Rooted: A Modern Mind - Mark Daniel Osborne

Rooted:
A Modern Mind
Mark Daniel Osborne
Every effort has been made to include accurate information in this book.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a

retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical,
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copyright holders.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2008908647
ISBN 978-1-4092-3003-8
Copyright Mark Daniel Osborne 2008
Content
Introduction ....................................................................................... 7
Disclaimer .............................................................................. 9
INSIDE .......................................................................................11
Relationship with Emotions ............................................................ 13
Mindsong ............................................................................. 17
Abandon ............................................................................... 26
Melbourne Gathering ........................................................... 27
Loneliness ............................................................................ 28
Anger.................................................................................... 29
Relationship with Memories............................................................ 31
Back Where I Began ............................................................ 32
Your Memory Has Been Overwritten................................... 36
Relationship with Dreams ............................................................... 37
I Dream of Jesus................................................................... 39
I Dream of Darwin ............................................................... 40
I Dream of Aliens ................................................................. 41
I Dream of the Forces........................................................... 43
I Dream of Society ............................................................... 44
I Dream of Malformed Genitals ........................................... 45
Relationship with Stories................................................................. 47
Day in the Life of a Pickpocket............................................ 48
Nerd Gospel: If Jesus was a Computer Program.................. 50
Stepping Out: Remembering the Past................................... 54
Stepping Out: Extraction ...................................................... 55
Stepping Out: Letting Go ..................................................... 57
Stepping Out: Receiving Loud and Clear............................. 59
Stepping Out: Living Together ............................................. 61
The Big Australian Drought, Or, Why Santa Brought No
Reindeer ............................................................................... 66
Relationship with Motivations ........................................................ 69
Relationship with Myself ................................................................ 73
Who Is The Man? ............................................................. 73
Light Questions I Asked Life ............................................... 76
A Quick Review ................................................................... 78
The Broodin Days ............................................................... 81
Reflections ........................................................................... 82
State of the Union Address................................................... 83
THOUGHT ................................................................................85
Relationship with Ideas ................................................................... 87
Ideas Stripped Bare, Heard not Shared................................. 88
Solar-Powered Steam Engine ............................................... 91
Community Service Yellow Pages ....................................... 92
Consequences of our Changing World ................................. 93
The Impact of Space Exploration on our Worlds Vision ..... 94
Idea Wars, The Game ........................................................... 95
Solve The Worlds Problems, the Card Game ...................... 97
The Boy Who Couldnt Burp, a childrens book.................. 98
One Bowl, Two Holes .......................................................... 99
Funky Practical Edgy Homeless Help................................ 100
Same Company, Same Result............................................. 101
Religious/Spiritual Symbols the Key to our Unconscious? 102
Self-censoring .................................................................... 103
Relationship with Beliefs .............................................................. 105
A Case for God................................................................... 105
Train Set ............................................................................. 115
Search Still ......................................................................... 116
Spiritual Expansion ............................................................ 117
Please ................................................................................. 119
Strive .................................................................................. 120
Psalm 1............................................................................... 122
Psalm 2............................................................................... 123
Psalm 3............................................................................... 124
1993.................................................................................... 125
Anger.................................................................................. 126
Anxieties ............................................................................ 127
The Search for Acceptance................................................. 128
Lonely ................................................................................ 129
Poetic Balm ........................................................................ 130
I Just Wanna Feel, OK? ...................................................... 131
Deflated .............................................................................. 132
Death of a Conscience........................................................ 133
Keeping The Lid On........................................................... 134
Relationship with Hopes................................................................ 135

Hard (Song)........................................................................ 136
If I Could ............................................................................ 137
Reawaken ........................................................................... 138
Relationship with Knowledge ....................................................... 143
Relationship with Truth ................................................................. 159
Only Wind .......................................................................... 159
Relationship with Values ............................................................... 169
The Circle Of Belief ................................................................ 174
Our Chant........................................................................... 174
Our Beliefs ......................................................................... 174
Our Mandate ...................................................................... 175
Our Rules ........................................................................... 175
INTERFACE............................................................................185
Relationship with Actions.............................................................. 187
Power of One ..................................................................... 188
Action Reaction.................................................................. 190
Overshooting the Mark ...................................................... 193
Smoking ............................................................................. 195
Final Flight ......................................................................... 196
Sitting on the Edge ............................................................. 199
Relationship with Technology ....................................................... 201
Bridge................................................................................. 202
Carolling............................................................................. 203
Relationship with Education.......................................................... 213
School ................................................................................ 214
Relationship with Expectations ..................................................... 219
Relationship with Medication........................................................ 225
Relationship with Environment ..................................................... 231
Mr Train Cleaner ................................................................ 231
Relationship with Money .............................................................. 235
Relationship with Wealth............................................................... 237
Spent .................................................................................. 241
Relationship with Happiness ......................................................... 243
Relationship with Humanity.......................................................... 249
Sudanly - (Sung to the tune of Suddenly, by Billy Ocean). 249
Universal Declaration of Human Rights ............................ 256
OUTSIDE.................................................................................269
Relationship with Society.............................................................. 271
Relationship with Loves ................................................................ 283
Right Shop Wrong Brand Blues ......................................... 284
Thin Line............................................................................ 285
The Gift .............................................................................. 286
Hands Off ........................................................................... 287
Through Your Eyes............................................................. 289
Relationship with Family .............................................................. 291
Twin Towers....................................................................... 292
Fear Fuck Breed ................................................................. 294
Relationship with Peers ................................................................. 295
The Arrogant Many ............................................................ 296
Hip Hop Dream .................................................................. 297
Friendship Love ................................................................. 298
Relationship with Leaders ............................................................. 301
Obscure .............................................................................. 302
Relationship with Government...................................................... 309
Relationship with Strangers........................................................... 327
Eye Aversion ...................................................................... 327
The Stranger ....................................................................... 328
The Binds That Tie............................................................. 329
Beautiful Stranger in a Laundromat ................................... 331
Relationship with Foreigners......................................................... 333
Relationship with Associations...................................................... 335
Relationship with Enemies ............................................................ 339
Leaving Chance To God - A Cautionary Tale of Pride and
Internet Security ................................................................. 341
They Wont Play Nice ........................................................ 343
Relationship with People You Never See ...................................... 347
BEAUTY ..................................................................................349
Seeing the World Again...................................................... 353
Introduction
Introduction
This book is about our relationships - not just between people, but
with every aspect of our experience of life. From the inner-most core of
the mind to the outer-most limits of our planet, we have relationships
with our thoughts, emotions, beliefs, knowledge, family, friends, peers,
strangers, societies, associations, governments, and the environment in
which we live. I expose my own relationships by taking you on a
journey through my mind. I do this in the hope that you may explore the
quality of your own relationships, which will lead to the raising of your
consciousness, awareness, and sense of beauty.
We can only guess at the thoughts that are unfolding in another
persons mind. We can read cues from their body language, or listen to
the words that come out of their mouths, but then we must judge the
honesty and truthfulness of their emotions and opinions.
I am a shy man trapped in an outgoing persons body. In
conversation, I am often so scared of what other people think of my
opinions, that when asked for them, all rational thought is replaced with
an absolute choking dread. I say things I dont want to or mean, and I
withhold how I truly feel. When the biggest fear in my life is that I will
be ridiculed, laughed at, scorned, yelled at, betrayed, plotted against,
shunned, buried alive in hatred, or even worse, completely ignored, my
hope is that by exposing myself publicly, the fear could be laid to rest.
There is a constant dialogue in my mind about my unfolding life
and the world around me. I discuss with myself the way that I am
learning, loving and living my life. No one would know about it unless
I told them. Mostly my inner voice is a constant barrage of
recrimination, criticism, regrets, warnings, rebukes, cynicism,
pessimism, hopelessness and fear. That is why I didnt let it become
7
Introduction
known to many people. I think most people would prefer to enjoy my

company. I do not want to bend my will to the judgements and advice of
my inner (tor)mentor.
Show me a prayer without words and I will show you the power of
people unfolding their lives in a new direction through openness human and flawed, yet beautiful and powerful. The offers of my closest
loves and friends to let my words and emotions pour out of my mouth
without them being taken personally is wonderful. My internal
conversation does not encourage or support me like my most important
people do.
I hope that exposing my passions, paranoia, vanity and compassion
will help people whose minds and lives are pulled uncontrollably by
their thoughts, emotions, and circumstances. I also hope that this book
contributes to the further spread of human dignity and equal rights.
I occasionally reference the sources of my information in this book.
If you want access to more references or sources, visit PCBlues.com
and send me an email. Footnotes and references are usually for those
who wish to pursue the grounds on which my thinking is based. I say
thinking instead of reasoning because while I strive to be logical, I
do not believe that reason alone is the single and only certain path to
truth or progress.
Introduction
Disclaimer
When you read the things I write
Youre reading history
Youre looking into how I felt
Sometimes the details gory
Not all the feelings last as long
As ink on top of paper
So if you take offence speak up
Find if the words are dated
If the words make you feel good
Accept it as a gift
Or find answers to questions if
My own thoughts have since shifted
I used to get in trouble
When people didnt realise
Im writing them postcards
From another place and time
I never could work out why
Some readers were upset
Was it because I was off the mark
Or smack bang on target?
Of course some feelings just get stronger
Ink can fade in time
So put your feet up, sip your drink
Enjoy the wit and rhyme
Introduction
10
INSIDE
INSIDE
11
INSIDE
12
Relationship with Emotions

Emotions are a driving force behind our behaviour. The people that
I respect the most are people who can remain emotionally disinterested
or controlled, and yet deeply involved in the greatest moments of lifes
projects whether they appear to be winning or losing. The arenas of
those moments range from sporting fields to boardrooms to school
grounds to bedrooms. These men and womens minds and bodies can
operate with clarity regardless of the gravity of their situation.
On the other hand people we call chokers can have just as much
preparation or training behind them and yet are overwhelmed by their
emotions to the point that they are not able to function skilfully when
under pressure. I am one of these people. Lack of preparation can also
produce a similar result. A survival situation is when your brain
thinks you are vulnerable and could potentially be exposed, exploited,
harmed or killed. When you find yourself in a survival situation,
performance anxiety can produce feelings of confusion and
disorganisation that make your performance appear as if you lack the
skill and preparation to handle it.
As animals, our fears manifest the most at night. Lying awake in
the dark at three in the morning our imaginations blow the smallest
sound into the most horribly frightening possibilities. Brain-sucking
aliens have landed when we hear the sound of a possum on the roof.
Ghosts stand at the end of our beds when the wind blows a curtain
through an open window. The seas of fears in our conscious minds are
blown up by the winds from our ancient unconscious.
13
Temperament is a word used to describe the sensitivity of a newborn child1.A child can be described as nervous or placid. Their
temperament is decided before birth and does not seem dependent on
who the parents are or what they do. Without great attention and effort
to helping a person change from one temperament to another, they will
only be comfortable spending their lives doing something that suits the
temperament with which they were born. If they are over-sensitive they
will avoid conflict. If they are under-sensitive they will not be afraid of
what other people might do, say or think about them. Glands in the
brain that cause anxiety can be overdeveloped in some people and
undersized in others.
This means that an under-sensitive child, grown up, could
comfortably exist as a politician in the argy-bargy of vigorous debate
and public life, whereas an over-sensitive child might find solace in a
career that involves as little conflict as possible: finding a quiet place to
work alone or under someone else. This is one of several reasons I
avoid conflict as much as I can, despite the cost to myself and those
around me.
Is there a key to changing a persons temperament when it is
decided at such a young age? I feel plagued with constant fear. How do
I escape that? I used to be in a Christian cult in the early 1990s. I was
required to continually ask strangers to join it. I confronted my fears
nearly every day and asked people to come to church and save their
souls from hell. Most people politely declined, some would be annoyed
and several would tear strips off me or tease me. I thought that over
time I would have become braver by doing that for years but it didnt
help. Confronting my fears didnt stop them coming back just as
strongly the next time. Confronting ones fears is supposed to be the
1
14
All In The Mind, ABC broadcast 26 August 2006,

