Objectives:
(A) To convey the importance of communication; wisdom is of little use if it cannot be communicated.
(B) To point out that most of the communication in the world is at a stimulus-response or reactive level, and that this is a major determining factor in the large-quantity/poor-quality information phe-nomenon.
(C) To suggest that it is possible to communicate at a level of creation and to indicate how this can be achieved.
(D) To stress the importance of public speaking.
(E) To indicate a range of possibilities for participating in the meta-information network.
(F) To stress that agreement or similar viewpoints are not necessary for participation.
(G) To indicate that extensive and continuous correction in many areas of life is vitally important.
(H) To suggest some principles of correction.
(I) To stress the importance of feedback and how it can be used.
(J) To question the notion of "punishment."
(K) To indicate that we may have to revalue all our values.
(L) To demonstrate the necessity for harmonious and balanced correc-tion.
(M) To list the aspects of life that we may need to correct.
(N) To introduce some concepts from transactional analysis.
(O) To suggest that we need to go beyond transactional analysis.
Communication:
All the wisdom in the world is of little use if it cannot be communicated in such a way that the recipients can receive it, can grasp it, can apply it - and, in turn, can similarly pass it on to others, creating a "snowball of wisdom" effect...how can this be done?
Most of the communication in the world is at a level of reaction, or stimulus-response. You say something - I respond to it. An endless, expand-ing merry-go-round. And so the volume of information grows and grows, with little change in the quality. How can we escape from this merry-go-round?
It is possible to communicate at a level of creation. It is possible to create a context in which communication of a higher and higher quality occurs spontaneously. Such communication is not a reaction or a response to previous communication. How can this be experienced?
Before we answer that question, let us juxtapose in Nietzsche-Schean terms: Communication stemming from hungry "ressentiment" (or protest), against communication flowing from a "Dionysian" perspective of super-abundance and quality. Nietzsche's "Gay Science" is a superb example of creative quality communication. Towards the end of his productive life, we find Nietzsche inverting into strident protest in parts of "Ecce Homo."
Returning to our question: How can I personally experience such inspirational communication? Must I go to church? Should I take drugs? (Nietzsche imbibed opium on at least one occasion.) Are there any reasonably safe methods?
An excellent way I know of is by participating in the "EST Communication Workshop," created and presented by Werner Erhard and the network of EST Centers. For more information, contact: The Centers Network, 500 South Third Street, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55415, U.S.A.
It is probably a good idea to participate in the "Communication Workshop" twice: First, purely for the knowledge and experience of it; second, to re-create the experience of it and to carefully observe the techniques used in it (caveat emptor).
There are only two kinds of people in the world: There are gullible people and people who are defending themselves against their own gullibility. If you take a look at it, an enormous amount of your life is spent defending yourself against the fear of being conned. We're afraid to make commitments to each other for fear that the other person won't keep their part of the bargain. We have an enormous body of laws that barely work - if they can be said to work at all - that really don't keep us from getting conned.
So there are all kinds of people running around protecting themselves to that nobody finds out that they've been stupid enough or gullible enough to get conned. And, of course, it's precisely that fear of being conned and keeps people stuck in their gullibility...
So, I'd like you to look at your own fear of being conned or of people thinking you've been conned. - Werner Erhard ("Graduate Review," April 1979)
Not only do we live in a sea of information and misinformation - we are also incessantly bombarded with information and misinformation directed at us from numerous sources vying for our attention. To communicate any message, we have to compete with millions of other messages. This means that to communicate successfully in this sea of proliferating pamphlets, papers, publications, prayers, propaganda, publicity, prattle, and piffle, we have to find a superior communication philosophy and technology.
"Positioning: The Battle For Your Mind" by Al Ries and Jack Trout seems to be one promising step in that direction.
What about public speaking? A few months ago, I joined the local "Toastmasters" club. There are such clubs in many major cities all over the world. The purpose is to develop public speaking and leadership skills. Highly recommended. The ability to speak in public is an inestimable asset. The marketeers of meta-information will have to learn to out-talk the slickest and most polished preachers and politicians, no doubt about that! It is the most accomplished speakers (and singers) who attract the most attention, the largest crowds...what else?
The theoretical framework for communication developed by Eric Berne and his associates ("Transactional Analysis") probably constitutes a major advance in communication philosophy and technology - introduced later in this Section.
Possibly another major advance in the field of effective communi-cation can be found in the subject called "neuro-linguistic programming." For more information, write to "Not Ltd. Division of Training and Research," 517 Mission Street, Santa Cruz, California 95060, U.S.A. For books on 'NLP," write to "Real People Press," Box F, Moab, Utah 84532, U.S.A.; and to "Meta Publications, Inc.," P. O. Box 565, Cupertino, California 95014, U.S.A.
And, of course, general semantics - refer to "Power of Words" by Stuart Chase.
Flexible and Diverse Participation in the Meta-Information Network:
I envisage a wide range of possible "levels of participation" in the meta-information network, depending on how it develops and unfolds (in a sense, my various friends - and myself - communicating about our mutual interest in "building a better world," already constitute the meta-information network):
If you are interested in participating in the meta-information net-work, then write to: P. O. Box 149, B-1930 Zaventem 1, Belgium, with an outline of what you are already doing and/or what you would like to do.
