Introduction
In the 'Quintessential Questions' - Part I, I asked: "What is the single biggest obstacle to freedom that practically every individual can effectively do something about by himself or herself?"

In the 'Quintessential Questions' - Part II, Rick White <rick.rabbit@elmos.com> asks: "Why, despite the historical record and current history, do people accept the inferior services at inflated prices -- and unwanted externalities such as wars, etc. -- that are the hallmark of governments? What are the underlying biological drives that contribute to this aberration?"

I believe that this report on the "breeding motivation," its implications, and what can be done about it represents some progress toward answering the above two questions. I also believe that part of the answer can be found in '#TL05AB: Anthropomorphism and Related Phenomena'.

The breeding motivation revelation was triggered by my suggestion to add "NUDE (At Ease With Nudity)" as an additional discussion category to the Advanced Freedom Solutions List.

The Breeding Motivation
Frederick Mann; 14 Oct 1997:

I'm interested in adding "Nudity" as an AFS discussion group.

* At Ease With Nudity (Nudity is a natural NUDE fact of birth for us all; how to practice Nudity without guilt or shame).

I'd like to know what subscribers think about this. All comments and suggestions welcome.

Bob Newland <newland@rapidcity.com>; 14 Oct 1997:

Nudity seems to me to be a logical topic for discussion in a freedom-oriented group. Nudity is not force. The sexual repression of our society is certainly related to, say, internet censorship. So, why not?

Anonymous; 14 Oct 1997:

I'm going to comment here, and it probably will not even make sense to many people:

The sexual repression of our society? Who is repressed? Breeding is the sole purpose of all of society's choices. They buy a sporty car to get a better girl to breed. They want to make more money to have a better home to provide a better (more stable) environment for breeding. We have family rituals (birthdays, etc.) to help keep together a supportive breeding environment and uphold/pass on breeding beliefs (get married/breed/spawn (er, have kids I mean).

Doesn't anybody find it strange that most people (99%) bumble through their lives, breed, and die. Breed, and die. Breed, and die. Over and over yet no one stops and asks, "Why?" Why make more humans? Why spawn? What is the point? -- other than you have an "urge" to. What an ignorant reason!

Listen to the radio. Listen to the subject of 99% of songs. Try and find a song with words that are NOT about breeding. Watch TV. The plot of shows and movies is what? -- you guessed it --> breeding. Guy and girl pair-bonding unit (star and female sex-object) is threatened by environmental/other animals competing for top rank in breeding pecking-order. Male animal overcomes obstacles and at the end the male and female breeding unit are shown together and safe. The story ends. We are left with the warm feeling that breeding will continue, the race will continue, and all is well. That's what we think is a happy ending. Breeding will continue. Family (extended breeding unit) is safe and will "prosper."

Think: If someone told you that when you were born, scientists had implanted you with coding that would dictate every action you made and you would NOT be aware of this motivation that drove your every action -- wouldn't you feel controlled?

Doesn't acting on a motivation you neither understand nor chose bother you?

I do not appreciate suddenly feeling like I want to put part of my body in another organism( another human's) body, or realizing I chose the make/model of my car, my hairstyle, my level of fitness, my career, my clothes, etc., etc., etc., based on an _underlying_ motivation to breed.

Most people are so in denial about their #1 motivation that they try and explain it away ("natural" "love"; "god's plan (what a joke!)" Most people don't like to admit they are puppets on a string, playing out a pathetic breeding play. And for WHAT? So the next generation can repeat the ignorant cycle? Born, breed, die. Born, breed, die. Born, breed, die. Sort of reminds you of, yes -- insects and animals. Our whole lives just to make more of our species so they can make more, etc. How pointless.

If someone can explain the point of breeding, why the species should breed, or any significant reason justifying this race being mass-controlled by a motivation that 99% of people are not in full awareness of, please tell me.

