Gaia Community: Jim's Blog

Magnet Configuration for Working Motor

http://capthook.gaia.com — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 19:23:02 GMT

I have, I think, discovered something quite interesting and possibly significant. Howard Johnson in the early 80's patented a permanent magnet motor. He created straight line devices to demonstrate the principle and reportedly created a working model. The working model was supposedly stolen. Regardless, the motor was never produced, and there are no reports of it being replicated.

A man named Mike Brady claims to have a magnet only motor and claims to produce an electric generating device that requires no fuel or electricity. He applied for a patent, but it was not granted. He claims that they produce and lease a 20 kilowatt unit and now a 100 kilowatt and 300 kilowatt unit. The larger models reportedly are a combination of electrical and magnetic power, but entirely self operating requiring no external input.

On many of the alternative energy sites there are discussions that all seem to conclude that the device is a fraud. Brady has not provided proof or details of how the device works which is understandable given that it is not patented.

This is a video reportedly showing the device in operation. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFGiWiXMHn0

If true, this will change the world. However, I believe Brady is deceptive about how the device works to protect the device, and doesn't share the true operating principle to prevent duplication. He claims the device works by the repulsion of similar poles and magnetic shielding. All the replications I have been able to research use repulsion and don't work. It is well known that placing permanent magnets in repulsion causes them to demagnetize. The configuration I show below should not demagnetize. It does work in a straight line configuration.

The Howard Johnson magnet motor worked on a combination of attraction and repulsion, and staging three series of magnets using shielding on a rotor so that two provided propulsion when one cogged. My device does the same thing. I made a simple two board device that uses this principle to propel an upper board across a series of magnets in a lower board. It propels the upper board completely off the lower magnets without any pullback as would be experienced in a SMOT. I do not believe there is any limitation to how long this will continue to propel the board. One would just need to extend the bottom magnets.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txYnzn1tGnA&feature=related This video details the spacing in an animation that shows the spacing of magnets on the three disks. Imagine the upper magnets having poles on the sides instead of the end and you will see how my device works. The ends of the upper magnets are split half north pole, half south pole. Thus one magnet repels, one attracts and one cogs. The interaction of the combined attraction and repulsion is sufficient to overcome the cogging.

The device I created is just two pieces of deck board using 1/2 by 1 inch neodymium magnets. It will propel itself for as long as you extend the lower magnets. There is no pullback at the end like there is with a SMOT. I took end pole magnets on the bottom board at a roughly a thirty three degree angle and placed a second board above them with side pole magnets at the same angle with a stagger in the layout equal to one magnet width for each row.

The device is three magnets wide in rows roughly one inch apart. The magnet ends' vertical width at a 33 degree angle are roughly .42 inches wide when viewed straight down from above So I spaced the magnets' holes adjacent edges .84 inches apart. I used a pencil for wheels. It took all of 25 minutes to make with a hand drill and a couple of pieces of weathered deck board.

I'll try to create a diagram for you of what I did:

The diagram below shows the face of board 1, magnets with north and south poles on the ends signified by the pole that shows on top, north. The holes were drilled with a thirty three degree angle to the left as the diagram is presented. I've used nn to signify one magnet so that the side poles could be presented comparably in the second diagram. The distance between magnet holes left to right (edge to edge - not center to center) is .84 inches (2 magnet widths):

Bottom Board: Poles on ends of magnets

Top of bottom board - not to scale
Board is roughly 16 by 7 inches

        nn -   Represents one magnet
                  15 magnets total

Side of bottom board - not to scale
   Board is roughly 1 inch thick
______________________________________ ,
|           nn    nn    nn    nn    /nn/       |
|           nn    nn    nn    nn    /nn/         |
|        ss    ss     ss    ss     /ss/             |
|    ss     ss     ss    ss     /ss/                |
                                       ^
Represents one magnet - Side view
    Does not show perspective-
magnets beyond first row not shown


The second "upper" board was drilled as shown below using the same 33 degree angle to the left, and roughly 1 inch spacing between the rows, and .84 inch spacing between magnets in each row. However this board was drilled with each row offset one magnet width farther forward than the one next to it. What you are seeing is the top view of the layout. The diagram on the right shows that the holes are drilled at a 33 degree angle to the left. I put magnet shielding under these magnets on the end of the magnet. To insure scientific integrity I secured it with duct tape. With side poled magnets the end is the side and can be shielded. The poles are on the sides not the ends.

Top Board: Poles on sides of magnets

Top of top board - not to scale
Board is roughly 10 by 7 inches

___________________________________
|    ns    ns                                   |
|      ns    ns                                |
|          ns    ns                             |
                      ^
ns -   Represents one magnet
           6 magnets total

Side of top board - not to scale
Board is roughly 1 inch thick -
________________________________________
|            ns ns  ns  ns  ns  /ns/               |
|        ns ns  ns  ns  ns  /ns/                 |
|       ns ns  ns  ns  ns  /ns/                   |
|      ns ns  ns  ns  ns  /ns/                     |
                                ^
Represents one magnet - Side view
shows all six magnets due to offset

Finished Device Configuration:

| / / | >>>Top Board - Direction of propulsion>>>>>>

O < Pencil .
I / / / / / __ | Bottom board - stator

If I am right, the fact that this will run indefinitely in one direction is very significant. Whether it can be looped is still an open question. But work is defined as the ability to move a weight, over distance. My device is doing work. I am doing work with magnets with this design, which has been claimed to be impossible.

Let's see we could make a children's toy, a train that moves on its own. Perhaps it would even go around a corner. If not that then a drag strip with little cars, no curves necessary. Perhaps even a motor.

But the point is the configuration I have enumerated here will allow one to access work using magnets. I perceive this magnet configuration can be placed in a circular configuration like the Parendev and propel an inner rotor.

Copyright 2008
James T. Hitt

Tags: Magnet Motor, alternate energy, free energy, Howard Johnson, Perendev, global warming, freedom, liberty, capitalism

Redneck Express Magnetic Heater

http://capthook.gaia.com — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 06:53:57 GMT

Redneck Express Magnetic Heater Experiment

Everybody seems to be an environmentalist  these days. That's cool, but I hate being trendy. I'm not your typical environmentalist. I'm a redneck with capitalist tendencies. But, whatever your proclivities you've got agree something is amiss in the world today.  While I haven't much concern with global warming, my latest interest is in more efficient sources of energy: hydrogen, wind, magnatism, sonoluminescence. To heck with renewable. I'm looking for cheap.

I started surfing the web looking for alternate sources of heat. My interest is purely selfish. Propane just costs too damn much.  While I don't have any wonderful over unity insights, I do believe I can come up with something better than burning prehistoric vegetable matter or whatever propane is.

This is actually my second experiment. I also made a Brown's gas generator. I cut the plates out with a set of tin snips. The edges are so rough I'm a little afraid to actually use it, but it pumps out a bunch of HHO when hooked to a battery charger. Let's say it's still in the development phase. I may put it in something I'm not fond of eventually, something I wouldn't really mind blowing the hood off. That would sure add a little excitement to a small town Saturday night.

Ok back to the Redneck Magnet Heater. First, I took some magnets, and put them on a board with wire ties.  The magnets alternate poles: north, south, north, etc. Then I took a chunk of 1/8" aluminum tread plate and cut it roughly round with a side grinder. My wife helped. She stood on the tread plate and I ran the grinder.

We were both wearing shorts and burned the dickens out of out our legs with all the flying grinder particles. It was wonderful swearing practice. While giving a good cussing to various inanimate objects, I carved a rough circle of tread plate. We then drilled a hole in the middle, installed a bolt and put the bolt in an electric drill and spun the disk for 1 minute next to the magnets.  As hot as it was this afternoon,  this simplistic rough experimenting created lots of personal supplemental heat . The spinning aluminum also got hot in the middle and warm around the edges.

I've purchased 16 wind generator magnets for a serious heater. These will pick up around 45 lbs each, and are rated to 300 degrees. They have so much power that if you put them together you cannot get them back apart. That's the next evolution, but I don't think I'll make that one with a side grinder, wire ties, and tread plate. We used 2 of them in this experiment, but didn't get any heat until we added the ten little magnets.

In one alternate energy forum I reviewed, a guy had experimented with a more sophisticated similar setup in a lathe. He created 220 degree heat in the aluminum at 250 rpm's in one minute with an eight inch disk using ¼ " aluminum and 12 wind generator magnets. Another guy had experimented with a 12 inch disk, and a 2 hp motor. The aluminum plate heated to 654 degrees Fahrenheit when spun at 1750 rpm's for one minute, but was hard to spin.

This idea as with all good ideas is stolen. I first found suggestions for magnetic heaters in Free Energy's blog. Then I ran onto a company in North Dakota called MagTec Energy that builds construction heaters and oil well platform heaters. I figured if it's good enough for the oil companies, it's good enough for me. These guys aren't stupid. What does it say about oil prices when oil companies use magnetic heaters?

These babies pump out 500,000 btu's from a few magnets on a spinning disk next to an aluminum plate, driven by a diesel or electric engine. A coupla hundred thousand btu's will have me sweating like steam engine mechanic all winter long. And the good news - no wood smoke, not that I give a hoot about global warming or greenhouse gas emission. There's nothing wrong with wood heat. I just don't like my clothes smelling like bacon.

I'll never win a mechanical engineering award for this thing, but the dang thing works without fuel other than what you use to turn it. Those folks in North Dakota got around 95% efficiency using a diesel engine that's only 35% efficient. Yep, I had a good day, grinder burns and all. If It ends up in the discard pile I'm still gonna have some killer refrigerator magnets that I can hang my toaster on..

8/04/2008

Tags: magnet heater, alternate energy, self reliance, experiment, carbon footprint, fueless heater, magnet energy, greenhouse gas, redneck, environment

George Carlin on "The American Dream"

http://capthook.gaia.com — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 18:05:43 GMT

George Carlin on "the American Dream"

I've always loved George Carlin's wit and wisdom, this video is no exception. Fair warning, George is always profane and this video is no exception, but it taps into the collective unconscious that shows how we get such poor representation and results from our political leaders. And, it's funny. How do you beat that?

Tags: George Carlin, military industrial complex, vote, slavery, freedom

Water, the Ultimate Fuel

http://capthook.gaia.com — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 16:05:57 GMT

Water Powered Vehicle

I'll leave you to your own speculation as to why this technology is not the lead story on every newscast, and front page news on every paper in the world. The Energy crisis is manufactured, not real. Like the six million dollar man, we have the technology, we can rebuild our economy to one based on water energy, this is not a difficult transition. But who has advocated it? Why haven't they. Abundant free energy is availble now without huge infrastucture change or investment. Oops that would create a huge economic shift from slavery and control to individual freedom.

You can read more about this at http://waterpoweredcarplans.com/

Tags: hydrogen, free energy, water car, energy crisis, oil, gasoline alternative, alternative fuels, global warming, energy, fuel, freedom

The Golden Rule in Politics and Economics

http://capthook.gaia.com — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 14:46:16 GMT

The ethical underpinnings of economic thought and political systems warrants understanding. At the root ,ethics is not that complicated. Ethics, economics, philosophy, and psychology are in my opinion highly related and must be incorporated into any evaluation of political philosophy. So in the words of Thoreau, simplify, simplfy, simplify.

Let's consider a simple foundational concept in ethics, the golden rule. This idea is included in one way or another in almost every religion or spiritual teaching on the planet in both eastern and western thought. This idea is expressed as: do unto others as you would have them do unto you, or variations like Karma, you get what you give, the law of attraction and other statements. If this simple principal is incorporated into discussion of the world's society, many illusory philosophies of good become transparent.

Marxism socialism and  even perhaps fascism are sold as ethical political philosophies, yet they violate the idea of reciprocity contained in the golden rule. The idea that one is justified in the interest of some nebulous poorly defined "collective good" to usurp property rights is based upon greed and envy, not ethics or compassion.

There is a rational case to be made that the inherent illusions in plunder in the name of campassion, sacrifice for the sake of community, wealth and property ownership portrayed as evil, and the resultant redistributive efforts of self sanctified saints and sages is inherently dishonest. The lie is disguised as virtue, but when stripped of illusion, reality is that these "virtuous" philosophies advocate violence, theft, and are destruction of society. These philosphies are based upon win/lose transactions of enforced kindness.

Force is not tool for freedom, it is a tool for slavery. Under a slave system, natural human self determination is derailed. Without natural guideposts of self interests, human effort falters. There is no natural motivation toward collective betterment, particularly at ones own expense.  Motivation in such a system must be applied externally to initiate acts of supposed virtue. These acts when coerced further lead to reduction of civility in the world creating what is actually an anti-civilization.

Such philosophies penalize work, success, true kindness, and ethics. They undermine motivation for productive effort by reducing rewards for work, and effort. Such philosopies reward failure, poor judgement, and incompetence. By promoting action destructive to sustaining human life, and discouraging constructive focused effort, which sustains life, such systems or philosophies are actually proponents of death.

Is it any surprise that the moral code is represented by the term sacrifice, and the focus of life diverted to a questionable reality of life after death. The logical and moral inconsistencies of such systems reduce standards of living creating myriad immeasureable hardships and the need for even more sacrifice.  Until, in the end death is welcomed as a blessed respite from the twisted reality and inherent hatred of humanity such illogical approaches to community, ethics, and kindness create.