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/allinthemind/stories/2006/1722388.htm
way to overcome them! Maybe drug therapy is a solution for constant

fear? Another alternative is to constantly avoid people, situations and
activities that I find threatening.
Interestingly I find it easiest to do something public or social the
first time. I performed in a stand-up comedy competition once and did
quite well, but when I signed up the next year I was beset with panic
attacks whenever I sat down to write for it. I had to withdraw my entry.
What is this fear? Who could I ask who wouldnt just frame their
answer in the language of their own specialist training? Psychologists
are guessing machines with varying educations and histories of
anecdotal evidence. Does it require another person to describe me?
Distractions lead to peace. I can ride out the waves of emotion, but
that doesnt guarantee safety from the next wave. I can minimise the
flood of fear by controlling my actions and choices. In the end, I think I
will have to accept that the human bodys response to real or imaginary
threats is natural and inevitable. Like everyone else, my body reacts to
threats and perceived threats in the world around it. By calming my
body down first, I may get an opportunity to constructively use the
quickly suppressed anger which arises in order to protect my
vulnerability. Otherwise, my emotions seem destructive as either quiet
rage or in suppression.
My sensitivity results in crying, becoming scared, getting angry or
being easily embarrassed. The anticipation of facing my fears is
unbearable for me. It results in shaking, floods of adrenaline through
my body and the shutting down of mental processes so that I cant think
clearly when I feel I need to. What is the secret to acting without fear of
the consequences? By ignoring planning or sticking to philosophising?
So I dont act when I should. But I cant accept my weaknesses. I call
this phenomenon mental weakness and blame myself for not being
15
more self-controlled and disciplined when the fears rise in my gut.

Gandhi said that you cannot be moral without courage and I want to be
more moral.
But where does my morality come from? Am I doing the right
thing right now? Who should I be doing good for at this instant?
Myself? Family? Friends? Strangers? Country? Family for me means
the people with whom I stick and who stick by me. But I dont want to
neglect anyone at the expense of anyone else. Why? Maybe it is
because I hate letting things go. Or maybe it is because I fear their
individual judgement and retribution. I believe that I can control other
peoples opinions of me. I think their opinions are very important.
Everyones opinions. All the time. It is very tiring and counterproductive to try to micro-manage so many people.
I very closely monitor my own feelings and reactions. I have made
as many decisions based on them (and drawn conclusions about the
world and the thoughts of the people around me) as I have from what
my eyes have seen. I believed that everybody thought the same way I
did. I thought it was wrong to treat people differently or to think that
they are different. But of course they are. Not worthy of more or less
rights, but definitely different. I thought that other people deserved
more than I did. I think that was a conclusion I drew to help me avoid
conflict and anger. It was one of those beliefs that I twisted myself into
believing in order to achieve the over-arching goal of peaceful times
without conflict.
16
Mindsong
When my energy is high my mind sings softly
I can push its dark messages away till they fade
I ignore its taunts and opinions of fact
And they vanish without consequence or impact
When my energy is low my mind sings like a star
I can pretend Im not listening but my shoulders are proof
That Im receiving the messages clear and loud.
Screams above the cheers of an enraptured crowd
And the fears arise like a phoenix from ashes
How my actions can be seen as so hostile,
How my decisions can be misunderstood,
How can I stop doors from closing for good?
And I fulfil the self-fulfilling prophecy
I can damage what we have irreparably
By worrying so much about things being right
And thus bringing on the final fateful fight
17
In my past I contorted my entire sense of reality around the single

goal of avoiding feeling pain or discomfort. I met a woman who
accepted me. This met most of my immediate needs for companionship
in order to avoid deep constant fear - especially at night. The fear was
vague and unclear. Some say it is the fear of annihilation. In spite of not
knowing exactly what the fear was, I knew a few tricks to make it go
away. Many of those tricks required money. As a consequence of my
many efforts to expel the fear I usually had little money regardless of
my income.
But I could not find a way to guarantee that the fear would not
return. Before I applied money to the problem of escaping this giant
amorphous beast I tried to trick my mind into feeling safe. Using logical
reasoning to deal with my disproportionate physiological reactions to
perceived threats didnt seem to help in my case. Riding out the fear
seemed to be the only useful treatment. But this was not good enough
for me.
Not knowing why something happened in my life, or the purpose
of my life, caused me great discomfort and despair. Until I could sleep
at night with unanswered questions about the meaning of life, I wrote
out all my thoughts and searched the paths of religion, science, magic,
fiction and spirituality. I risked every relationship in the world for the
answer that would provide relief from the reaching tendrils of fear.
Permanent relief from fear was desired but not found. My faith in
finding a system of beliefs that could provide relief from mental pain
that existed without any obvious threat began to fade, so I returned to
my family and friends and re-embarked on a self-medicating regime of
pain relief.
Psycho-active drugs were tried and these provided a perfect peace
and beautiful memories while they were active in my brain. Opioids
combined with alcohol taken one night provided a week of startling
18
peace starting from the night they were taken. During that time,
smoking, drinking and eating deliciously fatty foods was unnecessary
because I felt absolutely no yearning for it. I was at peace - mentally,
physically and emotionally. During this time I wrote software that found
names and addresses of the top people in Victoria with unclaimed
monies listed on an internet database. I wrote letters to them notifying
them about it. Then the fear slowly came back and lifes previous
patterns resumed.
Dealing with the fear distracted me from my goals and had a lot of
relationship and health costs. But the kindest acts I ever performed were
done under medication (alcohol or other) which removed the fear of
loss, fear for the future, and the fear of looking foolish in public. This
let my love for strangers, empathy for everyone on the planet in need,
and pity for peoples suffering, rise to the surface. It made me come the
closest to how I imagined my spiritual role models would think and
behave. It made it possible to give hundreds of dollars to beggars and
homeless people. Such acts of selflessness caused huge feelings of
euphoria and shaking at the time. Because of the overwhelming strength
of these feelings I avoided these acts of kindness and social obligation
while I was completely sober because I feared being overpowered by
the emotions of love and excitement. When I was sober, nervous
shaking, panic and confusion set in whenever I considered doing
something very kind for anyone.
The goal of morality as far as I can tell is reducing the amount of
sins we commit. In religious terms I came to the conclusion that sin
is just our actions and inactions based in fear. But where does that leave
selfishness, which is todays prescription for healthy self-help? Are we
hard-wired to help others? Not all of us, it seems. And if you are too
generous you run the risk of being treated as if you are insane.
19
I get scared of doing nothing and scared of falling short of my

potential because I believe that avoiding a failure mark for my entire
life can only be achieved by taking actions daily that scare me. And in
doing so, I would be spending my entire life shaking fearfully in
anticipation of my next just act.
I am scared of letting people down - of gaining their trust and then
running away after deciding that I promised them more than I wanted to
give. I am scared of the pain of shame. I do not hold out hope that the
joy of achieving my goals will outweigh the fear of achieving the next
one. I am scared of confrontation and conflict. I am scared of getting
beaten up. More than this, I am scared of making someone angry who
will then plot against me behind my back and convince other people
that I am unworthy of their love and attention. If that happened, I would
be drawn into conflict and the fear would wash over me and make me
shit my pants.
I am scared of my disproportionate response to threats and how
weak that makes me look. Sometimes I am scared of going to hell
because I didnt use my natural abilities enough during my life. I am
scared of being buried alive or drowning. I am scared of chronic, lifelong pain. I am scared of getting caught, being found out or being
blackmailed. I have day-mares about having to give up my lifes
ambitions because they conflicted with the goals of a person or group
that knows too much about my private feelings and memories. I have a
fear - sometimes vague, sometimes sharp - that my enemies will
damage the relationships which are most important to me.
So what is the great fear? Paranoia is just a describing word, and
unhelpful. Can the fear be defeated or destroyed permanently? It is not
enough to ignore it. Anger can suppress it temporarily. Showing spirit
can take its power to control me away, but not its power to confuse me.
It imprisons me by controlling and suppressing my actions. There is no
20
reason to assume everyone is the same, but it is likely that there many
of you who understand what I am describing.
When I am not distracted I am afraid of people, so I make them
laugh. When they are laughing I believe they are not angry at me. That
makes me feel temporarily safer. But in moments of quiet lucidity I still
hope that I can find a way to permanently change my temperament.
One of my big fears is that I am an emotional cripple and I am
scared of the effects this has on my relationships. But I fear that if I let
it all hang out and say what I really think, people will look at me in
shock and then turn away in disgust, cutting their professional and
personal ties with me. Shunned and dazed, I will walk away wondering
what possessed me to be open when what I had was adequate, if not
ideal or ultimately satisfying. I fear not being able to put the lid back on
the genie-bottle of emotional expression. I fear that the people around
me will feel betrayed and angry and that my peace from conflict will
disappear. I forget a lot, but I forgive little and I assume everyone else is
the same.
I fear losing anything. Coincidentally, I am terrible at finding
anything from keys to pens. I walk around the house looking for car
keys that are in my hands. I fear things wearing out or running out. I
dont like the idea of rechargeable batteries completely draining, so I
never let them run out. The last time I lost my fear of throwing things
out was when I was in the cult. In a moment of needing to cut myself
free from my heathen past I burned my diaries. I have never stopped
regretting it since. It is as if they held the key to understanding myself
and they are now gone forever. They contained my most private
thoughts, questions and discoveries throughout my teenage years.
I try to justify my social absence from friends and family to them
and myself by trying to either make a lot of money, be successful, or be
21
occasionally momentarily generous. But most of the time I avoid

contact in order to avoid the crippling fear that shoots through me when
I think about contacting anyone, especially if it has been too long
between phone calls or visits. Why does looking ahead at the future and
looking into the past cause so much anxiety and pain?
Fleeting attention, easy distraction, endless options for action,
constant interruptions and noise in my life are debilitating. There are
only two times when I feel calm and in control for more than a minute
at a time: when I am in the middle of my work; and, most of the time
when I am conscious in my dreams at night. I try to remind myself that
being aware of my goals is important or else my emotions will control
me, and I am painfully aware that my emotional decisions have rarely
been wise or beneficial in the long-term.
Boredom is painful and thinking can be painful. The pain comes
from an overriding impatience. If you cant cry in front of other people,
cry on your own. I was so used to feeling like I couldnt say what I felt
about what went on around me that even during my engagement to my
beautiful wife, I was having a lot of feelings about things that I didnt
understand. Tammy felt left out of this process but I didnt want to
unleash a load of potentially harmful rubbish that hurt her
unnecessarily. In her beautiful way she reminded me that being together
for the rest of our lives would require honesty about how I felt. That set
me free to let go, knowing that she would see it as emotional diarrhoea
and treat it for what it was. I felt a lot better after that. I still dont know
where this freedom will lead, and it still scares me. Its very reassuring,
though.
I worry about whether my fear is the only thing keeping me
responsible and on good behaviour. There are limits to friendships and
relationships. My friendships would get to a certain point and then I
wouldnt want to expose myself any more. This is like being a prude,
22
which is unsatisfying for the other person. My empathy makes me feel