Doesn't anyone care what is really going on? No, most are happy to be a slave to their instincts. That's great for marketers though. They can just carrot-'n'-stick the programmed masses. Just hang a picture of sex (or something that is perceived as leading to sex) on a stick, hold it in front of people, and they'll walk till they drop dead. Actually, that's what's happening to everyone anyway -- except they don't realize the stick is taped to their backs with the sex dangling over their heads and out in front of them leading the way. Funny, eh?

The Relevance of Trance Theory
[From "A Gentle Introduction to Trance Theory".]

...[T]he necessary and sufficient condition for a trance to occur is whenever there is a sustained cognitive object loop of sufficient length of time to cause dissociation. A cognitive object is an abstract way to denote a thought, any thought, whether it is a word, and idea, a feeling, a vision. When a set of cognitive objects repeat often enough, you will go into a trance...

It is possible to examine many ordinary and extraordinary human thought activities and to discover cognitive loops. We can also discover that each of these loops results in something like a dissociated state which are -- all of them -- trance-like according to the common definition...

Another part of the trance model says that a trance creates a dissociated trance plane. What is that?

Trance alters the way mental energy is utilized. When we are in a trance some cognitive functions are disabled. This disabling of specific cognitive functions is what gives a trance its character, if you will. Just as the hero noticed that the heroine's eye motion had been disabled, he presumed that she was in a trance. The dissociated trance plane is the collection of these disabled cognitive functions. Every trance has its own specific set of disabled cognitive functions and therefore a unique dissociated trance plane.

The reason why I refer to a dissociated trance plane instead of a specific cognitive function is that not all cognitive functions are known, and in my view the cognitive functions as we can describe them are not well enough defined to be useful for trance research.

The reason for this is that what we call memory is or can be somehow connected with judgment, and judgment is somehow connected with volition. Therefore, whenever I say that when you are in a trance then your volition is disabled, I am using more or less a social-psychological term to describe a characteristic of the dissociated trance plane.

Until cognitive functions can be rigorously defined with the help of considerable physiological menstruation research as well as additional theoretical speculation, I supposed we will have to make do with the social-psychological terms that are more easily understood. But I am not happy with them.

Now, the model for trance is complete and we only need to figure out what it implies and to verify in reality that trance works like the model states.

Once again, trance is a specific dissociated state which will always come into existence whenever a set of cognitive objects repeat in a loop. The trance always implies that some cognitive functions are disabled.

It is the kind of cognitive functions and the order in which they are disabled which gives rise to a wide variety of trance types...

So, from a practical point of view, the trance theory model says that there is a trance generating loop which consisting of repeating cognitive objects. This loop creates a dissociated trance plane in which various cognitive functions are disabled. And depending on the order that these cognitive functions are disabled as well as which specific ones are disabled and which are not, you have different trance states.

* * * * * * *

At this point it may be worth rereading Anonymous' post above, as well as reading the section on Trance Theory again. Pay particular attention to the phrases: (1) "Sustained cognitive loop"; (2) "Cognitive objects repeat in a loop"; (3) "When a set of cognitive objects repeat often enough, you will go into a trance"; (4) "Cognitive functions are disabled"; (5) "Dissociated trance plane"; (6) "Different trance states"; (7) "When you are in a trance then your volition is disabled."

Sexual orgasm can be described as a kind of trance state. It involves a kind of emptying of the mind, during which many cognitive functions are disabled. (If you observe certain insects such as centipedes copulating, you'll notice that while they're "on the job," you can go right up to them and touch them and they'll continue copulating without paying any attention to you, whereas normally they scurry away as fast as they can when they see you. During copulation they're in a different trance state with some cognitive functions disabled, and their normal volition is also disabled.)

The area of human relationships (particularly when sex is included), tends to be emotionally charged. Fear of failure or rejection can prevent one from asking for a date -- a disabling of cognitive function and volition -- a kind of trance. Anger and jealousy can cause irrational reactions -- a disabling of cognitive function and volition -- a kind of trance.

The important point is that when we operate under the spell of the breeding motivation, some of our cognitive functions are disabled, we operate on a "dissociated trance plane," and we lose some of our normal volition. Some of us may even become abject victims in the grip of our ruthless breeding motivation.

