinitesimal pieces of matter and/or energy the more complexity we uncover. And, the more we learn about the human brain, the cosmos, and the infinitesimal pieces of matter and/or energy the more we uncover what we do not know.

Having now given the matter enough serious thought, I am convinced there is greater intelligence than that possessed by human beings. I mean, out there, somewhere or perhaps everywhere, there is greater intelligence than mine and yours...and all of ours put together. Not only is there a greater intelligence, there is a far-greater intelligence.

We human beings are a unique and gifted species on our planet. We are here for a reason and that reason is somehow tied to an intelligence far greater than our own. None of us know with certainty who or what that far-greater intelligence is. None of us know with certainty how our existence is tied to that far-greater intelligence.

During the last five or so millennia, written records confirm some of us human beings have experienced enlightenment: Krishna, Abraham, Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, and others. These prophets experienced a personal connection with this far-greater intelligence, which, like others before me, I call Universal Intelligence. These prophets shared their experiences with others and over time formal religions evolved. All of these major religions share common aspects. Each religion is founded on the existence of Universal Intelligence. Each religion encourages good behaviour by human beings. All current major religions are based on the experience of prophets who lived as Men. All major religions consider human beings to be worthy and capable of achieving their best accomplishments when they live their lives in synch with Universal Intelligence.

The bases of religions contain accurate thinking. Human beings are worthy. And, human beings will achieve their best accomplishments when they live their lives in synch with Universal Intelligence. We human beings may never fully understand Universal Intelligence. And, we may never know how our existence ties in with Universal Intelligence.

I have chosen to do my best to enjoy the experiences of the linkage with Universal Intelligence on my own, in my own way, rather than through celebrating or following the experiences of other people, including the prophets who initiated the world’s major religions. That is not to say I believe the prophets are wrong in any way. Rather, it seems to me my experiences with Universal Intelligence will be more meaningful if I explore them and figure them out on my own.

I am one human being. I do not know the full sequence of events that got me here. I believe there is a far-greater intelligence out there, which I call Universal Intelligence. I know my life is somehow tied to Universal Intelligence, however, I do not know how or when that began and I accept I may never know those aspects of my existence.

Regardless, I have been blessed with a human life and I am on a journey, using it.

I am on a life-long journey of learning and improving.

I am developing a life-philosophy and I am happy with the progress I have made.

The next question…

Why are we here?

While none of us know how we human beings got here, and that may always be beyond our comprehension, after our arrival and after we as individuals gather a level of awareness we can understand why we are here.

Here is the framework:

• human beings are here to experience a physical life, feelings, thoughts, and actions
• human beings are here to learn and advance
• human beings are here to contribute and share experiences
• human beings are here to experience the link with Universal Intelligence

Here are the most-important details:

• human beings are here to cohabit
• human beings are here to procreate
• human beings are here to consume
• each human being is truly unique in make-up, in experience, and in perception
• each human being has a unique physical aspect
• each human being has a unique spiritual aspect

On purpose, every purpose is unique.

And, every person has a unique purpose.

Some feel a strong need to understand that purpose. Others do not.

I am one who has always felt a strong need to understand my purpose. It has taken many years of thought. And now I understand my purpose is to learn and to help other business people learn better ways of interacting with people. To accomplish this, I must have clearly in my mind my life-philosophy. My life-philosophy will contain the major things I have learned about people and how to interact with them; it will be my sourcebook for building tools and communicating to help others learn.

My life-philosophy will be grounded on the spiritual side and acknowledge the ‘real world’ we live in.

I do not want to teach spiritual things. I simply want to disclose the spiritual aspects I have embraced so people know where I am coming from.

Destined Fate or Self-Determination?

Destined Fate: Some people say things like “All things are subject to decay and when fate summons, monarchs must obey”   [John Dryden ], “But blind to former as to future fate, what mortal knows his pre-existent state?” [Alexander Pope], and “Fate determines many things, no matter how we struggle” [Otto Weininger ]. Some people accept ‘their fate’ without really thinking much about it. Others think deeply on the matter and say it as their well-thought-out conclusions. Many people believe, at least to some degree, they have little influence over their future.

Self-Determination: Other people say things like “If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right.” [Henry Ford].”, “Our life is what our thoughts make it” [Marcus Auelius], “Whatever you create in your life you must first create in your imagination” [Tycho Photiou], and “Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice” [William Jennings Bryan].  

These sorts of thinking are key facets of spirituality and some religions. They are also the backbone of most leaders’ philosophies and approaches to life.

What does my common sense tell me?

My common sense tells me I must consider moderation. I have read about zealous proponents of fate. That is the legacy of Alexander the Great…or at least it is the story that has become legacy…a Man who believed he was a god and invincible. I have read the words of a zealous proponent of self-determination, Robert Collier [The SECRET Of The Ages]. At one point in this book, he claims a strong enough mix of faith, thought, and action can remove aging and death.