sorry for a person for pushing them away. Empathy is exaggerated in
me because I am afraid of other peoples reactions. When I feel alone I
feel that my existence depends on the next person I talk to.
I get stressed when I plan ahead. My body reacts as strongly to
imagined threats of an unpredictable future as it does to a predictable
and unchanging one. When trying to convince myself to plan a future
action, I try to tell myself, Calculate the threat. If someone yells at you,
will you die? What do you want in one year? In five? Snap out it! But
it doesnt help. As a result of my over-active emotions the excitement
about ideas is exhausting enough without even acting on them.
What quality of life can I expect if I lack control over my own
emotions? Unwanted behaviour, lack of discipline, lack of principles,
and the avoidance of narrow difficult paths worth following are my
future. I foresee a future of worrying about what other people think,
what they want and what they need versus my own thoughts, wants and
needs. I made myself as comfortable as I could by focussing on other
peoples opinions. This put me at the mercy of people who get upset
easily when they dont get what they want from me - whether it is a
reasonable desire or not.
Does learning values through fear, shame and guilt lead to
happiness? Learning good values through the fear of burning in hell
forces us to provide ourselves and our society with the benefits of the
good deeds. This is the sacrifice of happiness that society makes to have
good citizens: good social behaviour as the result of using fear and
guilt.
Is love enough to stop people from being greedy? Greed is hunger,
and all kinds of hunger feel the same to me. When I am hungry,
sometimes I have to try each different thing that I know quenches my
23
hunger until I am satisfied. That is the only way to determine exactly

which hunger I was feeling at the time. Sometimes, after all the other
hungers are satisfied, the only hunger left is for love or dependence. I
find it hard to separate the two. Maybe these are what Jesus Christ was
describing as hunger in the Christian bible.
What is jealousy of another persons success? Is it a lack of
acceptance of failure on our own part? Is it a belief (perhaps wrong) that
you are better or as good as them at the things that made them
successful? Even if they have a different temperament that gives them
the ability to succeed in that area? Even if luck played a large part?
Even if the hard work they were prepared to put in was more than you
ever were prepared or able to do? If my biggest shame is that I am weak
and unable to handle conflict then I must rely on the goodwill of those
around me to protect me from myself. If tears are the only alternative to
rage or fleeing then there is no hope for personal change. Fear keeps my
opinions spasmodic and incomplete. It is humorous, sometimes.
Is sadness and upset a failure condition of the brain? Is it the way
your brain tells you that your life is in a situation that is not acceptable
to it, or its best chance of survival success? We are driven to avoid
failure and to seek success.
Learning is a way of changing the mind. The gaining of new
knowledge and understanding results in positive emotions. Personal
attacks on the self would suggest failure. Being personally attacked by
ourselves or other people signals a failure condition for our potential
survival. The brain shuts down; conscious thought stops; fear sets in;
we can only rely on reactions from our previous training - and the body
and mind is paralysed. Adrenaline is released and it rapidly exhausts us.
In the short time that our body gives us to survive its current situation
we are unable to analyse and consider our situation or our goals. This is
fine if our lives truly were in danger, but when it happens before any
24
planned action or accidental conversation, I am left in a state of constant

mental and physiological exhaustion. My survival instincts are nearly
always working against my survival. They have not evolved fast
enough to catch up with the modern world in which we now live.
Sometimes we find a short-hand way to describe ourselves that
makes sense of who we are and how we have acted over most of our
lifetimes2. It also gives us a good cue to the way we are likely to act in
the future if we do not pay close attention to our own automatic
behaviours. For me, that description is anger-avoider. It coloured and
continues to colour everything I have ever done, said, and thought.
John Lynch, When Anger Scares You
25
Abandon
Im back and Im slime.
Madness incinerates my purity
Welcome to the crematorium of Mark
Burn! Burn! Burn! Trying to sound demented
Its fun to have abandon, short term emotional overdrive
Emotions lie, time is lost, the wheel spins around
Youre already under the ground
26
Melbourne Gathering
The first night, the test
Something new, something quite unexpected.
The trial by loneliness, exiled to my tent
I was alone, and yet accompanied - carried - by hope, and faith
Thats what it is like
On an island.
The emotions overwhelm, leaving you pitiful,
In desperate need of female comfort
( to take advantage of? )
The dreams are dying
The dreams of promise which hang on to every word and smile
Which burn as memories burn, and die as memories die
And time flails on.
27
Loneliness
Confrontation surrounds and crowds the peace out of my mind.
Delicate balance of relaxation is left behind.
The morning radio is full of conflict - argument without resolution.
Peace-less disharmony.
Alone with mind quashed is the only source of peace.
But alone is alone.
There is no connection.
Dreams are my only company.
At work, two people appreciate my unbridled mind, but neither of them
would be suitors.
The sensitive are easily wounded, unintentionally.
28
Anger
Ice night wind penetrated my jacket like tracer through pilots. Blood
congealed leaked congealed leaked from my left calf as I made my way
to the back of an empty car park. Pound pound pound heart beat in my
ears struck strange rhythmic counterpoint with my halting footsteps.
Stopping panting listening listening hard through the drum beats and
whistling wind for my quarry. They thought they were the hunters but I
had to protect them from my lust. Ignorant of my power they arrogantly
forged prey-wards.
A slow, mountainous anger welled just beyond the limit of my control.
Feeling its way upward like magma forcing through crust, I became hot
under the collar and itchy between webbed fingers. Uttering something
between a howl and a quack, my jeans tore outward as I fantasised their
torsos ripped from legs falling like buildings collapsing from
demolition blasts.
29
Relationship with Memories
30

The relationship that you have with your memories defines whether
you have a happy or unhappy life. It consists of having a bucket of
constantly mixing remembered experiences along with your own
evaluation of how you dealt with them over time. Did you learn from
your experiences, or did you behave in a way that you just cant
forgive? Your relationship with yourself is affected by whether you take
responsibility for your actions in the past. Some people can let go of
their past. Others commit themselves to a lifetime of continual
condemnation. Your memories affect your association with unavoidable
situations in your lifes past.
31
Back Where I Began

I didnt know
As I wandered down the road
That the scenery ahead
I had passed by long ago.
I didnt realise
I was looking with blind eyes
Id been shot without feeling
Any pain, now I despise, I despise.
Chorus:
But I feel like Im back
Where I began
I just dont want to see
Or understand
If I had the wings
Of an eagle I would fly
Fly above the fears
Sail through the storms and tears
My journey could have been
Full of the smell of victory
Marching through life,
Holding up job, child and wife.
32
I lost a number of pages of notes for this book one night. They
were in a jacket that I lost in town as a result of - as Alan Greenspan,
the former head of the Reserve Bank of America would describe it irrational exuberance. This is another way of saying that I was
partying so hard that someone stole it without me noticing. I didnt lose
any money and my mobile phone was in my pants pocket but my mp3
player and my notebook was in the stolen jacket. I was angry at the loss
even though I knew at one level that the anger was wasted energy. I had
lost valuable words and they were gone forever. The memory of them
would also fade.
But creation is the balancing force to loss. New life is humanitys
answer to death. Focussing my attention on new ideas and embracing
the writing of the rest of the book tided me over until the anger at my
loss faded. Focussing attention is a valuable skill for our recovery from
any loss.
Is it possible that the very act of recording the minds output in ink
or digital form is akin to putting clear contact on a book? The memories
do not fade or become damaged as quickly over time when they are
occasionally reviewed. By making my life more permanent, it is
meeting the need for immortality that is indelibly written across our
hearts and minds. This desire drives most of our feelings and actions.
Our memories are lossy. Lossy in computer science terms
describes the result of compressing information (like songs or movies)
to take up less space on your mp3 player or computer. The overall
quality of a pictures and sound is reduced in order to save space. The
reproduction of the stored information can still be of fine quality - or at
least recognizable - but the original sound or picture cannot be fully
reproduced because details of it have been lost as a result of the way it
is stored. Memory is similar to this. When we experience something,
only a small aspect of the available information is stored. When we
33
remember things our brain fills in the gaps around our incomplete
memories in order to build a complete picture. As a result we cannot be
totally sure of the accuracy of what we recall.
It is important for memories to fade gradually because that gives us
our sense of time. If all our memories were of the same freshness how
would we know that one thing happened before or after another? It is
also important that painful experiences fade into the past so that we are
not constantly re-experiencing it. Constant new experiences fall onto
the top of the pile of our memories, reinforcing some and weakening
others. The advertising industry attempts to replace our existing
memories with positive recollections associated with a companys
products. They use repetition, shock, emotional manipulation and
humour in order to achieve this. We should constantly record our
thoughts in order to see how our memories change over time. Write
them down because you cannot protect yourself against other people
trying to change your mind, even if you think you can resist it. Record
your thoughts and read them over. Write a diary of your present.
A sense of profundity occurs when your consciousness faces a large
amount of meaning. The meaning cannot be expressed in words but is
real, nonetheless. I believe that this sense is you coming face to face
with your past consciousness and looking it in the eye. If our memories
are an expression of our past consciousness, can they also consist of our
past unconscious or subconscious thoughts? I dont think so, with the
exception perhaps of the conscious memory of our dreams. The
subconscious and unconscious minds work invisibly whereas memory
is seen as an ever-corrupting, ever-changing store of conscious mental
and physical experiences.
Knowing that our minds are imperfect how can we choose which of
our memories are real - which actually happened? This confusion
underpins our sense of denial. If something cant be possible according
34
to our belief of what is real and what isnt then it probably never
happened (with a few exceptions.) It was most likely an illusion, dream
or fantasy. You may never have had that relationship where your expartner ruined your life. You may never have had that chance to stop a
friend from ruining their own life. You think you never saw that person
murder that man, because if you did you would have to face up to the
scariest time of your life by going through the legal process.
The only way to be true to yourself is to command your fear... to be
courageous. The only way to be moral is to command your fear. As I
said earlier - and Gandhi said earlier than me - you cannot be moral if
you are not courageous.
35
Your Memory Has Been Overwritten

This is not really what has been printed on the page. You think you are
reading this but the words are not there. These words have been written
over your memory of what you just read. The ultimate censorship is
available to those with the money or power to use it. Scared yet? This is
your mind telling you to be careful. There is a war raging for control of
your mind. Your enemy is already controlling your consciousness by
changing your memory (advertising) and installing smoke screens.
This message is the only way I/you have been able to communicate
with you/me. The war began with drugs. We knew drugs were
destroying brain cells. Then we thought it wouldnt matter because we
wouldnt know better (advertising.) Ha ha, charade you are.
You can stare at this page for as long as you like. Look at it in a mirror.
Blink your eyes rapidly. Try looking away and then looking back
quickly. The text that was there will always be overwritten in your
memory with this message after it has passed from your eyes to your
brain. You will never remember what was really here (advertising.)
The memory is indelibly overlaid. The only way you will ever see what
is really on this page is if we overthrow the enemy. I am not a stranger. I
am one of your eyes looking back into another one. I am your
consciousness meeting itself from two different points in time. I am
profundity.
36
Relationship with Dreams