Forced kindness is an oxymoron.

This is a repost of my comments inspired by a thread about Marxism in The Age of Turbulence Pod.

Tags: kindness, ethics, sacrifice, freedom, slavery, morals, karma, marxism, socialism, philosophy, the golden rule

Iowa Caucus Results,

http://capthook.gaia.com — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 05:40:01 GMT

I wanted to post the preliminary Iowa Caucus tallys. The following represent voting results with all but four counties results in. From the initial results some of you may think my posts and optimism regarding Ron Paul's prospect are the result of a misspent youth and hallucinogenic substances.

Ron Paul captured 5th place with just 10 percent of the vote. However this misses how close that vote was. I believe my original contention is correct, Ron Paul can win, but it is not the shoo in I predicted. He'll do better in New Hampshire - his freedom message should play well in the "live free or die "state. He did do quite a bit better than polls predicted, but not as much so as Huckabee.

	#Votes	% Vote	Pre Polls	Variance
Huckabee	35401	34.35%	29%	5.35%
Romney	26167	25.39%	24%	1.39%
Thompson	13834	13.42%	13%	0.42%
McCain	13556	13.16%	11%	2.16%
Paul	10040	9.74%	6%	3.74%
Guliani	3590	3.48%	8%	-4.52%

To be fair, Guliani did not campaign in Iowa and should not be expected to do as poorly on the east coast. Huckabee's Evangelical support will be much less on the coasts. This campaign is still young. Ron Paul continues to build momentum. Without any mainstream media support, he got 10% compared to McCain and Thompsons 13%.

On the Democratic Side, the Peace Candidate won. Obama was the clear winner with Edwards second, barely edging out Clinton.

There is a lot of time and many more caucuses before the election.

Tags: Iowa Caucus

Why You Must Vote: Freedom vs Slavery

http://capthook.gaia.com — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 12:23:37 GMT

freedom 101

This election is truly about freedom. It is pivotal to America's future. The issues are not partisan. The issues at their core are about what it means to be an American, and whether that way of life will continue. The issues condense to a question of freedom versus slavery. Examine all the candidates and their messages, and vote for making your own decisions about life, and granting that same respect to others. Think for yourself. Stand up for your rights. Register to vote. Go to your state caucus, and vote.

"The love of liberty is the love of others; the love of power is the love of ourselves. "

William Hazlitt

Tags: Election, Freedom, Martin Luther King, Ronald Reagan, Bobby Kennedy, Malcom X, Barry Goldwater, John Kennedy, Liberty, Self love, Constitution

Excellent Video about the Most Important Issue - War

http://capthook.gaia.com — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 03:52:18 GMT

Ron Paul - Baton of Truth

My friend Grant Walker made this new video, It is powerful, and important. If there is one calling the zaadz community can all agree on, it is to end this conflict. It is bankrupting us financially and damn it, it's just plain wrong. Whoever you choose as your candidate for president, make your voice heard for peace.

Regards,
Jim

Tags: War, peace, nwo, military industrial complex, Bobby Kennedy, truth, Iraq, vote, liberty, freedom, integrity

Who is John Galt

http://capthook.gaia.com — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 19:44:22 GMT

"This is John Galt speaking..." PART ONE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wpo3OoyUUUc&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8V-kTeWozXQ&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKYX_o-g-b0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-ajrwka2RE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyJJC-J2g7A&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOd42r7szQY&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16N_76mlsMk&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-4oehFZI-k&feature=related

If we value life and seek rational solutions to the world's problems, are we not at least driven to consider the outmoded, but perhaps useful concept of freedom. Or does the percieved duty to our fellows demand life be lived as a perpetual ritual suicide in the name of compassion? Aynn Rand is one of my favorite authors. The passion she exudes for true kindness and true love of humanity towers above most expressions of moralty and ethics. These videos touch these same issues.

Jim Hitt
12/20/2007

Why Ron Paul will win (PLEASE READ THE VIDEO DESCRIPTION!)

Ron Paul Courageously Speaks the Truth

Ron Paul : House of Cards

"There are two kinds of teachers of the Morality of Death: the mystics of spirit and the mystics of muscle . . . those who believe in consciousness without existence and those who believe in existence without consciousness. . . . No matter how loudly they posture in the roles of irreconcilable antagonists, their moral codes are alike, and so are their aims: in matter - the enslavement of man's body, in spirit - the destruction of his mind . . . make no mistake about the character of the mystics. To undercut your consciousness has always been their only purpose throughout the ages - and power, the power to rule you by force, has always been their only lust. . . . But it cannot be done to you without your consent. If you permit it to be done, you deserve it."

Ayn Rand (1905 - 1982) Source: John Galt, in Atlas Shrugged, 1957

Tags: force, altruism, sacrifice, love, honor, consciousness, values, morality, truth, captalism, freedom

2008 Presidential Election Analysis

http://capthook.gaia.com — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 00:54:46 GMT

I believe that every human mind feels pleasure in doing good to another.

Thomas Jefferson (1743 - 1826)

As I've watched the Presidential election debates and read pundits' comments about various candidates, I have been intrigued how similar the pundit's job is to that of investment managers. In investments, it is surprise that initiates movement positive surprise positive movements, negative surprise negative movement. Like the media pundits forecasting the political landscape, brokerage houses economists and analysts provide forecasts for the expected economic landscape. The only useful information though is information everybody doesn't know.

My educational and work background is in finance. After college, I worked for the U.S. Treasury Department's Comptroller of the Currency as a National Bank Examiner. Following that I worked in Nebraska for chronologically; a bank, a mutual insurance company, and then a bank holding company. That seems like a former life now. After 15 years, the uniform i.e. suit and tie, just never seemed to fit.

I transitioned to 12 acres in Iowa near a public forest where living in a pickup camper I built a house in the southern Iowa timber and then lived off the grid for 7 years reading at night by lamp light in an beautiful cedar home I designed and built. It was a case of the old adage: "You can take the boy off the farm, but you can't take the farm out of the boy." I'm now a confirmed redneck with proud blue collar roots who for a time, transitioned to professional investment management.

There are many analytical skills from that background that are useful in considering the likely winner of the 2008 Presidential Race. What everybody knows is already reflected in current prices in the market, and in conventional expectations in the political arena. In investments the "experts" are almost always wrong at major turning points, and I sense the same is true today in the political arena. I sense there is a major shift underway in the current election that is being masked in a sea of conventional wisdom that is anything but wisdom.

I thought I would take an investors perspective and look at the current political race and attempt a reasonable forecast of who is likely to win the current presidential race prior to the first caucus, just to see if I've lost my touch. Or, whether I still have the analytical skills to dust off the crystal ball, put my biases in the wastebasket of collective conventional wisdom and seek some lead indicators of who has the momentum, the organization, the integrity, believability and vision to win the 2008 Presidential Election.

As I mentioned earlier, it is change that drives markets, and I expect change is the key determinate of accurate expectation about the current political race. There are several major changes since the last election that I perceive are crucial to forecasting the current race's ultimate winner. The first of these changes is the persistent and accelerating impact of the internet on all aspects of our lives. The internet reaches all corners of the planet, and tirelessly garners greater and greater share of all markets: entertainment, news, communication, retail and wholesale trade, education, information, networking and of course politics.

The second significant shift underway and undoubtedly symbiotically tied to the internet's explosive growth is the emergence of greater freedom and collapse of totalitarian regimes throughout the world. Examples include the demise of the Soviet Union and greater economic freedoms and private ownership in China. However, contrasting this has been the rise in globalism and the sinister creep of fear leading to willingness to forego personal liberty in a misguided search for greater safety. I sense that the winner of this election will determine which trend is amplified.

It is important to understand that everyone brings biases to any analysis. A political pundit is biased to support the groups which have historically been his supporters. Undoubtedly, my analysis will also be biased, but I am going to make every effort to avoid reaching a premature conclusion and simply present evidence from which you can draw your own conclusions. But, rest assured in advance I may fail miserably in this effort to avoid bias. That is why I am choosing to avoid early conclusion and merely looking at evidence.

Regardless of my conclusion I challenge you to consider the evidence, and reach your own. Click on the links I've provided, leave those you've found in your comments. I personally ask you not agree with me, but give me your best reasoned analysis. Challenge any bias I display. Criticize my analysis if you feel led too. I hope to learn much from you. I respect you and trust that together we will make the right choice for the nation during this election.

One of the best forecasting tools in investments is market action itself. Market trends tend to anticipate news and move accordingly before positive or negative news is announced. This is likely influenced by inside information and analysis of available information to anticipate outcomes. From a political perspective, I sense we should look at the closest things to price movement that are available. Our objective is not to just see the current level of voter interest, but to ascertain trend and the underlying causes to anticipate future results. To the extent possible I intend to consider all candidates, not some pre-selected subsection arbitrarily considered serious.

Betting Odds

Perhaps the closest thing to a "market" is betting odds. So what are the trends here, and what factors underlie them?

According to Bloomberg.com, "when the election is just weeks away, betting odds have historically been better indicators of election results worldwide than polling. Here are their current best odds offered worldwide on the next U.S. presidential election:

Winning party:

Democrats 1-2
Republicans 2-1
Any other winner 66-1

Next president:

Hillary Clinton     Even (1-1)
Rudolph Giuliani    11-2
Barack Obama         9-1
Mitt Romney         10-1
Ron Paul            22-1
Al Gore             25-1
Mike Huckabee       30-1
Fred Thompson       33-1
John Edwards        33-1
John McCain         50-1
Michael Bloomberg   50-1
Bill Richardson    100-1

But, we don't just want to consider betting odds, we also want to see the trend in the odds. What's changing and why?

http://www.oddschecker.com/ reports the following odds

Candidate	ODDS	TRENDS	IRAQ
Hillary Clinton	1.67	Steady http://www.gambling911.com/Hillary-Clinton-112707.html	Continue
Rudolph Giuliani	6	Downward http://www.gambling911.com/Republican-Debate-Most-Watched-120107.html	Continue
Barack Obama	9	Steady http://www.gambling911.com/Oprah-Winfrey-Obama-120707.html	Continue
Mitt Romney	11	Downward	Continue
Mike Huckabee	21	Upward	Continue
Al Gore	21	Downward
Ron Paul	26	Upward 200 to 1 roughly a month ago: http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/350/preview.html	Withdraw
John Edwards	34	Steady	Withdraw
Fred Thompson	34	Downward	Continue
John McCain	34	Downward	Continue
Warner	34
Evan Bayh	51
Bloomberg	51
Bill Frist	67
Chris Dodd	101
Richardson	101		Withdraw
Rice	101
Hagel	101
Tom Vilsack	101
Russ Feingold	101
Dennis Kuchinich	126		Withdraw
Joe Biden	126	Upward
Brownback	126
Duncan Hunter	151		Continue
Jeb Bush	151
Mike Gravel	151		Withdraw
John Kerry	151
Tancredo	251		Continue
	trends from: http://www.gambling911.com/2008-US-Presidential-Betting-Odds-110807.html
	War position: http://politics.nytimes.com/election-guide/2008/issues/iraq/index.html

Google Searches and Meetup Groups

As mentioned earlier, the key difference in this race from previous race is the increased impact of the internet. Internet debates, polling, organization and information sources are lessening the power and influence of conventional news sources of cable and network broadcasters, magazines and newspaper. The internet has lessened the stranglehold of political parties and special interests groups on campaign organization and are leading to powerful spontaneous grass roots political effort like the widely reported Cinderella story of Ron Paul. A spontaneous internet grass roots effort pulled Ron Paul's campaign from virtual obscurity through no direct effort of his campaign organization. Rather, spontaneous effort of private individuals with whom his message resonated broadcast his message over the internet. http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/350/preview.html

The following link shows trends on Google, Yahoo, Live and Alexa for presidential searches. http://www.searchengineoptimizationcompany.ca/seoblog/World%20Wide%20Web/search-engines/presidental-candidates-for-2008-us-election-search-perspective/07122007

The following link shows a comparison of the number of meetup groups established for each candidate: http://www.meetup.com/topics/polact/cand/pres/ Ron Paul leads the pack with 1342 groups followed by 247 for Mike Huckabee. By comparison, Barack Obama has 63 and Hillary Clinton 43 groups. This of course does not mean that these leading candidates in meetup groups will necessarily win. Conventional media still has great influence that it is wielding in this campaign. Also the political organization of established candidates must be considered in this analysis. However, the internet will be a significant factor in the caucuses.

A brief review of Youtube or Google will demonstrate the power these tools evidence in straw polls and the show of support for candidates with strong internet support: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8SgZELRjpo Fund raising has been re-invented.

I sense this is pivotal in the caucuses. The caucuses are an exercise in voter enthusiasm. Traditionally they have been an exercise for the "party faithful", but this election appears to be a watershed of emotional outpouring against politics as usual. Younger voters are being energized to participate in a process that has historically been ignored by the average voter. I sense the dialogue of political opinion, ideas, and honest concern for the future has never been greater. I sense this reduces the effectiveness and accuracy of conventional polling techniques and conventional wisdom from mainstream media.

