by Frederick Mann
© Copyright 1994, 2002 Build Freedom Holdings ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Dedication
This report is dedicated to Dr. Win Wenger, to my knowledge the world's foremost increaser of intelligence. Win Wenger, Ph.D. is the founder of The Institute of Visual Thinking, Project Renaissance, and Psychegenics Press. To a considerable extent, Build Freedom as a solution to individual and world problems, is a result of the application of some of the phenomenally powerful creativity- and intelligence-increasing techniques developed by Dr. Wenger.
(Build Freedom ia a worldwide free country that extends across national borders. Its inhabitants are Free Sovereign Citizens. It has a Code of behavior, based on self-government, self-ownership, individual sovereignty, property rights, mutual respect for person and property, voluntary association, voluntary exchange, freedom of speech and contract, and the rejection of coercion. The fundamentals of Build Freedom are described in the Build Freedom Introductory Package consisting of Reports #TL01, TL01A, TL02, TL02A, TL02B, TL02C, and TL02D.)
I first made contact with Dr. Wenger about seven years ago. I immediately started practicing his techniques. I quickly started generating creative solutions to all kinds of problems. For several months, Dr. Wenger and I engaged in a sometimes heated dialog on the subject of "government." Over the ensuing years I continued to generate ever more sophisticated solutions, including some solutions to the problems of marketing and implementing "solutions."
At a certain point I realized that a "solution" is no solution, unless you can profitably and viably produce, market, distribute, and implement it. Build Freedom seems to be a solution that meets these criteria. First conceived in May 1993, the wide acceptance of Build Freedom and its tenets in many parts of the world, indicate that it is a breakthrough whose time has come.
Note
This report should be read in conjunction with Report #TL15: How to Achieve Ultimate Success. #TL11 and #TL15 really cover facets of the same territory. At some level, most Build Freedom publications are attempts to increase intelligence...
Also, this report is incomplete. It's a report that can never be completed. I will probably forever find more aspects of intelligence-increase that need to be added.
Introduction
"Freedom Technology" is one of the key concepts of Build Freedom. Freedom Technology consists of the practical knowledge, methods, skills, and techniques to live free. It includes the means used to defend yourself and your property against criminal intrusion by agents of coercion (often masquerading as "government"), as well as the means to counter-attack, if necessary and expedient. Ultimately, Freedom Technology also includes the methods to blow away the bogus power of agents of coercion. A very important part of Freedom Technology is the development of your own creativity and intelligence, coupled with the transcendence of any self-imposed mental, psychological, or emotional limitations you may be subject to.
Dr. Wenger's work constitutes an important means to achieve the purpose expressed in the previous sentence. I highly recommend his techniques. By all means call or write him for information: Win Wenger, Ph.D., PO Box 332, Gaithersburg, MD 20884; (301) 948-1122.
Essentially, Dr. Wenger teaches thinking skills. By practicing the thinking skills he advocates, you not only increase your intelligence, you also generate creative solutions to all kinds of personal and other problems.
Defining Intelligence
My Webster's defines "intelligence" as: "the ability to learn or understand or to deal with new or trying situations; the skilled use of reason; the ability to apply knowledge to manipulate one's environment or to think abstractly." It defines "intelligence test" as "a test designed to determine the relative mental capacity of a person." Intelligence could also be simply defined as the ability to solve problems.
As I indicated in Report #TL05A: The Nature of Freedom, definitions result in consequences. I think we need a much more powerful definition of intelligence. For example, intelligence is the ability to produce desirable results. "Desirable results" by whose standards? Desirable results in the eye of the beholder. My intelligence is my ability to produce desirable results according to my standards. And - because I live in an interdependent world - if nobody else thinks my results are desirable, then I have a problem.
One way of describing my occupation is that I'm in the business of producing and selling information. A desirable result for me is that enough people buy my information so I can live from the proceeds. Another desirable result is that people call or write to praise my information. Yet another is that people take it upon themselves to help me sell my information. I am thrilled when people tell me how they implement my information to improve their lives and affairs. A long-term desirable result is that my information helps to bring about a quantum jump in human maturity - see Report #TL15: How to Achieve Ultimate Success.
Take another look at my bold new definition, "intelligence is the ability to produce desirable results." What's wrong with this definition? I'll tell you. What use is an ability if it's not being actively applied to produce desirable results? Let me propose a more powerful definition: intelligence is the combination of actions that produce desirable results. Thinking is one of these actions. Intelligence, as I define it, includes the combination of all the other actions that actually produce desirable results.
And what is an "intelligence test?" Life is an intelligence test. You are intelligent to the extent that your life consists of desirable results you produce. The relevance of traditional "IQ" tests is very limited. Some psychologists say that IQ tests primarily test the ability to perform in IQ tests!
The Most Powerful Intelligence Increaser
In order to produce more desirable results, we need to learn. In general, we live in a world in which things either get better or worse. Things seldom remain the same. If we stop learning we can expect that our ability to solve problems and produce desirable results gradually diminishes - our intelligence declines. By continuing to learn, we increase our ability to solve problems and produce desirable results - our intelligence increases.
But there is a much more powerful intelligence increaser. Imagine that every week - or even every day - you could find at least one little thing that accelerates your rate of learning. Think about it. Imagine that today you can find something that enables you to learn new things faster than you did yesterday. Tomorrow you can find something that enables you to learn new things faster than today. Try and imagine what kinds of things might be able to accelerate your rate of learning day by day. As you read this report, try to identify things you can apply to accelerate your rate of learning.
The Twenty-Two Elements of Intelligence
One way of defining something is to list its components. Fecundity or fruitfulness is a measure of the usefulness of a definition. I propose the following twenty-two elements of intelligence as a most fruitful definition:
1. Belief
"Our beliefs are a very powerful force on our behavior. It
is common wisdom that if someone really believes he can do
something he will do it, and if he believes something is
impossible no amount of effort will convince him that it can be
accomplished.
... Our beliefs about ourselves and what is possible in the world around us greatly impact our day-to-day effectiveness. All of us have beliefs that serve as resources as well as beliefs that limit us...
Our beliefs can shape, effect or even determine our degree of intelligence, health, relationships, creativity, even our degree of happiness and personal succes." - Robert Dilts, Changing Belief Systems with NLP.
Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP) could be described as the science of personal representational systems. The human brain can be described as a simulator. Something goes on in the brain that attempts to mimic, copy, simulate, or represent what's going on "out there." In our brain we've got "someting" that represents (or attempts to!) ourselves and what's out there. This "something" is a representational system or a structure of beliefs. Robert Dilts's book deals with the nature of belief systems and procedures for changing them.
"Is there a something, a force, a factor, a power, a science - call it what you will - which a few people understand and use to overcome their difficulties and achieve outstanding success?...
When I started out years ago to teach this science through the medium of lectures and my brochure, I wasn't certain that it could be or would be grasped by the ordinary individual; but now that I have seen those who have used it double and triple their incomes, build their own successful businesses, acquire homes in the country, and create sizable fortunes, I am convinced that any intelligent person who is sincere with himself can reach any heights he desires." - Claude M. Bristol, The Magic of Believing.
The first area to tackle, if you would increase your intelligence, is the domain of your beliefs about yourself. If you believe, like some psychologists might tell you, that your intelligence is a fixed quantity you cannot change... Mr. Bristol also wrote:
"I am cognizant of the fact that there are powerful forces at work in this country that would dominate us, substituting a kind of regimentation for the competitive system which has made America great among nations. They would attempt to destroy individual thinking and iniative, cherished ever since our Pilgrim Fathers established this country in defiance of Old World tyranny. I believe that we must continue to retain the wealth of spirit of our forefathers, for if we don't we shall find ourselves dominated in everything we do by a mighty few and shall become serfs in fact if not in name. Thus this work is written also to help develop individual thinking and doing."
In his book Changing Belief Systems with NLP, Robert Dilts identifies six levels of belief:
On each of these levels we have beliefs. I have a friend who in several letters has written to me "I'm just a dumb dentist." Even if something like this is said jokingly, it probably reflects a deep-seated belief. I believe most of us can become considerably more intelligent by changing our beliefs, by finding out who we really are, by adopting the most workable values, by developing those capabilities most congruent with our identity, by constantly seeking to do more than we think we can, and by creating our environment to satisfy our needs.
A quote from Report #TL04: How to Find Out
Who You Are:
"The leg of a baby elephant is tied with a rope to a wooden
post planted in the ground. The rope confines the baby elephant
to an area determined by the length of the rope. Initially the
baby elephant tries to break the rope, but the rope is too
strong. The baby elephant "learns" that it can't break
the rope.
When the elephant grows up into a ten-ton colossus, it could easily break the same rope. But because it "learned" that it couldn't break the rope when it was a baby, it believes that it still can't break the rope, so it doesn't even try. So the largest elephant can be confined by the puniest little rope.
In a sense, the elephant's mind was broken by the rope when it was a baby.
Obedience is the greatest obstacle to discovering who you are - obedience to others, obedience to your own beliefs about your limitations."
2. Health
See Report #TL09: How to Achieve Superhealth.
3. Consciousness
Personally, I experienced a quantum leap in intelligence when my
focus shifted from "proving that I'm right" to
producing results. Consider the following Bicameral Model of the
Mind.
The Bicameral Model of the Mind
| 1. Pre-conscious; Bicameral stage 1: |
Automatic visions and voices tell you what to do. You automatically obey the "voices of authority." You think and speak like a slave. Obedience is paramount. |
| 2. Proto-conscious; Bicameral stage 2: |
Automatic feelings and thoughts tell you what to do. You behave like: (a) A true believer (sometimes a fanatic fighter for a "great cause"); or (b) A helpless wimp (languishing in apathy, sometimes complaining); or (c) A self-righteous preacher (making self "right" and others "wrong"); or (d) A macho rebel (compulsively fighting "the system," "the IRS," "the government"). Being "right" is paramount. |
| 3. Conscious; Conscious stage: |
You have largely mastered your feelings and emotions.
You have the ability to critically examine every concept, every thought, every action. You strive to increase your competence in every aspect of your life. You carefully observe the results you produce, using that as feedback to improve your concepts, thoughts, communications, and actions. You live free and creatively - you are a Freeperson. Producing results is paramount. |
According to Dr. Julian Jaynes (The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind), up to about 3,000 years ago humans were not conscious as we know consciousness today. Their minds worked like this: Situations triggered mental voices and/or visions that were automatically generated in the right brain, from where they were communicated via the anterior commissure to the left brain, where the visions were "seen" and the voices "heard." The mental voices and visions "told" people what to do. Today, some people still manifest this form of mentation - sometimes called schizophrenia. I call this stage in the evolution of consciousness, bicameral stage 1 - the pre-conscious human. In this stage obedience is paramount.