The Breeding Motivation Continued
Rob P. Levy <levy@Oswego.EDU>; 14 Oct 1997:

What seems to be the best explanation I have seen so far is the answer prepostulated by Evolutionary Biology and Memetics theory. As you likely already know, [Richard] Dawkins came up with the selfish-gene theory, which says that evolution is dictated not by the benefit of organisms but by competence of individual genes. The genes which spread best are those which produce organisms that replicate well and survive to continue replicating.

What this means is that organisms have highly developed sex organs, because of selfish-genes. We have strong sex-drives because of selfish-genes. Now as far as the cultural aspect goes, aside from a few anomalies that make up most of intellectual/western history, culture spreads best if it appeals to the nervous systems of these sex-obsessed creatures. Perhaps the inhibition of Id was the one positive aspect of Christianity, but Taoism did that SO much more healthily.

Of course my brief synopsis grossly reduces the developing meta-memes of memetic theory, but hey I'm busy. I share the sentiments about the obsession with sex, but I differ in that I believe that it is the redirection of sexual energy which allows civilization to be possible. If we were to cut it off all together -- I mean no more endocrine/pheromone sex drive whatever (Heaven's Gate would appreciate it), we probably wouldn't have much "meaning" or joy/thrill. This is really the only difference between us and any extrapolation of current computers: they operate efficiently and constantly devoid of any "meaning."

Jason Pociask <POCIASK@maricopa.edu>; 14 Oct 1997:

ROTFL! I feel like someone shoved my head down into the top end of a 20" telescope and is forcing me to read Whitehead and Russell's _Principia_ which is being held up near the eyepiece.

Anonymous, you have a gift for dragging the world through a knothole backwards. I remember a few years ago I was at a college football game, with a nice view of the cheerleaders, and after a beer or two the epiphany hit me: This is nothing but a giant fertility ritual -- "GO BIG RED!"

God I'm still laughing. What a great post.

Patrick Campbell <scorpaen@bellsouth.net>; 15 Oct 1997:

I have no desire to breed.

Yes it's so ... boring ... just saturated with it ... just imagine the things that could be accomplished if most of us didn't spend so much time or effort in pursuit of a relationship...

But unlike animals we do have choice. Sure the motivation can be at times overwhelmingly persuasive, but we do have choices.

Frederick Mann; 16 Oct 1997:

In order for us to have a significant effect, we need many more freedom-oriented people on this list. In some cases, like I expect with "NUDE," just because we add the category, our list will be promoted to more people.

Cross-fertilization of ideas also tends to increase as the number and variety of people on the list grows. It's interesting that my first "NUDE" post resulted in the superb "breeding motivation" post. I suspect that for many people, the first thing they need to do to increase their personal freedom is to reduce the degree to which they are subconsciously enslaved by their breeding motivation.

It could even be that the practice of nudity tends to reduce the compulsive effects of the breeding motivation.

Roger Taylor <rotaylor@makani.k12.hi.us>; 20 Oct 1997:

Many of our actions are unconscious. However at some point some people see the light and they realize that they can choose between biological imperatives and consciously chosen alternatives.

My choice as a young person was to enjoy the pleasure of sexuality and forgo procreation. Thus breeding became recreational sex. While there are still strings operating, being conscious helps to guide the direction my actions take.

As I have become more conscious, I have made other choices of how to spend my time. One of them being spending time learning about libertarianism. I don't look at it as climbing the mountain to get to the top, but to do something with my life force and observe what happens along the way.

One thing I have observed is that by living the code of noninitiation of force leads to giving our intimates personal freedom. This can be refined to the level of not using emotional force to get our way. I.e., discard jealousy and possessiveness in our personal relations.

Master-Slave Mentality
When in the grip of our breeding motivation, some of us are like slaves controlled by a master. Our volition -- ability to perform actions of our own choice -- more or less severely impaired. From the evolutionary point of view of the selfish gene, it makes sense to have a "replicating mechanism" (human beings) with powerful, instinctive sexual urges -- so strong that they tend to override the "conscious mind" of the replicating mechanism.