I sense that this election will turn into a test of personal values. People are seeing the forgotten dreams of youth and they are reaching for them, many for the first time through the political process. We are tired of war with 70% of American people opposing the Iraq engagement. I conceive that this will be a significant factor in the 2008 election. As voters become more sophisticated, and more self directed in their search for information, no longer are they looking for pundit's opinion. They are choosing for themselves with greater information than at any time in history. The media standards of former years are changing in ways few anticipated as we garner greater and more diverse information from blogs, email, ezines, reprints, online news sources and internet copies of video. The speed on information transfer has become nearly instantaneous, and is no longer time sensitive. The internet is having a greater influence on the political landscape than anything since Guttenberg's printing press.

I suggest that despite the fear being pedaled by Cassandra's singing Chicken Little's praises that we are on the cusp of a world wide renaissance of humanity and an evolution to the next level of human empowerment. I believe this presidential election will represent a watershed for advocates of freedom, prosperity, peace and kindness, and begin a domino effect of greater personal freedom and responsibility world wide. I see a bright shining future for all of mankind, a Civilization of the Universe. I invite you to join me in this historic event. Analyze the candidates. Search your heart for honesty. See the future of our world free of chains of slavery, violence and oppression. Get involved and vote your conscience. Our future is in your hands. Choose wisely.

Conclusion:

Based upon my analysis, I honestly sense that Ron Paul can win the Republican nomination for president. I also perceive that current trends and the outpouring of heartfelt emotional support for one candidate represents a tipping point of individual voting power overwhelming political debate during this election. Ron Paul's integrity is readily apparent in his consistent voting record, his candid answers during debates and his clear reasoned vision of a bright future for America. I commend his honesty, his forthrightness and his vision. Many question his elimination of personal income taxes, the IRS, and other agencies. However, I would remind you that he also advocates the elimination of the Federal Reserve. This is highly significant.

Think about money for a second. Pull out a bill and look at it. It says on the bill FEDERAL RESERVE NOTE. It is a promise to pay. I also have issued several bank notes which represent my promise to pay. However, I unlike the Federal Reserve must provide something of value to others to earn Federal Reserve Notes to repay my notes. The Federal Reserve Bank however can issue more Federal Reserve Notes. This would be the equivalent to me issuing more personal notes to discharge my obligations.

The Federal Reserve issues notes that are backed only by the paper they are printed on. Our only assurance of their value is the "goodwill" of these private bankers not to issue more notes and thus reduce their value. Their record in this has not been particularly good historically. For this "service" they charge interest to member banks to borrow Federal Reserve Notes to cover their reserve requirements etc. The total interest charged by the Federal Reserve equals the revenues the US Government collects in personal income taxes. This interest collected by the Federal Reserve does not go to the Federal Government for social programs, defense, public works etc. It goes to line the pockets of the wealthy individuals who own the Federal Reserve Bank.

If the Federal Reserve Bank services were provided by the US Treasury, these interest payments would be left in the Federal Government coffers instead of being diverted to enrich private investors. That's it in a nutshell. Private bankers are taking an amount equaling the Total Federal Revenue from Personal Income Taxes for providing slips of paper that have no more value than the strings of shells used in America before Columbus. Eliminating the Federal Reserve, a sound fiscal and monetary policy with no federal income taxes will lead to an explosion in economic activity the likes of which the world has not seen since the industrial revolution.

Ron Paul's support of the constitution, limited government and freedom are a breath of fresh air in a world of disingenuous compromises. The concerns expressed by many over the rule of law, disintegrating liberties, rising taxes, unjust war, and financial problems faced by our country are valid. However I have great confidence in this country's voter to see through the illusion to recognize honest policies instead of the parasitical self destruction advocated by most politicians. The Donner Party and Harry Callahan do not serve as valid models for rational government. We have not had a reasoned voice for freedom at the helm of government since Ronald Reagan. The excitement shown by Paul supporters indicates the ideas of the founding fathers are not dead. I predict that Ron Paul will win the 2008 presidential election. This internet poll concurs http://www.whowouldtheworldelect.com/

James T. Hitt
December 11, 2007

Tags: presidential election, odds, freedom, prediction, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, RudolphGuliani, Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, Mike Huckabee, Fred Thompson

Naomi Wolf Talk

http://capthook.gaia.com — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 06:23:55 GMT

Talk by Naomi Wolf - The End of America

I perceive now more than ever, excercising our freedom is pivotal to retaining it. This talk by Naomi Wolf clearly highlights the choice we face. I trust we are wise enough to choose well. Freedom is too valuable to trade for an illusion of safety.

Tags: America Fascism Patriotism Elections U.S.

Reality, Belief, Awareness, and Action

http://capthook.gaia.com — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 04:13:43 GMT

Desert Landscape

I originally posted this comment in the Vision Cafe Pod, but decided to include it in my blog

I think a definition of enlightenment I heard recently presents a clue to why we don't make changes that would make our world better. Simply, enlightenment is seeing reality. Unfortunately, that search is like looking for water in the desert. Reality is difficult to see. Reality is colored for all of us by our past experience and beliefs. Reality is only in the present, not in the past or future. And reality requires being open minded, not closed minded with absolutist certainty. Reality requires that I accept everything I believe may be wrong.

I really know little if anything. I have various theories about reality, but many of them are wrong. I really don't "believe" anything. I think some things are correct, but often I am wrong. I am almost certain that most strong belief systems that people use for a sense of superiority and belonging to one group or another are probably wrong. Whether beliefs are religious, political, economic, or philosophic; belief limits awareness.

Belief leads to a mind like concrete, "all mixed up and permanently set." If I am Christian, conservative, Buddhist, Jewish, capitalist, environmentally conscious, socialist, atheistic, authoritarian, democratic, Machiavellian, loving, peaceful, warlike, whatever; I limit my consideration of ideas that conflict with my stated position. I diminish anyone who challenges my stated position, and I create conflict. I'm right and you're wrong are the basis of most belief. Ultimately, because of this duality I sever connections with others to my own and others detriment.

I suggest that we all live in our own perception of reality. Mine is wrong for you, yours is wrong for me. But our myriad differences if allowed can create harmony, not agreement, or common belief, but harmony. Most belief systems that prevent this are acquired from others, not self developed. To be authentic, we must reach our own conclusions after honest introspection,hard thinking, and consideration of opposing views.

The core quandry stems from perception of the character of man. Is man bad or good? I sense that mankind is inherently good. If mankind is naturally good not bad, then we do not need to be saved, enlightened, educated, improved upon, or forgiven; and all efforts to do so are misguided at best or self serving deception at their worst.

If I believe false information and base my actions on it, I will get poor results from my efforts. Cause and effect can only be estimated with an open mind. With a closed mind, reality is an illusion. I may get a feeling of belonging to a group of similarly closed minded people. We're right and the rest of the world is wrong. In reality, we are all alright already, good enough, and know what we need to do for us right now. We don't need higher consciousness. We simply need to honor ourselves first, not last.

Rather than hero worship of gods, sports legends, things, or other idols; we should honor our self, not diminish our self. This reduces our emotional upsets, gives us a feeling of importance, and prepares us to take action in line with our personal best interest, with confidence. If you must worship or exalt something, worship your authentic self, exalt your authentic self, and all will be well with the world providing you see that others are naturally entitled to the same self esteem.

No one who loves you can demand that you be diminished. I percieve human sacrifice is an anathema, perpetrated by misanthropes. It is the belief in self sacrifice that causes the lack of action to improve our world. We are divided against our own best interests by distorted logic that deceives us into acting for others benefit at our own expense. This blinds us to the natural course of action that we will see clearly as our birthright when we awaken from the worlds' collective trance of altruism and self sacrifice. If we are ethical and honorable, acting in our own best interests will benefit everyone we interact with. This enriches all parties unlike the current status quo of harming one person to help another.

"To say 'I love you' one must know first how to say the 'I'. - Ayn Rand

James T. Hitt

This quote is here primarily to remind me to consider other's opinions. Very often, they are right!

"The problem with smart people is that they like to be right and sometimes will defend ideas to the death rather than admit they're wrong. This is bad. Worse, if they got away with it when they were young (say, because they were smarter than their parents, their friends, and their parent's friends) they've probably built an ego around being right, and will therefore defend their perfect record of invented righteousness to the death. Smart people often fall into the trap of preferring to be right even if it's based in delusion, or results in them, or their loved ones, becoming miserable. (Somewhere in your town there is a row of graves at the cemetery, called smartypants lane, filled with people who were buried at poorly attended funerals, whose headstones say "Well, at least I was right.")

Until they come face to face with someone who is tenacious enough to dissect their logic, and resilient enough to endure the thinly veiled intellectual abuse they dish out during debate (e.g. "You don't really think that do you?" or "Well if you knew the <insert obscure reference here> rule/law/corollary you wouldn't say such things"), they're never forced to question their ability to defend bad ideas. Opportunities for this are rare: a new boss, a new co-worker, a new spouse. But if their obsessiveness about being right is strong enough, they'll reject those people out of hand before they question their own biases and self-manipulations. It can be easier for smart people who have a habit of defending bad ideas to change jobs, spouses, or cities rather than honestly examine what is at the core of their psyche (and often, their misery)." Scott Berkun

Tags: belief, enlightenment, sacrifice, altruism, self love, honor, vision, human potential, human evolution, conflict

Choose Life

http://capthook.gaia.com — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 22:25:43 GMT

An Agnostic's Search for God

This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness. Dalai Lama

GOD2 1

Does religion and dogma serve as a foundation for rational life? What is the impact of religious teaching and thought upon society and our personal effectiveness? Many say this is simply beyond polite discussion, a personal matter not open to dialogue. I intend to flagrantly violate that unwritten prohibition. I ask that you accept my good intention in this endeavor on faith. However, I encourage you to read and challenge my loosely connected and at times poorly supported premises along with those for any religion you espouse.

I am an agnostic. I don't know if there is a god. I doubt it matters greatly whether god exists. However, I perceive that orthodox religions' propensity to demand we suspend rational thought and accept unlikely dogma is harmful. If there is a god, according to the bible we are his mirror images. This leads to the possible conclusion that we may possess many if not all of god's capabilities. If this is true I for one wish to fully develop and exploit such capacities.

God likely does not demand we deny reality and common sense. Yet in almost all religions we are challenged to suspend disbelief in the absence of proof. My guess is these exhortations are illusionists' diversions. Unlikely dogmas from various religions include the following: Someone killed in a holy war is whisked to heaven and set up with a harem of virgins. Depending on our performance as humans, we are reincarnated to perfect our life experience. Jesus was born of a virgin. Jesus died and was resurrected three days later. The God who created the universe in 7 days needs your money to further his ministry, etc. Self delusions about cause and effect lead to poor choices and ineffective action. If god loves us, he abhors delusion.

The majority of Judeo Christian religion is primarily accepted on the basis of avoidance of eternal punishment in hell. So let's start there, at the root of the insanity, hell. While I am agnostic, I am reasonably certain of one thing: There is no hell. I also sincerely doubt that the Bible's divine inspiration. However, since it is the source for teachings of hell, I will use it in refutation of doctrines of everlasting torment. Eternal punishment directly contradicts Jesus' admonition to love ones enemies and certainly opposes kindness, mercy and forgiveness. Hell is not "good news". Hell creates fear not inner peace. And, hell has no basis from accurate translation of the Bible.

The word hell is only used three times in the Old Testament. In each case it is a mistranslation of Sheol the Hebrew word for grave, not hell. Thus, there was no doctrine of eternal punishment in the Jewish scriptures Jesus advocated. The doctrine of hell was apparently created by Emperor Constantine, the Catholic Church and continued to be promoted by self serving governments and leaders more intent on slavery than freedom. Hell was brought to life during the inquisition by murders and torture perpetrated by the church. The term hell does occur frequently in the New Testament. It is translated from three words: Sheol, Hades, and Gahenna. None of these words can be interpreted to mean hell.

I have already addressed the first word Sheol. Hades is a Greek word and is an addition of the Greek hell. Jesus spoke Aramaic. At the time of Jesus, the Greeks had no doctrine of hell in their religion but later adopted the Egyptian belief in hell. This belief was not a Jewish belief or one that can properly be attributed to Jesus, because the Greek hell postdates Jesus existence.

The third root word of hell, Gahenna, was Jerusalem's town dump where fires burned relatively constantly. Worshippers of the pagan god Molech at Gahenna followed the insane logic of sacrifice to an extreme. In an effort to protect themselves from the malevolent storm god Molech, they sacrificed their own children to their deity. To encourage Molech's benevolence they incinerated their offspring. This is not exactly the idea of a loving god supposedly promulgated by Jesus. If this cursory analysis of the root word translated into hell is correct, there is also no mention of conventional "hell" in the New Testament. So what is Hell? Hell is a hoax!

Hell is the incorporation of Egyptian beliefs from the Book of the Dead into a religion supposedly based upon Jesus teaching. A casual reading of the bible suggests that it has been manipulated, mistranslated and misinterpreted. I have considered conventional opinion in reaching mine, but recognize it as opinion so I can consider new facts as they become available. The Jews incorporated pagan rituals of animal and human sacrifice that go against common sense. "Thou shalt not kill" doesn't require much interpretation. I believe that Jesus intended to undermine this doctrine of blood sacrifice. He constantly derided the Pharisees and Sadducees that were proponents of sacrifice.

I think that the sacrificial interpretation of Jesus death is reversion to this silliness and contradicts everything that Jesus taught. Jesus as the "ultimate sacrifice" for our sins is a continuation of previously flawed and patently foolish pagan beliefs. Sacrifices do not atone for sins. They remind supposed sinners of their supposed badness. This diminishes believers self confidence. The apparent goal is a society of sheep willing to follow others. Sheep easily fleeced waiting for divine intervention of their fabricated deity.

