by Frederick Mann
Introduction
In 'Wings of Illusion' -- "the motivation of this book stems from a powerful urge to understand the destructive and seemingly suicidal qualities that are features of the human animal" -- John F. Schumaker coined the term "paranormal imperative."
"Throughout the writing of this book, I continually reminded myself of a character in Thornton Wilder's 'The Eighth Day' who is overwhelmed by the mad cruelty that human beings show to each other. He realizes the extent of our inhumanity to each other, and concludes that "the whole world's wrong," and that there is something terribly flawed at the very heart of the human animal.
...I too attempt to track down that "problem," that "something wrong." I discover that it is the human appetite for illusion and self-deception which usually comes packaged as paranormal belief. If that isn't odd enough, I also show that this "problem" has always been a blessing and solution for us as well. I make the seemingly strange case that evolution saved us from an early prototype of intelligence by giving us the capacity to be suggestible and hypnotizable. At that point, all reality-transcending belief, including religion was born.
In contrast to most books dealing with paranormal belief, I point out that this particular ability is taking us down the road to self-extinction. That "something wrong" is a flaw in what I call the "paranormal belief imperative." As a life-threatening flaw, it is probably part of what Carl Sagan called the "excess evolutionary baggage" that we are forced to carry around, despite its counterproductive effects on us in modern times.
A good deal of evidence is offered to show that paranormal belief promotes the personality characteristics that underlie small-scale and large-scale inhumanity. Very few people are without a certain degree of paranormal belief. Although most of us are not consciously aware of it, paranormal belief is our strongest drive." -- John F. Schumaker ('Wings of Illusion')
I contend that the "basic human problem" is considerably bigger than Schumaker's paranormal imperative. I call the bigger problem the "unreality imperative," which includes the paranormal imperative. I contend that in the domain of politics most humans think and behave more unrealistically and destructively than in the domain of religion and other paranormal belief. In business the unreality imperative manifests in many ways, including dishonest business practices and Enron-type accounting. The unreality imperative also extends to domains such as economics, diet, sex, and relationships. In fact, the unreality imperative extends to all areas of unreal or irrational human behavior.
For a preliminary discussion of the unreality imperative, see The "Unreality Imperative." See also "Unreality" in #TL80A: Creativity Report #1.
In addition to the above, most of the writings on this website include aspects of the unreality imperative -- see Build Freedom Books and Reports.
Some very important discoveries at the root of the unreality imperative can be found in The Reciprocality Project. See also #TL04AA: Expanded Monster Zero (EM0).
Primary Bibliography:
Secondary Bibliography:
Completing this report is a major undertaking. My intention is to spend a few hours a month writing more of the report. It may take many months to complete. What you see below is thus very much a work in progress.
First, I itemize:
Then, in the rest of the report I will describe some of the elements (both causes and symptoms) in more detail.
Finally, I conclude with suggestions about what you as an individual can do about the situation.
Causes and Causative Factors of the Unreality Imperative
Digging Your Way Out Of The Psychological Inertia Hole
Psychological Inertia: Two kinds in one story
Psychological Inertia
Human Functions, Languages and Creativity
Human Functions: The Source Of Psychological Inertia
Main Symptoms of the Unreality Imperative
Some of the most Important Aspects of Schumaker's Paranormal Imperative
Some of the less Important Aspects of Schumaker's Paranormal Imperative
Conclusion
Don't let the fact that this report is so incomplete prevent you from further study. I invite you to read the books in the bibliographies, as well as the reports linked to from this report.
Suggestions for improving this report are most welcome. Please send them to Frederick Mann.
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