Many people are aware of an automatic, apparently uncontrollable "stream of thoughts" going on in their heads. Sometimes a situation will trigger an automatic thought like "she doesn't love me," followed by automatic feelings and emotions - apparently not under control. When I watch and listen to a TV talk show like "Good Morning America" or "Morton Downey, Jr.," it seems to me that most of the participants, including the host and the specially invited speakers, merely regurgitate their automatic thoughts - their emphasis being on trying to prove self "right" and others "wrong." I call this bicameral stage 2 - the proto-conscious human. In this stage being "right" is paramount.
A rapidly growing number of people have started questioning and critically examining concepts, beliefs, and behaviors, held sacred by their elders and most of their contemporaries. These people want to produce better results in their lives: their health, their relationships, their careers. In any area where they think their results are below expectations they seek to improve their knowledge, their skills, their competence. They also realize that some of their difficulties stem from destructive thoughts and behavior patterns acquired or developed during childhood. Their emphasis is on producing results. I call this the conscious stage.
By conscious I mean critically aware, particularly critically self-aware. The proto-conscious person in bicameral stage 2 operates "on automatic" most of the time - like driving a car without thinking, or regurgitating automatic thoughts, or reacting emotionally like a puppet, or compulsively making self "right" and others "wrong" without critical awareness of the results being produced.
The critically conscious are conscious of their consciousness. They critically monitor what they think, say, and do in order to produce the results they want. They develop the thinking skill of self-observation. In addition to perception, there are four important words:
A simpler example of such addition or projection occurs in the case of a "policeman." An ordinary man, when clothed in a "uniform," is projected as having special qualities. Something added to the perception changes "ordinary man" into "policeman."
Addition or projection is also involved when the noises and scribbles of agents of coercion are regarded as "the law" (so-called). Projectoception occurs when we perceive more than there really is to be perceived. (Much of culture consists of agreed upon projectoception. Optimum survival often requires that we pretend to share the common projectoceptions of our fellows.)
Many people are in transition from bicameral stage 2 to the conscious stage. Some are still in transition from bicameral stage 1 to bicameral stage 2. Some show signs of all three stages.
If you're a bicameral stage 2 proto-conscious human, your'e probably a true believer, a somewhat helpless apathetic, or a compulsive rebel. These three types compare to three of the life-orientations identified by Dr. Eric Byrne in Transactional Analysis: "I'm not OK - you're OK" (true believer); "I'm not OK - you're not OK" (helpless apathetic); and "I'm OK - you're not OK" (compulsive rebel). As you evolve into the conscious stage you move towards "I'm OK - you're OK."
I see consciousness as a continuum, rather than as a "black/white something" that is either completely absent or completely present. I say there are many degrees of consciousness. I also regard "continuum thinking" as a thinking skill. Mr. Paul Stout has sent me the following critique:
"I am favorably impressed with your Build Freedom writing and the way you integrate a wide range of information, especially in the AIDS report [#TL09A: AIDS - Bad Science or Hoax?], but I would like to point out a few things with which I disagree. This is in the spirit of producing a better product (more accurate information).
I think there is little to be gained by including the Jaynes material... Dr. Julian Jaynes's book, The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind, is worthless as science because it presents no evidence of the hypothesis expressed in the title; rather it is a delusionary fantasy.
Although the subject of the book is consciousness, Jaynes doesn't state what he means by the term. We may therefore conclude that he is using it in its ordinary dictionary meaning.
conscious: a) having an awareness of one's own existence and environment; b) not asleep; awake. - American Heritage Dictionary
conscious: 1. aware of one's own existence, feelings, and thoughts, or of external objects and conditions; mentally awake. - Funk & Wagnalls Standard College Dictionary
consciousness: 1. the state of being conscious; awareness of oneself and one's surroundings. - Ibid.
consciousness: 1. the knowledge of sensations and mental operations, or of what passes in one's own mind. - New Twentieth Century Dictionary
consciousness: the state of being mentally awake to one's surroundings [from the Latin conscire, to be awake]. - Allee's Webster's Dictionary
Consciousness is the faculty of awareness - the faculty of perceiving that which exists. - Ayn Rand, Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology, page 37.
Jaynes's hypothesis is that ancient man (e.g. the Homeric Greeks) was "not conscious" but dealt with his environment by following the advice of "voices and visions" "automatically generated" in the "right brain" which he interpreted as "authorities." (Jaynes offers no proof of this hypothesis.)
Since this supposed stage occurred before consciousness originated, and was not consciousness (according to Jaynes), he would have us believe that ancient man went about the business of living in an unconscious state, that is, asleep! Could the Trojan war have been fought by soldiers who were asleep? Could Homer have composed his epics while sleeping? The thought is absurd.
By Jaynes's own hypothesis the ancients were not unconscious, since they were aware of their environment (the defining characteristic of consciousness) and of their "voices and visions." The fact (?) that they misinterpreted their nature or followed their dictates "slavishly" has nothing to do with whether they were conscious or not. By Jaynes's own telling, ancient man was conscious according to the accepted ordinary meaning of the term. On this basis, Jaynes's hypothesis is self-contradictory nonsense.
Perhaps Jaynes's intention was to redefine the term "consciousness," and perhaps such a redefinition is implicit in his book. Whatever Jaynes meant by "consciousness," it is not the same thing as the dictionary definition. Thus, he presumes to use this crucial word with a private meaning, without disclosing that meaning to the reader. This is outrageous behavior in a work intended to be taken as a serious scientific treatise. It is reminiscent of Humpty Dumpty in Alice Through the Looking Glass, who proclaimed haughtily, "When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean." (Lewid Carroll, Chapter 5). Alice rightly asked, "The Question is, whether you can make words mean so many different things."
Aside from the problem of the definition of consciousness, what about the plausibility of the "voices from the right brain" hypothesis? Part of this hypothesis is the contention that by listening to these "voices" the ancient man was able to cope with the problems of existence. This implies that the "voices" contained (true) information about existence. Jaynes's formulation therefure reduces to a version of "innate ideas." But "innate ideas" do not exist; the human mind (or right brain, if you prefer) is born tabula rasa, a blank tablet (Ayn Rand, The New Left, p. 190; Virtue of Selfishness, p. 23; Ayn Rand Lexicon, p. 492.)
The concept of "innate ideas" is discredited, but Jaynes is stuck with it. He gives no explanation of how the prescient "voices" got into the "right brain," no explanation of why they ceased to be prescient (at some stage of history, the "voices" are claimed to have lost their relevance, their ability to help ancient man to deal with existence). Nor does Jaynes explain how or why the "voices" ceased entirely in modern man. This is science? This is nonsense.
Well, the "voices" didn't cease entirely. It is pointed out... that today's schizophrenics "still manifest this form of mentation," that is, "hearing the voices." This implies that ancient man was supposedly insane and still able to cope with reality! Where is the evidence?
As for the description of the "pre-conscious" (sleeping) stage in the Table Bicameral Model of the Mind, it is fanciful and unsupported by any evidence. The descriptions of the "proto-conscious" (half-asleep?) and "conscious" stages are confused and arbitrary.
Bicameral Stage 2 (half asleep) is analyzed into four types of behavior which are said to arise from "automatic feelings." These types are matched, more or less, with the "I'm OK" schema of Byrne's book on "transactional analysis" (one of the worst books of pseudo-psychology I know of).
One of the "proto-conscious" behavior types is the "self-righteous preacher (making self 'right' and others 'wrong.')" Well, what is wrong with distinguishing between right and wrong? (Objecting to distinguishing between right and wrong is itself an act of distinguishing between right and wrong.) "I am right and you are wrong" (or "I'm OK and you're not OK") is the equivalent to the statement, "This (statement about existence) is true and that (statement about existence) is false." If the first statement about existence is indeed true (according to the evidence), then the statement, "I am right... " is also true, from the meaning of the word, right.
right: 2) conformable to truth or fact; correct; true; accurate. - Funk & Wagnalls
It all hinges on the truth of the existential statement about which one claims to be "right." If it is indeed true, there is nothing wrong with saying "I am right," because that is true too. See how this works in the sentence, "Duesberg is right and Gallo is wrong." [See Report #TL09A: AIDS - Bad Science or Hoax?]
"Self-righteous?" (virtuous in one's own estimation) It is indeed virtuous to find the truth of a fact of existence, and it is appropriate to be proud of that accomplishment. (On pride, see Ayn Rand, For the New Intellectual, p. 160.)
The Bicameral Model describes the conscious mind as having various characteristics which, admirable as they may be, are not the defining characteristics of consciousness. For instance, a person may be conscious without having "mastered feelings and emotions" and without having the ability to "critically examine every concept," etc.
One can be conscious (according to the dictionary) without having the orientation that "producing results is paramount." Or must we again conclude that Jaynes has implicitly redefined "consciousness" to be this mixed bag of characteristics? It seems we must place him squarely with Humpty Dumpty on this issue.
But redefining settled terms to suit one's own preference is to put a road block in the way of communication. Desirable as this laundry list of characteristics may be, they do not serve to distinguish "conscious" from "proto-conscious" or from "pre-conscious." (For a lesson in how to construct a definition, see Ayn Rand, Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology, Chapter 5.)
Jaynes's Origin of Consciousness fails to convince because of the errors noted. It impresses me as being poor science and specifically poor psychology. It adds nothing to the presentation of [you work, which] would be improved by removing it... "
(I should indicate that the Bicameral Model of the Mind I have presented is mine and not that of Jaynes. Jaynes' model essentially has two states: bicameral and conscious. I've inserted the proto-conscious state, based on my observation that most people go through most of life half-asleep, acting largely on automatic thoughts, feelings, and emotions.)
At first I experienced some dismay at some of my writing being so severely criticized. Then I experienced a thrill that someone would go to such length to critique my work. In my opinion, my greatest leap in intelligence was stimulated by Jaynes's book - which I regard as the single most important book on psychology which I know. My leap in intelligence occurred as I shifted my focus from "proving that I'm right" to "producing results." Before this shift, I probably would either have filed away Mr. Stout's critique, or I would have attempted to systematically refute all his arguments.