The New Testament was written after Jesus death. It was "canonized" at the Council of Nicaea in 400 AD. In essence, the New Testament was compiled by the Catholic Church and the Roman Emperor, Constantine. Constantine was a worshiper of Mithras, one of many Sun Gods. There were numerous Sun Gods with uncanny similarities to accepted beliefs about Jesus, despite having originated thousand of years previously. This similarity is particularly suspect given Constantine's role in adopting Christianity. The following movie shows similarities of the Christ myth and various Sun Gods as well as other insanities based on primitive beliefs incorporated into modern society. http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/

Conventional interpretation of Jesus driving the money changers from the temple is that he rejected the economic fraud being perpetrated by the priests. Perhaps more importantly he was also rejecting animal sacrifices and violence as a means of atoning for sin. He refused to let the sacrificial vessels that were used to collect the sacrifical blood be moved throughout the temple. If he rejected animal sacrifices, the whole sacrificial metaphor is flawed.

The religious doctrine of self and other human sacrifice is insanity. How, would violence against an innocent victim correct a sinner's errors? To accept such irrationality requires that we suspend thought. The emphasis on faith as a precursor to such beliefs is an anathema to truth, but assists irrationality. Once we believe something it becomes unassailable. Facts are useless. Reality is irrelevant. We have unsubstantiated belief to comfort our muddled ineffective lives based upon groundless lies and insane dogmas.

Through threats of hell and twisting and fabrication of "gods word" based upon ancient pagan beliefs; Jesus message was twisted by the early Orthodox Church. Truth is better supported by objective reality. I think it reasonable to define good and bad as: Good - anything that promotes life. Bad - anything that promotes death. With this definition in mind we can better evaluate competing philosophies.

I do not expect that one will find common sense from a conventional faith in twisted, irrational beliefs stemming from primitive man's attempt to appease violent gods with violence. God, according to Jesus, is a god of love not judgment. The Old Testament god is a murderous, vindictive, jealous psychopath; a god of death, destruction and fear. Jesus' God was a forgiving God. Which of these God's do you suppose advocated sacrifice?

The bible is full of confusion and contradiction because Jesus message was intended to undermine much believed true about God, sin, and sacrifice. Love your enemies, and kill them. The inherent contradictions are created by trying to mesh two opposing philosophies: Jesus philosophy of kindness and forgiveness with the Jewish and Orthodox philosophy of retaliation, punishment and retribution. Paul - a man who never even met Jesus, Emperor Constantine, and the Catholic Church created sacrificial Christianity, not Jesus. Jesus was murdered 5 days after running the money changers from the temple. Jesus forgave sins and healed the sick without any blood sacrifice. He was not a sacrifice for the world's sins. He was a thorn in the side of religious leaders, threatened the status quo, and was simply eliminated.

It is my opinion that Jesus message was not given to start a religion but to cure humanity of mental illness created by religious guilt and shame, perpetuated by most religions then and today as well as irrational worry fear, anger, envy, self doubt, and conflict that are the result of not really believing Jesus' message about the good in mankind.

I suggest that Jesus was simply a brilliant man. He was taught the Jewish Law in depth. I think he knew it was tragically flawed. But in those days and times if he had said anything contrary to accepted Jewish doctrines or God he would have been stoned to death. So he spoke in metaphor and parables. He couldn't say there is no God. He said that there is one true God. He lives inside of you. If you pray to him and have faith he will answer your prayers. I sense he was discussing self awareness, presence, meditation and the Law of Attraction.

I think he was using the term God metaphorically to refer to our genius, our subconscious mind or our right brain. In effect, he was turning people away from external authorities to get them to realize their own internal authority, an internal God. All the comments about believing in Jesus are stated in first person as I or me. I'd like a cheeseburger. "I am the truth and the way, no man cometh to the father but by me."

It's the same I. Translation - if you believe in yourself, you will stand up for yourself and your own conscience. If you follow Jesus' teachings of nonviolence, you will create "peace beyond all understanding". Once you find peace, you have access to your genius, your kingdom comes and your will is done on earth as it is in heaven (your subconscious mind is the "Father in heaven")

The religious leaders of his time convinced the State to murder Jesus because he undermined their extortion racket, selling dove, sheep & goats at inflated prices to "forgive sins". He forgave sins for free - without needing a sacrifice. I would maintain that most churches today run the same extortion racket. The charge he was executed for was treason. He was also undermining Rome's extortion racket by reaching out to the common man. He advocated the common man's connection and importance to god, a much higher authority than the state. He was advocating justice based on nonviolence.

People are not drawn to the message of sin, self sacrifice, poverty, shame, guilt and impotence taught by religious leaders then and now. I suspect that wasn't Jesus' message. It creates more heat than light: guilt, shame, and fear. Jesus was the Anthony Robbins of his time. People loved his message which perhaps best simplified to be kind to each other; god is within you and within everyone else.

I suggest that Jesus was attempting to explain that hell and heaven are here and now. Hell is caused by a lack of belief in ourselves and others. Thus, someone else's criticism, anger, jealousy, or our worry, sadness or emotional upset causes us to retaliate in self defense creating war, conflict, hatred, literally hell on earth. By contrast being kind, considerate and respectful of others and seeing good even in our enemies reduces and eliminates conflict creating peace, harmony, prosperity - the Kingdom of Heaven which he repeatedly said "was at hand" i.e. here and now.

The cornerstone of Christ's philosophy was forgiveness. Forgiveness frees the forgiver as much as the one pardoned. Hate harms its container as much or more than what it is applied to. I believe that Jesus was simply trying to show people how to evolve to higher consciousness that allows peace, prosperity, and abundance.

Unfortunately, many evils are still perpetrated in the name of Christianity. I sense that all these evils violate Jesus' basic creed. We all see the illusions in charity forced upon the givers, for example welfare. Religions of all stripes create divisiveness of: we're right, you're wrong. These judgments lead to wars and lesser conflict. Violence and conflict are not kindness. Most churches' concentration on sin and sacrifice leads to sanctimony and willingness to sacrifice and demean others. Condemnation is not kindness. This twisted rhetoric leads to the oxymoron of holy wars. If God is love, there are no holy wars or justifiable violence other than self defense.

We wear distorting glasses today developed by primitive man thousands of years ago. We see businessmen and greed labeled evil. Yet any honorable business man creates good by value creation without force or violence. We believe we are evil and try to sacrifice ourselves on the alter of goodness. We offer other human sacrifices today in the name of goodness. Productive members of society are labeled as greedy because they resist armed robbery by jack booted thugs dressed as gentlemen and skilled at creating oratorical illusions of their concern for mankind.

Our media sings the praises of thugs dressed as gentlemen and decries the greedy businessmen who employ thousand that the thugs rob. Our ministers proclaim the sin of mankind and offer the salvation of self sacrifice. Guilt and shame are created so that the guilty do willing penance and purchase indulgences to hopefully avoid eternal hell and damnation by a "loving" god.

Our poor are offered miserable degrading alms instead of actual help in making a life for themselves. They are turned into parasites in the name of goodness. I do not perceive this as good. Alms for the poor demean the recipient. We dehumanize poverty's victims when we champion the case for welfare or other form of charity. In a way we are being insulting when we champion the incapacity of another human being. The poor have just as much potential as anyone else. What they need is a hand up, not a handout that reduces the opportunity and wealth for everyone in society.

Humans are fabulous. True humility is accepting the reality that god lives within us not on some alien planet. We diminish ourselves through self doubt created by false prophets fleecing humanity of its true potential.

Things outside of us do not cause the problems in our lives. It is the irrationality within us that creates our outward problems. Negative emotions: shame, guilt, fear, anger, envy, judging and hatred are within us. Positive emotions: love, joy, bliss, peace, confidence, and self esteem also originate within us. Our response to external conditions creates our suffering or joy regardless the underlying circumstances. It is insane and we are out of our minds to think external situations or external "Gods" are the solution for internal emotional problems.

People often look for a cure for these emotional problems in religion, and think of morality as a cure all. However, the fear, guilt, and shame created by irrational, punitive, judgmental dogmas can exacerbate emotional upset. We are told we are bad, and only by sacrifice can we purify our soul and reach God. We retaliate in kind judging others as worse than us and hand the dirty end of the stick quickly to someone else rather than recognize our ability to end this game of mutually assured self esteem destruction. Demanding others sacrifice to us, god, or society, we diminish someone else in the name of common good. Common good can not logically harm one member of society to benefit another, yet this is the flawed paradigm promulgated throughout history.

These standard religious paradigms of good that most of orthodox religion espouses lead us on a merry chase. Our political institutions and parties, even our business management paradigms are based on this foolishness. We try our best to be good and in doing so we are told we must sacrifice our self or others. Suicide and murder are good? Hogwash!

I have always felt the error of this. And, despite my atheism/agnosticism, I started reading the Bible and spiritual material to try to see where it all went wrong. My mother had done her best in my childhood to infect me with this brain virus, but I rejected it. However throughout our society its acceptance is rampant. You can not avoid it. I saw this most clearly on New Years Day on a family visit. My mother, father and several siblings engaged in an animated discussion of God and the path to him. Their path is through repentance and sacrifice.

I know it's odd that an atheist/agnostic would engage in such a discussion. But, in my search for personal validation, meaning, truth, honesty, or whatever; God/good is a valid line of questioning. What is it that is so flawed in the idea of our sinfulness? I questioned the position that I should view myself as evil if "God" viewed me as valuable enough to send his son to earth for my salvation. This message was supposed to be good news.

Surely, I had inherent redeeming value. I questioned the religious concentration on this supposed badness, the deprecatory view these self righteous held of non-believers, and even redeemed believers, and the goodness of sacrifice. Death is bad. What was it that Jesus saw differently that led him to spend his time ministering to such a group of hopeless "sinners"? Not just ministering to them, but treating them honorably enough that they wanted to hear his message. I questioned the sacrificial underpinnings of their faith.

"If I be lifted up, I will draw all men to me". Were they lifting up Christ or an Anti-Christ? People aren't drawn to the message of sin, self sacrifice, poverty, shame, guilt and impotence? No they avoid it. That wasn't Jesus' message. It creates more heat than light, a literal hell on earth evidenced during the middle ages.

I saw that Jesus believed in people. I began to see that his message wouldn't advocate that I take up his cross, and sacrifice myself for others benefit. Neither would I advocate others sacrifice for me. The twist is that this is bad. We are being told lies. Bad is not good. Someone is lying to take advantage of people. The Church is like the Mafia with a fire insurance extortion. I started questioning the origins of the Bible. I looked for other translations. In that search I found that the original followers of Jesus had disparate views on Jesus' message.

The Orthodox Church edited the New Testament. In 200 AD they started branding people as heretics who followed Jesus or other spiritual leaders teaching instead of those of the church. They burned and banned many of the original gospels and possibly subverted the meanings of the rest. Whoever challenged that consensus, arguing instead for other forms of Christian teaching, was declared to be a heretic, and expelled. When the Orthodox Church gained military support, sometime after the Emperor Constantine became Christian in the fourth century, the penalty for heresy escalated. Bishop Irenaeus and his followers insisted that there could be only one church, and outside of that church there was no salvation.

What were the fruits of these religious leaders? During the Dark Ages the Orthodox Church slaughtered over 150 million "heretics." The Church was responsible for more killing than Sadaam Hussein, Adolph Hitler, Pol Pot, and Stalin combined. This violence can not be reconciled with Jesus teaching of tolerance, love, kindness, forgiveness and mercy.

Prior to the full development of this religious intolerance in the first century AD, the term Gnostic denoted a prominent, if unconventional, segment of the diverse new Christian community. Among these early followers of Christ, it appears that an elite group delineated themselves from the greater household of the Church by claiming not simply a belief in Christ and his message, but a "special witness" or revelatory experience of the divine. It was this experience, this gnosis (knowing), which--so these Gnostics claimed--set the true follower of Christ apart from his fellows.

The Gnostic Gospels were destroyed and their followers murdered. In 1945 a copy of those gospels was found buried in a cave dating from 400 AD. These Gospels have a decidedly different message. What made them worth killing people to suppress? I was determined to see these heresies which necessitated church suppression for 1700 years.

The Gnostic Gospels were originally accepted by some members of the early Orthodox Church but were ultimately excluded by the Counsel of Nicaea. However, these excluded works may more accurately represent Jesus actual teachings. These gospels largely dismiss or fail to mention many of the accepted "magical" stories that are reported in the canonized gospels. They say that Jesus was a man like you and I. They say that we can be Jesus equal if we follow his teaching.

Gnosis derives from Greek, and connotes "knowledge" or the "act of knowing". (On first hearing, it is sometimes confused with another more common term of the same root but opposite sense: agnostic, literally "not knowing", a knower of nothing.) The Greek language differentiates between rational, propositional knowledge, and the distinct form of knowing obtained not by reason, but by personal experience or perception. It is this latter knowledge, gained from experience, from an interior spark of comprehension that constitutes gnosis.

Carl Gustav Jung, the great Swiss psychologist and a lifelong student of Gnosticism in its various historical permutations, affirms: we find in Gnosticism what was lacking in the centuries that followed: a belief in the efficacy of individual revelation and individual knowledge. This belief was rooted in the proud feeling of man's affinity with the gods...