I want to emphasize that participation in the network is open to individuals and groups of all philosophical, political, and religious persuasions. Cross-pollination and cross-catalyzation come about through the interaction of different viewpoints. At the same time, I must express a personal bias (paradigm or context) towards spontaneous and natural order (individual liberty and philosophical anarchism) and against coercive and violent "law" and disorder (politics and compulsion).
The Creator seeks companions, not corpses or herds or believers. The Creator seeks fellow-creators, those who inscribe new values on new tables.
The Creator seeks companions and fellow-harvesters; for with Him, everything is ripe for harvesting. But He lacks his hundred sickles, so he tears off the ears of corn and is vexed.The Creator seeks companions and such as know how to whet their sickles. They will be called despisers of good and evil. But they are harvesters and rejoicers.
Zarathustra seeks fellow-creators, fellow-harvesters, fellow-rejoicers; what has He to do with herds and herdsmen and corpses?
I will make company with creators, with harvesters, with rejoicers; I will show them the rainbow and the stairway to the superman. - Friedrich Nietzsche ("Thus Spoke Zarathustra")
Also, none of my friends and acquaintances (who, together with me, already constitute the initial stage of this network) share all my viewpoints - in fact, there are wide differences of opinion among us. There would, of course, be no point in people who all have the same viewpoint being involved in a network such as this - it would be difficult for them to learn from one another.
It is probably a realistic expectation that as human evolution accelerates (because of our own intervention) that the diversity of human physical appearance, thought, communication, and behavior will increase greatly.
Correction:
It appears to be a closely guarded secret that excellence is the product of extensive correction. I sense that this idea is foreign to many of us; however, if you will look at the areas of your live where you are at your best, you will discover that these areas of excellence are the result of a great deal of practice, a great deal of trial and error, and a lot of correction. - Stewart Emery ("The Owner's Manual For Your Life")
Can you guess the first principle of correction? Of course: Meta-correction! Whatever approach, method, or system we use to correct (whatever) must itself be subject to correction. In other words, we need to be able to correct the way we go about correcting ourselves ("second-order correction"!).
The second principle of correction is that we should spend most (if not all) our corrective effort on correcting ourselves. I think that self-correction is far more beneficial and rewarding than attempting to correct others. Attempting to correct others can be very frustrating.
Any attempt to correct others, I think, is most likely to succeed - if it is in the form of potentially useful information offered. Forceful, coercive, or violent "correction" of others, on the contrary, are likely to lead to frustration, "punishment," prisons, terrorism, and mass slaughter called "war."
Maybe "punishment" is one of those concepts which is both stupefying and violence-breeding? What about "justice"?
The first postulate of behavior modification is this: If somebody does something for which he or she receives positive acknowledgment or positive reinforcement, he is more likely to repeat the behavior. Any behavior that is positively acknowledged is likely to be repeated.
The next piece of information is more interesting, however. It says, If you do something and nobody takes any notice of it at all, you are less likely to do it again. In other words, any behavior that is consistently ignored will ultimately cease. (You have to recognize that these are all tendencies, not absolutes.)
The most fascinating piece of information has to do with negative acknowledg-ment, or punishment. If you do something and you are punished - negatively acknow-ledged - the results of the native acknowledgment are unpredictable, except under circumstances wherein the only kind of acknowledgment you ever get is negative; then, negative acknowledgment will lead to a repetition of the behavior that was negatively acknowledged. If, when you were growing up, the only time you got acknowledged was when you did something that your parents did not like, then the administration of negative acknowledgment, or punishment, led you to continue to repeat behavior that led to your getting punished. Under conditions in which negative acknowledgment is the only kind of acknowledgment you get, that will reproduce negative acknowledgment. That is probably the most important piece of information that anybody who raises children, manages people, or teaches can get. Let's look at the consequences.
Is is most obvious in our penal system. People are in jail because they did something that got negatively acknowledged. The reasons they do things that get negatively acknowledged is that they think that is the only way they can ever get any kind of attention. The more we give them negative acknowledgment, the more negative behavior they will manifest. It is a situation in which there is no way to win. - Stewart Emery ("Actualizations")
The third principle of correction is that all aspects of our lives are subject to correction. It would be arrogant, indeed, to assume that we are perfect in any particular area of life.
The fourth principle of correction is that corrective feedback from others (irrespective of its nature) can be utilized to great effect - or simply ignored.
It is interesting that no matter what our response is to correction, any response that takes offense or reflects an upset is inappropriate, no matter what position the person who offers the correction is taking. If the person who gives us the correction is a fool, to be upset by a fool is to make ourselves an even greater fool. If the input is of great value, to not consider it places us once again in the category of the fool.
So, if we respond negatively to feedback, it is a reflection of our own foolishness and a reflection of our own absence of self-esteem in this area of our life. - Stewart Emery ("The Owner's Manual For Your Life")
This is how Nietzsche described the need for correction, as he saw it, in the preface to "The Will to Power":
(1) Of what is great, one must either be silent or speak with greatness - that means cynically and with innocence.