Dreams are the brains way of reprocessing ideas and experiences.
Sometimes you remember them but mostly you dont. Some people
dont remember any of their dreams. I have dreams that are like movies
with little character development but interesting themes. That is the
nature of the science fiction that I have read and watched over the years,
with few exceptions. What if you dream so vividly that it buries itself
into your long-term memory and according to you is just as likely to
have happened as anything else you experienced fifteen or twenty years
ago?
Some of my earliest memories are actually memories of dreams I
had about even earlier times. How do I know they were dreams? The
only clue is that the memories contain surreal aspects. In one case I
dreamt there was a massive earthquake in Aspendale, Victoria when I
was young. This never happened. In another, I remember seeing the
solar eclipse in about 1976. In reality, my father did make the sun
project onto a screen through either a telescope or binoculars. But I
cant remember whether my memory of it was the memory of a dream
or the actual event. Other clues that your memories might be memories
of dreams include that you were too young at the time to remember; that
whatever you remember was patently impossible; or, that other people
can corroborate that something completely different happened at that
time and place.
When I am physically affected in my sleep I dream to make sense
of it. Once when my cat was digging its claws into my knee while I was
asleep, I dreamt that four multicoloured mosquitoes were
simultaneously stinging my knee. I have also dreamt of walking along a
beach next to a morning breakfast radio disk jockey who was in a toga,
telling me about the world. In reality, I woke up to the clock radio with
37
his voice on it. Following are some of my favourite dreams. As short

stories they are disjointed, lacking information, inconsistent and
incomplete. For dreams, though, they are amazingly self-contained.
38
I Dream of Jesus
I dream that reincarnation exists and that the waiting area for spirits to
enter bodies in different times and places is a pub or a backyard
barbecue that exists outside of time and space.
In one dream it looked like the backyard of a house I lived in when I
was about five years old. My spirit friends and I were standing around
having a sausage in bread and a beer while we waited to start a new
physical life. We caught up with each others stories as we came back to
the barbecue after our temporary physical bodies died. Suddenly a man
appeared at the side gate in a loin cloth with holes in his hands and feet
and a halo around his head. He looked at us and went pale.
Oh shit, I was wrong.
He felt positively terrible about having misled his followers about the
nature of the afterlife. I put an arm around him, told him not to worry
about it, and to come and join us.
39
I Dream of Darwin
I flew to Darwin on a commercial flight and took pictures with a new
mobile phone. I had to fly back to Melbourne because I had forgotten
something. On my way back to the airport I was trying to hail a taxi on
a busy street. Then I saw somebody get hit by a car. I rounded up some
people and started ordering one to call 000 on his mobile phone. I
started treating the victim with a nearby first-aid kit. I got out some
pain-killers and while I was turned to one side a bystander administered
them but I didnt know how many.
Full of pride at how well I had handled the situation I contacted a doctor
at the hospital and asked how the victim was. The doctor said I didnt
want to know, but that he wouldnt report me even though he should.
He said the victim died from an allergic reaction to the pain-killers.
I noticed in the dream that the first-person-me experiencing the dream
could hear a disembodied-me direct the action of the dream. I heard
myself say someone gets hit by a car and then the action followed the
narration.
40
I Dream of Aliens
Thousands of multicoloured balls bounced in from the horizon. Nobody
knew what they were or where they came from. They did not
communicate but they bounced around everywhere. First they were not
even a nuisance. But then electronic devices stopped working. We did
not know if that was connected to their presence. We tried to understand
the balls. You could drive a car through a pack of them and they just
bounced away. But then they began to show intelligence. They began to
work together. We became scared of the balls and locked ourselves in a
house. People fleeing from them knocked on the door and I let them in
to hide with us.
Sequestered in the house we tried to work out what to do about the
balls. They disappeared from sight but we were afraid to go outside.
There were a number of survival and research items I needed to find to
work on the problem. I stole out of the house and ran for the car to try
to go and collect books, torches, and other things. The balls appeared to
be becoming more intelligent by the day. By an estimate of the
trajectory of their rapidly increasing intelligence they would surpass
humans in a matter of days and we would have no hope of stopping
them.
A sign of their increasing intelligence was that when I kicked one, it
absorbed my kick and remained stationary instead of bouncing. It was a
very frightening change to our situation. Also frightening was the way
they stayed out of our sight. They were able to stop us from moving
around if they wanted to. What else were they capable of?
I found a linguistics kit that we used to develop a rudimentary
communications tool to speak to the balls. After successfully
communicating with them one of the balls showed me a wormhole
41
which was a gateway to another dimension. Maybe that was their

purpose for coming. Where did the wormhole lead? There was no
government or public response to this situation.
Another night the dream repeated. I was the only character in this dream
who had experienced this situation before. It replayed itself according to
the previous script but this time I went outside before the balls learnt to
do more than bounce around. I retrieved everything I needed to
complete communication with them from within the house. I let some
people in who were running around trying to escape them and then
barricaded the house. We sat down to discuss the situation. No matter
how much I yelled at them I couldnt convince the people in the house
that they were in danger and that I knew exactly what needed to be
done. They wouldnt let me complete a sentence or listen to me. It was
also hard to actually remember what needed to be done.
42
I Dream of the Forces

At the way-station the general was briefing the troops about our next
mission. I complained to him after the lecture that, unlike usually, we
didnt know how many enemy there was going to be. I was sarcastic to
him in front of his inferiors and my superiors. I apologised to him for
the infraction but forgot to salute any of them as I walked away.
After thinking, the general said to me, Thats why Im sending 150
men.
I didnt realise it at the time but by changing his mind I was responsible
for the debacle that occurred soon after, because, although he
committed enough men to look especially bad if we lost, he committed
no where near enough men to win the battle. We were transmatted to the
drop zone. It was an outdoor amphitheatre. Near the stage a group of
people were receiving a lecture. Groups of civilians were being held
hostage at the back of the amphitheatre and in the surrounding areas.
The media was also present. The enemy attacked from bushland behind
the amphitheatre. Confused by the situation our men killed the hostages
and each other. It was all caught on the medias cameras. Although we
won the day we were defeated politically by a clever enemy.
43
I Dream of Society
I arrived at a retreat which was full of people divided into two groups.
There was a third group which consisted of the leaders. When new
people came to the retreat the leaders would select which group they
were to be a part of. The leaders would not allow people from one
group to mingle with the other.
One group consisted of believers. These people believed in ideas
without proof. They believed in lies, fantasies, religious beliefs, aliens,
and conspiracy theories. I was put in this group. The other group
consisted of people who lived by common sense alone. They were open
to changing their ideas if evidence demanded it but would not believe
things for which there was no proof. I was a little indignant that I wasnt
chosen for this group and asked how I could get transferred.
There was a bridge between the two groups. Late at night, after
everyone had gone to bed, teenagers would steal across the bridge to
kiss and cuddle with each other while keeping an eye out for guards.
I then realised the meaning behind the separation of the groups. It was
an arrangement to protect the believers from being weakened by
common sense. The leaders of the believers used the believers false
convictions to maintain their power which consisted of the believers
money, resources and motivation.
I didnt understand why the leaders of those with common sense
allowed this to happen. What did they receive in return? Were their
people being protected from the believers convictions? Was believing
untruths that dangerous?
44
I Dream of Malformed Genitals

I used to have a lot of dreams of genitals taking on strange proportions.
Sometimes they were mine. Sometimes they were other peoples. One
recurring example is when I become aware that I am dreaming because
I can reach my penis with my own mouth. I think to myself, Ah hah!
I realise that I am dreaming because I know that this does not match my
waking reality. After this realisation I have a fairly free reign in my
dreamland on the understanding that I am no longer responsible for my
actions. But I still find myself constrained by most of the morals I have
in my waking life.
I used to have the occasional dream about some very rotten and scary
looking vaginas. I had a series of dreams once about having sex with
willing partners. After undressing the first one I looked at her vagina
and it looked like a pestle but with waxy, mottled skin with the odd
strand of thick black hair here and there. There was no hole in which to
put my penis.
The next night was even more strange. I undressed the woman and her
vagina looked like a big wet pustule that bubbled like porridge. It only
bubbled in one spot which was the opening. It sounded like closed-lip
kisses. It looked white and translucent. When I tried to put my penis in
it felt like trying to pump a bicycle hand-pump with my finger pushing
down on the valve.
I was foiled once again.
45
46
Relationship with Stories

Stories are passed down the ages, slowly or quickly changing.
Some are forgotten and others are remembered because they resonate
with some aspect of our natures. Stories live inside us, changing and
guiding us. Here are some stories in a few different styles. The form of
a story can determine whether a person listens to it.
47
Day in the Life of a Pickpocket

Cast:
Two pickpockets, Allan(A) and Brian(B)
Colin(C) their friend.
Policeman(P)
[ shot in a car moving slowly around the neighbourhood, A is driving
with B in the front seat ]
A: Im a pickpocket. Ive been working this town for about five years. I
usually start my day walking around, keeping an eye out for cops. There
are a lot of patrols in this area - because of me. The neighbours
complained a lot.
[ A parks the car and gets out with some papers under his arm]
A: I try to avoid the police as much as possible because theyre on to
me.
[ A and B walk up the street. In the distance is a policeman looking
directly at A. A walks into the front garden of a house to try to look like
he was intentionally going there. B follows. The policeman keeps
looking at A from across the street while he is talking to a small group
of people, taking details of a crime.]
[ Cut to a park, earlier in the day where A is showing C a screwdriver
which pulls apart. They are sitting on a park seat.]
A: With this screwdriver you can hold up people and hide the money in
here... [ pulls apart screwdriver] Its the latest.
C: How much do you reckon you could make with it?
A: $320 a day, I reckon. [ brandishes the screwdriver at C]
A: Give me your wallet!
48
C: Ooh yeah!
[ Cut back to the front garden of someones house. A walks up to the
front door, pretending to be a door-to-door salesman. The people living
in the house are looking out the front window at him.
The policeman walks over the road towards him ]
A to B: Crap! crap! What am I selling?
B: Um....
[ P gets to A and B. He is pleased with himself at catching a criminal
and wants to boast to A & B ]
P: You should look out. I caught a guy today who had been holding up
people with a screwdriver. Im on fire and you guys are next!
[A quickly scribbles down some numbers on a sheet of paper while P
talks to B about his success ]
A to P: My business was robbed today.
P: Yeah, right. How much was stolen?
A: These are my business books. See here? $320.
P: You should keep your books in better order.
A: Thats the item there which shows the stolen money.
P: I dont believe it. [ P takes out screwdriver and opens it ] This must
be yours then.
[P gives it to A ] Maybe being a victim of crime yourself will stop you
from doing it to others.
[ A winks to camera. fade out ]
49
Nerd Gospel : If Jesus was a Computer

Program
The bible is inaccessible to many people. Computer programming
is also inaccessible to many people. The bible seems to be particularly
inaccessible to many computer programmers. And by inaccessible I
mean that not only does it not make sense and is not understood, but
their minds actively reject it in much the same way that the human body
rejects rancid meat after it has been eaten. The Nerd Gospel is a retelling of part of the bible for the people who would most strongly
reject it. It is based closely on the start of the gospel of Mark...
schedule anti-son(SAYTAN)rundate timebase

schedule son(G-Sys) rundate timebase+5996
schedule messenger(Jon) rundate timebase+5990
messenger.value < son.value
messenger.addtask: announce son
messenger.addtask: attack people.hypocritical
addproperty people.humble karma
son.addtask: attack people.hypocritical

addproperty people.humble releasepass
G-Sys integrated successfully, if not unusually, into the matrix. After