The eminent scholar of Gnosticism, Elaine Pagels, comments in exegesis, "to know oneself, at the deepest level, is simultaneously to know God: this is the secret of gnosis.... Self knowledge is knowledge of God; the self and the divine are identical. The Gospel of Thomas, one of the Gnostic texts found preserved in the Nag Hammadi Library, gives these words of the living Jesus: Jesus said, 'I am not your master. Because you have drunk, you have become drunk from the bubbling stream which I have measured out... He who will drink from my mouth will become as I am: I myself shall become he, and the things that are hidden will be revealed to him.'

In short, Jesus original message appears to be that we find salvation by believing in ourselves, not a church's doctrine. We are good, not bad. Sins are simply mistakes that create negative consequences not justification for divine punishment. Christ never judged or condemned sinners. He forgave them. This gift whether he was god or man was priceless. He saw people's potential so clearly they began to see it themselves. When we truly see this potential we become calm, and access our inner resources. Our unified mind utilizes both hemispheres together. We access whole brained thinking, and stop being reactionary half wits. Our conscience and our vision become the guiding force in our lives. External authorities' self serving illusions become readily apparent.

We are Gods and God is love. The cure for the world's problems is the full evolution of humanity based upon freedom, self determinism, integrated honesty, reality, self love, and kindness. In short, the basis of rational existence can be summarized simply with two words - Choose Life.

James T. Hitt

c 10/25/07

Tags: god, inner peace, kindness, foregiveness, vision, love, heaven, hell, sacrifice, dogma, Jesus

Friday Night Essence

http://capthook.gaia.com — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 18:08:57 GMT

"There is only one way . . . to get anybody to do anything. . . . And that is by making the other person want to do it."

Dale Carnegie

There is something I have been noodling around now for a couple of months and trying to implement at work and in my own life and I’m just going to do a little public brainstorming here. This is the first draft, but all original ideas are all first drafts aren’t they. I just love first drafts, eureka experiences and new born animals.

At work, I have been leading people differently than I ever had before. This change was inspired by the idea of Friday night essences. I started thinking about the power of enthusiasm to give birth to productive effort. A Friday night essence is something that creates enthusiasm in you at your very core. Something you’d get excited enough about doing to forego television, socializing after work or other usual pastimes after a long hard week at the salt mines. My newly found enthusiasm boils down to: encouraging my workers to direct themselves.

There are two ways of motivating yourself - pushing or pulling. Friday night essences pull us toward action effortlessly. We want to spend time on our hobbies, interests, and other enthusiasms. Nobody has to tell a fisherman to schedule time on the weekend to go to the lake and drop a line in the water. He wants to. He thinks about it all week and can’t wait for the weekend to start. He reads magazines about it. He looks at boats, fishing gear, pours over the Cabela’s catalog, and drools over the newest lure, rod, reel, etc.

The power of the Friday night essences is that it pulls at your deepest motivations. I used to fish a lot. Every year I would go to Reed Lake in Northern Manitoba. The level of planning, effort, and thinking that went into that effort was prodigious, and I couldn’t have been happier. On the day I left, I'd get in the truck and drive all night straight through. Twenty four hours later, I'd be setting up camp next to the lake, and still couldn’t wait to get a line in the water.

Alternatively, I also have motivated myself and others historically by what I thought was “Iron Grip Control”. In this case, I became authoritarian, driving myself or others through force, criticisms, pushing, etc. What I didn’t realize was that when I did this with myself, I would naturally resist, pushing back, procrastinating, etc. It was easier to see in employees, their reaction to the cattle prod were more overt: sabotage, back talk, slowing down, creating diversions, etc. This effectively led to a battle of wills.

Recently, I started thinking about this by considering the difference in types of governments in the world. The shining example of the power of enthusiasm and the powerful motivation that self leadership creates is the United States of America during its early history. Peter Drucker states that the best book on leadership is the Federalist Papers which discusses the pro’s and cons of adopting the U.S. Constitution and the idea of self rule. This discourse covers the limitations, jealousies, the tendency to plunder and subjugate our neighbors, and the potential pitfalls in designing a system of self governance of human interaction in a free society.

In the eighties Peter Grace, Chairman of W.R. Grace, wrote a paper that analyzed economic growth versus the level of government control in various countries' economies. He charted economic growth versus taxation as a percent of GNP. GNP (Gross National Product) is the basic measure of production of goods and services. In essence, it measures the production in an economy. Taxation as a percentage of GNP measures the percentage of that economy’s production that is taken (by force) by the government and redistributed or spent, ostensibly on beneficial projects to help mankind. The correlation was readily apparent, the higher the level of taxation as a percent of GNP, the lower economic growth. Grace's analysis confirmed the deleterious effects of governmental versus individual control in an economy.

Why did the US economic engine eclipse every other country in the world in its early history? In a word, the answer is freedom. This, at its core, is a discussion of the benefits of freedom (self leadership) versus slavery (being directed by others). Every “well intentioned” political plan to benefit mankind requires increasing human subjugation to force. We don’t pay taxes “voluntarily” we pay them because of the violence that will be perpetrated against us if we refuse.

The world has become an exercise, similar to the misfortunes of the Donner Party. To survive, we eat our fellows. When this leads to further poverty, we return to the halls of congress and demand the sacrifice of yet more to feed the many. We don’t see the carnage that results. It is masked in the apparent benefit of governmental spending, but every percentage drop in gross national production that results is borne on the backs of society’s members. Untold misery is heaped upon society under the disguise of good. It is truly the enactment of the phrase, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”

Ok, if freedom (self leadership) is a good for governing society, why not our businesses? Suddenly, I understood the mistake in how we structure most businesses. The primary essences of a business is to make money. Yet we run them like a military boot camp. The typical organization is based upon lines of authority with a leader at the top ( boss, supervisor, manager, foreman, congressman, king, president, priest, minister, parent, etc) telling his subordinates (slaves) what to do. Then we invent tools (six sigma, feedback loops, performance measurement, cattle prods, straight jackets, policies, rules, organizational objectives, laws, etc.) to insure that the leader’s vision is realized. We negate the inherent value and talents of every subordinate telling them, that they must subjugate their interests to reach the greater benefit of the group. I’m sorry, but my redneck is showing…Bull Shit!

Every employee is potentially the source of creative ideas to improve our productivity in business. The only way to get someone (including ourselves) to do something whole heartedly is to get them to WANT TO! The key to this shift in managing people is answering this question: What makes people want to work? Abraham Maslow called the pinnacle of human motivation self actualization. Dale Carnegie said, the thing we all want out of work and out of life is "a feeling of importance". So how can I give that feeling of importance to my workers?

I can foster a feeling of importance in my employees with compliments, praise, rewards and encouragement. I destroy that feeling with criticisms, condemnation, punishment, and negativity. I can foster the feeling of importance by seeing the good in them, believing in them and giving them the authority to direct their efforts. I destroy that feeling by doubting them, micro-managing them, checking up on them, and prodding them like they are recalcitrant mules. I must encourage them to reach the business's primary objective, generating profits. I must give them the authority to direct their own efforts and give them honest feedback about how they are doing. Inspired, engaged committed employees will rise far beyond the minimum level of productivity set for them, by a boss. I must encourage and allow self directed entrepreneurial effort.

When was the last time you threw yourself completely into a project or effort? When you threw out your own self limiting thinking and drove a project to completion over the screaming of sore muscles, others criticisms, apparent inadequacies of current technology, tools, available time, and excuses? You were being a self leader, and your intensity was driven by your own insights and engagement, your refusal to take no for an answer, your genius. This is what we loose, discount and discard in our approach to managing most businesses today.

What about our self management? When we push, drive, force, or coerce ourselves – we are falling into the same trap. We have become our own overseer. Can’t you just hear the whip cracking in the background? We are choosing to direct our self using pain. This is what creates procrastination. We are choosing between the lesser of two evils. Do this project, read this book, type this report, get ready for this meeting, etc. or else. Most of this is learned this at our parents knee. We learned to subordinate our true selves to the demands of others through fear of retaliation. We continue to manage ourselves and others through threats of retaliation. When you think about it, how do you feel about being treated this way? It makes you resentful doesn’t it?

We are not motivated to greatness by grievances. We don’t tap the natural self drive that is our and others birthright by using force or threats of force to motivate ourselves or others to action. We generate resistance to action, ineffectiveness and half hearted effort instead of inspired engagement. Think about it.

c 2007 James T. Hitt

Tags: enthusiasm, leadership, paradigm shift, business evolution, respect, accomplishment, vision, conflict resolution, human potential, work, genius

Respect Differing Opinion

http://capthook.gaia.com — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 05:53:05 GMT

In handling men, there are three feelings that a man must not possess - fear, dislike and contempt. If he is afraid of men he cannot handle them. Neither can he influence them in his favor if he dislikes or scorns them. He must neither cringe nor sneer. He must have both self-respect and respect for others.
Herbert N. Casson

On my drive home today, I started thinking about my various posts and started analyzing my statements in them. It is interesting the number of statements I make that start with "I believe". I just more fully realized that whenever I get to "I believe", I cut off further discussion. Ive got the answer, just listen to me! I interrupt, I can be rude, arrogant even, and I don't learn anything! I feel very favorable about my ideas as I understand them and sometimes that slows my evolution. Enlightenment is about seeing things in a new light.

In one of his books, Steven Covey says, "Seek first to understand and then to be understood." When I take a rigid position, I often cut off further understanding on my part. I start telling my truth and quit listening to others truth that may be more valid than mine. I also lessen the chance to create greater understanding on the part of whoever I'm talking to about the points in my position. I get dogmatic, and inflexible. I'm right, youre wrong; corresponding tone, statements and body language follow.

I've just started an opinion war with all the fervor of any religious war of history. No quarter given, none asked. Everyone foolish enough to get involved is going to end up bruised and bloody. Nobody wins; we're defending the righteousness of our stated opinion. I'm starting to learn, but slowly - to bite my tongue, shut my mouth and listen. This doesnt' come easily to me. But it is coming.

The trick, I think, is to believe so completely in your self that you no longer have to defend ideas that you define yourself by. I am not there yet. I am closer than I've been before, but not there. Maybe the real trick is not to define yourself by your ideas. I've seen several times since I started shutting up and listening, someone else had a better idea than mine. Can you imagine?

I have often been really wrong, and really certain that I had the definitive answer. This jumping to "belief" is obvious if you look at my previous posts. I state things as fact, even though there are many obviously gray areas in my posts. I'll guarantee that some people will disagree with some of my ideas. There's that certainty creeping in again.

But, with the confidence born of years of doing verbal battle, and little fear of conflict or controversy I wade into a complex divisive topic that wars have been fought over take an extreme position and state it as fact. There's not much respect in that approach is there? I'm not going to win many friends or influence many people with that tactic either.

Its interesting how our "beliefs" filter our perceptions. When I read the responses to one of my posts, I hurry through the opposing viewpoints, but linger on the ones agreeable to my position. Searching for support for my rightness. Arguments to "win" my position with. But I already established that nobody is going to win this type of argument. The only win would be not to take the bait, not to engage the conflict except to broaden one's perspectives.

If that is my purpose, I should take the edge off my arguments, and realize that constructive opposition may be my best teacher. Other opinions become a guide to better thinking, a new way of seeing my prejudices, a new more honest way of seeing things clearly. Being respectful of others, instead of trampling their thoughts like a herd of elephants going through a patch of wildflowers creates respect in return. Instead of stopping at my distorted thinking; realizing that everything I see is distorted by the past I associate it to. Then, I can stop defending myself, my opinion, and being "right".

My ego wants to be right. Your ego wants to be right. But, it is OK and probably good if you see something differently than me. It is only because I question myself and my own inner worth, value, and potential, that I try to support and buttress my opinion. When I am being defensive, I am asking you to tell me I'm OK. But, I dont really believe it do I? I need proof from you for me to believe in me. Agree with me or I'm diminished. That is not really being a self leader, but catching our self at it is a start.

When I believe in ME, I dont need to defend my beliefs. Believing in me is the one thing I can take a stand on. When that stand becomes solid enough, I no longer need a position to support and shield my ego behind by being right, or proving my rightness by "winning" an argument. I may even be wrong. You may be right. That would be wonderful to find out. It would help me on my path to honesty and new deeper understanding of reality and integrated honesty. Reasonable minds get to disagree and not go to war. We get peace.

With that understanding, If you disagree with my position, I am not diminished am I, neither are you. I am complemented that you risked your ego to share your opinion with me. We don't need to defend our positions now do we. In truth, I should thank you.

With mutual respect, peace and harmony we get access to our genius, and our fight or flight reaction is neutralized. We can again access our higher conscious, infinite intelligence, universal mind, right brain, genius, whatever term you wish to ascribe to human potential.

I'm not upset anymore if you hold a different opinion than mine. Are you? We may gain the best insight we'll have today by openly considering our opposing view. We may synthesize our opposing views into better ideas than any of us had before we started this discussion. We came here for this - New Insight. Maybe I just got a bit of one. Maybe this idea is the answer for: the Middle East, transforming governments, improving family relations, and lessening tension in other opinion war zones.