So the replicating mechanism, consciously or not, may form a "life-view" (or mentality) of itself as a helpless slave dominated by a master breeding motivation. There may be other factors that contribute to the master-slave mentality, such as the fact that human babies tend to be more helpless at birth than is the case for most other creatures. On top of which, the human baby tends to remain relatively helpless for a longer time than the young of most other creatures.

In any case, we humans have a potent breeding motivation that remains with us for most of our years -- at least into our 60s and 70s -- and is always there, periodically demonstrating to us that we are its helpless slaves. Just ask Bill Clinton!

Our "bicameral remnants" may also be a major factor which predisposes many of us to the master-slave mentality -- see the 'Model of the Bicameral Mind.'

Certain aspects of anthropomorphism -- '#TL05AB: Anthropomorphism and Related Phenomena'  -- may also predispose us to the master-slave mentality, for example, when we attribute "specialness" to someone else and regard him as a "noble," while at the same time attributing "diminution" to ourselves and regard ourselves as "commoners."

One of our cognitive faculties is generalization or modeling. We can generalize, or use as a model, what we learn in one area of life and apply it to other areas. Some of us generalize the master-slave life-view and apply it to other areas as well, so we effectively become slaves, not only of the breeding motivation, but of many other "masters" as well: "god," "king," "government," "law," etc. AND IN ALL THESE CASES, WE ALSO TEND TO MODEL REPETITIVE COGNITIVE LOOPS, THE DISABLING OF COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS, DISASSOCIATION, TRANCE STATES, AND THE DISABLING OF VOLITION.

Frederick Mann; 20 Oct 1997:

From earlier posts, and personal observation, it seems clear to me that many people are rendered considerably prone to manipulation and domination by the breeding motivation.

Question: In general, are women more or less prone to manipulation and domination by the breeding motivation than men?

Does the "breeding motivation" somehow cause people to believe and cling to NSPIC spooks? [NSPIC = Neuro-Semantic Political Illusion Complex -- see '#TL07E: NSPIC DEBATE #1'. "NSPIC spooks" are basically the words/concepts that keep coercive political systems in place at a deep level -- just above the more fundamental level at which anthropomorphism occurs -- see '#TL05AB: Anthropomorphism and Related Phenomena.']

It also seems reasonable to me that many people have a "security motivation." It may even be that the "security motivation" plays a more significant role in rendering people prone to manipulation and domination than the "breeding motivation."

Maybe the "security motivation" is *the* major reason for believing and clinging to NSPIC spooks.

Can anyone come up with a description of the "security motivation" as brilliant as the original description of the "breeding motivation?"

Frederick Mann; 20 Oct 1997:

On 10/20/97, Rickie.A.Slater@Dartmouth.EDU wrote:
>
<snip>
>
>I am saying that I feel a need to recognize when someone is
>"leveling off" because he or she is comfortable and that part
>of being comfortable for that person may be telling you they
>want more freedom when in fact their actions prove that they
>are not willing to emotionally accept the changes involved.
>I don't see them lacking in ability to refuse to surrender
>to an external authority except in appearances but rather I
>see them unable to emotionally commit themselves to accepting
>responsibility for their own decisions. This habit of being
>able to make one's own decisions and live with the consequences
>takes a great deal of strength and is to me the mark of
>leadership. There is nothing like a decision that leads
>to disaster to bring down almost anyone emotionally.
>

Typical slave mentalities kid themselves when they say they want more freedom. Often they think in terms of freedom as something that must be given to them on a platter by a (projected) "external authority." Many seem most comfortable being victims stuck in "the system." The very thought of taking personal action to exit "the system" frightens the shit out of them. While they remain stuck "the system," they have the comfort of blaming bad consequences on "the government."

Master mentalities constantly look for "systems" to exit. "Disasters" and setbacks along the way make them wiser and stronger.

>In short I question much of the external authority as being
>anything more than a projection of one's responsibility to
>make decisions onto another person and would, in addition
>to discussing the apparent details regarding the external
>authority, discuss the habits and experiences involved in
>making more and more of one's own decisions.