(2) What I relate is the history of the next two centuries. I describe what is coming, what can no longer come differently: The advent of nihilism. This history can be related even now; for necessity itself is at work here. This future speaks even now in a hundred signs, this destiny announces itself everywhere; for this music of the future all ears are cocked even now. For some time now, our whole European culture has been moving as toward a catastrophe, with a tortured tension that is growing from decade to decade: Restlessly, violently, headlong, like a river that wants to reach the end, that no longer reflects, that is afraid to reflect.
(3) He that speaks here, conversely, has done nothing so far but reflect: A philosopher and solitary by instinct, who has found his advantage in standing aside and outside, in patience, in procrastination, in staying behind; as a spirit of daring and experiment that has already lost its way once in every labyrinth of the future; as a soothsayer-bird spirit who looks back when relating what will come; as the first perfect nihilist of Europe who, however, has even now lived through the whole of nihilism, to the end, leaving it behind, outside himself.
(4)For one should make no mistake about the meaning of the title that this gospel of the future wants to bear. "The will to power: Attempt at a revaluation of all values" - in this formulation, a counter-movement finds expression, regarding both principle and task; a movement that, in some future, will take the place of this perfect nihilism - but presupposes it, logically and psychologically, and certainly can come only after and out of it. For why has the advent of nihilism become necessary? Because the values we have had hitherto thus draw their final consequence: Because nihilism represents the ultimate logical conclusion of our great values and ideals - because we must experience nihilism before we can find out what values these "values" really had. We require, sometime, new values. - Friedrich Nietzsche ("The Will to Power")
(Every time I re-read the above, I get quite sentimental...sometimes, I get tears in my eyes...I think it is worth re-reading several times, and attempting the inner recreation of Nietzsche's feelings and emotions when he wrote it...)
If you want to replace a condemned and collapsing old building - in which the inhabitants are regularly injured by falling masonry - with a more suitable, modern structure - in which people can live and work in harmony - then you first demolish the old building and you remove the rubble. - "AS"
Concerning the human organism, should we think of "correction" as "making healthy"? or "making ideal"? Can we describe the "healthy human organism"? Can we make a list of elements that constitute this "health"?
Do we need to define health at a much higher level than has hitherto been the custom? Rather than associating health with "normality," should we regard health as the ideal - even perfection? Does health have anything to do with "agreeable behavior" or "social acceptability?" Do the consequences of "normal people" going to church, obeying make-believe "laws," voting, paying taxes, and sending their children to pretended "schools" include: Personal misery and suffering, inflation, crime, pollution, unemployment, police brutality, terrorism, war? Are "normal people" healthy? Can it be healthy to merrily support and finance megalomaniacs who build atomic bombs capable of wiping out most life on Earth?
Think of the human organism as a very complex machine or engine that has the ability to interact with other machines. Can we say that healthy human machines will tend to interact in a healthy manner? And that unhealthy human engines will suffer both internal and external conflict? And that a great deal of conflict between humans stems from poor individual health?
Let us attempt to describe human health by using the analogy of an engine. An engine that runs is a relatively healthy engine. An engine that doesn't run is a relatively unhealthy engine. An engine that is perfect in every sense is a completely healthy engine. So there are levels or degrees of health.
Of course, a running engine could, in some ways, be less healthy in its effects than a broken-down engine. A seemingly perfectly running engine that has no exhaust purifier and spews noxious lead and carbon monoxide into the atmosphere could cause lower intelligence - and people to choke to death in the streets of Tokyo and Rotterdam. There are aspects, or elements, of health which may have far-reaching consequences.
For an engine to run, every part of that engine has to be at or above a certain quality or standard. We could call this the critical level of health. If any part of the engine drops below the critical level, the engine stops running. To get a non-running engine to run, you have to improve all the substandard parts to at least the critical level. And to obtain a healthy engine, missing parts (like the exhaust purifier) may have to be fitted.
If one takes an engine with some parts barely at the critical level and one improves other parts in order to obtain a higher performance, the results may be disastrous. If an engine with sticky valves is fitted with larger carburetors and a supercharger and run at higher speed, it may explode. Improving some parts of an engine could mean that other parts will now be under greater stress. Racing car engines, tuned for high perfor-mance, are under much greater stress than the engine of the family limousine. The critical levels of the parts of a racing engine are higher. Racing engines break down more often than "ordinary" engines.
Misguided attempts to improve some parts of an engine, while neglecting others, could change a running engine into a stalled or broken-down engine - or an engine screaming out of control, sowing destruction...until it explodes...Could this have something to do with the tendency for people in positions of extreme power to become murderously destructive? ... Disharmonic "development," "elevation," and "improvement?"...Engines tuned by mechanical tone-dears. Attempting impossible tasks? ... Vital parts missing, unsuspected? ... Inferior engines, modified and souped up by the adulation, votes and taxes of the naïve seekers after saviors?
Can we justifiably say that up till now, all attempts to bring health to the world have failed miserably? There have been temporary improvements, but no elevation to a maintainable higher level of human behavior. And we have achieved a critical potential for self-destruction - it only requires a "Reagan," an "Andropov" (or a faulty computer?) to press the button that will wipe out most life on Earth. Is that the degree of our illness?