If we don't resort to argument, maybe we can look at things more clearly. Without distorted separating rhetoric, and defensive posturing. Wouldn't that be refreshing?

c 2007 James T. Hitt

Tags: Respect, conflict resolution, argue, peace, negotiation, enlightenment, vision, human potential, human evolution, leadership

Vision - Finding Peace at Work

http://capthook.gaia.com — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 23:22:03 GMT

Work is love made visible. And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy. Kahlil Gibran

I work at an Ag Tire Plant. Management-Union relations have been particularly acrimonious there. During the last strike (roughly 12 years ago) management hired replacement workers and sent letters of dismissal to striking workers. That strike was ultimately settled, but striking workers returned to work with replacement workers and union workers that crossed the picket line to go back to work before the strike was settled. Employees currently are working without a contract during a contract negotiation. Foreign competition threatens viability of American production and is cutting market share. To say that there are tensions and conflicts in the work place is a bit of an understatement.

Until recently the only things I enjoyed about that job were the paycheck and the days off - 12 hour schedule 3.5 days off per week. However, I have begun to love my work. What changed? I did. I had a glimmer of this silly idea that there must be some way to remain viable in a changing world and did a lot of self study looking for a solution. It started slowly and evolved. To create a solution, the conflict that permeated the shop floor had to lessen. I started violating policies that could best be summarized as, "The beatings will continue until moral improves." I noticed that following company policy which were in their entirety punitive led to resentment, retaliation, and reduced productivity. Often following these punitive policies resulted in whatever was being punished increasing rather than it being resolved.

At first I simply started ignoring the policies. I wouldn't write up employees for "infractions". Productivity started to improve. My second evolution was complimenting good behavior instead of criticizing bad. It wasn't really a conscious change, just something that seemed natural. I have three areas I supervise, and had always micromanaged. I started giving people more responsibility and letting them handle it, and complimenting them for their successes and asking them for suggestions if something didn't work out. Then I let them implement their ideas. The employees on my shift blossomed, doing jobs that I had done previously much better than I had done them.

My study led to a powerful Eureka experience. I saw the inherent value inside myself and others. The value of creating peace instead of conflict. I realized the potential going to waste by the wars created through authoritative management styles, and I started talking to employees openly about my insights, and implementing those ideas.

When I had to get employee signatures on the sixty plus pages of policies that all ended with the same 4 step punishment program, I encouraged employees not to read them and openly stated that the policies were depressing. The policies were based on the misperception that management ran the plant, and that employees could not be trusted I explained that all of them knew their jobs much better than I and certainly much better than the people who wrote the policies.

I asked if anyone thought that they were our most important asset. They laughed. I asked if they thought anyone in the company thought they were our most important asset, they rolled their eyes and accused me of drinking before work. I explained that not only was I cold stone sober, I for one thought that they were our greatest asset. I pointed out that I couldn't run their machines. I didn't know how, plus I have only one arm.

I explained that every one of them knew 10 ways to reduce scrap without talking to anyone else. All of them know how to increase their production 30% immediately, if they wanted. They knew every dangerous shortcut that they shouldn't take but did, because it was easier and they got away with it last time. They knew the weakness of their machine, which latch breaks repeatedly, roll pin that gets replaced weekly etc, and could do more than a team of fifty engineers to improve the design of their machine to make it work better. In short, management spends hours in meetings trying to increase productivity, reduce scrap, and increase safety, and the key was to get employees to want to accomplish those goals and to participate in that effort.

Then I told them that of course they wouldn't tell me about their ideas, because I was the one armed jerk who wrote them up last month for taking longer than a 10 minute break. I started giving them respect. I started asking their opinion instead of giving them directives. I started openly questioning rules and the way we had always done things. I wrote a 13 page paper on using non-violence, respect, empowerment, and trust to increase employee cooperation and sent it to the salary training officer. I gave the summary to the plant manager's secretary to read. I gave a copy to my boss and sent the summary to the acting plant manager with my boss's prior approval.

I told engineers and schedulers who asked when we would tread a certain tire that I didn't schedule that any more, my employees did, and had them ask the employee. I thanked people for their efforts. Instead of criticism, I handed out praise. I trusted and believed in my people. When someone openly violated policies I went so far as to look the other way, but endeavored to find them doing something good and thank them for it.

One employee, a service driver who I had written up several times was a particularly hard sell. I started taking the inventory report to him every day at the first of the shift. I was telling him by my action that he had one of the most important jobs in the plant. I caught him doing things we needed done and thanked him. I gave him a copy of the report I'd sent to the salary training officer suggesting a non-punitive, cooperative management style.

To encourage working to the end of the shift, I talked about a recent article I'd seen about the Seven Wonders of the World. I had taken it home to my son and asked him to pick his favorite. When he had chosen the Pyramids of Egypt, I asked him who had built the Pyramids. People he replied. I then responded, Then people must be even greater than the pyramids aren't they?

I then noted that on the previous day, the production report at 5 pm showed machine D2 had 36 tires. These are $3000 tires. At 6 PM on the end of shift report I noted that the builder finished the day with 42 tires. I said, I'd Like to introduce you to one of the world greatest wonders, Dean S. You should have heard the crew laugh, hollering brown noser etc. Dean turned three shades of red.

At 10 am when I went to the break room one of the builders got up immediately saying I've got to get back to work. I want a pat on the back tomorrow. Dean called me over to his machine in the afternoon to tell me when I gave him a pat on the back while wearing my hook, it was a lot more like a stab in the back. At 5 pm all the builders decided they'd stop by Dean's machine to "cheer" him on for the last hour. I got the crew to think positively about what would have been a simple passing comment as quickly forgotten if I'd merely restated company policy.

By complementing employees and not being critical or quick to get angry, I found that conflicts that arise lead to new ideas that work better than the tired old compromises and directives I'd reached using an authoritative management paradigm. Better solutions than either party originally would have asked for. Despite no contract resolutions, I have not experienced any of the sabotage that usually accompanies such negotiations. Productivity has gone through the roof, and people actually smile at work now.

Things have gotten a lot better, go figure.

c 2007 James T. Hitt

Tags: work, enlightenment, leadership, management, conflict resolution, vision

Letter To Daughter's School Principal

http://capthook.gaia.com — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 20:43:36 GMT

I recently forwarded this letter to Michael Skye of Vision Force in response to his comments about ADD, and the idea of classifying children

I think you will find the attached letter interesting. It was my response
to a teacher's attempt to label my daughter. We now home school her and her
brother so they can keep the enthusiasm you discuss. She, I might add,
recites the alphabet equally easily forward or backward and we never taught
her that. The teacher was determined to label her "learning disabled" She
now reads at a third grade level does 3 digit addition and subtraction, and
I might add smiles all the time now. Her brother does also.

Mrs. XXXXX

Principal

North HHHHHH School

EEEEEEEE, Mo.

Dear Mrs. XXXXX;

I would like to offer my profound apology, for my hostile behavior during our meeting earlier this year. I was angry at Mrs. Sandra YYYYY's assertion that my daughter Revae would be held back this year in school if she did not attend after school tutoring classes. The implication being that only the school system would be able to properly assist Revae.

As you know, and as my wife explained to Mrs. YYYYY, we did send Revae to reading tutoring class last year. Her reading skills did not improve. Albert Einstein stated that we can't resolve problems using the same approach that created them. We heartily agree.

I appreciate your predicament. Under Missouri Law a student that does not perform up to the required level must be given supplemental teaching assistance, to give them every opportunity to reach grade level. Appropriately, you must document that assistance to demonstrate that effort. It is very difficult to document parental assistance.

We had determined, and informed Mrs. YYYYY, that we would assist Revae in getting back to speed in reading. We are both avid readers. My wife and I are certainly qualified to provide the one to one assistance necessary to achieve the third grade reading skills she is lacking. Mrs. YYYYY stated that this was not an option, Revae must take the school's classes, or she would be held back. Implying, rules are more important than results.

You graciously concurred that parents could be an invaluable assistance in encouraging and assisting in the educational process. I sincerely thank you that consideration. We did not, however, receive Mrs. YYYYY's consent. I truly believe that she resented our intrusion into her domain and the challenge to her authority.

At our first parent teacher conference, Mrs. ZZZZZ informed us that their efforts, were indeed bearing fruit. Revae had progressed from a kindergarten/pre-kindergarten to a second grade reading level in the preceding two months. We were pleased with this rapid improvement.

However, Mrs. YYYYY requested that Revae be evaluated for a learning disability, despite the learning ability this demonstrated. We disagreed with her assessment. We stated that her attempt to classify Revae and to attach labels of disability to her records would be detrimental. We did not and do not want her prodded and examined like a laboratory animal. We did not want her to be to be labeled.

We were not given any credit for our part in Revea's achievement. However, we were substantially influential in Revae's reading improvement. We have several computer reading programs. Examples are rocket reader and EyeQ. My wife and I have devoted ourselves to assisting in that effort. We believe that given time, albeit more than two months, Revae will read above the third grade level prior to the end of this year. I believe that this assertion rankled Mrs. YYYYY. Our challenge to Mrs. YYYYY's opinion and the assertion of our authority, has led to retaliation on Mrs. YYYYY's part, in our humble opinion. Unfortunately, my daughter is an innocent victim of that retaliation.

She has been singled out and criticized before her peers. She has been subjected to excessive punishment such as being required to walk during recess for five days, for running in the hall. The punishment was not enforced. She, quite intelligently, did not walk all five days as proscribed, walking only two. She played, of all things. For this infraction, she was called a liar by Mrs. YYYYY and informed that she be required to walk an additional five days.

At this time, mindful of my deplorable angry behavior at the start of the year and the resentment it had created, I determined not to criticize Mrs. YYYYY or her teaching method, but rather visited school to watch the interaction of Revae with her teacher, and to participate in her punishment to reduce the intended stigma. I wanted to insure that she would retain her self respect despite being singled out for ridicule and hostility.

In life we must all at times deal with angry, hostile, punitive people. I hoped that despite her tender years, she would learn her responsibility for emotions and not succumb to the inane notion that pleasing others at her expense is her purpose in life.

I asserted that I loved to walk, and Revae invited several of her friends to walk with us and we all had a wonderful time. Revae admonished that we were to not have any fun while walking. I suggested that having fun is not something anyone can take away from you unless you grant them the authority. I suggested that she openly defy the teacher's instructions. We turned summersault, laughed talked in depth on many subjects. I truly hated to see recess end.

Mrs. YYYYY has placed Revae next the pencil sharpener in the classroom. It is very noisy. During my visit to the class after lunch over fifteen students sharpened their pencils in the portion of an hour that I spent there as she completed her worksheets. After Revae turned in her papers and returned to her seat, she turned to me and said, "at least Mrs. YYYYY wasn't mean to me this time."

During that short visit, Mrs. YYYYY called on Revae to answer a question about money. Revae was talking to me at the time Mrs. YYYYY put the problem on the screen. It was very obvious she was not paying attention. Rather than allow this small discretion during a father's visit, Mrs. YYYYY called on Revae to answer the question. Revae quite naturally was at a disadvantage and stumbled on the answer. Shortly after she sat down, she solved the problem correctly. Unfortunately, she was intentionally subjected to unnecessary embarrassment in front her peers.

This type of punitive behavior is also apparent in Revae's homework where credit is subtracted for form, not substance. She loses points if she failed to put her "number" on homework, despite the fact that the homework is signed and complete. Her spelling is corrected for penmanship, if she uses capital letters or traces a letter. Her math is corrected for failure to add $ signs to a correct answer, if she uses the numbered length of line segment instead of letter designates. If she uses letter designates to designate line segments, but fails to draw a line above the line segment the answer is counted wrong. She loses complete credit in such instances.

Her homework is studded with marginal comment of "STOP COLORING!" and "PLEASE WRITE NEATER." This despite 96 percent score on math, and a 100% on word find games. I can provide numerous additional examples, but I believe my point is already clear.

It is my contention that these hostile, critical, insulting comments are calculated to create a tense and difficult learning environment for my daughter. I believe that these actions whether intentional or subconscious create a hostile environment for my daughter. They alienate her from her friends and open her to emotional and physical abuse from classmates. She was recently hit in the back by Abbie who previously was her best friend. On her last day attending North Harrison School, she stated after school, "They're not going to break me!"

I am in receipt of a letter dated November 17, 2006 from Barbara J. EEEEE stating that the special education department had received a request from the school for an evaluation. At the last parent teacher conference, Mrs. YYYYY requested and documented with a memo in Revae's file that Revae be evaluated to for learning disability. We politely declined her recommendation. I believe that this request, despite our objections, is an intentional effort to create family tension to further reduce Revae's learning ability, and prove Mrs. YYYYY's stated opinion. I believe most all the aforementioned matters represent retaliation for my indelicate handling of her prior suggestions. For this I am sincerely apologetic and profoundly regretful.

I would like the copy of the memo requesting an evaluation of learning disability removed from Revae's file. I would like any reference to the request for a special education removed from her educational records. You may of course keep these to document your recommendations and our refusal to follow your suggestions. I will not permit my daughter to be evaluated at this time. I do agree that she may have a learning disability when at North Harrison School because of my unwitting bumbling. However, I would like to mend these fences without sharing this letter with any of the teaching staff or counselors. I particularly request that Mrs. YYYYY not be allowed to view or see this letter.