Very few people have any idea of the extent to which they project "external authority" where there really is *nothing*.

According to "Pax" (Jerry Stocking) in his book 'Enlightenment is Losing Your Mind,' most people's greatest fear isn't the fear of public speaking, it's the fear of NOTHING. Jerry gives the "Illusion Conclusion Course." Although he seems to suffer from all the NSPIC spooks, he provides valuable information for quitting other illusions. He also wrote 'How to Win by Quitting.' (Call 800-899-2464 or 715-924-4906.)

From: Anonymous; 20 Oct 1997:

On 20 Oct 1997, Frederick Mann wrote:
>
>From earlier posts, and personal observation,
>it seems clear to me that many people are
>rendered considerably prone to manipulation
>and domination by the "breeding motivation."
>
>Question: In general, are women more or less
>prone to manipulation and domination by the
>"breeding motivation" than men?

I think we both fall into our roles equally. Woman's natural role (here comes what may sound sexist but that happens to be 'natural') just happens to be one of caring for young spawn/nurturing. Even our anatomy gives away our behavior. Male genitalia are OUTwardly positioned, female's are INwardly positioned. Try examining each sex's behaviour in that light. Men are more aggressive/outwardly motivated/act ON the female species, and commit an action (sex) TO them.

Females are more acted UPON, inwardly situated in many respects, they have sex done TO them (they receive while men give, even down to the sperm). Naturally the female human animal has a specific role. Men have one too, but on the surface may APPEAR to have advantages of being more in control, but in fact the males are just as controlled/fixed in their roles by assuming their purpose is to breed with females.

Dominant/submissive. It works nicely for breeding purposely. It's a shame most people feel so controlled in their roles, fight the roles (women pushing for equal physical duties as men), when in fact it is the whole 'breeding game' that is the problem, not the particulars _within_ the breeding game. Get out of the game and things will become clearer.

>It seems reasonable to me that many people
>have a "security motivation." It may even
>be that the "security motivation" plays a
>more significant role in rendering people
>prone to manipulation and domination than
>the "breeding motivation."

The more secure the environment, the more secure/stable the breeding environment (most conducive to spawning). The will-to-live/breed/carry on the species. Will to live (security being part of that) facilitates breeding. You can't breed if you're dead!

>Maybe the "security motivation" is *the*
>major reason for believing and clinging to
>NSPIC spooks.

Now that may be. We (humans) want to cling to many things for the feeling of security which springs from familiarity. We cling to religion, we cling to foolish ideals, we cling to sentimental objects, possessions, destructive relationships, and habits, because it provides us with a feeling of security (the feeling that we 'know' the thing/person/concept) which comes from it simply being around so much that it has become familiar. What is 'familiar' anyway except the simple process of no longer questioning something and accepting it. Strange if you examine _everything_ we think we 'know' based on that, eh?

"Although we inherently feel the need to label and categorize every thing/idea we come in contact with, there is no need to have an opinion about everything. Even the opinions we do have should not be absolute. There is nothing to be gained other than a false sense of security -- clinging to something which only exists in your mind." -- Anonymous

Gurdjieff, Rand, and Trance States
G.I. Gurdjieff claimed that the normal human "awake" state -- what most of us regard as being awake -- is in fact still a form of sleep. The fact that we can walk around with our eyes open, without bumping into things, doesn't necessarily mean that we're fully awake.

Gurdjieff's student, Robert S. de Ropp, author of The Master Game and Warrior's Way, also wrote a book called Self-Completion, from which I quote:

"In their incompleted state human beings thought they were awake when they were really moving about in a state of hypnotized sleep. They thought they had will but they had no real will. They thought they were free but they were really slaves. They thought they had something called "I" but they had no real I, only a multitude of petty selves with different desires and different aims.

In their state of "waking sleep" humans voyaged from birth to death aboard a ship of fools. The captain was asleep, the steersman was drunk and the navigator had forgotten the aim of the voyage. Any fool on board could push the steersman aside and try to steer the ship. The great human agglomerates that called themselves nations were just as much at the mercy of the fools in their midst as were individual men and women. The technological Titanic, modern society, was proceeding full speed ahead into the fog, but there was no one in control. Under these circumstances it would not be surprising if the vessel hit a rock or an iceberg. The surprising thing was that it stayed afloat at all."