50
many cycles his end-game program kicked in. This would take three
years matrix-time to execute. He sought Jon and found him at the JorDaan Spa & Sauna. There were many other entities there listening to
Jons output. All of the entities had programmatically different filters
attached to their input apparatus, according to their original
programming. This determined which of Jons data would be integrated
into their program and which would be discarded. Their progress was
watched intently by the Programmer.
G-Sys approached Jon who added his karma to him. A rift in the scene
opened in the roof - a gleaming hole in the fabric of reality, as far as all
the entities present were concerned. A white, ever-changing ball of light
descended through the hole and lit G-Sys. A voice said, You are my
son. I love you. I am pleased with you. The Programmer took the
microphone from his head, programmed a new directive and continued
to watch.
son.addtask: go.outoftown
anti-son.addtask: pervert.son
wildones.spawn: go.outoftown
angelguards.spawn: go.outoftown
angelguards.addtask: son.protect
G-Sys was not convinced by SAYTANs logic. By being programmed

to not be logical, most of the entities were programmed to decide
between contradictory logic rules. The routines of purpose contradicted
the routines of self-preservation and self-aggrandisement. Yet
complicated programming of all the entities allowed this contradiction
to exist without crashing the entity. In fact, the weight of the logic paths
were so finely balanced that the outcome of any decision tree could be
51
controlled, it was thought, by the very inclinations of the entity itself. It

was a marvel of programming and had been considered impossible for
one hundred years since the invention of the electronic computing
device. It was the creation of free will.
Jon was trapped in stasis by Herod, the assigned ruler of the region. GSys went to Ga-Lillee upon the execution of a new phase of his
programming. He data-casted, A new scenario is about to be executed.
One that allows the continuation of our programs after this scenario has
terminated. You must control your decision trees and select the paths of
your purpose. Listen to me: this is unbelievably good news.
As G-Sys walked beside the data-lake in the centre of Ga-Lillee he saw
Cy-mon and his clone An-Droo. They were casting subroutines into the
data-lake for they were data-miners.
Come with me, said G-Sys, And you will not mine for patterns in
the data any more. You will mine entities. At once they terminated
their data-mining subroutines and followed him. When he had walked a
little further he saw Jaims, spawn of CBD, and his clone Jorn at their
terminals. They were preparing their own subroutines for data-mining.
He called out to them and they left CBD to his own devices and
followed G-Sys.
They jumped to K-pernam, and when the regular maintenance cycle
occurred (in which the entities operated in low-activity mode in order to
de-fragment their memories and optimize their routines) G-Sys went to
the main data-casting node to transmit messages. The other entities
were at first confused. They then relished the logical patterns contained
within his messages. The messages had a harmony on many levels - an
internal logical consistency that none of the other data-casters had ever
achieved.
52
At that time an entity, with what appeared to be deranged logical

processes, called out, What do you want with our kind, G-Sys,
favoured son of the Programmer? Have you come to erase us? I know
who you are the most chosen one of the Programmer!
G-Sys over-rode the entitys central routines and re-programmed the
damaged code in the entity. To the others the entity shimmered and
contorted and then was calm. This had never before been seen. Many
witnessing entities spread the news about these events in an attempt to
discuss them and assimilate their meaning and repercussions to their
world-view.
After G-Sys left the main data-casting node, he left with his followers
and went to the storage areas of Cy-mon and An-Droo. One of Cymons ancestor entities was disabled with a virus. They communicated
this to G-Sys. He deactivated and quarantined the virus. News of this
rapidly disseminated throughout the surrounding area. Entities whose
ancestors, siblings and descendants were damaged or infected with virii
jumped themselves to G-Sys proximity. He worked on all of them,
fixing their damaged code and removing their virii. The Programmer
gave the virii knowledge of the true abilities and importance of G-Sys.
Because of this he quarantined and hence silenced them after he had
detached them from their hosts...
53
Stepping Out: Remembering the Past

Nearing the destination of my travels I was becoming convinced that I
was not human in the way that was commonly understood. I was
remembering the inhabiting of more than one human body. My best
male and female friends, Gray and Lula, were also not human. Gray
manifested himself as one or two friends in the world that I found
myself during each lifetime. His manifestations were familiar in a
deeply felt yet difficultly described way during each of my lives, but
they were bound physically only by having dark hair. Lula manifested
herself as red-haired females or animals that accompanied me in many
of my lives.
I never travelled alone. Gray or Lula were always with me. In the first
of four journeys that I will describe, Gray accompanied me. The others
were with Lula but Gray would appear with me on television shows that
I watched with Lula. I was unable to physically touch Gray and I could
only touch Lula when she was in animal form.
54
Stepping Out: Extraction

I talked with Gray about how the most important thing in the universe is
friendship. While I was talking to him I realised that my lips were not
moving. We were communicating telepathically. It made me think that
there was more to life than met the eye. We talked about making
preparations for an extraction. An extraction was a total mental
escape from the world without losing the physical body that we
currently inhabited. It involved a series of checks that everything was
taken care of on several physical levels so that we could close the door
of consciousness on that level and leave it behind.
The first level was making sure that no one thought I was home.
Physical interactions would scare the person who encountered a body
with no conscious control. I set the answering machine on so that
nobody could call. The next level was making sure that my body would
be medically and physically safe. I made sure the temperature was
warm enough and that my heart rate and blood pressure were sound. I
then left my body in a trail of thought.
I thought about how we live in a virtual reality. It was time to leave that
level of reality by realising that my physical surrounds were figments of
my imagination. In order to do that I started pulling the house apart throwing furniture and smashing windows. This was in order to prove
to myself that I didnt believe that my physical surrounds existed. I
would achieve this by irreparably ruining the order around me, therefore
escaping the trap of my sense of reality.
While destroying the house I couldnt believe that I was ignored by the
neighbours. No one investigated and no one called the police. It made
me wonder again whether there was a reason I had so many lucky
breaks. Situations like that brought me closest to believing that there
55
was a grander purpose to my life, however my carers would never go so

far as to spell it out. And with that contemplation, I had escaped.
I flew through space to a beautiful beach on a planet with pleasant
starlight, lapping waves and tranquillity. I had a beer there with Gray. I
thought about how it would be possible to organise a life so that it was a
permanent good time. How I could keep my body alive automatically
without paying attention to it or having to live in it, so that I could live
in another world?
I thought about concepts that were difficult to describe in words but
made perfect sense emotionally and visibly. I had grand visions of
getting to the heart of matters and of how our consciousness survived
the length of our physical lives. I dwelled on how fantastic it was to
know someone so well that you can skip thousands of words of
conversation and still communicate your ideas accurately and in great
detail.
56
Stepping Out: Letting Go

I thought about letting go of the things that held me to the world and to
a finite life which would end in death, disease and decay. We are owned
by our possessions. The things that we find important control us. I
thought about letting go of my sense of reality so that other beings
could come into my mind and my life. They promised incredible
knowledge and unimaginable experiences. Ultimately, though, I was
afraid of doing this because even though I was promised eternity and
experiences beyond my imaginings I didnt trust the beings who were
making the promises.
I found myself floating in space looking at a vast network of lights,
similar to looking at a city at night from a nearby mountain. Each light
was a focal point around which life-force was drawn. Every now and
then a strong collection of life-force would focus at one point in time
and space and I would hear, New life! and there was a celebration.
Strongly focussed life concentrations would manifest as self-aware
consciousness. These (including myself, Gray, Lula, and others) would
gather around it and nurture it. At other times a concentration of life
force would disperse and I would be sad because that signified a death
to me.
Trying to let go, I walked the streets around some shops and a train
crossing. A train or car would approach whenever I felt close to letting
go. They contained the beings that would help me if only I would let
them. But I just couldnt let go. I was sure that the beings were driving
the cars and trains and that they would stop once I committed totally to
letting go. But none of them did.
I was presented with one more chance to let go. Local public toilets
were open early in the morning and I went inside to the lone, dirty,
57
empty cubicle. The beings said to me that I could accept their promise if
I was prepared to let go of my idea of reality by jumping into the toilet.
Doing something ludicrous was the only way of proving to them and
myself that I really didnt believe in the reality in which I found myself
living. But at this point I gave up and went home sad. I changed my
clothes because I felt really grotty. Then I went to bed.
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Stepping Out: Receiving Loud and Clear

Lula and I were sitting together like boyfriend and girlfriend. We were
committed to each other but were not married. We would use
electronics, computers and mobile phones to keep in touch with each
other during the times that we were on the Earth simultaneously.
Together we received messages from a voice in the sky outside, and
also on the television. Lula was in cat form in this life, and was also
pregnant. We heard and watched reports of deaths and new lives.
Sadness and rejoicing met each of the reports.
On the television, there was an info-mercial about exercise equipment
that Gray and I were presenting. We were talking about being long-term
stars of body-building and mind-strengthening. The commercial made
Lula and myself laugh. It was about spending just five minutes a day
having sex - because that worked all the muscles that were required for
childbirth as well as creating the child.
We stepped outside. We heard an announcement that there would be
good news from Mars. It would be exciting news but I didnt know
what the news was going to be. I had to wait and see. A Mars lander had
been sent recently but NASA had lost contact with it.
I was tired from exploring the very bounds of lifes possibilities,
thought, and the mind. We heard that we were going to receive a bonus.
This bonus was a gift to reward us for working hard at exploration and
living. I think the bonus had something to do with getting a child.
I talked to Lula about a lot of things. We talked about how we put each
other through hard times by putting each other in difficult world
situations in order to understand new lessons. I talked about how I was
doing the lions share of hard times. It was about time that I got looked
59
after by her. I wanted to be treated to a long time of easy living and her
pampering. She talked to me about making a commitment akin to
marriage. She wanted me to put on a ring and promise to commit to her
forever until I died. Lula said she had worked really hard over the years
at staying in shape - beautiful and physically ready to bear children until I was ready to commit to her. I was overwhelmed with her effort
and unaware she had been doing that.
We heard that there was a huge battle raging among the stars. The
outcome of the war would affect Earth but the final outcome could not
be predicted.
While I was outside I was told to read the signs - street signs, signs in
windows and on billboards. When I looked at them they all seemed to
make sense and speak to me about making a commitment to Lula.
I went back inside again. I was able to rid my body of all disease but
this was only temporary. I was going to have to die of disease to learn
the wisdom of not doing unhealthy things to my body.
I went into the bedroom. A voice in the lounge room narrated messages
from heaven. I visualised heaven as a huge lattice - like an Escher
drawing. The voice was narrating a story about the make-up of heaven
but I dont remember much of it. I was bowed over in a position on the
floor to give birth to a child. I didnt give birth. I went to bed instead.
60
Stepping Out: Living Together

The theme of this journey involved working out a plan for married life
with Lula. I was to make a promise to her that I would be with her for
the rest of my life - no matter what- and that we would bear many,
many offspring.
We watched television to see reports about news in the universe - about
matters occurring while we had been living in our bodies on Earth. The
following is what we saw:
Lula had been disqualified from having children because she had
broken some rules in her effort to get some given to her by the Creator.
She had tried so hard for years and was heartbroken and very angry to
hear the news. An inquiry had been set up to investigate the cheating
allegations.
There were reports about the ranking of people and the allocation of
new offspring to all the people who were trying out for them. There was
a report about Lula retiring after trying for so long and so hard without
being given any. I cried for her because she was very brave in trying so
hard and for so long.
She did not want to be with me because I was so embarrassing. In front
of others I was a laughing stock. I had no obvious qualities, I looked
funny, and I was not respectable. I didnt do the things I was supposed
to each day just to uphold my side of a married relationship. I didnt
even know what I had to offer. We talked a lot. I had never made a
promise that I could keep forever and I doubted my ability to keep a
promise to her that I would be with her for the rest of my life.
I put on a ring. It was a symbol of my promise to her. It was big and
uncomfortable. I couldnt promise to stand by her forever. I wanted to
61
but I didnt believe in myself. She wanted children - thousands of

children. I agreed to have children but I didnt know how many I
wanted before I would freak out.
I had actually been chosen to have the children myself! So we would be
able to raise new life together in the end. This was new and unique in
the universe. It was a great experiment. She was still dirty with the
Creator for not allowing her to bear them herself even though she
wanted them so badly and I didnt.
She may also have been fatally ill because of my lack of attention to
her. She disrespected me because of my bad memory. I disrespected her
because I didnt understand her. I cried for her as I got to know her and
learnt about her courage, tenacity, bravery and unfulfilled desires. I told
her that I would never want children as much as she did. I couldnt want
an unlimited number because I wouldnt be able to look after and love
them all. She was adamant that she wouldnt commit to me unless I was
willing to maintain the production of as many children as I physically
could. It would be a life of manageable pain in order to bear as many
children as she wanted.
On top of this I wanted to save the world from hunger, but she wanted
to save the world from cancer. We had to arrive at many agreements and
compromises if we were to commit together forever. I had to forever
give up the way I had been, without turning back. I had to grow up and
be an adult. I had to give up cynicism and hurtful words. I was full of
fear and self-doubt. She was full of disappointment, anger and loathing.
I was supposed to encourage her and she was supposed to encourage
me. I knew that if we built each other up we could achieve all of our
dreams - perhaps in a way neither of us had expected. I had to protect
her and stop being disrespectful and fearful.
We both had to clean up our lives. I was supposed to be a provider but I
62
had totally failed in managing my own affairs. It was another public