Is the reason that most attempts thus far to bring health to the world have been miserable failures: That every individual, every movement, every religion, every philosophy, every morality, every psychology, every science, every economics, every politics, every technology, every set of values, every form of art, through which the task of human improvement has been attempted, has been unhealthy or sick (or below the critical level of health) in at least one are o life? For an engine to fail, only one part has to be substandard, only one essential element has to be missing...
So, what are the parts or the elements of this "health" we have been talking about? The following is a tentative list:
Do each of us have to become "healthy" in all these areas? If so, then what do we have to do? ("The rainbow and the stairway to the Superman"?) What important aspects should be added to the above list?
Transactional Analysis (TA):
People are born princes and princesses until their parents turn them into frogs. - Eric Berne
In my opinion, TA is a very significant advance is communication and human understanding. Eric Berne, the originator of TA, created a frame-work of realistic and useful concepts that describe many facets of human interaction with a great deal of accuracy. These concepts we could call the "elements" of TA - or the units or standards of measurement of human communication. In physical science, the great advances have resulted from improved observation and measurement. And that is precisely what has become possible through TA: Improved observation, more accurate measurement. Anyone who takes the trouble to master the elements of TA can use them as tools for self-observation and self-improvement. In my opinion, TA is a superb instrument for improving communication, psycho-logical health, and self-actualization.
What I mean when I assert that Eric Berne was a radical is that he re-examined the basic assumptions held by psychiatry, and the investigations that he made resulted in ideas which were diametrically opposed to what was accepted as fact in his day. - Claude Steiner ("Scripts People Live")
These I consider the most important elements of TA:
(A) Stroke: A unit of recognition; the most fundamental unit of social action; any action which implies the recognition of the presence of another. We need strokes. Babies can die from stroke deprivation. ("If you are not stroked, your spinal cord will shrivel up.") There are positive and negative strokes. A welcoming smile is a positive stroke, while a slap in the face is a negative stroke (in almost all circumstances!). Any stroke is better than no stroke - remember what Stewart Emery wrote about positive and negative acknowledgment?
(B) Transaction: A stimulus communication followed by its response communication; an exchange of strokes which is the basic unit of social intercourse. There are several types of transactions which will be described later. Any transaction is better than no transaction. Few human beings can tolerate silence or solitude for very long.
Parents, deliberately or unaware, teach their children from birth how to behave, think, feel, and perceive. Liberation from these influences is no easy matter, since they are deeply ingrained and are necessary during the first two or three decades of life for biological and social survival. Indeed, such liberation is only possible at all because the individual starts off in an autonomous state; that is, capable of awareness, spontaneity, and intimacy, and he has some discretion as to which parts of his parents' teachings he will accept. At certain specific moments early in life, he decides how he is going to adapt to them. It is because his adaptation is in the nature of a series of decisions that it can be undone, since decisions are reversible under favorable circumstances. - Eric Berne ("Games People Play")
(C) Ego State: One of "parent," "adult," or "child." An identifiable, coherent system of feelings, mode of mentation, and set of behavior patterns. An ego state is both physiological and psychological. An ego state is a holdcept out of which transactions are conducted. Distinct identities within an individual, which manifest as ways of feeling, thinking, communi-cating, and behaving are either "parent-like," "adult-like," or "child-like." (See Figures 1, 2, 3, and 7.**)
(C1) "Parent": ("Parent" ego state.) The "parent" contains recordings of necessary actions for survival - so-called "survival instincts." The "parent" is a collection of instructions for automatic do's and don'ts. It makes possible instant reaction to many situations. "Parent" has two aspects: "Nurturing parent" and "critical parent" (or "pig parent"); these could be regarded as two distinct ego states. The "parent" tends to be dogmatic (the "parent" is the robot). (See Figures 2 and 7.**)
The main job of the male "pig parent" is to police men into always having their "adults" turned on, to do what their "pigs" say they should do to be "real men;" that is, to be out of touch with their nurturing, intuitive, or fun-loving feelings. - Claude Steiner ("Scripts People Live")
(C2) "Adult": ("Adult" ego state.) The "adult" is the rational, analytical, logical thinker, the "data processor," the probability estimator. The "adult" is in control of the ideal personality and utilizes the "parent" and "child" as appropriate. The "adult" tends to be flexible (the "adult" is the self-programmer). (See Figures 4, 5, 6, and 7.**)
(C3) "Child": ("Child" ego state.) The "child" contains recordings of feelings, emotions, and impressions from the pre-verbal stage of its development. "Child" also contains parental injunctions as well as decisions made early in life by the "child" itself. The "child" has three aspects ("child" can be sub-divided into "parent of the child," "adult of the child," and "child of the child"): "Adapted child," "intuitive child," and "natural child." "Adapted child" can be compliant, protesting, or withdrawing. Some TA practitioners regard "adapted child" and "pig parent" (or "critical parent") as the same ego state. "Intuitive child" is also called "little professor": Intuition and creativity. "Natural child" is spontaneous expression and a joyful rebel (the fun-loving, cheerful Dadaist-anarchist who wouldn't hurt a fly?). ("Child" is extremely malleable and programmable, especially when young.) (See figures 3 and 7.**)
Possible Biological basis for Ego States:
There may be a biological foundation for the different ego states determined by different parts of the human brain. There is a brain theory (the "triune theory"), according to which the brain contains three major distinct parts called "reptilian complex," "limbic system," and "cortex." These three brain systems evolved successively and are physiologically and chemically different. The most ancient is the reptilian complex, which can be associated with the "parent" ego state (crude survival behavior, some-times primitive). The limbic system, also called the old mammalian brain, evolved next. It includes the thalamus, which is widely regarded as the seat of the emotions. The feelings, thoughts, style of communication, and manner of behavior of the "pig parent"/"adapted child" (which often are emotional and vicious) can be symbolized by a life-and-death struggle between the reptile and the mammal. The cortex (left and right hemispheres), also called the neo-mammalian brain, evolved subsequently. The left hemisphere can be regarded as the "adult," and the right hemisphere, as the "little professor." (For a few people, "hemispheres seem to be switched": Left = intuition; right = logic.) The limbic system (uncontaminated by the reptilian complex) can be regarded as "natural child." At the rear base of the brain is the cerebellum, regarded by some brain scientists as the seat of "robot programs." This could account for the robot aspect of the "parent."