One of the differences between humans and other animals is that we don't automatically become mature. Most wild animals, without having to think about it or make some special effort, attain the potential they're capable of.

Not so, with humans. We have to make special conscious and deliberate efforts to develop and increase our intelligence, our thinking skills, our creativity, our emotional control, our psychological well-being, our communication and social skills, our personal power, our competence, and our health. In The Virtue of Selfishness Ayn Rand wrote:

"Man has no automatic code of survival. He has no automatic course of action, no automatic set of values. His senses do not tell him automatically what is good for him or evil, what will benefit his life or endanger it, what goals he should pursue and what means will achieve them, what values his life depends on, what course of action it requires. His own consciousness has to discover the answers to all these questions -- but his consciousness will not function automatically. Man, the highest living species on this earth -- the being whose consciousness has a limitless capacity for gaining knowledge -- man is the only living entity born without any guarantee of remaining conscious at all. Man's particular distinction from all other living species is the fact that his consciousness is volitional.

Just as the automatic values directing the functions of a plant's body are sufficient for its survival, but are not sufficient for an animal's -- so the automatic values provided by the sensory-perceptual mechanism of its consciousness are sufficient to guide the animal, but are not sufficient for man. Man's actions and survival require the guidance of conceptual values derived from conceptual knowledge. But conceptual knowledge cannot be acquired automatically."

The point is that we have to apply volition to our consciousness itself. If we don't do this, we tend to descend into puppet-like repetitive behavior -- cognitive objects repeating in automatic loops, the cognitive function of directing consciousness (and probably some other cognitive functions as well) disabled, and our volition generally impaired, and we tend to live our life in a slave-like trance state.

What Can We Do About It?
(1) Read the articles: 'How to Become a 10% Person or Better - Part I' and 'How to Become a 10% Person or Better - Part II.'

(2) Study the reports referenced in the above articles.

(3) Question everything you can; consciously develop the habit of questioning more and more things. Familiarize yourself with the analysis of the "job" concept in 'Economic Means to Freedom - Part IA.' Learn to apply the same kind of questioning to other words/concepts.

(4) Consciously develop the habit of self-observation -- particularly when you're at the mercy of the breeding motivation and you didn't choose to be! -- For example, you're a man walking with your wife past a beautiful young woman with gorgeous breasts and you can't keep your eyes off her! (The breeding motivation takes over!) -- Observe as much as you can about what's happening in your mind and with your body. More information on self-observation can be found in '#TL12: How To Achieve Emotional Control.'

(5) Increase your personal power. The best book I have on developing personal power is The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene and Joost Elffers. To the extent that you develop your personal power, you rise above the breeding motivation (as far as this is possible), and you rise above any other factors that may have been keeping you stuck at the "slave end" of a master-slave life-view. Greene and Elffers briefly cover a number of skills necessary for increasing your personal power:

Skill #1: Master your emotions -- see '#TL12: How To Achieve Emotional Control.'

Skill #2: Distance yourself from the present moment and think objectively about the past and the future. You look to the future with plans, particularly to remove potential problems before they materialize. You look at the past with a view to constantly educate yourself to be more effective in future. You learn as much as you can from the most serious mistakes of the past that held you back most.

Skill #3: Always be alert -- like an animal whose life depends on it.

Skill #4: Self-observation. [Becoming aware of the mechanisms of anthropomorphism is most important in this respect -- see '#TL05AB: Anthropomorphism and Related Phenomena'.]

Skill #5: Break the fixed patterns and habits of your past. Self-observation and examining your past mistakes helps you with this skill. [Becoming aware of the mechanisms of anthropomorphism is also most important in this respect -- see '#TL05AB: Anthropomorphism and Related Phenomena'.]

Skill #6: Learn to wear many masks and to present yourself in the most appropriate manner for each situation.