While I believe Courage can lead to tremendous power and influence, common sense tells me human beings are not gods. While I believe Thought can lead to tremendous power and influence, common sense tells me human beings experience only a limited amount of and a limited control over physical life.

I believe in Self-Determination, bounded by realism.

For business, I believe in ‘Plan the Work and Work the Plan’. [Napoleon Hill] I believe the exercise of thinking and planning contains stand-alone, process value and I believe it allows us to engage a force conceptually similar to the force that gets engaged when a seed is planted in hopes of growing a flowering plant. As noted above, I believe human beings are here to contribute.

To begin to explain: we are here to construct, we are here to be constructive, we are here to apply our unique contributions as we construct. To the extent we accept we are here to construct we must start that construction somewhere…and we know the beginning point. The beginning is in our Minds. Construction begins with thought. Perhaps, it is a thought triggered by intuition. Perhaps, it is a thought triggered by instruction. Regardless of the origin of the thought, it becomes an image in our Minds…details get added until the image becomes clear enough to motivate first action. The early thoughts, the image, the details, and the actions that follow are done with a level of faith and belief in the end point. The construct of the Mind becomes a construction: a building, a painting, a piece of music, a piece of art, a road, a bridge, a skyscraper, a book, a philosophy, etc.

If we believe in Self-Determination then we live lives laced with positive mental states like hope and faith. These mental states are accompanied by good, positive feelings. It makes sense we should choose these sorts of mental states and feelings.

And – our choices must be bounded by realism. ‘Big Hairy Audacious Goals’ [Collins] may work for some folks, but they do not work for most people. For most people goals must be challenging but realistic and goal-focused action must be properly paced, not too fast and not too slow. If goals are too big and hairy or the pace doesn’t fit, Courage and Confidence suffer. When Courage and Confidence suffer, people experience bad thoughts and feelings and these tend to shrink construction and spread to other people. All of this reduces the likelihood of achievement. In other words, unrealistic desires and goals work against their own construction.

We can influence our future. Our choices today influence our future tomorrows. Our gift of choice is double-edged. Good choices lead to good outcomes. Bad choices lead to bad outcomes.

Our gift of Self-Determination has limitations. Our goals must be realistic. We must truly desire the outcome. We must clearly imagine the outcome and its details in our Mind, we must have Vivid Vision...we must set images into our neuronal patterns.

We must Plan our Work. And we must Work our Plan. As we do these things we must call upon accurate thinking, worthy intent, and focus and we must act with persistence. We will encounter obstacles and we must make adjustments. With these things in place, our ability to construct is directly proportional to our ability to keep the desired end-point vividly imaged in our Minds and thoughts.

The Law of Attraction

The Law of Attraction has been a topic of discussion for millennia. While it was not called by that name until the last handful of generations, it is an important part of major religions: faith and belief are the mental states, desire is the message, prayer is the action, and the Law of Attraction enables completion of the communication.

A summary of The Law of Attraction: Our thoughts are pieces of unlimited energy. Our thoughts influence our future experiences. Our thoughts influence other people. Our thoughts connect with Universal Intelligence. We attract the ‘objects’ of our thoughts. When our thoughts are clear and focused and packaged with desire, faith, and belief we can attract to ourselves the ‘objects’ of our desires. We can, with intent, call upon Universal Intelligence to help us. Also, we can attract to us people who will help us achieve our goals, the ‘objects’ of our desires.

That, in summary, is the Law of Attraction.

One does not have to embrace formal religion to accept the existence of a Law of Attraction. However, I cannot see how a person can accept the Law of Attraction without accepting the existence of Universal Intelligence and the existence of connections between individual human Minds and that Universal Intelligence. Also, one has to accept the existence of a thought-force which operates ‘beyond’ the present laws of physics.

For over 100 years, there have been claims of experiments confirming the existence of this thought-force. However, the scientific community does not embrace the existence of it or Universal Intelligence.

Meta-physicists and many other people cite several common human experiences as evidence of the thought-force and/or Universal Intelligence. Examples include:

• synchronicity
• intuition
• déjà vu
• dreams
• memories of past lives [reincarnation]
• amazing recoveries from illness
• faith healing
• spreading of moods and mental states
• ‘clicking’ [Ori Brafman & Rom Brafman]

I believe there is at least one force operating ‘beyond’ the laws of physics as we now know them. There is at least a source-of-life force, which, as yet, remains unexplained by the laws of physics. This source-of-life force illustrates itself in plants and animals, differentiating them from other forms of matter such as rocks, water, and oxygen. It is no stretch to believe this source-of-life force is not constrained by the laws that explain the ways of matter and the ways of other forms of energy such as gravitation, electricity, and atomic forces.