In TA, they talk of "child" or "parent" being "hooked." If we think of the different parts of the brain as distinct circuits, can we make these statements:
We will return to these "brain issues" in Section 24 (Zen-archist theory of human nature) and Section 25 (neo-Gurdjieff). If you are interested in pursuing the "brain issue," I recommend that you read: "A Triune Concept of Brain and Behavior" by Paul MacLean and "The Dragons of Eden" by Carl Sagan.
TYPES OF TRANSACTIONS: (A transaction is a stimulus stroke plus a response stroke.)
(B1) Complementary Transaction: (See Figure 8A.**) Any transaction depicted by parallel lines; e.g., "Parent 1" to "Parent 2" plus "Parent 2" back to "Parent 1"; "Child 1" to "Adult 2" plus "Adult 2" back to "Child 1." While complementary transactions are being conducted, communication can continue indefinitely.
(B2) Crossed Transaction: (See Figure 8B.**) Any transaction depicted by crossed lines. Crossed transactions result in communications becoming "heated" and interrupted (ruptured).
(B3) Duplex or Ulterior Transaction: (See Figure 8C.**) A transaction occurring on two levels: Psychological and social.
(B4) Discount Transaction: The most destructive transactions, which can drive people crazy. Any transaction in which the information given by one person is ignored, invalidated, or discounted by the responder. Example: "Daddy, I'm scared; I think I heard a burglar." ("Adult to Adult")..."Johnny, keep quiet and go back to bed." ("Parent" to "child.")
(D) Injunction: Any parental prohibition or inhibition of the free behavior of a young person: "Don't think," "Don't sing," "Don't be happy," "Don't show anger," etc.
(E) Attribution: (Concept developed by R. D. Laing, "The Politics of the Family and Other Essays.") An attribute that a young person is induced (or hypnotized) to accept, by his or her parents or by other people. Example: Parents discussing, "Johnny is so terribly shy, I don't think he will ever learn to speak to girls."
...Events are always followed by decisions...It is not the events that make us crazy - it is the decisions about the events. - Stewart Emery ("Actualizations")
(F) Script Decision: A premature, forced, major decision about self, others, and/or the world made by a young person as a reaction to discount trans-actions, injunctions, and attributions. Example: "There is always something wrong with me (and with everybody and everything else)"; "I will be mother's good little boy." This decision is made under duress, possibly from fear and pain, before the young person has a sufficiently developed "adult" to be capable of making such a momentous decision rationally. The script decision results in a holdcept (which may be debilitating, stupefying, saddening, etc.), out of which the person will live his or her life . This holdcept includes one of the four main "positions" described below. Most young persons make their script decision by the age of seven. ("Your personality is formed by the age of seven and almost impossible to change after that." - "Child" programmed herself or himself before being "adult" enough to do so competently...and, maybe in most cases, included a meta-program which says, "I cannot reprogram myself.")
(G) Game: "...an ongoing series of complementary ulterior transactions progressing to a well-defined, predictable outcome...a recurring set of transactions, often repetitious, superficially plausible, with a concealed motivation..." (Eric Berne, "Games People Play." A game is characterized by its dishonesty (ulterior quality, hidden motivation), and "payoff" (dramatic ending). It seems that every script has one central game. For example, the person with the script theme, "Something always goes wrong," could have as a favorite game, "Please kick me." This person would look for players whose favorite game is "Now I've got you, you son of a bitch." The payoff or dramatic outcome of the game is the confirmation of the position.