Having made the shift, I asked myself, "What would be the ideal result I could achieve?" The result I wanted most was for Mr. Stout to also critique some of my other writings, and to publish these critiques, because I believe that readers will be able to benefit greatly from them. So I wrote to Mr. Stout as follows (in part):
"Thank you for your letter... I'm thrilled that you spent all that time and effort to analyze and state the areas of disagreement. I'm very interested in getting Objectivists [Ayn Rand called her philosophy Objectivism] or people with an objectivist background involved in Build Freedom. I also welcome criticism of our materials so (as you indicate) we can improve our products through publishing more accurate information. I would like the interaction between us to continue with the following objectives:
I would also like to establish a kind of "modus operandi" for our interaction:
Regarding the specific issues you raised:
I want to emphasize the importance of our interaction. What we're creating in the form of Build Freedom is a vehicle that has the potential to transform civilization. Your active participation - continuing the process you started with your first critique - could accelerate our effort considerably. I look forward to a long and fruitful relationship."
Soon after receiving Mr. Stout's critique, I wrote Report #TL50A: Semantic Rigidity, Flexibility, and Freedom, addressing some of the fundamental semantic issues that account for some of the major differences between the ways Mr. Stout and I think and reason. Since then, Mr. Stout has also written critiques of #TL50A and other reports. These will be published in the coming months. Another correspondent has sent me the following article:
"ON NEO-TECH:
The Effect of the Identification
Over two decades ago a senior research chemist at Dupont by the name of Frank R. Wallace left his job at that company after experiencing increased stagnation and the growing sense that something was wrong with the external structures that guide and often control our lives. Through observations of the game of professional poker and the integration of new information about the evolution and structure of human consciousness, Wallace discovered or rather provides a NEW IDENTIFICATION for "what is going on here": THE BIG PICTURE of sentient relations. In short, he identifies the structure and the process of reality itself in the operations of the human mind upon what is objectively observable. Wallace integrates the research of Julian Jaynes which posits that human beings had to invent consciousness (self-reflexive thought or applied awareness) due to mounting social and trade pressures after the development of language: as late as 3000 B.C., ancient man walked around and talked and built unconsciously, in an hallucinatory state of existence. His mind echoed "voices" back to him soon after the advent of language as he confronted and created more complex circumstances in living; new evidence shows the existence of a bicameral ("two-chambered") brain in humankind, a non-reflective reporter of objective reality designed merely to respond to the natural conditions out of which it was originally formed. And after our forced creation of consciousness due to increasing social and survival pressures about 3000 years ago - within the range of recorded history - vestiges of the bicameral functioning still exist in humans, and MOST people today still default to this AUTOMATICALLY REACTING portion of their mentality that yearns for the support and guidance of "external authorities," the voices of the gods which uncontrollably shaped human destiny until now. No valid necessity exists for the emergence of vast external control structures which guide our lives through the tacit control of our behavior today and throughout recent history. Religion, governments, and much of human culture - is a lie based on the cheating manipulations of a group of parasitical elites - VALUE DESTROYERS rather than VALUE PRODUCERS - who induce others to default to their bicameral minds ("I hallucinate; I hear the VOICES of the Gods; I OBEY AUTHORITY... ) through the perpetuating support of HOAXES (empty tricks) based upon MYSTICISM and LAZINESS, limiting diseases of the human psyche. People don't use their brains actively because it's easier to let others do that for them. Wallace's discovery of NEO-TECH, this new technique for living which integrates vast horizons of thought, is based in the metaphor of INTEGRATION: it is FULLY INTEGRATED HONESTY. Its goal is to collapse mysticism on this planet and return happiness to the value producers through open-ended business via the dissemination of this transformational, transcendentally synthesized information to others, thereby assuring the further evolution of human consciousness. The Neo-Tech/Neo-Think System is a new step in consciousness for humanity.
This processual edifice of information which has been spreading around the world for ten years or so now, is going to radically alter life for the better; nothing can stop it at this point. By waking up and thinking for yourself, NEO-TECH provides you with powerful advantages over the average stagnated person. The information is in several hundred page volumes and carries profound import for what is coming - a brighter future - and anyone can understand it. This document is but a compressed synthesis of its major tenets, which are universally comprehendable. It is the captivating truth about the difference between what is and what rightfully ought to be. Progress of profound nature is again coming to the world through the inevitable alteration of consciousness as mysticism is collapsed and honesty becomes more fully integrated with human endeavor. We have met another survival pressure and appear to be adaptable enough again to advance beyond it. With the world free of lies and mysticism, we will act upon the issue of biological immortality, which is apparently achievable within our current lifetimes. Mysticism is our basic disease; honesty eradicates it.
The lucidity incorporant with this perspective is often quite overwhelming at first, for it is the hard core of reality.
Great days are coming."
I leave it to readers to make up their own minds (!) about the nature, structure, and evolution of consciousness. I highly recommend The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind by Julian Jaynes. Anyone interested in finding out more about Neo-Tech should write for information to Neo-Tech, 850 S. Boulder Highway, Henderson, NV 89015; phone: (702) 891-0300; fax: (702) 795-8393. (I started studying Neo-Tech about ten years ago. It has had a profound effect on my ability to produce results. I corresponded with Frank R. Wallace - who was greatly influenced by Ayn Rand and her philosophy of Objectivism - and he was kind enough to send me my first copy of Origin of Consciousness.)
[Report #TL20A: The Anatomy of Deep Techniques examines the use of phrases like "fully integrated honesty" and "the collapse of mysticism" as "referentless nominalizations."]
Consider the possibility that the world's coercive control structures (so-called "governments") are a mirror of the most prevalent primitive structures of individual consciousness. The so-called "laws" of a country are the primitive bicameral "voices of the gods" that must be obeyed. Do people believe in "government" to the extent their mentality is stuck in the archaic, bicameral, hallucinatory past? One of Jaynes's chapters is titled "The Quest for Authorization." He writes:
"We, at the end of the second millennium A.D., are still in a sense deep in this transition to a new mentality. And all about us lie the remnants of our recent bicameral past. We have our houses of gods which record our births, define us, marry us, and bury us, receive our confessions and intercede with the gods to forgive us our trespasses. Our laws are based upon values which without their divine pendancy would be empty and unenforceable. Our national mottoes and hymns of state are usually divine invocations. Our kings, presidents, judges, and officers begin their tenures with oaths to the now silent deities taken upon the writings of those who have last heard them."
If you've been "upset," you've probably experienced a stream of automatic thoughts going around and around in your head for quite a while... For anyone interested in finding out more about these automatic thoughts, how they affect you, and how you can rise above them I recommend Cognitive Therapy and the Emotional Disorders by Aaron T. Beck, M.D.
Some of the strongest independent evidence in support of Jaynes's thesis can be found in the brilliant classic by William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience (written around 1900). James recounts numerous religious experiences as reported by many subjects. Many reports are of the nature, "It was as if God was in my head, talking to me... " Example:
"God is quite real to me. I talk to him and often get answers. Thoughts sudden and distinct from any I have been entertaining come to my mind after asking God for his direction. Something over a year ago I was for some weeks in the direst perplexity. When the trouble first appeared before me I was dazed, but before long (two or three hours) I could hear distinctly a passage of Scripture: 'My grace is sufficient for thee.' Every time my thoughts turned to the trouble I could hear this quotation. I don't think I ever doubted the existence of God, or had him drop out of my consciousness. God has frequently stepped into my affairs very perceptibly, and I feel that he directs many little details all the time. But on two or three occasions he has ordered ways for me very contrary to my ambitions and plans."
Based on my reading, the evidence for Jaynes's thesis is overwhelming - probably much stronger than he himself realizes - he may not have read James. In my opinion, Jaynes's major error is that he regards modern man as conscious, when most of us are half-asleep most of the time - see also Report #TL15: How to Achieve Ultimate Success.
It may be important to examine the thinking skills I applied in my interaction with Mr. Stout. Although my initial reaction was one of dismay - coupled with a stream of automatic negative thoughts - I quickly recognized that he had invested many hours of his time to help me. I could have interpreted his letter as an unwarranted attack, and responded in kind, writing back to him how wrong he was. That may have ended our relationship.
Instead I thought in terms of, "What's the best result I can achieve?", "How can I get Mr. Stout to write more critiques?", and "How can we all benefit from these critiques?" Mr. Stout's critique also indicated that his thinking is based on some fundamental assumptions very different from mine. For example, Mr. Stout thinks in terms of words having meanings, while I think in terms of people having meanings for words. Mr. Stout thinks in terms of "ordinary dictionary meaning" and "private meaning." To me, all meanings are private; dictionaries contain no meanings, only words. This is addressed in Report #TL50A: Semantic Rigidity, Flexibility, and Freedom, to which Mr. Stout has written a critique which will be published in Report #TL50B: Individualist Vs. Collectivist Semantics.
There are many factions in the freedom movement - Patriots, Conservatives, Libertarians (political), Libertarians (non-political), Objectivists, Neo-Tech readers, Anarchists (right), Anarchists (left), Georgists (followers of Henry George), War Tax Resisters, Syndicalists, Survivalists, Voluntaryists, Harry Browne / Rose Wilder Lane followers (people who believe they are free by nature), etc. There are huge differences between factions concerning what is and isn't freedom, and the means to achieve freedom. Some of the factions regard other factions as "enemies." People in such factions tend to believe that their faction is the "only faction," for example, Dr. Wallace has written an article, "Why Neo-Tech will succeed while all other systems must fail."
With Build Freedom we need to build bridges between the factions. We recognize that freedom will expand as a result of a combination of many strategies and tactics, battles fought on many fronts. One of the first steps is to identify our must fundamental philosophic and semantic beliefs and assumptions. We can recognize that we adhere to these different basic "to-us-axioms." Then we can ask, "On what basis can we cooperate, despite our different basic to-us-axioms?" This is essentially the thinking skill I used to bring about very worthwhile cooperation with Mr. Stout, despite the fact that he regards Jaynes's thesis as "a delusionary fantasy" while I regard it as "the greatest breakthrough in understanding human consciousness." And we can continue to cooperate to great mutual benefit, even if we continue to disagree about any number of to-us-axioms (self-evident truths).