Skill #7: Learn to practice deception on many levels. Don't tell people "everything." Learn to use "honesty" as a weapon. [If a robber points a gun at you and tells you to give him all your money, and you deceive him by giving him less money than you have, is this OK? You have to draw a line for yourself between acceptable and unacceptable deception.]

Skill #8: Patience -- "If deception is the most potent weapon in your arsenal, then patience in all things is your crucial shield. Patience will protect you from making moronic blunders."

Skill #9: See circumstances rather than "good" or "evil." Distinguish between reality and your interpretations. Don't judge others by their intentions, but by the effects of their actions -- the results they produce.

Skill #10: Don't do what you shouldn't; assess costs. "Half of your mastery of power comes from what you do not do, what you do not allow yourself to get dragged into. For this skill you must learn to judge all things by what they cost you." Do a cost-benefit analysis before you act -- learn to do this instantly when necessary. Learn to recognize which actions increase your power and which actions decrease your power (or even ruin you). [Beware of marriage and/or bearing children. Divorce can ruin your finances. People get jailed for failing to make child-support payments.]/p>

* * * * * *

On April 21, 1985, Jorge Amador, editor of The Pragnatist: A Utilitarian Approach (PO Box 387, Forest Grove, PA 18922), wrote to me:

"I do not need a morality to tell me what to do. Just the pragmatic, utilitarian analysis we are all born with. My brain identifies the various courses of action open to me at any given point. My body or memory then releases pleasure/pain signals for each of the alternatives, and my brain, with the tools of economic analysis, tells me which of the alternatives will produce the most pleasure/least pain, what further effects they may cause and what pleasure/pain these effects may have, and what probabilities of occurring each of these pleasure/pain results has. I then select, as it must happen, the action that I have calculated might produce the highest ratio of pleasure to pain. Any morality that sets an a priori imperative or prohibition on which actions I will take can only get in the way of my maximizing my utility, by creating pains where there were none before attached to the prohibited actions (or attached to doing something other than the "required" actions)."

* * * * * *

Skill #11: Study and understand people. "An understanding of people's hidden motives is the single greatest piece of knowledge you can have in acquiring power. It opens up endless possibilities of deception, seduction, and manipulation. [Again, you have to draw the line for yourself between what is acceptable and what isn't.]

Skill #12: Take the acquisition of power seriously. "Don't be frivolous with such a critical matter."

Personally, I've found it very effective -- before taking an important action -- to ask myself, "Will this action increase my power or decrease it?"

* * * * * *

Here's one of the many ways of dividing the world into different kinds of people -- there are seven kinds of people in the world:

(1) Tyrants who practice coercion as a way of life, who use fraudulent deception, "save-the-children" seduction, compulsory brainwashing (called "education"), coercive manipulation, theft disguised as "taxes," etc. to live off the production of others -- most of the time, they're on the master side of the master-slave mentality;

(2) Accomplices of the tyrants, such as business tycoons who buy special favors from the tyrants, such as monopoly licenses, subsidies, import tariffs, etc. -- most of the time, they're on the master side of the master-slave mentality;

(3) Willing but unwitting victims (slaves) of the tyrants -- they tend to idolize the tyrants of their "choice" and demonize the tyrants they don't like -- they're on the slave side of the master-slave mentality;

(4) Unwilling, non-violent, and generally obedient victims (slaves) of the tyrants -- they tend to demonize all tyrants -- they're on the slave side of the master-slave mentality;

(5) Violent wannabe tyrants who seek to overthrow the present tyrants (whom they demonize) by whatever means available -- they want to be on the master side of the master-slave mentality;

(6) Unwilling, violent, and generally disobedient victims (slaves) of the present tyrants -- followers of wannabe tyrants -- they usually attempt to kill the tyrants they don't like -- they're on the slave side of the master-slave mentality;

(7) Those who seek to transcend the master-slave mentality -- wannabe masters without slaves -- what strategies and tactics can they apply to maximize their power (the ability to perform useful work and to influence others)? Read The 48 Laws of Power by Greene and Elffers.

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