What we are concerned with here are the unconscious games played by innocent people engaged in duplex transactions of which they are not uflly aware and which form the most important aspect of social life all over the world. Because of their dynamic qualities, games are easy to distinguish from mere static attitudes, which arise from taking a position. - Eric Berne ("Games People Play")
(H) Position: One of the four "basic life positions" described below. A position is a context or a perspective from which life is viewed. It manifests as a pervasive mental attitude. Most transactions tend to be influenced by the position. Most people spend a great deal of time and energy playing games to confirm their position. The position is a conception of self, coupled with a conception of others. It includes basic emotional attitudes towards self and towards others.
(H1) "I'm Not OK - You're OK": The most prevalent position. According to Thomas Harris ("I'm OK - You're OK"), every young person decides early in life that he or she is not OK and that his or her parents are OK. Berne ("Games People Play") did not share this view, nor does Claude Steiner ("Scripts People Live"). In this position, one feels at the mercy of others. It is a victim position. It is characterized by dependence, obedience, and seeking approval. Playing games out of this position, you seek strokes to make you feel OK - but the payoff (outcome of the game) is confirmation of the position. Typical game: "Please kick me."
I'm not OK means: I'm two feet tall, I'm helpless, I'm defenseless, I'm dirty, nothing I do is right, I'm clumsy, and I have no words with which to try to make you understand how it feels. You're OK means: You are six feet tall, you are powerful, you are always right, you have all the answers, you are smart, you have life-and-death control over me, and you can hit me and hurt me, and it's still OK. - Thomas Harris ("I'm OK - You're OK")
(H2) "I'm Not OK - You're Not OK": This position is characterized by despair, hopelessness, and extreme withdrawal (including suicide).
(H3) "I'm OK - You're Not OK": This position tends to come about when a young person is subjected to parental brutality, but experiences his or her ability to survive. Hatred, determination, and toughness may be attitudes of this position.
(H4) "I'm OK - You're OK": This position tends to be qualitatively different from the previous three, which were made unconsciously at a very early age. The "I'm OK - You're OK" position has to be made consciously. The first three positions are based largely on pre-verbal feelings and emotions; the fourth is based on analytic "adult" data processing. (People are OK; they do the best they can, given their concepts, beliefs, emotions, and expectations. People are OK; their information may be faulty. There are no "people problems;" only problems of ignorance. It is far easier to reach this position intellectually than emotionally. Because of earlier pre-verbal feelings, recorded in the "child" and activated in the present, it is very easy for your communication and behavior to regress back into one of the previous positions.
Scripting robs people of their autonomy. The more thorough the scripting, the less control the person has over his life and the more he feels powerless. When feeling powerless, people can't think, can't express themselves, can't work or study, can't enjoy themselves, can't stop smoking or drinking, can't wake up in the morning, or go to sleep at night, can't cry or can't stop crying. Some people feel constantly, utterly powerless; others, only at certain times. - Claude Steiner ("Scripts People Live")
(I) Script: An unconscious life plan "written" in script decisions. It may include the time of death. It seems to contain one principal game (like "alcoholic"), coupled with lesser games, which are variations on a theme. It could be called "repetition compulsion." The basic life position is a central element of the script. A script may have a sensational finale...catastrophe or brilliant success. Fortunately, many people have scripted themselves positively. The purpose of transactional analysis is to rewrite our scripts. There are four basic ingredients of scripts: Lovelessness, mindlessness, joylessness, and powerlessness. Every script contains some mix of these ingredients (or holdcepts).
Powerlessness in the population is a requirement in an oppressive society, and the family, unfortunately, often trains out power and autonomy and trains in discipline and docility to authoritarian rules. - Claude Steiner ("Scripts People Live")
(I1) No Love: Young persons receive "basic training" from their parents, analogous to the basic training given to military conscripts. This training comes mainly in the form of injunctions and attributions, and is cemented by script decisions (e.g., "To love is too dangerous."). Eric Berne formulated what he called the "stroke economy": The exchange of strokes. The stroke economy has rules:
(I2) No Mind: Mindlessness training is given in the form of injunctions ("Don't think."), attributions ("Johnny is too stupid to think about that."), and finalized by script decisions ("I will never think for myself again."). Discount transactions are a major source of mindlessness ("Discounts drive people crazy.") Mild to moderate mindlessness in a script manifests as gullibility, uncritical acceptance of creed or dogma. Extreme mindlessness manifests as "going crazy." To the degree that you are free from "mindless decisions," you are capable of awareness and intelligence.
The connection between sexual repression and the authoritarian social order is simple and direct: The child who experienced the suppression of his natural sexuality is permanently maimed in his character development; he inevitably becomes submissive, apprehensive of all authority, and completely incapable of rebellion. - Wilhelm Reich ("The Function of the Orgasm")
In other words, the child develops exactly that character structure which would prevent him from seeking liberation. The first act of suppression prepared the way for every subsequent tyranny. Reich concluded that repression occurred not for the sake of moral edification (as traditional religions would have it), nor the sake of cultural development (as Freud claimed), but simply in order to create the character structure necessary for this preservation of a repressive society. - Claude Steiner ("Scripts People Live")
(I3) No Joy: Joylessness training consists mainly of the suppression of infantile sexuality and spontaneous emotional expression of young persons - injunctions ("Be quiet," "Don't play with yourself"), attributions (you have to take drugs - alcohol, etc. - in order to have fun). You graduate from joylessness training by script decisions ("I'll show them, I'll never be happy again.") Extreme joylessness manifests as drug addiction. To the degree that you are free from "joyless decisions," you can have fun and express yourself spontaneously.