"... [O]ur normal waking consciousness, rational consciousness as we call it, is but one special type of consciousness, whilst all about it, parted from it by the filmiest of screens, there lie potential forms of consciousness entirely different. We may go through life without suspecting their existence; but apply the requisite stimulus, and at a touch they are there in all their completeness, definite types of mentality which probably somewhere have their field of application and adaptation. No account of the universe in its totality can be final which leaves these other forms of consciousness quite disregarded." - William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience.
A "Tame" Bicameral-2 Example
A client wrote me the following letter:
"Dear Frederick,
Thanks for your July 14 letter and enclosures which I found
delightful, if a little tame.
The kind of freedom you evoke is really essential to radical innovators. All others can usually manage with the levels of abuse the various "democracies" provide, although I can understand them wanting to vent their pet peeves through an organization such as yours. Yet they are largely inconsequential to transforming things since, for every group that arises to extend freedom, another countervailing one (and usually more than one) forms bent on imposing more restrictions.
Your Build Freedom will remain disenfranchised, regardless of whatever successes you may score, until you actually acquire sovereign territory to implement your ideals. Until then, associating around principles, like anomism may be fun, but doesn't get you far. Also, to maintain a growing membership, you'll likely have to remain fairly vague.
If all you want is activism and to become a political force or lobby to improve a few things, I don't see where you'll be offering anything much different than existing groups. And if Build Freedom is just a novel marketing strategy, I don't think you'll be able to mobilize people like me who have much more exciting strategies to concentrate on.
Going sovereign, which "Build Freedom" really implies, would require buying or occupying an island and implementing your ideals while avoiding the abuses which always grow from personal and ideological differences, however close people seem to be at the outset. (Even a couple in love can consider themselves lucky these days if their relationship manages to survive as a cease-fire arrangement and not much more.) But unless you have a utopian formula that is more clever than human nature, such an organizational plan is doomed from the start, just as our democratic freedoms are doomed by the increasing complexity of life which inspires endless legislative restrictions by those who seek false sources of security or wish to throttle intelligence and progress which insult their own mediocrity.
But there is another way, if you're willing to make the intellectual and emotional effort to give it a fair hearing. Project Mind shares your ideals and promises to accomplish everything to which you aspire and much more. It fully answers the challenge of human nature, yet is totally uncoercive and unrestricting. Its heart is a radical new understanding of the creative process and its aim is the termination of materialism in all forms (yes no more money) by mastering matter to the extent that material things will be totally available and free as air. This will leave men technologically inviolate and will leave nothing material to regulate. This is not a pipe dream but a real and imminent prospect, at least in theory.
This proposition boggles most minds who in their (puritan) heart of hearts are attached to most of the restrictions that nature imposes, even though they'd like to throw off most socially inspired restrictions. Build Freedom, to me, evokes total liberty from restriction imposed by man or nature. It is from there we can begin to contend with higher and more interesting forms of restriction. The essence and aim of all intelligence is to understand and eliminate restriction.
Let me hear from you once you've given Project Mind an honest read. I maintain that its theory is totally rational and coherent and will be pleased to dialogue with you on the points concerning which you believe you have found inconsistencies.
If you have read this letter in the right spirit, you should
be shouting Bingo much louder and jumping for joy much higher
than before. While Project Mind will call for an effort of
intellectual integrity greater than any that have been required
of you until now, the payoff will also be correspondingly great.
Your #TL05A is fine as far as it goes,
but its vision of freedom is strictly kindergarten level. If it's
advanced freedom thinking you really want, you will never
encounter anything more powerful or as comprehensive as Project
Mind. You are being tested. Good luck.
Sincerely, Client."
Note the "my project is OK; your project is not OK." If this client had deliberately set out to repel me he could hardly have done a better job. Nevertheless, I was interested in the book Project Mind and decided on the result of getting a free copy. So I replied as follows (in part):
"Dear Client,
Thank you for your faxed letter of July 29. It provides some
interesting food for thought...
Please send me a copy of Project Mind, or arrange for your publisher friend to do so. From your letter it sounds like it might contain some very useful information.
I am always interested in new dimensions of freedom. You write about your "much more exciting strategies." Please let me know what these strategies are. Any advice you can provide me on how to profitably disseminate information will be appreciated.
I am also very interested in your ideas on how Build Freedom
should be improved, redesigned, or restructured to be more
effective. I invite you to 'sign on' as a Patron and/or
Professional Liberator. I include an Application Form. By being
listed in #TL02A you may be able to use
Build Freedom to promote your ideas and/or business. Do you also
want to be listed in #TL02? If so, please
provide the text to be listed.
Sincerely,
Frederick Mann."
Shortly afterwards I received the book Project Mind (by T. Kun) - see the listing in Report #TL02 under "Project Mind." I was tremendously impressed by the book. I wrote to the author. He responded and visited me in Phoenix. I wish him every success with his project.
A "Superb" Bicameral-2 Example
Someone who had received a Build Freedom flyer wrote me as follows:
"Mr Mann:
I received your TERRA LIBRA flyer yesterday
and I must say, this is the worst piece of trash I have ever
received. Your project took first place from an old project that
held the number one slot for six years and eight months. The old
number one was selling used grave stones. The dates on the stones
might not be exactly right but you could fill them in with putty
and paint over them. If the spelling of the name was off just a
little, like Ruby when it should be Rubye, you just passed it off
as a mistake by the stone cutter. The bottom line was, you had a
stone for the grave.
Your program has pushed the used grave stone down to number two and PROJECT TERRA LIBRA is number one.
I have NOT paid $36 to read your material, but on the other hand, I am not prejudging it. What I am saying is from your flyer which is enclosed. Also, the reason you sent the flyer is for me to judge your program and send you $36.
Your program is written to target the illiterate. That, right away pisses me off because you have lumped us all into that category of the stupid masses. You have tried to place yourself above the stupid masses when in reality you have the number one spot.
With all your ranting about FREEDOM, one would think you meant to relate to that in the title of your program. PROJECT TERRA LIBRA is a mistake the stupid public is not supposed to notice. This wins you the number one spot at the head of the stupid masses.
It is apparent you know nothing about the ETYMOLOGY of words. Let me tell you what that is. It's a word's history. TERRA is Latin meaning earth. The base or root word for TERRA is TERS meaning dry, parched, and torrid. It is also the base word for thirst. In early use, the linkage of the base word was more pronounced and used as the dry earth, parched earth, and torrid earth. Thirst was linked to it with death, as the earth thirst for all of us, (we will all die). Word usage is another science and only a small part of word origin.
LIBRA is Latin for balance meaning the balance scales to ensure correct weight. It was an ancient Roman unit of weight corresponding to one pound and was equivalent to twelve ounces. It is still used today as a unit of weight in Latin America and Spain. The British symbol for their monetary unit pound, is named freedom as we speak. It has always meant and still does, a certain measure of balanced weight.
LlBERALIS is Latin meaning liberal. Liberal and LIBERALIS are from the Latin root word LIBER meaning free. LIBER means free especially in the sense of "Freeborn," not a slave. LIBERALIS especially meant "Noble and Gentlemanly."
The title of your program with correct spelling of the words could have said PROJECT EARTH FREEDOM when in reality it says PROJECT DIRT BALANCE or EARTH SCALES. You have indisputably won the number one spot at the head of the stupid masses.
The individual juror, as described in your DIRT BALANCE flyer, does not have the power to nullify the law. A juror has the power to decide if an individual has or has not breached the law as it is currently written. It cannot change the law. We, as individuals, are not senior to government as your DIRT BALANCE flyer states. In truth, we as a group of individuals are senior to government, because we individuals as a group, make the government.
Your DIRT BALANCE flyer is also misleading about the MAGNA CARTA. The MAGNA CARTA, a document forming part of the English constitution, was written in the year 1215. It was presented to King John in June of that year and he was FORCED to sign it. The MAGNA CARTA did not take sovereignty away from the King and give it to the people. The significance of the MAGNA CARTA lies in its recognition of the supremacy of the LAW over the power of the King. It did limit the power of the King and placed some of that power in the hands of the people. The key word is PEOPLE, meaning a group, not an individual as your DIRT BALANCE flyer does imply.
There is much ignorance in your Supreme Court 1886 illustration. The ignorance lies in your attempt to explain what the court said. Your statement, "the individual is sovereign" is stupidity and not at all what the court said. The court said, "THE PEOPLE," which is a group.
In the middle of all this incorrect INDIVIDUAL SOVEREIGNTY, you throw in, "I have developed chain reaction marketing methods which are unstoppable." The message doesn't flow. You go from telling us we have INDIVIDUAL SOVEREIGNTY to selling INDIVIDUAL SOVEREIGNTY. Sounds a little dumb to me.
Your definition of FREEDOM TECHNOLOGY sounds like it came from a comic book. I have also heard them called "funny books." The statement of PRIVATE CURRENCY is really a kicker. Why don't you print yourself several one hundred dollar bills and see how many places will allow you to use them. Just tell them it is PRIVATE CURRENCY and it's OK. Another good statement is, "Anyone who wishes to start any TERRA LIBRAN (different spelling) is welcome and FREE to do so." I have see FREE mean a lot of things, and now it means $36.
We do have INDIVIDUAL SOVEREIGNTY in this country and it is also in other countries. You have so much INDIVIDUAL SOVEREIGNTY, you have lost sight of it. It is through this INDIVIDUAL SOVEREIGNTY that you are allowed to try to push your trash on the rest of us. In your DIRT BALANCE flyer your rant and rave about political shysters, taxes, and property seizures to the point where one may think you got caught in the same thing.
If you don't like the political system we have, why don't you VOTE to change it. Tell your friends to VOTE. You can even lower taxes with the VOTE. It doesn't cost $36 to tell people to VOTE. If you don't like the people in DC, VOTE the bastards out, it's just that simple.
It's so simple, it's easy to think that you have never VOTED. Another simple option is, if you don't like this country, just get the hell out. The laws of this country, written by people through INDIVIDUAL SOVEREIGNTY and presented as a group, will allow you to do just that.
Your DIRT BALANCE flyer is all a money play. In your words, "it's a game" for you to make money. You talk about the economy and say, "shift your economic activities into the DIRT BALANCE free economy to outcompete the DENIZENS of the world's slave economies." It is true off-shore banks do pay a little more interest than those at home. It is also their INDIVIDUAL SOVEREIGNTY that has allowed their rules to be different, more LIBERAL in some cases, than ours. Your use of the word DENIZEN to describe these economies is very true because they are ALIEN economies. Any foreign individual would be an ALIEN and only granted NATURALIZED rights in that economy as long as they pay. When you tell us to join the free economy described in your DIRT BALANCE flyer, you make sure not to tell us that the rules of that economy have been established by someone's INDIVIDUAL SOVEREIGNTY and that you would be kicked out upon your INDIVIDUAL SOVEREIGNTY if you tried to exercise your INDIVIDUAL SOVEREIGNTY in any fashion. But, what the hell! You have to have at least a sixth grade education to know what DENIZEN means.