I have read that this life force appears to kick in when the fertilized human egg is about 96 hours old. At that point in the cell-splitting something magic happens and things change…life appears to arrive.

Concluding Universal Intelligence must be limited to the presently known laws of physics and other sciences is a gross underestimation of Universal Intelligence and it is sheer arrogance. Mankind has made that mistake before on numerous occasions. [Galileo provided a glaring example.] We must accept the limitations of our knowledge and the danger of dogmatic claims. If Mankind has learned one thing, we have learned the more we learn the more we realize the enormous complexity and the enormous volume of things yet to be learned.

There is no question. Man has much to learn about thought and its interaction with Universal Intelligence.

Until we learn more, we should accept thought is a force, a special gift enjoyed by human beings. A force so special must be tied to Universal Intelligence. As we have done with other forces, we should experiment to see the value tied to this thought-force. As we have done with other forces, we should use this thought-force to construct.

That is what I am working to do.

The Differences and The Strengths

People are unique.

Some view that comment as a trite point that ‘goes without saying’.

Other people have vehemently argued ‘that’s just plain wrong!’

Our sensory faculties continually tell us people are different: we see it every day and we hear it every day, every time we sense and observe others. Yet, many of us underestimate the extent of The Differences. We tend to stereotype: we tend to see ‘us’ in contrast to ‘them’. In addition, we suffer from attribution bias and a spectrum of other biases: we are not objective, we tend to view others’ actions more harshly than we view our own actions, we tend to seek justifications, etc.

To improve our dealings with other people we must:

• understand people are unique
• work to understand individuals rather than stereotype
• be objective as we work to understand others

Everyone has Strengths and weaknesses.  Most people dwell on weaknesses, their own weaknesses and the weaknesses they perceive in others. Perhaps, the Pareto Principle applies here…if we could isolate the time people spend thinking about Strengths and weaknesses then we might find people spend 80% of that time on weaknesses and only 20% on Strengths…that seems about right.

I work at minimizing the amount of time I spend thinking about weaknesses. I believe there is no such thing as constructive criticism. Constructive criticism - that’s an oxymoron. My experience tells me very, very few people receive criticism as constructive. And, that applies regardless of how well we try to package the criticism so it is constructive. So, we should minimize the amount of criticism we deliver. That applies whether or not the criticism is written or verbal or conveyed by body language.

Some people are born with a natural talent and ability to self-monitor. They show poise and they have a genuine and deep interest in other people. These people listen well. These people are magnetic. They possess an interpersonal gift. I am not one of those people. I gain comfort knowing, while most of us are not born with this gift we can learn enough to succeed and even excel in interpersonal relationships.

One key to interpersonal success is the ability to focus interest in others while setting aside, temporarily, interest in self. Another key is being non-judgmental. Judgment is criticism regardless of whether or not or how it is expressed. The best way to minimize conveyance of criticism is to remove criticism-thoughts from your Mind. Rather than think criticism-thoughts, think about The Differences and seek to understand The Differences and particularly, seek to understand other people’s Strengths.

I am not naturally skilled at self-monitoring. I have had to learn how to self-monitor and how to observe others. I have had to learn how to reduce my tendency to judge others.

I have had to work at understanding, developing, and putting to good use my Strengths. I try to manage around or through my weaknesses and avoid trying to make strengths where strengths cannot be made. Also, I work to help other people do the same thing.

Appreciate The Differences.

Promote Strengths.

Use Strengths to construct.

The Power of Positive Thinking

There is no question. Positive thinking has much constructive potential. It is contagious and magnetic. Positive thinking leads to a pleasing countenance…pleasing appearance, pleasing tone of voice, etc.

Similarly, but in the opposite direction, negative thinking is destructive. Negative thinking is contagious and repulsive because it leads to an unpleasant countenance, unpleasant body language, etc…repulsive physical manifestations.

What does my common sense tell me?

Common sense confirms the above.  I know how I feel uplifted by some people. I know we feel a need to avoid other people. I know it takes quite a bit of thought-control and practice to develop thick enough skin to withstand the force of unpleasant people.

With the exception of the use of negative-logical thinking in certain circumstances [Black Hat thinking as explained by Edward de Bono], there are no good arguments in favour of the merits of negative thinking. Conversely, it is very difficult to come up with meaningful arguments against the merits of positive thinking. These two facts apply regardless of other aspects of one’s life-philosophy.

Since positive thinking is so vital, it is important to check it by performing regular self-analysis. It is important to observe, as objectively as possible, how other people react to our presence and the things we say and do. This analysis leads to self-knowledge. Self-knowledge enables self-improvement. Continuous self-improvement work is required because positive thinking is not just an aspect of a pleasing personality it is also tied to Courage and Confidence. And Courage and Confidence are essential for action and for success.

...to be continued