Human beings are, by nature, inclined to and capable of living in harmony with themselves, each other, and nature.
If left alone (given adequate nurturing), people have a natural tendency to live, to take care of themselves, to be healthy and happy, to learn to get along with each other, and to respect other forms of life.There is a...point of view...namely, that the most valuable source of information about what is good for people is within every one of them. This belief holds that human beings have a deep, built-in notion of what they need, what benefits them and harms them, and that, if left alone, people will follow their human core, their center, and find the correct path forward toward harmony with themselves, each other, and nature. - Claude Steiner ("Scripts People Live")
(I4) No Power: Powerlessness training consists of injunctions ("You can't do that," "It's too dangerous"), attributions ("Johnny can't do anything right"), and is cemented by script decisions ("Mommy will always take care of me"). The extent of powerlessness in a script manifests as belief in "external authority" ("Big Brother"), dependency, helplessness, and devotion to a "big cause." To the degree that you free yourself from "powerless decisions," you are responsible, powerful, and free.
The exercise of power over people for the purpose of harming them seems to have two basic sources. The first source is scarcity. When scarcity of something needed exists so that there is less of it than would be necessary to satisfy all of the people in a situation, then it is inevitable that certain people who have more power will use that power against other people to take away their fair share. The power used can be crude physical force, as when one kills people and takes their food or land; but it also can take the form of psychic force where the powerful person creates a situation in the powerless person so that the powerless person will give up his fair share without resistance, thus not needing to be coerced. This is what is called "mystified oppression," a situation where people allow others to oppress them because they accept the deceptions which justify the oppression. - Claude Steiner ("Scripts People Live")
(J) Rescue Game: (See Figure 9.**) The rescue game is a primary means for promoting powerlessness. It is played by a cast of at least three: Victim, rescuer, and persecutor. The victim plays out of the position: I'm not OK - you're OK; both the rescuer and the persecutor play from: I'm OK - you're not OK. The rescue game tends to be a vicious circle, an endless merry-go-round. Each player has a preferred role, but will switch roles from time to time. The victim seeks "help." The rescuer offers advice. The victim dis-counts the advice ("Yes, but..."). The rescuer becomes frustrated and angry and switches to persecutor. At some point, the victim may counterattack; then victim and persecutor switch roles. ("Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose.")
The above constitute only the barest bones of TA. For further reading, I recommend:
Application of Transactional Analysis:
(A) Observe your transactions: Do your strokes come from "parent," "adult," or "child"? Be particularly on the lookout for your "pig parent" (can be recognized by protest and mis-emotion).
(B) Observe the effects of particular types of transactions on yourself and on others, particularly discount transactions.
(C) Study the various games and scripts described in the TA literature; see if your own behavior fits into any of these patterns.
(D) Use focusing (Section 4), particularly for dealing with pre-verbal "child" recordings which get activated in the present.
(E) Use the option process (Section 2) to uncover debilitating beliefs - and the unconscious infantile injunctions, attributions, and decisions, which are the source of the beliefs.
(F) Consider the possibility that whatever "you" are absolutely certain of, it is not you (the "adult") who is certain, but you (the "pig parent").
(G) Apply the advice of A. E. Van Vogt given at the end of the previous section (!).
The script can be described as a very wide context out of which you live your life. The ego states, positions, and games are all holdcepts that keep you stuck in your script. The first jumpcept is to become aware of the different types of transactions and their effect. The second jumpcept is to become aware of which ego state you are stroking from at any given time. The third jumpcept is to recognize the particular games you play. The fourth jumpcept is to become aware of which of the four basic life positions you operate out of any given time. And the fifth jumpcept is to read your script (from your life history) and to rewrite it consciously so you can discover the quality beyond.
Transactional analysis is a step towards the superperson.
After TA, What?
The end result of TA is supposed to be an emancipated "adult" utilizing her or his "parent" and "child" flexibly and appropriately, at will. Now, consider the possibility that the person who has attained this level could still be a "slave" in relation to a projected external "master." What would be the nature of such an imagined "master"? What would be the remaining beliefs (holdcepts) that imprison the "slave"?
I would like to suggest that practically all of us are still held down by mountainous, debilitating beliefs of scientific, religious, political, educa-tional, cultural, and biological origin. These beliefs are very difficult to recognize for their destructiveness; practically all of us suffer from them - to the extent that anyone who dares question them is usually considered "crazy"...
Think of the universe as a "super-parent": Beliefs about "Mother Nature," "physical laws," "natural laws". Think of all your ancestors as a "biological parent": Instructions and beliefs programmed into your genes and your brain. Think of all other people now living as a "society parent": Beliefs, values, inhibitions, compulsions about "humanity at large," make-believe "laws," "the Fatherland." Think of the imposter tyrants of this world, whom you, out of your "slave mentality" of "mystified oppression," think of as "President," "King," "Queen," "Prime Minister," "Emperor," "Ayatollah," and "Pope."