We don't "SELL FREEDOM" in this country, Mr. Mann. Even the statement goes against everything the United States stands for. We have fought for freedom and it's ours. We are a large nation with many individuals and many groups. A large number are "out to get" just what they can, like you are. The difference between you and them is, they have a better offer. With their better offer, it takes time for us as a nation or individuals to weed them out. Your offer from your DIRT BALANCE flyer is gutter bottom at the start. No weed out time is required.
Why don't you re-write your DIRT BALANCE flyer and say:
Please send me $36. I will send you a couple of pages about taxes
and our political system. These pages will be my opinion only and
may or may not be true. Since it is my opinion, I am entitled to
it. From your $36, I will send $24 to other people who help me
mail this flyer.
JAMES D. B......"
I responded to Mr. B...... as follows:
"Dear Mr. B......,
Thank you for your letter of December 24th. You've provided me
with some very useful feedback.
I would also appreciate your feedback to the enclosed AIDS flyer. Better still, you could purchase the product and send me feedback on that.
I wish you success and I look forward to a long and fruitful
relationship.
Kind regards, Frederick Mann"
A few weeks later I received another letter, this time with his card attached - "Dr. James D. B....., Directorate of ... [government agency], Chief Computer Systems":
"Mr. Mann:
Thank you for your letter of 5 January. You are most kind.
Your flyer on AIDS is most interesting. It contained several impressive names. I have made a few phone calls, but that is about all I can say for the moment.
I wish you the greatest success in all that you do.
All the best; JAMES D. B......"
The Breakdown of Bicameral-2 Society
By "bicameral-2 society" I mean a society that is
organized on the basis of bicameral stage 2 proto-consciousness.
Most individuals in such a society are half-asleep most of the
time. They largely behave like automatic stimulus-response
machines - like "Dr. B......." Political and religious
institutions are structured on the assumption that people can't
think for themselves and must be told what to do and what not to
do in the form of "laws" and other directives. People
are supposed to obey "external authorities" rather than
think for themselves.
As a child I lost respect for my parents as authorities of knowledge and wisdom at a very early age. I didn't trust any of my teachers as authorities either. I went to the freedomry to learn for myself. By the time I reached my early twenties I had a profound disrepect for all fake authority figures: religious, political, professional, police, military, philosophical, psychological, etc.
"Modern" society is actually part bicameral stage 1, with its expected obedience to "laws" or "voices of authority." In The Arizona Republic of January 15, 1994 there appeared an article by Andy Rooney under the heading "Moral authorities are lacking everywhere":
"... I do know that we don't seem to have the kind of moral authorities that anyone listens to anymore.
There used to be parents, teachers, politicians and clergymen who acted as sort of moral dictators. They decided what was right for us to do and what was wrong. We listened. They had the same authority over our behavior that Emily Post had over our table manners.
Most of them have lost their credibility. Have you seen the way some parents are behaving recently? Any idiot can have a baby. What it takes doesn't make them what we think of when we use the word "parents."
Politicians in general have fallen into disrepute. There are a few good apples in the barrel. Even the president doesn't seem holier-than-us. He goes to church and says things that seem right, but we don't accept him as a moral authority because, even if we like him or voted for him, we're less certain that he's always done what's right.
We don't have any one leader who sets a style of behavior for us. Catholics have a pope, but he says a lot of things Catholics don't believe or abide by.
It's become apparent in recent years that the clergy of all faiths are just people with shortcomings. Some of the clergy in the news the past few years aren't even that good, anyway. There doesn't seem to be much evidence that the right way to behave has any universal theological base.
Because no one is setting standards, there's a vacuum, and the worst leaders in our society - and they are leaders - are taking over. I'm thinking of rock-group heroes, rappers and entertainment well-knowns of questionable virtue... "
As people become more conscious - emerge from bicameral stages 1 and 2 - bicameral-2 society breaks down because people stop respecting and obeying "authorities." Escalating crime and other negative societal statistics are a measure of this societal breakdown. Obedience needs to be replaced by thinking for yourself. But most people are severely deficint in thinking skills. Orderly society will re-emerge as we learn and teach thinking skills.
4. Knowledge / Wisdom
See Report #TL03: How to Improve Your
Information and #TL15: How to Achieve
Ultimate Success. Knowledge is what you know; wisdom is what
you do with what you know to produce desirable results. Knowledge
is a minor element of intelligence. Wisdom is intelligence as I
define it.
Individualist Philosophy is my synthesis and integration of some of the writings of a number of thinkers listed below, together with my own insights. "Philosophy" is used here in a wide sense to include the topics below. As the foundation of thought and action, philosophy is crucial to intelligence. Here is a summary of Individualist Philosophy:
(a) Human Nature: Individuals are naturally free and sovereign, whether they realize it or not. Every individual is free and sovereign because he/she and only he/she controls the life-energy that animates his/her brain and body. This individual control of life-energy constitutes choice or free will. The most important factor that distinguishes humans from other life forms is our ability to reason or think. Sources: Rose Wilder Lane (The Discovery of Freedom); Harry Browne (How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World); Ronald E. Merril (The Ideas of Ayn Rand).
(b) Ethics: The values of ethics derive obviously from human nature. Respect individuals and their property - expanded as the Build Freedom Code (Report #TL01). Do what works, subject to respecting individuals and their property: "qualified pragmatism." Practice "compassionate selfishness." Manifest your freedom; find the practical ways to live morally and free. Develop your thinking skills (reason). Become as productive as possible. Develop your fullest potential; become the best you can possibly be (self-actualization). Sources: Murray Rothbard (For a New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto); William James (Pragmatism and four essays from The Meaning of Truth); Robert Fritz (The Path of Least Resistance), Ayn Rand (The Virtue of Selfishness); David Seabury (The Art of Selfishness); Abraham Maslow (The Further Reaches of Human Nature).
(c) Politics: All coercive political systems contrary to individual freedom are fraudulent hoaxes. Although there is more to it, the following two sentences basically refute all the "government-is-necessary-to-do-X" arguments. Government consists of people. When anyone says "government is necessary to do X," they are really saying "people are necessary to do X." Sources: Éttiene de la Boétie (Discourse on Voluntary Servitude); Lysander Spooner (No Treason: The Constitution of No Authority); Friedrich Nietzsche (Thus Spoke Zarathustra).
(d) Ontology: For optimum survival we operate as if there is an objective reality independent of the individual. When we see a bus coming at us, we get out of the way or get flattened. Nevertheless, each individual has a unique experience and interpretation of objective reality. Source: Hans Vaihinger (The Philosphy of As-If).
Consider the ancient conundrum, "Does the tree that falls over in the forest make a sound if there's nobody to hear it?" Common sense tells us that a falling tree produces soundwaves, whether or not anyone with an ear is available to receive the soundwaves. The answer to the conundrum depends on how we define "sound." I regard a soundwave as "potential sound." For sound to occur there has to be an ear coupled with a brain to convert the soundwave into sound. An important principle, central to Individualist Philosophy is reflected here. I call it the principle of "tacit personal creation." Generally, we are not aware of how we use our ears and brains to convert soundwaves into sound. The principle of tacit personal creation applies to all perception. Perception is an active act of creation.
(e) Semantics: Meaning is individual; symbols in themselves have no meaning; words don't have meanings; people have meanings for words. In fact, different people often have different meanings for the same words. (The notion that there is "objective meaning" independent of the individual, denies the centrality of the individual - collectivist semantics?) Sources: C.K. Ogden (Bentham's Theory of Fictions); Alfred Korzybski (Science and Sanity); also Reports #TL50A, TL50B, and TL50C.
Meaning is created by each individual in accordance with the principle of tacit personal creation. The same applies to our emotions. We each, individually, create our emotions in response to our perceptions and our interpretations (meanings) of our perceptions. Generally, we are completely unaware of the procedures we use to create our emotions.
(f) Epistemology: Knowledge is individual. Knowledge develops from the interaction of the individual with other individuals and with objective reality. The acquisition of knowledge follows the principle of tacit personal creation. Knowledge is partially subjective (individually created) and partially objective (reflecting objective reality). Potential knowledge can be transmitted in the form of objective symbols. This potential knowledge only becomes knowledge when an individual who has meanings for the symbols interprets them. (The notion that there is "objective knowledge" independent of the individual, denies the centrality of the individual - collectivist epistemology?) All knowledge has a degree of probablity of being correct - the likelihood that its application will produce predictable results. In general, multi-valued "probability thinking" is more powerful than two-valued "right-wrong" thinking. Sources: Richard Gelwick (The Way of Discovery: An Introduction to the Thought of Michael Polanyi); Michael Polanyi (Personal Knowledge: Towards a Post-Critical Philosophy).
(g) Psychology: Consciousness is a continuum. Individuals need to raise their consciousness, increase their intelligence, discover their unique individuality, increase their competence to become the best they can be, achieve emotional control, and in general focus on continual improvement and maturing. There is a major domain of knowledge below our awareness, called "tacit knowledge" by Michael Polanyi - for example, the knowledge used to ride a bicycle and how we create emotions. Generally we don't have the means to articulate this knowledge. Through the application of NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), much of the "tacit domain" can be articulated and made conscious, resulting in greatly increased competence. Sources: Julian Jaynes (The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind); Dilts, Grinder, Bandler, Bandler, DeLozier (Neuro-Linguistic Programming: Volume 1 - The Study of the Structure of Subjective Experience); Aaron T. Beck (Cognitive Therapy and the Emotional Disorders); Martin E.P. Seligman (Learned Optimism); Win Wenger (numerous publications on intelligence-increase).
(h) Freedom Technology: Nathaniel Branden (former associate of Ayn Rand) drew attention to the need for a 'how-to' methodology ("para-ethics") for people who want to be moral in an immoral world. Freedom Technology (see Reports #TL01, #TL02, #TL02A, #TL02B, and #TL02C), Personal Power and Business Dynamics constitute the 'how-to' methodology to maximize the degree to which we live morally in an immoral world.