I truly believe that you and I share the same objectives, but differ on the path to achieve those shared objectives. You provide an invaluable service to the community and I sincerely apologize for any criticism perceived in this manuscript. Thank you for your kind consideration of this matter.

Sincerely,

James T. Hitt,

Dad

Tags: ADD, learning disability, personal empowerment

A New Paradigm for the World

http://capthook.gaia.com — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 03:00:49 GMT

You are Smarter Than You Think

November 6, 2006

Within your mind is a bank of biological electro-chemical supercomputers that would make Cray Computer Corporation envious. Your brain has over 100 million neurons, each with phenomenally more processing speed and power than the fastest supercomputer in existence today. Each neuron is essentially a microscopic computer processor; each neuron has the added advantage of being connected to 10,000 other neurons.

For anyone with computer experience, imagine the power of ten thousand Cray supercomputers as parallel processors to solve equations, do weather simulation, flight simulations, and solve mathematical formulas. Now imagine that power multiplied by a million times. Now imagine 100 million such computers interconnected this way. This is the fantastic processing speed and power of the human mind with which we decide which shoes to wear with a burgundy dinner outfit.

The self help industry repeats statements of human potential and capability with the fervor of a monk seeking enlightenment. What did you think the last time someone told you that you have no limits? You agree in principle, but after several blind alleys in life's maze, you forget. You really do have no limits. If you even had one Cray supercomputer you'd be the big kid on the block. You have 100 million of them, yet indulge in self-limiting thoughts that keep you from believing your potential.

Give Your Heckler the Boot

Finding and eliminating your limiting thoughts is the first step to reaching your potential. If you want to unpack the mental baggage that prevents you from being what you could be, log onto Google and search for affirmations. Take a list of affirmations, read them one by one, and note your response. Write down your response next to the affirmation without giving it a lot of thought. The more you do the better.

What you'll see is what you "really" think about yourself. This negative self-talk runs over and over in our heads like a mantra. It programs the most powerful computer in the universe to create the reality that becomes true for us. Read your list of responses.

Is this what you would want to tell an impressionable young child you were teaching? What if your boss, your spouse or best friend said these things repeatedly to you? My guess is you'd quickly find new associates. What do you suppose the result is of such comments on your happiness, self confidence, peace of mind and success?

Consider the following examples.

AFFIRMATION SELF RESPONSE

1. I am wealthy 1. I'm not rich

2. I'm calm and healthy 2. I hope these cigarettes don't kill me

3. I am joyful 3. Except for this damn headache

4. I am a good person 4. When I'm asleep

5. I deserve to be happy 5. That's not true

6. I work hard 6. I've got to get off my ass and do more

7. I enjoy life 7. God I'm tired of feeling this way

8. I have a magnetic personality 8. What a crock, I barely have any friends

9. I am a genius 9. Yeah, when pigs fly

Another example of the heckling section we often have in our heads is our response to compliments:

COMPLIMENT SELF RESPONSE

1. You look really nice 1. I haven't even brushed my hair

2. I really appreciate your efforts 2. Are you being sarcastic?

3. That roast was awesome 3. They're just being nice, it just a roast

4. You really get a lot done 4. I've got to finish that report today

5. You're really smart 5. You've got to be kidding me.

Take the last compliment; you're really smart. Remember the mental tools that we discussed at the beginning of this report. Has anyone developed the machine that can play catch with a young boy, paint a sunset, sing in the shower, read someone's expression and body language, throw a newspaper onto a porch from a moving bicycle, throw a basketball through a hoop, or hug a child! Each of these activities requires millions of calculations in a microsecond. YOU'RE REALLY SMART!

Just finding this negative self-talk, helps to lessen its' impact. Sun light is a wonderful disinfectant. Using repeated positive affirmations while listening to your inner voices respond gives you a tool to question the negative self talk and start reducing it.

Why Not Believe in Yourself?

To give you an example of self-limiting beliefs and their impact, I want you to complete a simple calculation. Multiply 65 X 65 without a calculator or paper. Most people faced with this problem do one of two things. They start looking at it the way they were taught in school: "5 times 5 is 25 carry the 2, 5 times 6 is thirty, etc." Or, they don't even try. Wait a minute, there is a better way. I'll show you.

The Vedas, called the complete book of knowledge, were written in India thousands of years ago. The mathematical section, consisting of 16 Sutras (rules), was dismissed by scholars as nonsense. In the early 1900's an Indian scholar studied these rules over a period of six years to understand their secrets. He decoded each Sutra and discovered a different way of doing mathematics that is fun, easy, and intuitive and makes complex calculations child's play.

•· 65x65=4225

So how did I do that? Any two 2 digit number with the same first 2 digits and where the last 2 digits add to 10, can be multiplied as follows: Multiply the first numbers times itself plus 1.

•· 6x (6+1) = 6x7 = 42

This is the left portion on the answer.

Now, multiply the right 2 numbers together.

•· 5x5 = 25

This is the right portion on the answer.

Thus the answer:

•· 65x65 = 4225

Try the following. Remember, just moments ago you were certain that you couldn't do this easily.

55x55=

43x47=

98x92=

25x25=

84x86=

How did you do? Check it with a calculator or do it the way you learned in school. If you have a few mistakes the first time, wonderful. Thomas Edison was asked if his experiments' failure to produce success made him feel like a failure. He replied, "No, I've discovered 10,000 ways not to invent the electric light bulb."

If you have a few mistakes, review the example again. Make up some more problems to try until you've gotten it. Remember, this example only works for two digit numbers that have the same first number and where the last two digits add to ten.

Vedic Math is a different way of learning math, a paradigm shift. My simple example doesn't scratch the surface of quick Vedic mental math techniques. If you're interested in learning more Vedic Math techniques, there are E-books and website with detail about Vedic Mathematics. Look it up on your favorite search engine.

My eleven year old son, Tom, just started learning Vedic Math two weeks ago. He can multiply any pair of two digit numbers, multiply any size number by a similar number as long as it is close to a base number such as 10, 100, 1000, 10,000, 100,000 or 1000,000,000 and add or subtract any number regardless of size, all in his head.

On our last trip to Wal-Mart he added up all the items purchased as we picked them up in the store. At the checkout he was off by only one penny, all in his head. With a small amount of practice, you can learn to do all mathematics in your head. An unanticipated side benefit of the techniques is that three weeks later you'll still remember that a pound of Little Smokies cost $3.34 last time you bought them.

All self-limiting beliefs are the same as believing you can't multiply two digit numbers in your head. Your belief creates your reality and the supercomputer in your head starts churning out exactly what you expect. You don't even try things you don't believe you are capable of doing. If you do try, you either fail or act in ways to derail your success before it gets too far away from your belief structure. It's a prime example of the old saying, "The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree."

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf

Fear often underlies limiting thoughts. Fear of failure, success, emotional or physical pain often stops us from even trying many things we are capable of doing. All animals are motivated to achieve pleasure and avoid pain. In a greater sense, nature has endowed us with a self guidance or self-conditioning system that is pro-life and anti-death.

We eat, have sex, and form friendships, because it's pleasurable to do so. We don't pick up hot coals, jump off high places, or walk in front of moving vehicles because it's painful to do so. All human actions are naturally driven toward pleasure and away from pain.

You might disagree, saying, "What about suicide, or any other obviously self destructive behavior?" In every case, the action taken is perceived as less painful than the alternatives apparent to the person acting self destructively. People commit suicide because they are in mental or physical pain that appears to them to be worse to endure than death. Even people who mutilate themselves do so to create pain to take their mind off severe emotional pain they do not want to experience. All human action at the deepest level is motivated by receiving pleasure and avoiding pain.

Fear of success; can that be fear of pain? Why wouldn't we ask for a raise, or get a different job, if we are capable and are worth more than we are being paid? In short, fear. The question is, fear of what? Fear we won't get the job. Fear a new business will fail.

Failing can be more painful than being stuck in a dead-end job with no rewards. Or maybe we think if we try and are successful, our friends will be jealous. Maybe we won't fit in anymore. Losing a friendship can be very painful.

I still remember outfits from college, faded, grubby, and worn out blue jeans with a faded army surplus or chambray work shirt; the more holes, the better. I had much nicer clothes, but didn't wear them so I could fit in. It wasn't until I made different friends that I started dressing differently.

If you'd like to change or do something new and the idea makes you uncomfortable, try this technique. It has been used successfully on post-traumatic stress disorders, phobias, panic disorders, and fears of all kind.

First, imagine the situation that makes you fearful. Imagine that you are watching yourself instead of seeing yourself in first person, from within your body. This is called disassociation. I love to watch sprint car races. Watching those little cars skid and bounce around a quarter mile dirt track amid the smell of burning oil, gasoline and rubber is a great vicarious thrill. But, I would be scared witless to drive one of those cars in competition at 140 miles per hour.

Public speaking is a common fear. However, we seldom get nervous when watching or listening to someone else talk. Choose a fear you want to eliminate. Imagine watching yourself doing that activity. Watching you do something takes the emotional sting out of the situation. Imagine saying things like, "He looks really uncomfortable. He's gripping that podium so hard his knuckles are white." It works even better if you visualize the situation in black and white.

Visualize the fearful situation all the way through to the end then stop the picture. Imagine you can jump into that picture in full color with as many senses (touch, hearing, taste, smell and sight) activated as possible. Then run the visualization backwards in your head in 1.5 seconds, in super high speed rewind.

This isn't something you have to do over and over. Usually, using this technique once or twice will eliminate irrational fears. You learn very quickly. It didn't take years to be afraid of snakes, elevators, or public speaking. It doesn't take long to eliminate these fears either.

My daughter Revae has some difficulty reading. I look at this as a sign of genius. Einstein hardly learned to talk before he started school. She is getting it, but still lacks self confidence. She was really scared if a book had paragraphs. To eliminate this fear, we used this technique.

I said, "Revae, let's play an imagination game." Close your eyes and imagine that we have a time machine. She closed her eyes. Can you see it I asked? "Yes," she replied. I asked her to describe it. She described an egg shaped apparatus with doors. It was yellow, green, pink and purple. "What do the operator's controls look like?" I asked. She said, "There are a purple triangle, pink rectangle, green heart and a yellow circle, some horses and a gold lever."

"Okay Revae, you drive. Imagine we are going forward in time to next month. Stop the time machine in front of school," I instructed. I told her that when you travel in time other people can't see you because you're in another dimension. "When you time travel, everything is black and white, Revae."

"Let's go to your class." I suggested. "Look Revae you're reading to the class. You're reading Wizard of Oz. Look, everyone is listening and enjoying the story. Revae, you read the whole story to the class and they enjoyed it so much that they are all standing up clapping for you. Don't get too close to yourself in future time." I told her. "If you do, you'll get sucked back through time to the present."

Oops! Revae you're too close! Everything is in bright colors again. Time's going backwards. You're walking backwards to get on the school bus. The bus pulls out of the parking space backwards. It's driving backwards down the road. You walk backwards into the house. Mom is un-cooking bacon. When she's done she's putting it back into the refrigerator uncooked. You're in the bathroom. REVAE! DON'T FLUSH THE STOOL!

Revae literally rolled on the floor laughing hysterically. Silly, wasn't it? Exactly! Running time backward in your head is silly. It makes the fear seem silly and irrelevant.

This is similar to imagining donkey ears on your most critical and difficult authority figure, it's silly. The day after this technique, Revae completely read a book with paragraphs for the first time.

Appreciate Your Fear

A very important understanding about any emotion is that all emotions (fear, sadness, happiness, anger) stem from the principle of pleasure and pain. In every case negative emotions are signs that you perceive pain or loss. Likewise, joy and happiness spring from perceptions of gain or pleasure.

Thus, negative emotions should be welcomed as normal and evidence of your desire for happiness. Even irrational fears are an indication you want only good things for yourself. Before you try to eliminate a fear, thank yourself for the self interest these emotions demonstrate. Evaluate the fear in terms of cost benefits. Open your mind to all alternative and look for what you gain and lose.

For example, a friend told me that she was ashamed to ride her horse last weekend because she felt too fat. I asked her what she was afraid of in the situation. She said that she was afraid that she would look ridiculous and be made fun of by her friends.

I said, "It's painful to be humiliated, isn't it?" She agreed. I suggested that she thank herself for not wanting to feel the pain of ridicule. This emotion was evidence that she cared deeply for herself and wanted what was best for her. She should be proud of efforts to protect herself and avoid pain.

I then asked her if it was also painful to miss riding, as this is an activity she loves. She agreed it was. I suggested that the shame she felt about being overweight was just as painful whether or not she rode her horse.

She didn't go riding, which she loves, to prevent others' ridicule. However, she still felt all the pain of her own self condemnation about weight. I then asked her if she really thought anyone really would have made fun of her. She conceded probably not. I suggested that she negotiate with her closest ally (herself) to see if she could see things differently and go riding next time. She agreed. Everyone craves appreciation, not shame, especially from themselves.

Accepting emotional pain is the first step in releasing it. If you reject it, it persists. It has been said that all emotional illness is the result of failure to accept legitimate emotional pain. A very effective free training to reduce figurative emotional constipation is available on the internet. Search for Emotional Freedom Technique. This technique involves positive affirmation and a tapping on various pressure points while repeating affirmations that you totally accept yourself despite the unwanted condition. It seems silly at first. Maybe that's why it works. You think a lot clearer when you lose the knot in your stomach. But, you already knew that didn't you. See you are smart!