embarrassment that she did not want to face by being married to me, but
she loved me anyway. I was scared of women and of their reproductive
organs. I was scared of my inability to use the female genitalia with
confidence.
I told her that I would stand by her even though there were some things
that she had not told me for shame. Her eyes lit up at that. She was still
under suspicion for what she had underhandedly done to attain
offspring. Getting married would mean that I would also undertake
responsibility for her past actions. She was touched that I was prepared
to do that even though she hadnt told me exactly what kind of trouble
she was in - or what her punishment was going to be.
My role was to protect her from the ugly things in life - the scary and
grotesque things. She didnt want to have to know about them or see
them, let alone have me talk to her about them. This I could agree to.
We were not human. Humans had been selected for destruction. Should
we try to save them? I had to be brave and fight our enemies which
were also not human. They infiltrated humanity and were very
deceptive. They were interested in trapping and torturing humans, and
us.
Were humans of any intrinsic value? Or were they just animals? Should
I be out fighting and becoming respectable, or should I stay inside and
create offspring for my partner to mother? What she wanted most in the
world was children. Was there enough love between us to make me
brave, and her happy?
Then I discovered my special power. It was that I kept going for no
reason at all. I had, in me somewhere, answers to big questions and
solutions to difficult problems.,When solved they could have a full and
63
amazing, positive impact on the world. I had the power to be positive

for no reason at all - in the face of seemingly impossible opposition.
Other than that I had no power of any mention.
My spiritual parents finally had enough of our indecision, lack of trust,
and reproduction. They were also scared of doing what they had to do.
They were afraid of telling us what we needed to hear. Spiritual Mother
then came out and said enough was enough. She was going to show us
how to reproduce! I did not want to watch. My spiritual grandparent
had also put away enough money to cover for all the mistakes that I had
made in my past. Both my spiritual parents and grandparents had
sacrificed a lot in order to give us a fresh start when we were ready to
put away childish attitudes and take on the responsibilities of marriage
and offspring. It was a great relief that they were much more far-sighted
and wise than we were.
I was to not make my partner jealous by looking at the bodies of other
beings. She was my soul-mate. She was discouraged because she was
not pretty enough and now out of shape. She had been several people in
my bodies lives and she wanted me to choose which one she wanted
me to have as a wife. I couldnt decide. Each rejection was like
rejecting her personally. I asked if I could have each one for a period of
time, but she said that was not acceptable. She said it was time for me
to stop wanting the best of both worlds, and to make a decision. One of
her instantiations was technologically capable, confident, attractive, and
funny - pretty but not amazingly beautiful. One was very pretty and
strong, yet unconfident, untrusting, and easily roused to jealousy. One
was very intelligent and attractive, but prone to chronic sickness and
with a possible early death date. One was a very companionable cat.
Which was I to choose?
Meanwhile, time was running out for the world and the humans in it.
Time for making the choice was running out and the maximum number
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of offspring offered to me was decreasing every minute.

In the end, I decided to love myself first and my partner second. I would
become respectable, clean up my life, grow up, make a fresh start, and
fix up my situation as best I could given the mess I had let myself enter.
I had committed as best I could. I had taken the ring off my finger and
replaced it with a promise to her in my heart, until we could wed
properly with a rich ceremony and celebration some time in the future,
along with a honeymoon to a beautiful tropical place where we would
have our children. I didnt know if I was going to be able to always
keep my promise until I died, but I was going to try. I hoped that was
enough for her.
65
The Big Australian Drought,

Or, Why Santa Brought No Reindeer
Dancer hit the clubs last night
And stayed out very late
He failed this mornings drug test
I was left with only eight
Cupid fell in love last night
He met a hairy end
They fell in love and anteloped
My deer numbered seven
Blitzen was a unionist
Who fought the one-night-year
He wouldnt work once it got dark
So hes out on his ear
Donner tripped as we flew past
A place that made meat pies
Hes probably kebabbed by now
And I was left with five
The rock star of the reindeer group
Would surely have been Prancer
The hard life finally caught him up
He died of antler cancer
66
Dasher had some dodgy food

And left in one big hurry
My fourth last deer got number twos
Note to self: Dont feed them curry
Vixen was the vain one
As we flew over Fed Square
He stopped and stared at his mirrored self
Hes probably still there
Rudolphs love of alcohol
Brought his trip undone
He blew point 2 and went to jail
I only then had one
Comet was valiant on his own
But couldnt leave first gear.
I walked the rest of the way myself
Thats why Ive brought no reindeer
67
Relationship with Motivations
68

Does it matter why we do what we do? Could it be more important
to do the right thing rather than only doing things for the right reasons?
Should we hold ourselves accountable for the reasons that we act as
well as what we actually do? Could it be better to avoid doing the right
thing if we dont feel good about it?
John and Barry can perform the same action with the same
consequence but with different intentions. It doesnt change the utility
of what they have done, so why should it matter that John angrily and
resentfully donated one hundred dollars to the Feed the Starving
campaign because he didnt want to look bad to his workmates even
though he would rather have spent the money on beer, when Barry
graciously and with great anticipation donated one hundred dollars to
the same fund in high spirits and hope that it would be used in a way
that one hundred dollars could never be used in a rich country like his
own. The difference in their motivations did not make a difference to
the taste of the food in the mouths of the hungry kids, nor did it change
the contents of their new schoolbooks or the abundance of their new
water supply.
What it did do was make John angry and Barry happy. The flow-on
effect of the action would then be reflected in the interactions between
Barry, John and the people who came in contact with them for the rest
of the day. It would affect future decisions they both made. The
relationship they have with their motivations then plays a part in how
the history of the world unfolds around their lives and in their minds.
Motivation is the force which drives our actions. We analyse our
own actions and try to determine our motivations. But we may not
understand our own true motivations even when we think we do.
69
Why did I just kiss her when she is clearly unappealing?

We analyse other peoples actions and try to determine their
motivations based on what they did, the way they did it, and what they
said or wrote about it. Why do we try to do this? We want to know if we
can trust them and we want to be able to predict their future actions. We
do it to protect ourselves from potential danger or to plan to take
advantage of others in the future.
We can be motivated by ambition to attain a goal. The side-effects
of the motivation can influence the success of our actions. Saying to
ourselves that it is incredibly important to feed starving children can put
emotional pressure, stress, and guilt on ourselves that leaves us
exhausted and having done nothing. Saying to ourselves that the
hundred dollars doesnt mean much to us, and that even if a large
amount of it went into administration costs the small amount that got to
the naked, dying, hungry children with big cute eyes and flies buzzing
around them would make such an enormous difference to their lives that
it would be sensational. This attitude would make it easier to act.
Saying to myself that providing money to help communities build
their own capacities would do more to reduce global terrorism than any
war makes it a lot easier for me to act. Not getting too emotional about
issues could lead to more action than caring too much does for people
who are disabled by their overwhelming emotions. The patience and
relaxation that occurs when we just dont give a shit could be more
effective in achieving our ends than the pressure and emotional stress
that we otherwise try to use to motivate ourselves to achieve success or
act positively.
Do our actions cause our thoughts or do our thoughts cause our
actions? Or both? Is our conscious experience of life just a series of
justifications for our actions?
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Taking responsibility for actions that are not your fault can be
psychologically damaging. Many people who push the view that there
are no victims are actually the aggressors - mentally, emotionally and
physically. It is considered worthy and noble to take responsibility for
your actions, but what if we arent as responsible as we think? Even
though scientific progress is being made towards discovering that we
may act more involuntarily than we realise, people refuse to accept that
we could be automatons because they say that anarchy will result from
removing blame (legal and moral) for a persons actions. I dont believe
that these discoveries of the limits to our free will actually stop people
from doing good, and encourage them to do more evil.
There are many identifiable motivations that lead us to action. Most
of my motivations feel like a sense of hunger - a gnawing sensation in
my mind and body that I need to satisfy. When I sit back and think
about it, sometimes it is hard to work out exactly what I want. When
this happens I just have to satisfy myself in every way I can, hoping that
I will consume the thing that I was actually hungry for.
My drives include the desire to find lost things, complete sets
(collections, book series, movies), making mental connections between
ideas, finding a new perspective in my view of reality, looking for a
simple way out of complicated situations (discovering a deus ex
machina), and unleashing my creativity.
We can adopt the motivations of others to justify our own actions.
This enables a group to act according to a single will. The single will
can be the determinations of a single person, a committee or a
constitution. This adoption of motivation funnels individuals power
into a single direction for much greater effect.
There is more than one way to interpret our actions and the actions
of others based on our beliefs and the unique pair of glasses that each of
71
us wear when we look at the world. Describing the motives of my

behaviour as nothing more than the result of some kind of fear can be
replaced convincingly by breaking down the motives for each action to
vanity, paranoia, laziness, other peoples goals, my own goals, passions
and compassion. Fear of anger in myself and others could also be added
to that list.
72
Relationship with Myself
Who Is The Man?

Is he a lovable mascot
A whining demoraliser
Holding back others from success
Important contributor
Moral supporter
Ultimate betrayer
Full of false promise
Cant go back
Not the same
Every brick is worth it
Unrequired for success
Small contribution not enough
Imperfect
Rough edges
Insecure
Scared of being tried and sentenced by the abandoned
Go in, turn it upside down, and leave
Or do nothing?
There is a personality within our heads that we think about, talk
about, argue with, and with whom we share some sort of relationship.
We share a dialogue with this person, sometimes forgetting that we are
that person. The end result of each conversation contributes to the state
of our happiness or contentment.
As suspiciously simple as it sounds, the language that we use to
describe ourselves holds the key to the way we look at the world.
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Describing our lives and ourselves with different words can make the
difference between improving, staying the same, or getting worse. And
this is even though we are still the same person with the same history
and the same responses to the things that people say and do to us. The
power of a word is incredible.
Focussing on fear, regardless of how prevalent it is in my life, is
ultimately paralysing. When I sat down and made a list of my
characteristics which could describe motives that resulted in the same
behaviours that I could also describe as the result of fear, I had a new
set of strategies to deal with the behaviour in myself that I didnt like.
Change comes from having a different relationship with the world
around me and with myself, rather than by just acting differently. This
may explain the limited value of self-analysis in changing ourselves. In
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance,3 the author Robert Pirsig
refers to Quality as the essential relationship between a human and the
universe around him. He understands the sense of Quality intrinsically,
and it exists inside, and outside of, knowledge and reason. I call it our
Sense of Beauty.
Human, definition: a rollicking piece of animated meat stuffed with
consciousness in an amazing broiling world of conflict and cooperation.
A humans single headlight gaze of one or more senses into the world
feeds its memories. An underlying stormy sea of chemical reactions
feeds its emotions. It builds its sense of reality out of its memories and
uses what it learned to survive, thrive and multiply. Its consciousness is
a small window into the operations that guide its behaviour, and that
provides limited, if any, understanding of the motives for its actions.
Every decision is either ignored, analysed or stored for future
processing or forgetting.
74
Robert M Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Human purpose, definition: a set of conscious or unconscious goals

that the human embraces, rejects, ignores or adjusts every moment of its
life. What score would you have to give yourself for your life in order
to consider that you have passed? A 50% pass mark for life means
you made more of a contribution than a mess.
75
Light Questions I Asked Life