(i) Personal Power: Reports #TL10: How to Achieve and Increase Personal Power and #TL15: How to Achieve Ultimate Success provide some guidelines for increasing personal power. The recognition of the principle of tacit personal creation can further increase personal power and responsibility. When you realize that you personally create all your thoughts, meanings, knowledge, feelings, and emotions, you become more powerful. If you think in terms of "he upset me," you relinquish personal power.
(j) Business Dynamics: By "Business Dynamics" I mean the principles and practices of real or true free enterprise, business in accordance with the maxim: respect individuals and their property. Business dynamics includes the profitable production, marketing, and distribution of valuable products and services. (Operating on the basis of a charitable organization that solicits funds for a "great cause" is contrary to Business Dynamics.) The application of Business Dynamics to expand freedom is the most intelligent way to defeat the forces of tyranny. Individuals and organizations applying Business Dynamics subject themselves to the discipline of the market - a ruthless "intelligence-increaser" - learn to swim, or sink and drown
Some of the books listed above apply also to other "divisions" of philosophy. Some of the authors, particularly Rand and Nietzsche, wrote several books in addition to those listed that greatly influenced the development of my thinking. Many libertarian authors not listed also helped develop my thinking. Most of my learning about semantics came from reading the works of Korzybski's followers. The seven thinkers who have contributed most to the development of Individualist Philosophy are Ayn Rand, William James, Friedrich Nietzsche, Julian Jaynes, Alfred Korzybski, Michael Polanyi, and Abraham Maslow. Naturally, I regard them as the greatest philosophers and psychologists!"
5. Learning
The ability to learn is obviously central to intelligence. We
can learn from all we do and don't do. It is intelligent to
constantly observe what works and what doesn't work. This is a
thinking skill - a pretty advanced thinking skill! Can we assume
that people who seem unable to observe the difference between
what works and what doesn't have a learning disability? What
about people who continue to do what obviously doesn't work? What
about politics?
Every time you learn anything useful, you increase your intelligence. Every new word you learn increases your intelligence. When you stop learning your intelligence stagnates. You can view your life as a learning experiment. Part of the reason for doing anything could be to learn from it - every action becomes a learning experiment. In addition to thinking in terms of success and failure, you can think in terms of learning from the outcomes of each action.
This is particularly important in marketing. We can think of marketing in a wide sense here. Every time we interact with another, we are in a sense involved in marketing. Some of our marketing efforts work in that they produce intended results. Others don't work so well. But most important is that we learn all we can from our marketing efforts.
Blaming others is a major obstacle to learning. There is a fine line between evaluating others to determine their levels of knowledge and thinking, and denouncing them as stupid, having closed minds, etc. The blamer says, "Those people are too stupid; you can't get through to them." The learner says, "I must learn how to get through to those people at their level."
Of course, for the sake of efficiency, we direct our marketing efforts at the most likely buyers or hottest prospects. We learn how to do this. How? We observe who responds favorable to our marketing efforts, and who doesn't. We observe the differences between them. We compose profiles of our buyers, and non-buyers. We learn that people with certain characteristics are more likely to buy.
The most intelligent learning is never-ending. Learning needs to be self-directed. I suspect that many educational institutions brainwash their victims into believing that education is something you get from someone else, as opposed to something you do to yourself. If educational institutions are necessary at all, their first purpose should be to assist people to learn how to learn.
Their second purpose should be to assist people to accelerate their rate of learning. If you haven't been reading this report, while looking for and finding ways to accelerate your rate of learning, I strongly recommend that you start doing so. You may want to review what you've already read in order to identify things you might be able to apply to accelerate your rate of learning.
One thing that has probably accelerated my rate of learning more than anything else is the application of Jaynes's bicameral-mind theory.
6. Communication / Feedback / Feedforward
Some of the most powerful intelligence-increasing techniques
involve expressing your most subtle perceptions to recipients in
a feedback environment. One such procedure, developed by Dr. Win
Wenger, is called "Image-Streaming." You close your
eyes and describe whatever mental images or perceptions you
spontaneously generate to a live listener. This expressive
activity activates different parts of the brain at the same time
and stimulates cooperation between them.
According to Dr. Wenger, Santiago Ramon y Cajal is widely regarded as the father of brain anatomy. He is the author of Vertebrate Neurogenesis and The Histology of the Brain. His extensive research indicates that the physical growth and development of the brain depend on feedback to the brain's activities.
To grow and develop your brain - increase your intelligence - you want to engage in activities which involve self-expression and receiving feedback. Writing Build Freedom reports is thus for me a personal intelligence-increase exercise. People like Mr. Stout provide the vital feedback that helps grow and develop my brain and increases my intelligence.
Making it a habit to write down or record otherwise the ideas you generate is a very important technique to increase your creativity and intelligence. What you reward gets done more. By recording your ideas, you "reward" (or re-inforce) the idea-generating activity - so you generate more ideas.
I don't know if any research has been done to determine the role of feedforward in increasing intelligence. By "feedforward" I mean feeding information into the future. It's a a form of prediction, but more than prediction. It's a kind of self-fulfilling prediction. The prediction has a quality to it that makes its coming true more likely. It's creating a positive future and then having that positive future pull the present into it. (It can also be done negatively.) How to practice feedforward is a thinking skill. You may want to carefully re-read my letter to Mr. Stout on page 6 to spot the use of feedforward. A superb example of feedforward was described in The Arizona Republic of Feberuary 14, 1994:
"Rocky Thompson had 10 birdies in a record-tying 61 Sunday to post the biggest comeback in Senior PGA Tour history, a 1-stroke victory over Raymond Floyd... He had five birdies on each side to equal the lowest round ever shot on the Senior PGA Tour.
"It's kind of funny what you can do if you just think about it," Thompson said. "If I was going to win the tournament, Saturday night I calculated that I needed to shoot 10-under par. I sat in the room for over an hour trying to figure out how to do it and get in the mental frame of mind that I could do it.""
The creation and expansion of Build Freedom has to a large extent utilized feedforward, for example, calling it a "worldwide free country" and "the real free-enterprise sector of the world." Another example is describing the gap between what is and what could or should be as an "opportunity gap." So is the assertion: "Build Freedom is unstoppable."
Belief in yourself and what you'll be able to achieve in the future is an example of feedforward. So is setting goals - and a business plan. Feedforward is very important in marketing. If you examine Build Freedom sales letters you'll find many examples of feedforward. Telling people what benefits they can derive from being involved with Build Freedom is a form of feedforward.
There is a sequence involved: feedforward, self-expressive communication, feedback. Dr. Wenger has formulated a "general model of human development" along these lines. Contact him for more information - Win Wenger, Ph.D., PO Box 332, Gaithersburg, MD 20884; (301) 948-1122.
7. Skills
Build Freedom is the world's first civilization where individuals
and their property are respected. To expand our civilization we
need to develop intellectual and communication skills to persuade
more people to abandon their violent, coercive, criminal ways. We
need to develop the business skills to create voluntary
institutions as civilized alternatives to our current
institutional travesties. As individuals and organizations we
need to develop the skills to prevent those who masquerade as
"government" from destroying our rising civilization.
Central to all this are the thinking skills we need to develop to raise our levels of consciousness and intelligence. A few days ago a colleague gave me a "special promotional column" from USA Today of February 1, 1994, written by Dr. Stephen R. Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People:
"I'm five years into a professional career - unsatisfied and unfulfilled. It's just not me. Where do I begin to learn where my real interests and abilities lie, and find a career at this stage of my life that taps into them?
I've spoken with many, many people who feel the same way. They are putting in their time at work - busy, but running on no more than two or three of eight cylinders of capacity, and finding their real enjoyment off the job. They literally feel trapped, living out scripts and expectations that have been handed to them their whole lives by parents, friends, teachers and work associates.
Years ago, as I was wandering between the stacks of books at a university freedomry, I came across a book in which I read one of the most powerful, significant ideas I've ever encountered. The essence of it was this: "Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom." That idea hit me with unbelievable force. I reflected on it again and again. It had a powerful effect on my ideas about life. I began to discover in that space my own ability to make a consciously chosen response.
The place you begin learning of your abilities and interests is in the full realization that you are neither a product of your past nor of the expectations of others. There are talents and capacities that are entirely unique to you. Though you may not yet fully detect them, most likely you have a sense of what they are. This self-awareness is one of our unique endowments and capacities we possess as human beings. Through it, we can detect our abilities and "stand apart from ourselves" to examine our thinking, our motives, our history, our scripts, our actions, and our habits and tendencies. What a powerful gift!
Exercise your self-awareness by asking yourself such questions as: What do I really enjoy doing? What am I good at? What kind of activities have I been drawn to - even as a child? There may even be areas in which you have innate talents but have never developed them into a real skill...
... [T]rust yourself. Have the courage to detect, develop and use those talents that will enable you to make real contributions and that will bring you deep satisfaction... " [emphasis added
The "promotional column" provides the following contact information:
Humans in bicameral stage 2 (proto-conscious) are half-asleep stimulus-response machines. Most of us operate this way most of the time. The branch of psychology called Behaviorism is based on the assumption that humans are automatic stimulus-response machines.
To become more conscious and intelligent, you need to delay your response - except in emergencies while driving, when an immediate response may be required. Dr. Covey talks about the "space between stimulus and response." By delaying your response you create that space.
A.E. van Vogt has written a brilliant science fiction trilogy, as an introduction to General Semantics - The World of Null-A, The Pawns of Null-A, and Null-A Three - in which his protagonist Gilbert Gosseyn ("Go-sane") discovers himself and increases his intelligence and consciousness by shedding false beliefs about himself and practicing the "Null-A cortical-thalamic pause," which creates the space between stimulus and response. The Null-A trilogy will introduce you to a range of thinking skills vital to raising your consciousness and increasing your intelligence.
8. Integration
Earlier I wrote about factions in the freedom movement. There are
also many factions in philosophy and psychology. More often than
not, the founder and followers of a faction believe that their
faction constitutes the total answer to everything and that
everybody else is wrong - typical of bicameral stage 2
proto-consciousness. Integration requires that we accept
that no single faction will ever have all the answers because
human perception of reality is always partial and knowledge
continues to grow as we discover more. Build Freedom is based on
identifying, integrating, and applying the most useful knowledge
from as many factions as appropriate. (See Report #TL15: How to Achieve Ultimate Success on the
"we-don't have-all-the-answers" approach.)