You Can Think Like Einstein

You have the same mental potential as Albert Einstein, Nikola Tesla, Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig Von Beethoven, Henry Ford, Mohandas Gandhi, Andrew Carnegie, Thomas Edison, and Leonardo DaVinci. There is very little difference between your brain and a genius's. So why aren't we smarter? We are. We just don't know how to develop and access that genius.

Albert Einstein was considered slow, a dunce, and even retarded all during school. He had such difficulty learning to speak that his family feared that he might never learn. He was expelled from high school, initially flunked his college entrance examination, and did poorly in college. Einstein stated that he very seldom thought in words at all. He thought primarily in visual images and feelings. The theory of relativity did not develop from complex mathematical calculations and detailed physics. It came from visualizing himself riding a beam of light through the cosmos.

The accepted physics theory at the time was that nothing could travel faster than the speed of light. Einstein imagined himself riding a beam of light through the universe holding a mirror in his hand. He simply wondered if he would be able to see himself in the mirror. If he could, of course, the light reflected off his face must be traveling faster than the speed of light. How else could he see himself, since he was traveling at the speed of light already? This change in perception provided the foundation upon which all the other building blocks for the theory of relativity were laid.

His technique for visualizing was very simple. He sat in a comfortable chair in a very relaxed meditative state holding a rock in each hand. The rocks were to wake him up if he fell asleep as he was visualizing. He watched the images in his head, still and moving pictures, and effectively learned to directly access his subconscious mind. With this process he formed many more connections between the right and left hemispheres of his brain.

Upon Einstein's death, coroner Dr. Thomas Harvey removed and kept Einstein's brain. He studied it to discover the secret of Einstein's genius. Neurons do not reproduce after birth. However, unlike neurons, axons and dendrites (the connections between neurons) can continue to increase throughout life. The more we learn, the more these connections are formed. Likewise, if we cease learning, these connections wither away.

While Dr. Harvey was unsuccessful, a colleague, Marian Diamond, found a high concentration of glial cells indicating increased interconnection and heightened communication between Einstein's neurons, the microscopic supercomputers of the brain.

The prolific inventor, Nikola Tesla, also had a peculiar difficulty when he was young. He would see actual visualizations. Things he imagined were so vivid that he had difficulty differentiating them from reality. He searched his mind to find the cause of these mental specters as he tried to eliminate them.

He first attempted to make the pictures go away by thinking about something else and was moderately successful. However, he had to continue to think about the substitute idea indefinitely or the visualization would come back. Finally, he traced the visualization back to the thoughts that preceded it. With sustained mental effort, he was able to find the visions' source and control it.

As he grew older, this disability became an asset. He actually visualized his inventions as clearly as if they were real. He visualized operating his invention without drawing the idea or creating a working model. His mental creations were so vivid that he could even tell if a motor's design would be out of balance. He would modify and test the design mentally until perfected. In every instance, each invention worked exactly as he had visualized without further modifications.

Napoleon Hill was commissioned by Andrew Carnagie to interview countless successful wealthy capitalists. These creative geniuses took America from an agricultural society to an industrial giant. In each case these men talked of visualizing what they desired to create. They saw their objectives as if they already existed. Essentially all creation begins in the mind. Reaching those goals required strong desire coupled with visualization and faith that they could achieve their objective.

The working of your mind is too broad a subject to be covered by this article. However, the common denominator of all great minds, inventors, successful businessmen, and creative genius is the ability to visualize. What's the point of this? Every genius ever born was primarily right brained, they thought in pictures not words. In short, they accessed their subconscious mind.

You're Not Upset, For The Reason You Think

Win Wenger's book, The Einstein Factor, contains instruction for a technique called image streaming. This technique increases access to one's subconscious mind. Meditation also helps obtain the quiet state necessary to see mental pictures and build your powers of perception. Visualization requires a very calm mental state. But, when was the last time you experienced a very calm state?

I'll use myself as a prime example. For years I have had a violent temper. I spent most of my adult life stumbling from one upset to another pointing toward external conditions, people's action, or something someone said or did as the cause of my upsets. I suffered severe depressions. I wrestled suicidal thoughts during my younger years. Although I didn't know it, I also had tormenting critical inner voices that destroyed my peace of mind.

As a result of an accident, my left arm was amputated at age fourteen. I actually never acknowledged my loss. I was determined that I would not be limited by this disability. I excelled in high school; ran track, went to state track meet all four years of high school, played football, was homecoming king, played basketball, graduating second in my class as student council vice president and class president.

In the summer of 1972 as a teenager, I started a contract painting business. That same determination led me to work incessantly. The first summer I painted, I worked thirty days straight from daylight until dusk to insure the success of my venture.

I'll always remember the first day I took off. I was painting a house just outside Williamson, Iowa. I had plugged the tip of my airless sprayer. I was so intent on my productivity that I would accept no interruption to insure that I was the most productive, least expensive, best painter in southern Iowa.

In my haste to take the spray gun for service, I backed over 5 gallons of Iowa Oil Base 1500 Series paint. I had negotiated the lowest possible price with the wholesaler, but I still paid roughly $7.00 a gallon. Man, was I pissed. Thirty five dollars is not much, but what a mess. I went to The Captain's Lounge in Chariton, Iowa on the corner of the town square and got gloriously, rip-roaringly drunk.

The business soared. In my second year, I grossed over $6000 in a single month, not bad for a one armed farm boy from a poor county in southern Iowa. I considered $4000 per month a total failure. I paid for all of my college expenses and took a nice vacation each year and had extra money to burn. In 1974 I bought my first new car a Chevy El Camino for $4200. I goaded myself like a slave driver with the buried rage at my disability while never even privately acknowledging it to myself.

Until recently, that rage was the one constant in my life. I had been intensely studying the human mind. It all started with a book I'd ordered from a mail order solicitation, The Nouveau-Tech Discovery. I focused on the benefits promised, and the magical things pledged if only I bought this book. I don't recall if it named the Neo-Tech Discovery specifically, but the letter stated that if I purchased the product my life would change.

I must have been desperate. I sent for the material. When I got it, there was so much of it that was in concert with my view of reality, I couldn't put it down. For the first time, I had the life owner's manual I'd looked for. It lit me on fire. I became obsessed with finding the secret for maximizing my human potential.

I read and studied incessantly everything I could get my hands on about personal transformation, eliminating limiting beliefs, and healing emotional pain. I scoured the internet for more information. I got computer programs for enhancing mental functioning, audio affirmation tapes, guided meditations, books on emotional intelligence and brain function. This article is the outgrowth of that effort.

So What Did I Learn?

There are no small emotional upsets! Each time I raged, got depressed, or rejected reality; I lost access to my inner power. I literally lost my mind. I was mad, insane even. I couldn't see alternatives to my viewpoint. I couldn't access my higher reasoning and thinking capacity. I was stuck. I was a cave man battling a rival clan.

Think of it this way. When you look at something, do you really see it as it is now? The answer is no. Your mind understands everything by past association. When I look at a coffee cup do I see it? No, I don't. What I see are associations. I see the 345,472 coffee cups I've seen in my life. These were in the past. In a microsecond my fabulous interconnection of neurons, axons, dendrites, and glial cells process the retinal image, compares it to images in my memory, sorts them for relevance, meaning, associations, emotional content, and forms judgments about what I see.

Did any of those 345,472 images happen now? Were the relevance, meaning, associations, emotional content, and judgments formed in the present? No, they were all formed in the past. I really didn't see the cup at all; I saw all my past associations to the cup. I didn't really think about or understand this cup at all. I was thinking about the past, but the past isn't here anymore. So I wasn't really thinking was I? I was thinking about nothing. I never really thought before. I was a robot responding to my program.

The same is true in situations where I felt emotional upset. I always looked outside myself for cause, never inside. My paradigm never allowed looking at the real source of the upset, my distorted thinking. When someone did something I disapproved, I criticized them. They were the problem, I was upset consequently. But I was wrong. I couldn't see the reality that I chose my response. My turmoil prevented me from seeing better alternatives than my own. It was within my power to choose my response. I never understood that I had that choice. The programming in the most fabulous computer in the universe had a virus.

What happened when I criticized my wife, employees, or children? Did they mend their ways, seek to improve, start working to do what I wanted? Sometimes they did. More often they didn't. People told me that my criticism was painful. They resented it. I was attacking them. They naturally defended themselves. They were motivated to avoid pain. Often they retaliated, so I upped the volume to attempt a mental form of shock and awe to force them to succumb to my version of reality.

Everyone wants to feel good about themselves, but we loose ourselves in the words. Self esteem, self actualization, finding your voice, vision, and mystical hocus pocus such as, "Pride goeth before a fall." What a crock! People are supposed to be ashamed of themselves to succeed? Get real! Yet what was I doing? I was shaming them. The only consistent way to get someone to do what you want is to get them to want to do it.

So did I make anyone want to do what I asked? No, I created wars, conflict, rage, and resentment. Any message I tried to convey amid the criticism got drowned out by their rationalizations. Emotionally, my life was figuratively one giant barroom brawl with everyone I contacted. In the process, I lost access to the bank of super computers in my head. I was out of my mind. My world consisted of conflict, anger, resentment, fear, doubt, and lack. And, I gave a piece of it to anyone I contacted.

Instead of respect, I gave criticism. Instead of wanting to do what I wanted, people resisted my ideas and avoided me. Instead of forming friendships, and close associations, I drove people away with criticisms and condescension. I avoided my intense inner pain by passing the dirty end of the stick to someone else. I made people ashamed of themselves and they treated me like the pariah I was.

B.F. Skinner, the renowned behavioral scientist, studied learning using rewards with one group of mice and punishment with another group. The outcome was what you would expect, the group of mice rewarded learned much more quickly than those given punishment.

When I discussed the idea of respect, non-criticism, rewarding good behavior, encouraging, eliminating emotional violence, I was told, "Sure, it'll work for some of our employees, the good ones. It'll never work for everyone. Some of our employees are so worthless we have to punish them. Otherwise, they'll never do what we want."

They were wrong! I now have 27 friends at work that cooperate, suggest improvements, aren't afraid to tell me when I'm wrong, and suggest alternative solutions. People now smile back at me. I gave up criticism, and replaced it with praise. Sometimes I had a bit of a wait to find something to praise, but the wait was worth it.

The idea is simple and has been expressed a hundred times throughout history. Examples are: "You get what you give. Do unto others as you would have them to do unto you. Be the change you seek." When implemented, these ideas create cooperation, respect, peace, self respect, confidence, happiness, access to your subconscious mind, even genius, where once there was only conflict.

Solutions are no longer win-lose, they are win-win. Rather than some uneasy compromise, the difference in opinion is an asset allowing a new way of looking at the world that can create paradigms shifts that allow synergistic solutions that are better than either party expected when they negotiate from fixed positions instead of with respect, compassions and consideration.

The Power of Believing in People

The genius inherent in this type paradigm shift is obvious in the recent Nobel Prize. Professor Muhammad Yunus won the 2006 Nobel Prize for his vision in establishing the Grameen Bank. His idea was a radically different approach to banking. Grameen Bank loans to very poor people, even beggars.

Professor Yunus walked to school past people nearly reduced to human skeletons. As he saw the poverty around him he thought there must be something he could do. Steven Covey's book The Eighth Habit details the thinking and mental processes that led to the development of this bank.

Professor Yunus and a graduate student talked to the villagers to discover their financial situation. One lady worked for a penny a day making woven baskets. When asked why she did not sell the baskets elsewhere, she replied she did not have twenty five cent to buy the reeds for the baskets. The man who provided her the reeds required her to sell her products to him at almost no profit.

Professor Yunus found many people who needed just a few cents or a few dollars to improve their life and start becoming independent and productive. He distributed $27 throughout the village. He told the villagers it was a loan, and they must pay it back. The people were very excited. They began improving their situation, and surprisingly started paying back the loans.

Yunus became very excited. When he tried to get bankers to loan money to poor people, they laughed at him. He guaranteed the loans to try to prove to the bankers that poor people could be trusted. When the loans were repaid, the bankers said the results were a discrepancy. It wouldn't work in five villages. So he went to five villages and it worked. The bankers would not be convinced. So to further his vison of micro-credit's potential to reduce misery and poverty in rural India, he formed Grameen Bank

Today, Grameen Bank has 6.74 million borrowers, 97 percent of whom are women. All loans are very small to very poor customers. Contrary to expectations, default rates are very small. It has a loan recovery rate of 99% and has disbursed $5.7 billion in loans since inception. This is prime example of the tranforming power of believing in people.

Steven Covey defines leadership as seeing a people's potential so clearly that they begin to see your vision themselves. Think of the potential productivity improvement if this perspective were adopted where you work. What would happen if people were treated as valued partners instead of liabilities, if they were listened to instead of directed, and were treated with respect?

Can you imagine the difference this vision would create in your spouse, your children, your workplace, your community? Who needs to change? Everyone claims to be a people person, but think. Do you know even one? I certainly wasn't, until I saw the world in a new light. It took me over half a decade to reach this perception shift. I cannot yet describe the view from the other side. For the first time I see a future bright with promise, joy, and prosperity. I truly hope this has given you a small glimpse of that world, a bright beautiful future, a Civilization of the Universe.

c 2006 - James T. Hitt

Tags: human potential, genius, paradigm shift, vision, inner peace