What is idolatry?
The savage bows down to idols of wood and stone; the civilized man, to idols of flesh and blood.
"Kings" are not born; they are made by artificial hallucination. - George Bernard Shaw ("Man and Superman")
To the degree that you continue to swallow the primitive curses of preachers and politicians, you will remain stuck in your "slave mentality" of "mystified oppression," at the effect of your hallucinated "masters."
Preachers: Hallucinated "Popes" and "Bishops" issued "God's Law" and "Papal Decrees" in "Bibles" and deliver "holy sermons" from "Vaticans" and "churches;" "Believers" "pray" and pay "tithes" and obey the "sacred law" - to their sorrow.
Politicians: Hallucinated "Presidents" and "Kings" issue "state law" and "royal decrees" in "state gazettes" and deliver "national speeches" from "Parliaments" and "palaces;" "citizens" "vote" and pay "taxes" and obey the "secular law" - the their sorrow.
To imagine that the former constitutes evidence for the existence of "God" is as absurd an hallucination as to imagine that the latter constitutes evidence for the existence of "state," is a demented delusion. (Thus speaks the "pig parent"? or the "nurturing"?)
Over the ages, every newborn cave-age child has smiled expectantly at its "civilized" parents. From generation to generation, humanity has a brand new chance for self-fulfillment. Fulfillment may take some time, but our day will come. The newborn is enormously adaptable and is capable of surviving the chambers of horrors of its most sadistic fellow humans.
Human potential is as infinite as human adaptability. Each generation of parents has the option to oppress its offspring with age-old curses or to protect its children's spontaneity, encourage their awareness, and respond to their intimate needs that they may reach their full potential. Pushing through to the surface, people's basic nature is like a perennial virgin spring, every ready to feed life with its sweet waters.
Intimacy, awareness, and spontaneity are innately human and, even if crushed, will re-emerge again and again with in each succeeding generation. - Claude Steiner ("Scripts People Live")
POINTS TO REMEMBER:
(A) The importance of communication.
(B) How communication can become more effective.
(C) Public speaking skills are vital.
(D) Transactional analysis as a framework for improved communication.
(E) Neuro-linguistic programming as improved communication.
(F) General semantics as improved communication.
(G) There is a wide range of possibilities for participating in this network.
(H) Meta-correction, or correcting correcting.
(I) The importance of self-correction.
(J) Non-violent correction may be more workable.
(K) "Punishment" is a questionable activity.
(L) The importance of feedback and one's response to it.
(M) Thorough correction may be necessary in many areas of life.
(N) Nietzsche's case for the revaluation of all values.
(O) The need for balanced and harmonious correction.
(P) The possible reasons why most attempts, to date, to bring health into the world have failed.
(Q) The list of aspects of life that may need correction.
(R) A stroke is any action that implies the recognition of another.
(S) A transaction is an exchange of strokes (stimulus stroke plus response stroke).
(T) The basic ego states are "parent," "adult," "child." "Parent" can be "nurturing parent" or "critical parent." "Child" can be "adapted child," "little professor," or "natural child."
(U) Transactions can be complementary, crossed, duplex, or discount.
(V) As a result of parental discounts, injunctions, and attributions, a script decisions is made.
(W) A game is an ongoing series of complementary, duplex, or ulterior transactions, culminating in a dramatic outcome, which is the payoff that confirms the position.
(X) The four basic life positions:
CLARITY CHECK:
(A) Do you think that communication is important? If so, why?
(B) Do you intend to improve the level of your communication? If so, how?
(C) What do you think of the contention that most communication in the world is stimulus-response reactive rather than creative and that this is a major reason why we suffer from large-volume/poor-quality information?
(D) Does the notion of communicating at a level of creation mean anything to you?
(E) How do you think this paper can be improved so that it communicates better?
(F) Do you think it is important to become a superb public speaker?
(G) If you were interested in participating in the meta-information network, in what capacity would you do so?
(H) What do you think are the most important principles of correction?
(I) What is your view of the merit (or dismerit) of "punishment"?
(J) How do you think feedback should be handled?
(K) Should one actively seek more feedback in life, generally?
(L) What do you think about the idea of harmonious or balanced correc-tion?
(M) Where is correction most necessary in the world, as a whole?
(N) What aspects of your own life do you think need correction?
(O) Should participants of the meta-information network attempt to become superwomen and supermen?
(P) What is a stroke?
(Q) What is a transaction?
(R) What are the basic ego states? Can you describe each? How can the ego states be subdivided?
(S) Describe these transactions: Complementary, crossed, duplex, discount.
(T) What are injunctions and attributions? What is a script decision?
(U) What is a game? What is a payoff?
(V) What are the four basic life positions?
(W) Which is the most prevalent position and why?
(X) What is a script?
(Y) What are the four important ingredients of scripts?
(Z) What is the "rescue game"? How can you avoid it?
(AA) How can you apply TA to your own life?
(BB) What is meant by "mystified oppression"?
(CC) How can a human being become a "King" or a "President"?
(DD) What is your general opinion, now, of the book, so far?
** The figures are not available in this HTML version.
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