My Webster's defines "integrate" as "to form or blend into a whole... to unite with something else... to incorporate into a larger unit... " Integration is a thinking skill. It involves taking information from different sources and perspectives and putting it together in a coherent whole.
People who go through life on the basis that "my guru has all the answers" are like horses with blinkers - the true believers of bicameral stage 2. The same applies to any faction of the freedom movement that claims their approach is the only approach. Such mind-sets tend to block integration.
Note that integration is implicit in my definition of intelligence: the combination of actions that produce desirable results. The more you integrate, the greater your genius!
9. Creativity
Here is a powerful creative principle: Position yourself on the
future path of human evolution. This is what Einstein did. With
the formulation of his theory of relativity he placed himself on
the future path of the evolution of the knowledge of physics.
Henry Ford did the same by implementing assembly-line mass
production. The concepts of the Sovereign Individual and Build
Freedom as a worldwide information-based country follow this
principle.
Having "placed yourself in the future," the challenge becomes: How to "reach back into the present in order to pull others into your future." Thinking in these terms is a thinking skill. In the case of Build Freedom, only a relatively small percentage of people are ready to be "pulled into the future." How do we find the people who are ready?
10. Imagination
An image in the mind can be materialized in the physical world.
At night we can imagine a result we want as already achieved. The
following morning we can wake up with some of the answers as to
what we have to do to achieve the result.
The world's greatest achievers may be the world's greatest practical dreamers! A useful definition of an entrpreneur is a dreamer who does.
11. Freedom / Change / Flexibility / Adaptability
Freedom can be regarded as the number of positive options
available to you. The freer you are, the more choice you have,
the more options or possible actions. Thus freedom is related to
intelligence.
Many things can inhibit our intelligence. For example, the certainty that a particular view is correct and all others are wrong. Increasing your intelligence depends on your willingness to change that which may inhibit your intelligence.
Flexibility enables you to adapt your actions to suit specific people, situations, and events.
12. Conation (or Will)
One of the single most important books on increasing your
intelligence - the combination of actions that produce
desirable results - is The Conative Connection: Uncovering
the Link between Who You Are and How You Perform by Kathy
Kolbe.
"Conation (koh NAY shun) n. Conation is the area of one's active mentality that has to do with desire, volition, and striving. The related conatus (koh NAY tus) is the resulting effort or striving itself, or the natural tendency or force in one's mental makeup that produces an effort. Conative (KOHN uh tiv) is the term in psychology that describes anything relating to conation. All these words come from the Latin conatus, past participle of the verb conari (to try). The Scottish philosopher William Hamilton (1788-1856) considered conation to be one of the three divisions of the mind, the one that included desire and volition, the other two being cognition (perception, awareness) and feeling... Conation differs from velleity (the wish without the effort)." - quoted by Ms. Kolbe from 1000 Most Challenging Words.
Some basic principles of Ms. Kolbe's theory of conation:
By focusing on how people actually succeeded, as opposed to how well they followed instructions, I found that there were different knacks, or capabilities, that propelled people toward their goals. I discovered that achievement multiplied when individuals of any age or status were able to use their knacks for getting things done. These knacks, I realized were so basic that they were, in fact, instinctive - the human "wills and won'ts" that determine not what we think or feel or what we wish or hope, but how we most naturally deal with detail, with structure, with risk, and with the three-domensional world. These creative instincts determine our most natural way of approaching problem solving, of arranging ideas or objects, and of using time and energy.
I observed that people's actions clustered into four sets of behaviors, or Action Modes™, as I came to call them. The behaviors within each set did not overlap with the others and were distinguishable from them."
Ms. Kolbe has revealed to us a most important element of intelligence - the combination of actions that produce desirable results - that most of us, including our modern philosophers and psychologists, know nothing about. To increase your intelligence her book is an absolute must. Get it from your local bookstore or contact KolbeConcepts, Inc., 3421 N. 44th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85018; (602) 840-9770.
Here's an illustration from The Arizona Republic of
February 17, 1994 of why it's important to do things your own
way:
"Hal Sutton, again playing golf his way, shot a 9-under 63
Wednesday... Sutton, the 1983 PGA national champion and once one
of golf's brightest young stars, has been in the throes of a
career-threatening slump the past two seasons... Sutton, in
desperation, sought help wherever he could find it.
"I went to a number of guys who had me doing a number of things I was completely unable to do," he said. "I would throw all my knowledge in the waste basket... I would put myself in their hands, in effect say, 'Here I am; do with me what you will.' Finally, I went to the money (winning) list. I saw I'd won $3.3 million playing golf my way, and $100,000 playing golf their way. Which was best?"
With the help of teaching pro Jimmy Ballard, Sutton has gone back to his own way of doing things... "
Ms. Kolbe's second book Pure Instinct: Business' Untapped
Resource has just been published. I highly recommend it. She
writes:
"Philosophers have generally agreed that instincts provide
the force that drives natural urges. Striving Instincts are power
sources, and they must find outlets. They compel us to be
productive. When we function according to them, we fulfill our
destinies and make our best decisions. When we act contrary to
them, their power works against us. The human spirit is
actualized through these instincts. Any attempt to thwart our
Striving Instincts is an effort to crush our spirit. The very
energy within our striving capacities will battle anything
blocking free expression.
Throughout history, despots have tried to limit instinct-driven action. Dictators have attempted to control freedom of speech, freedom to barter, freedom to work according to natural methods. Sooner or later every society overthrows such forms of oppression. The Chinese entrepreneur risks imprisonment to negotiate deals despite government restrictions on bartering; the writer in a totalitarian society knowingly faces punishment in order to express inner drives by putting pen to paper. All of us have a power within us that forces us to accomplish our purposes through pure instinct."
Because Will is so important, I've written a separate report on it: #TL10D: Willpower and Psychosynthesis13. Brainpower
There are many ways to increase your raw brainpower. For an
information package, send $5 to Win Wenger, Ph.D., PO Box 332,
Gaithersburg, MD 20884; (301) 948-1122. You may also want to read
the book Megabrain: New Tools and Technologies for Brain
Growth and Mind Expansion by Michael Hutchison.
14. Self-Discipline / Self-Control
Living your life under the control of someone else or some
external authority, reduces your choices and your flexibility. By
developing and increasing self-discipline and self-control, you
increase your intelligence.
15. Self-Dependence
If you depend on someone else, you also depend on that person's
intelligence. This reduces the pressure on you to develop your
own intelligence. "If you give a man a fish, he eats for one
day. If you teach him to fish, he eats for the rest of his
life."
16. Business Dynamics
The end-result of the application of intelligence is the creation
of value. The more intelligence, the more value. By
"value" I mean that which aids human survival or
improves the length and quality of human life. Business Dynamics
tends to maximize the creation of value because individuals
attempt to make choices that are mutually beneficial.
Consider four modes of operation:
(a) Compulsion, violence, or coercion mode;
(b) Charity mode;
(c) Pseudo-business mode;
(d) Business mode.
The people called "government" generally tend to use compulsion, violence, coercion, brainwashing to achieve their ends. These are called "politics." Generally, the recipients of these treatments take actions they would not take freely of their own volition. "Government" tends to be a destroyer of value.
Generally people in charity mode make a promise of future value in order to obtain support in the present for their cause. Supporters are asked to make sacrifices for potential future value.
There are people who practice a mixture of business and politics. Generally, they constitute the "private sector." They tend to obey and finance the people who call themselves "government." They often seek special privileges to be coercively enforced.
People in pure business mode practice real or true free enterprise. They respect individuals and their property. They practice voluntary exchange. They seek to maximize value.
17. Leadership
Effective leadership depends on the integration of a wide range
of attitudes and skills. The following is adapted from a
"Leadership Manifest" sent to me by Mr. C. Berry:
(a) A Leader is Resourceful.
He is a person with imagination, initiative, and fresh ideas.
Because of his many plans, projects and creative ideas, he feels
a kinship with Victor Hugo, who said, "I need a thousand
years to do what I have in mind." A leader is ever conscious
of the Biblical warning: "Where there is no vision, the
people perish." Likewise, he is fully confident that where
there is vision, originality and resourcefulness on the part of
the leader, his efforts will ultimately bear fruit.
(b) A Leader is Persistent.
He takes heart in the words of the great social reformer Thomas
F. Buxton: "With ordinary talent and extraordinary
perseverance, all things are attainable." He knows that
persistence is the forerunner of success, the father of victory,
and the ancestor of accomplishment. A leader is constantly aware
of the truth that failure comes from following the line of least
persistence. When he is tempted to give up, a good leader gets
his second wind. He keeps on keeping on.
(c) A Leader is Dependable.
His word is his bond, his duty is a sacred trust, and his
acceptance of a position is always a forerunner of a job well
done. When he accepts a position of leadership, he is more
concerned with shouldering responsibility than with receiving
honors. More interested in serving than in seeking, he can always
be counted on, never counted out. He is consistently a man of his
word.
(d) A Leader is Patient.
He reflects the sage advice of William James: "The art of
being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook." He
realizes that patience is not only a virtue but a daily
necessity, not an elective but a required course in the school of
service.
He is patient with others because he is at first patient with himself. He remembers this truth: the mushroom appears overnight; the giant redwood reflects the patience of centuries.
(e) A Leader is Courageous.
He stands for what he believes to be right, even in the midst of
conflict and criticism. His physical, mental and moral courage is
contagious to those around him. He dares to be an individual
whose honor and integrity are respected and admired by all who
know him. He represents strength to the weak, faith to the faint
of heart, and confidence to the fearful. He believes in and
personifies the words of Andrew Jackson: "One man with
courage makes a majority."
(f) A Leader is Mature.
He takes his responsibilities seriously, but he is able to laugh
at himself, his mistakes, and his shortcomings. A leader knows
that a sense of humor is the pole that adds balance to his steps
as he walks the tight wire of life. He has learned to react
maturely to the immature actions of others.
He measures up favorably to Dr. William C. Menninger's six criteria for the emotionally mature person:
(g) A Leader is Encouraging.
He is generous with well-deserved praise, prompt with well-earned
commendation, and ever alert to recognize and emphasize the best
efforts of everyone. He knows that an ounce of sincere praise is
worth a pound of fault finding.
He remembers the advice of the great poet Goethe: "Correction does much, but encouragement does more. Encouragement after censure is as the sun after the shower."
He inspires others to rise to new heights of achievement, to outdo themselves, to stretch, to stand on tiptoes, and to set new records of service and advancement.