What is the punchline for the cosmic joke?
That kissing eternity promises fulfilment?
That education eventually makes a person jaded?
That ignorance is rewarded?
That danger exists behind every runaway thought?
That infinite regress lies behind the prisoners dilemma?4
That hearing your hollow laugh and watching yourself act produces
disappointment?
That embarrassment is the result of empathy?
That self-discovery without change is pain that cannot be stopped?
When I am mentally occupied, and an imposition is made on my

time, I become emotionally and visibly stressed. I would rather do that
thing right away so that it does not agonise me to have it waiting on my
list of things that I have to do. I would rather forget about it and
continue to languish and float in my comfortable bath of uninterrupted
contemplation, but this is impossible.
Like a bird in a cage that looks at itself constantly in a mirror, I like
to see myself on television or on the internet. Maybe it is an expression
of a desperate desire to have a meaningful life that has been falsely
associated with fame and its inevitable consequence of appearing on a
4 The Prisoners Dilemma is a game where you and another prisoner have to
choose whether to tattle on the other or not. If they dont and you do, they
will go to jail for ten years. If you dont and they do, you will go to jail for
ten years. If you both tattle on each other, you will both go to jail for five
years. But if no one tells, you both go free. What is the best strategy to
minimize your jail time? If you play the game repeatedly, what is the best
decision to make based on the previous decisions of the other player?
76
screen. Interestingly, though, I dont like looking at myself in an actual

mirror. I wonder what the difference is? Is it narcissistic either way?
Who are we? Where are we? Deep in the dark dirt, you are a worm
that has discovered its own tail. A jewel in the sun. You are the sunlight,
the jewel and the crown. Lack of reason for existence should lead to
suicide and the ability to forget the plight of others, their temperament
and their approach to life. When should equality end and selfcentredness begin?
If we do not love ourselves, how can we love someone else?
People who say this should be strung up to dry. By self-love, they
usually mean self-esteem. And by self-esteem they usually mean some
level of denial about the distance between how a person would like to
be and the reality of how rotten they actually think they are as a result
of their thoughts and actions (or inaction.) There are many people in the
world who would not have what is called self-esteem, yet still live
selfless, generous lives. Instead of panicking at time passing without
action and blaming myself on a second-by-second basis, I tried to hold
personal court once a year instead. But I seem quite unable to put off
the constant self-judgement.
77
A Quick Review
I woke up to my own existence too early in life. I believe that if I
didnt start to analyse myself and remember my conclusions until later
on in my emotional development, I wouldnt think the way I do now. As
a consequence of early self-reflection I drew too many conclusions
about what I thought was the absolute truth, before I was emotionally
mature enough to evaluate them sensibly. I was so young at the time
that these conclusions embedded themselves as indelible facts in my
mind and I have not been able to shift them since. My sensitive
temperament lay my fragile ego at the mercy of my readily intense
emotions and assumptions of what everyone around me was thinking
and feeling. I was fucking nuts from quite a young age and there wasnt
a thing anyone could do to stop it.
I spent too much of my life thinking about life itself. When I was
about nineteen, I used to work in the kitchen at Cabrini Hospital in
Melbourne with thirty-odd Greek and Italian women who adopted me
as a son. One of them told me off for thinking too much for someone
my age when I should have been having fun instead. In the world
around me I saw everyone enjoying the fruits of their ignorance. And I
was jealous of their ability to not constantly worry about what could be
made better in the world. I was critical of the little amount of attention
they spent on issues that I thought mattered. I actually didnt want to
think about these things but I couldnt help it.
During the first few years that I can remember, I somehow learned
that it was not acceptable for men to kiss men. I dont know how I
learned this, who taught me or why. I remember one night when my
father came in to kiss me good-night and I turned my head away. I
never forgave myself for it.
78
I had a habit of falling into water. When I did this I got attention
because people had to come and help me. I did it in Wattle Park at a
family picnic, and into an open septic tank in the backyard of our house
in Balaka Avenue in Aspendale. I remember the spark of intention
before each of these times. I also liked to get lost in large stores and
hear my name called over the loudspeaker.
I hungrily yearned for attention. I needed someone to tell me I
deserved to exist. I needed to know that I wasnt constantly racking up
some kind of debt for being loved that I could only repay with years of
unhappy servitude. I also wanted to be the most loved and the most
attended to. I wanted to dominate everyone. In my peer groups (friends,
siblings, classmates, family, church brethren, workmates ) I strove to be
the best in effort and achievement, adoration, love and respect. When I
couldnt achieve it or burnt myself out in many social situations I would
withdraw and find another group. I preferred to have one-on-one
meetings with people and friends than to meet in large groups. In
groups I felt uncomfortably competitive for all, or none, of the
attention.
I strove to be loved by people above me at the cost of people
around me. I set aside people who would not be outwardly angry with
me in favour of people from whom I most wanted favour - or was most
scared of their rebuke. I equated rebuke with rejection. I had not been
honest to loved ones of my ways and motives. I said I was busy at work
rather than say that I was really trying to delicately balance the fears of
rejection from different people in my life and avoid trouble from them
according to a strange calculation. Its factors consisted of how
important their opinion of me was, whether I thought I had already
irreparably screwed up the relationship (meaning that I thought that I
owed them too much in back-logged obligation) and how much I feared
their anger or disappointment.
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I was uncontrollably generous. I sometimes hated being generous

to people, knowing that I was avoiding possible confrontation - I could
not distinguish between someone rejecting what I did and rejecting my
essential worth. I could not refuse to respect what I thought many
people thought about me. I could not bear any disapproving look. I did
not believe that I deserved anyones forgiveness. Mostly I feared being
trapped in a situation where everybody was angry with me. I almost
feared it more than being buried alive which is still my greatest fear.
I wanted to save and collect every little thing that I owned and
thought and wrote. I hated losing anything, physically or mentally, and
would spend ages looking for the smallest thing I wanted to find.
Cataloguing and protecting my possessions so they would last forever
was deeply fulfilling.
I wanted to change the world. I wanted to find a practical solution
to world hunger. I wanted no national borders. I thought there was
enough for everyone to go around. But I didnt want my lifestyle to
suffer in order to help other countries, like America and Britain did after
the Second World War in order to rebuild Europe and Japan.
Although this description has been in the past tense, not much has
changed, except that I dont fall in water so much now.
80
The Broodin Days

Did I bypass adulthood
Shared by a million souls?
The fears stayed, but not the need
To act grown-up and old.
I fancy I matured early
Mid-life crisis done
But what if I havent started yet
To lose my sense of fun?
I fancy women find me childish
Write me off too soon.
Ive got more depth than theyd ever need
I just like to be a goon.
If I dont act responsibly
What might happen to me?
The most that I can see ahead
Is, Ill act grown-up when Im dead.
81
Reflections
Peering into the face of a pond,
The ripples quiver, the reflection
Of myself: not whole, but reflected in parts,
My complete face split into sparkling shards.
Peering out towards a mirror,
Pond reflections face my peers.
To shirk actions responsibility,
In shards of light, I am he, or she.
I learn to look out from under the surfaceThrough my minds eye at the reflected face
I say, Thats not me. Cant you see,
That he is to blame, the one I copied.
Knock, Knock. Is anyone there,
Behind the waters surface glare?
A truth I seek, the answers reek
Of dust and disuse, from honestys abuse.
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State of the Union Address

A long time has passed since you felt the need
To express your emotions in written decree.
You have dulled the senses and limped along
To be encouraged to accept all your past wrongs.
Trusting lifes process and stilling the mind
Opening your heart to be more kind.
Disciplining the body and feeding the soul
Is an easily forgotten, unrealistic goal.
Changing the world without changing yourself
Being loved and protected, looking after your health
Attaining worthwhile purposes without giving much
Gaining the world on the cheap, is it asking too much?
And doing it yourself so you dont have to fight
Against the egos of others on the same side
And taking the glory at the end of the day
To be forgotten eventually anyway.
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THOUGHT
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THOUGHT
THOUGHT
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Relationship with Ideas
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Ideas are thoughts that start life in our heads. They express
themselves in our speech, written words and visual recordings. They
change and mutate throughout our lives. They can be difficult to
accurately translate in the passing from one person to another, and this
is the source of both misunderstandings and new ideas. Ideas can give
us a feeling of joy - a thrill and a sense of inspiration when we combine
them in interesting new ways or make surprising associations and
connections between them. Is it possible to know if an idea is a result of
our own creativity? It is possible to forget ever reading or hearing about
an idea and then when we remember it we think we have been creative.
The jet engine was invented simultaneously in both England and
Germany during the 1930s. It is possible for more than one person to
have the same new idea. This makes the legal protection of ideas
somewhat problematic and when there are grey areas surrounding any
legal process, deep pockets are required.
An argument against the ownership of ideas is that they are based
on previous work required to realise the ideas on which they were built,
so some credit may be owing to the legal owners of the original ideas. I
disagree with this, as long as new ideas can be identified as truly
creative in some respect and only the result of the creativity is
considered to be the property to be legally protected.
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Ideas Stripped Bare, Heard not Shared

I heard a great idea and felt bad about passing it on to someone who
might make a dollar from it.
If the person with the idea never acts on it, it is lost to the
world.
I heard a great idea and felt scared to pass it on because the person who
told me threatened legal action.
If the person with the idea never acts on it, it is lost to the
world.
I can afford to give away my ideas because I have a job that does not
rely on them.
If my livelihood relied on the protection of my ideas, I would
vigorously protect them.
An idea can guide our understanding of our world. When I

experience something it can have many different and simultaneous
meanings for me. I have a dialogue with the world around me from each
of these perspectives. We can think that we understand something just
by giving it a label. But labelling things only gives us a way to
communicate ideas. Doing it can fool you into thinking you understand
that which you have labelled. Richard Feynman was a child when his
father taught him that. It leads to stopping you from asking further
questions, and thus refining your ideas. This is where discovery stops
and prejudice starts.
Ideas are at first the ineffective cousins of ambition. They comfort
us or make us excited but initially they dont do anything! But they are
essential to change and not to be thrown away or ignored. Dwelling on
an idea gives it the power to change your life - even just a little. An idea
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can change a person, give them courage, and make them laugh in the
ideas powerful potential. An idea can blow through a society like a fire
- at first an ember surrounded by cold and wet leaves, finally a bushfire
that sweeps townships before it. Taking hold of a new idea and running
with it is like taking hold of the most spirited of partners. The ride will
be unpredictable and scary but you will never be able to say that you
didnt live.
What is opinion other than an idea backed with conviction? Why
do we hold so fast to them in an argument? Someone once told me they
didnt understand how I could change my mind so easily. Is that me
being gullible, or open to new ideas? Or is it just another crafty way I
avoid conflict? I dont like surprises but I yearn for the insight or
discovery that completely invalidates my world view. I want there to be
more to life than I suspect there is. I also dearly hope that the new and
greater world-view is not depressing. This is because what has been
seen cannot be unseen.
By hating conflict, I miss the regular strong discourse required to
hasten the knocking down of faulty ideas. I spend more time reading
ideas than arguing them. I suspect that this is slowing the process of
threshing the wheat from the chaff. If creativity lies within tension and
pain, will avoiding the pain of creative conflict result in the
disappearance of the spark of creativity? In my favour, I do prefer to
read the words of people who have gone through the furnace of public
debate with their own ideas first, although it is not always possible to
discern the pundits from the honest seekers of truth.
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The density of ideas in good writing (books, stage or screen)

excites me. Experiencing ideas so closely packed together is the
equivalent of dancing in a mosh pit: it can sometimes be overwhelming
but can also provide ecstasy. I love the infinite possibility of ideas, but
they often get frozen into a boring mould as soon as they begin to be
turned into a practical plan. I sit at home thinking about ideas. I like to
try to combine things I know to see if anything interesting results. It is
like being a mental chemist - adding one thought to another, observing
the result and keeping notes. I keep a pen and paper handy and jot them
down when they hit me. I also keep a pen and paper next to my bed to
capture ideas that would otherwise evapourate soon after waking. I had
the following ideas over the years, but I couldnt tell you if they were
truly unique, or mine
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Solar-Powered Steam Engine