(h) A Leader is Adaptable.
He has a plan and works his plan, but he is always wise enough to
change his course or to adjust his sights when necessary. He is
unafraid of dangers, difficulties, and detours. They may delay
him, but they do not discourage him. He frequently uses
blueprints and action plans as guideposts, but he never lets them
use him. He is guided by the lessons of experience, but he is not
a slave of conformity. A good leader can change his mind without
sacrificing his integrity. He can adapt to new and changing
circumstances without compromising his principles.
(i) A Leader is Optimistic.
He has a reason for every success, not an excuse for every
failure. He goes out and rings bells, never gives up and wrings
his hands. He turns the impossible into the possible.
He pleasantly ponders how high his kite will fly, and never woefully wonders how soon his kite will fall. He sees a green near every sand trap, never a sand trap near every green. He is confident that opportunity is now here, not afraid that opportunity is nowhere.
(j) A Leader is Grateful.
He never takes for granted the responsibilities and opportunities
that have been given to him; rather, he is grateful for the
privilege of leadership. Like Cicero, a leader recognizes the
truth that "a thankful heart is not only the greatest
virtue, but the parent of all other virtues."
He is grateful for the gift of life, for the blessings of friendship, and the challenges and joys of leadership.
(k) A Leader is Dedicated.
He throws himself wholeheartedly and unreservedly into his
responsibilities, and can say with Nicholas Murray Butler:
"The forty-hour week has no charm for me. I'm looking for a
forty-hour day!"
He makes a habit of punctuality, attendance and follow-through. His motto is "Let me help," not "Let George do it." He is conscientious but not contentious, determined but not dictatorial, dedicated but not demanding.
(l) A Leader is Enthusiastic.
He employs the magic of enthusiasm to inspire others to believe
in him, to work with him, and to follow him. He walks with a
spring in his step, he works with a sparkle in his eyes, and he
speaks with confidence and assurance. He accepts the challenge of
Bruce Barton, who said: "If you can give your son only one
gift, let it be the gift of enthusiasm."
As a leader, he knows that his co-workers are in the same boat with Ralph Waldo Emerson who wrote: "What I need most is something to make me do what I can." The "something" that can inspire others to do what they can and ought to do is a leader who possesses and practices the most contagious quality in the world: Enthusiasm
18. Mastermind
Two minds are better than one. The "mastermind
principle" is described in the classic Think and Grow
Rich by Napoleon Hill. It's possible for a group of two or
more people to cooperate in such a way that the intelligence of
each enhances the intelligence of the other. Thus a group can be
capable of more intelligence than any individual within the
group.
19. Success.
See Report #TL15: How to Achieve Ultimate
Success.
20. Love
Love is more intelligent than hate.
21. Life - Biological or Physical Immortality
"Speaking once to a Mensa group (high IQ organization), I was reminded of the many facets and definitions of intelligence.
Some say intelligence is the ability to organize thoughts toward attainment of goals, and that our goal is happiness or contentment; if we also accept the adage that ignorance is bliss, it seems the object of intelligence should be to know as little as possible.
Then there is the "contented cow." If indeed the dairy cow is the most contented of creatures, it seems the goal of an intelligent being should be to eat grass, chew your cud, and have someone squeeze your tits twice a day. Whoever is keeping score would have to say,
Mensa member, high of brow,
Ran second to contented cow.
Another well established school of thought holds the main question to be, "If you're so smart, why ain' t you rich?" But those who notice all those moldering millionaires ask, "If you're so rich, how come you're dumb?"
Be that as it may, most of us share the goal of personal survival - at least, we usually dodge the taxicabs and take our penicillin; surely intelligence gives priority to important goals. Imagine, then, the chagrin of a Mensa member as he approaches an ignominious end (the only kind there is) and finally realizes:
My epitaph, It could be read:
"If he was so smart, How come he's dead?""
Robert Ettinger - The Immortalist magazine, April 1994
Life is more intelligent than death.
22. Semantics
We live in a sea of words. Our perception of the environment, other people, and ourselves is usually converted into words. Much of our thinking is done in the form of words. Much of our communication between each other occurs in the form of words. Many of us take these words for granted, treat them as givens.
To a large extent, most of us, much of the time, react to our word-based interpretations of events, rather than respond to the events themselves in an unbiased manner. Our words color what we see and hear.
Let me suggest that the unquestioning acceptance and use of certain words have a stupefying effect. This phenomenon is covered in detail in our reports on Semantic Freedom, starting with Report #TL50A.
In addition to the above elements, there are also some general
principles concerning the increase of intelligence:
(a) Play games like Chess, Bridge, and Poker
(b) Question Everything
(c) Consider the Opposite
(d) Jumping out of Systems
(e) The Breakthrough Spirit
(f) Read the books of Robert Anton Wilson.
(a) Play games like Chess, Bridge, and Poker
These and other games can be played as exercises to increase intelligence. In The Arizona Republic of April 6, 1994, Herb Whitney quotes Frank Honsik, a 74-year-old retired physician:
"If you touch a piece, you've got to move it. You take your hand off and that's it. And that's how life operates. Very strict.
The game teaches you logic and the discipline of the mind. It also teaches you for every act there's a consequence."
(b) Question Everything
A few days ago I was looking through some old files and came across a metaphor I wrote about 10 years ago:
"Sometimes I think my brain is a bird-cage; and I think of my ideas as birds, brain-birds. Until I was about 25-years old, I didn't allow many of my brain-birds to escape. So I had quite a collection - a veritable aviary - of brain-birds of all kinds of colors, shapes, and sizes. Some birds were parrots. Some brain-birds were small and timid, like little white doves. Some were birds of prey, vicious killer jawks. Some brain-birds buried their heads in the sand, like ostriches. Some were owls, active only at night. There were even a few turkeys, who fell over their own feet. Some birds sang beautiful songs, like nightingales. Some were vultures that ate only carrion. Others were exotic brain-birds that embarked on fabulous flights of fancy...
My brain-birds fought each other incessantly. Most lived in fear and hate. Many were vicious and voracious and devoured smaller, weaker birds. I never had the courage to open my bird-cage to look inside my bird-brain. I never cleaned my bird-cage. The accumulated bird-shit, decaying carcasses, and other filth was unconfrontable. In any case, I had never learned how to clean a bird-cage. And I had no inkling of the art and science of keeping brain-birds. You might think that the birds were prisoners in my brain, but one day an old witch told me, "Your birds, dominate, control, and rule you totally; you are the prisoner of your birds; you are a bird-brain! By imprisoning you brain-birds, you imprison only yourself."
I begged the old witch to teach me the art and science of keeping brain-birds. She refused. She said it was too dangerous. If I opened my bird-cage and looked inside, I would be so shocked, disgusted, and sickened that I would go stark, raving, ranting mad. I became disappointed, depressed, desperate... I started hating my brain-birds. I wanted to kill them all. I considered blowing them to smithereens with a shotgun, but that would kill me too. Now I knew I had a problem: how to kill my brain-birds without killing myself. I went to the old witch, told her my problem, and begged her to help me.
"My dear boy," she said, "I think you're now ready to start working." She offered to teach me one lesson every week in the art and science of keeping brain-birds. During the first lesson she taught me how to open the smallest door of my bird-cage and to let one small brain-bird escape. During successive lessons she taught me how to open bigger doors and to let some of the larger birds escape. During the tenth lesson she showed me how to get the bird-shit out of the bottom of my bird-cage. By the twentieth lesson I had learned to keep my bird-cage more or less clean and tidy. By the thirtieth lesson I knew how to call the brain-birds I needed, and how to let them go when I had done with them. By the fortieth lesson I had learned how to let brain-birds of all kinds come and go freely as they wished - and I could also control them if I wanted to, while they were in my brain. By the fiftieth lesson I had learned how to flush my brain clean whenever I wanted to.
Now there is only one big brain-bird left. I like him more than all the others. I allow him to be a permanent resident. He is an enormous, voracious, omniverous parrot, who can devour any other bird. He is the mightiest bird of all creation. And he speaks only two words: "QUESTION EVERYTHING!""
(c) Consider the Opposite
Sometimes the exact opposite of what's generally accepted, turns out to be more intelligent. Most people think that cooking food is a good thing. What if eating all food raw is more intelligent? - see Report #TL09: How to Achive Superhealth.
Most people believe that "nothing is as certain as death and taxes." Consider the possibility that we can largely eliminate both death and taxes from our lives - if we become clever enough!
The opposite of many beliefs of the "average person" needs to be considered. For example, "government is good" vs. "government is evil"; "selfishness is bad and altruism is good" vs. "selfishness is a virtue and altruism an evil."
(d) Jumping out of Systems
Thinking or operating within a system limits your choices. Jumping out of systems may provide you with unexpected positive options. The entire Build Freedom conception is based on jumping out of existing systems. A powerful intelligence-increasing question is: What system might I be stuck in
(e) The Breakthrough Spirit
Is it possible to live every day of your life, expecting to make at least one significant breakthrough? Could this be a great learning accelerator
(f) Read the books of Robert Anton Wilson.
"The genetic portion of stupidity is programmed into all of us and consists of 'typical mammalian behavior.' That is, a great deal of the human nervous system is on autopilot, like the closely related chimpanzee nervous system and the more distantly related cow nervous system. The programs of territoriality, pack hierarchy, etc., are evolutionary stable strategies and hence work mechanically, without conscious thought. These evolutionary relative successes became genetic programs because they work well enough for the ordinary mammal in ordinary mammalian affairs. They only become stupidities in human beings, where the higher cortical centers have been developed as a monitoring system to feed back more sophisticated survival techniques and correct these stereotyped programs with more flexible ones.
In short, to the extent that a human follows the genetic primate-pack patterns, without feedback from the cortex, that human is still acting like an ape, and hasn't acquired facility in using the New Brain."
- Robert Anton Wilson, The Illuminati Papers
Mr. Wilson has written many other books. Primarily, he persuades us to think about things in different ways. He also introduces us to new things to think about. Mr. Wilson has been inspired by, among others, Georgei Gurdjieff and Dr. Timothy Leary - two of the greatest intelligence increasers - whose works are also worth reading.
Conclusion
There's much more to be said and written about increasing intelligence. I hope this is a good start. If you have any questions, comments, and suggestions, please let me know. And remember, to increase your intelligence you have to keep learning; and, to really boost your intelligence, you have to accelerate your rate of learning.
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