A solar-powered steam engine can be used to transport sea water to
water-starved villages inland. It consists of a steam engine that runs off
sea-water, a tank for the sea water, and a tank to receive the condensed
steam that the vehicle has used to drive its wheels. When the vehicle
arrives at its destination there is drinkable water in the fresh water tank
from the condensed steam.
Reflective panels would be used to direct the suns energy to heat
the sea water that provides the steam power to the vehicle. This
wouldnt be known to be practical unless somebody proved it possible
or impossible by making calculations based on known engineering
principles or proved it possible by building a successful prototype. Until
then this just remains an idea.
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Community Service Yellow Pages

It would be good to organise a community service yellow pages
website where someone can (on a whim) participate or help out in their
area of interest or expertise in their locality.
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Consequences of our Changing World

In order to survive an approaching global ecological and
humanitarian catastrophe, we may need some large-scale, quality-oflife-reducing decisions to be made by our governing bodies.
Bear in mind that grand schemes for the structuring or restructuring
of society usually has ended with massive death, starvation,
persecutions and destruction. But we are heading towards a time when
democracy may not provide us with the concentration of power required
to make the decisions necessary to face and overcome the threat to our
lives from the changing environment.
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The Impact of Space Exploration on our

Worlds Vision
The sooner our forays into space become a regular part of peoples
lives, the sooner our common vision will be stretched beyond the edge
of our atmosphere and into the unseen reaches of space. We will no
longer be bound by scarcity of resources. Even on Earth, the structure
for the space-bound society of the future can be created on a small
scale. The main aims of the societal structure will be the preservation of
a wealth of resources and power - more than any individual could
possibly want, thus removing the damaging combined effects of
resource scarcity and greed.
Enormous wealth would be required to produce this sort of society
in miniature. For myself, the only way to produce this sort of wealth is
via creativity: the disconnection of hours worked from money paid. I
would then be able to feed the social container with the profits. The
social container will allow the freedom required to research new
sciences in the form of projects individually decided upon by the
societys participants. The trillion dollars that we spend every year on
war should be sending us to the planets and stars.
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Idea Wars, the Game

Everyone carries beliefs with them of varying strengths. Some can
be changed with other peoples arguments, influence, evidence or
sometimes for no knowable reason at all. I had an idea for a game that
would track the beliefs, and what changed them, so that they can be
shared and improved by using software. There could be Pokemonlike battles between ideas. The strength of the ideas and their basis that
make up a belief can be used to calculate a battle strength for the
ideas that are pitched against each other.
The weapons would be references, quotations, cliches and slogans
which can be invalidated or weakened by attacks from another persons
weapons.
The winner of the battle is decided by each player. If you accept the
truth of the idea that you battled against, it becomes part of your own
arsenal. If the opponents idea invalidates yours, you can mark down
the likelihood that your idea is true or mark it as probably false. Both
players may be convinced by each others arguments.
A website could tally everyones ideas, who believe them how
strongly, and the ideas that contribute to another ideas strength. A
person would be able to export the references for an idea for use in
academic studies.
The technical details for the game would include designing a data
structure for an idea and its relationships with other ideas. Ideas would
be categorised so that one can tell whether an idea would invalidate
another idea totally or only partially in a certain context. Ideas would be
able to be sequenced so that the supporting ideas of another can be
traced back to an initial set of axioms. A freenet or distributed storage
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mechanism could be used for the transfer and storage of text

information of the ideas and arguments. Maybe the Google.com API
could be used to track the connections between the information.
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Solve The Worlds Problems, the Card Game

Drunken conversations in pubs can often end up with a solution to
the worlds problems which, at the time, seem so logical but which are
forgotten by the next morning. The Solve the Worlds Problems card
game allows the chain of actions required to solve the worlds problems
to be played out on a table and then photographed by mobile phone
before leaving, so that it will be available the next day for review.
Surely the forgetting of the solutions is the only thing standing in the
way between our world and the peaceful futuristic world of Star Trek!
Each player takes their turn to lay out a card which connects one
action with the next. Example cards would include International
Concerts to raise awareness, Build a big wall around the problem, or
a Do Something card which actually requires another player to do
something for real. An example of this card would be, Give $10 to
Amnesty International.
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The Boy Who Couldnt Burp, a childrens book

He keeps vomiting when he tries to burp. He never seems to run
out of vomit, which contains carrots and other nutritious food. He ends
up doing it into food containers and feeds hungry people around the
world.
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One Bowl, Two Holes

There should be Spew Tubes available in bars, restaurants and at
home which are approximately three centimetres across and one metre
long that can go from your mouth and between your legs when you are
sitting down on the toilet. In the situations where you have one toilet
bowl and two involuntary exit strategies this might just be your saviour.
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Funky Practical Edgy Homeless Help

There should be an SMS number on homeless peoples t-shirts:
Clean me up or SMS me off the street. The SMS number bills the
caller $5 to help support the homeless person. Maybe people selling the
Big Issue can have a T-shirt that says, SMS if too shy to buy. Some
people would claim this approach is inhumane because it takes away the
dignity of the homeless. Is an edgy, funky approach humane if it
substitutes dignity for practical help, yet raises awareness and exists in
the absence of a more effective approach?
In Melbourne, homelessness is still considered to be the fault of the
person on the street and not the society in which they live. When
government policy creates a situation that people cannot cope with, is it
always the persons fault that they are not capable of self-sufficiency?
On the other hand, some people really are lazy benefits-grazers. And
legislated freedom can also be too much for some people.
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Same Company, Same Result

I knew Bic pens and cigarette lighters were made by the same
company because of how regularly I lost them both. Id swear that they
had invented evaporating plastic, and they should immediately become
the worlds sole supplier of plastic shopping bags and any other plastic
product that ends up in the ocean.
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Religious/Spiritual Symbols the Key to our

Unconscious?
Could focussing intently on crystals, crosses, crescents and cards
provide a pathway to our spiritual centres, gods, or unconscious? Or
does the focus on them just create a powerful mental association that
releases the appropriate drugs in our brains that give us the feeling of
revelation?
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Self-censoring
Is self-censoring of thoughts and ideas wise? Maybe it is important
to tell ourselves mentally to shut up when we think wrong thoughts,
because repetition of thought could lead to action. If that is the case,
repetition of negative thought could lead to harmful actions and perhaps
they should be censored by ourselves.
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Relationship with Beliefs
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A Case for God

Mr Magoo leans on his cane,
Reciting madly, again and again,
I dont exist and yet I do,
Because Im real to believers in Mr Magoo!
A persons beliefs encompass their religions, political beliefs and

opinions about the truth of the world around us and the people who
inhabit it. They include our prejudices, conclusions based on our
experiences, and the opinions of people that we respect. The brain
makes sense of its surroundings as it tests the world and builds a map of
reality and its beliefs as it goes. The brain makes up a story about its
experiences and revises a cause-and-effect table in order to predict
future outcomes. This is how it happens (the process), but religion,
beliefs and spirituality try to answer why it happens (the meaning or
purpose.) Unfortunately the how and the why of what happens in our
lives are both called the reason things happen. This can cause
confusion, because I can say,
We are here because God wants us to live lives that worship
Him.
I can also say,
We are here because of a gradual evolution towards life that came
from the stars.
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Because they are both reasons that we are here some people say
that only one of them can be true, even though they could both be
partially or fully true without contradicting each other. It is also possible
for two purposes or processes to not be mutually exclusive in describing
life, death and our universe.
Do you ever wonder whether every living thing is connected to
every other living thing? Do you ever wonder if theres a single source
of life from which all other life has come? Have you ever wondered if,
somehow, each person has become cut off from their awareness of the
source of life, and because of this we think we are alone?
We fight other people and ourselves. We argue, we hate, we love,
we like, and we have relationships with other people around us as if we
are individual islands. But it might be possible that were actually all
connected to each other. If that was true or at least if everybody
believed it - would you kill another person because you disagreed with
them? Would you hurt another person because you were hurting? Or
would you share what you had, helping strangers as well as friends?
Belief leads to hope. Belief in magical, improbable realities is
energising and motivating. It leads to meaning and purpose in our lives.
Meaning is an intended message, idea or symbolism. Purpose is the
intention behind a plan, action or event.
What is spirituality? Some people say that spirituality is the deep
relationship or connection that a person has with their higher power,
gods, spirits, nature, consciousness, or life force. I believe spirituality
may be nothing more than paying attention to what you are doing.
Some people define other people as spiritual only if they perform
certain actions:
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How can you be spiritual if you dont go to church?

How can you be spiritual if you dont meditate?
How can you be spiritual if you dont feed poor people?
He knows so much about the bible. Hes so spiritual.
I have an unprofessional and probably inaccurate break-down of
the word spiritual. It is derived from the similar sounding superritual, which is a repetition of action in order to focus your attention.
Who or what is God? Is it you, me, someone else, or something
else? Is God the provider of all luck, justice, delights and damnation,
before this life, during it, and after it? Is God the provider of pain,
pleasure, justice, injustice, fortune, misfortune, boredom, excitement,
good, evil, hunger, fulfilment, desire and satisfaction? Is God the
engineer, designer, producer and director of everything, as well as
nothing? Who the hell is this God? There is no evidence of his existence
that exists outside of circular reasoning.
Sometimes I thought that the universe was teaching me lessons
through the television. It is more likely that the messages on television
are decided upon by committees of people and then repeated adnauseum in order to drive them home. A God would do that, too, if it
had good teaching practises. Once again, the how and why do not
necessarily contradict each other.
As a scientist, if the evidence fits the explanation, then why not

draw conclusions with the small proviso that they may be proved wrong
in the future? Why need a timeless answer to timeless questions? A why
answer tends not to be able to be disproved with a how answer. For
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example, knowing how the brain and memory operates doesnt mean
that the universe is not talking to me, but rather how it talks to me. The
belief in a benign consciousness communicating with me by
manipulating my brain chemistry is as believable as intervention
beyond the laws of physics. This is the difference between the handsoff approach of a God versus the hands-on interventionist approach
of a God. Can a God really control the multiple positive feedback
effects that would result if he broke the laws of physics to perform a
miracle?
I dont believe in God. I dont believe that God doesnt exist. I just
dont believe that God does exist. Im not an atheist and Im not a
believer. I do believe that people who think that every word in the bible
(as interpreted by their spiritual leaders) is to be taken as literal truth are
doing themselves, their families and friends, and the people who started
the religion a personal disservice.
The incredible extremes of the carrots and sticks of religions are far
too convenient tools for behaviour modification. Ultimate pleasure and
ultimate pain are the ultimate threats to keep people true to the faith so
that they dont leave, and so that they can have their will and actions
funnelled, controlled, directed and manipulated. If a god does not stop
unfair suffering then he is either unable or unwilling. Why would a god
of love be unwilling to do this? An ineffable plan? What if the god is
unable? Then he does not deserve the title. Why would a god break
every commandment except for the ones about loving god, and hold his
own people to a higher standard than himself?
On the basis of believing in the literal truth of the bible, organised
fundamentalist religion is pushing for Intelligent Design to be taught in
schools. Intelligent Design is Creationism dressed up as science.
Creationism is the belief that the universe could only have been created
by a god. It is also wrapped up with the belief that the universe was
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created by God in six days according to the Christian bible. Any

scientific discovery that discounts this belief has an answer that is
invented by the Intelligent Design protagonists reinterpreting the bible
or rejecting the science. For non-fundamental religious people, it must
be like having the Klu Klux Klan side with you in your fight for moral
justice - you just dont want them to represent you!
If religions do not want to have their foundations challenged by
scientific discovery they should limit their articles of faith to an
untestable and unprovable body of statements. Only then will they have
a chance of being free of the threat of scientific discovery. Its the
agenda of the Intelligent Design theorists, rather than their ideas, that I
disagree with. The acceptance of the bible as a scientific document is
ludicrous and most likely never intended by the writers.
Intelligent Design also is beset by yet another religious circular
argument: if a designer had to design the universe, then who designed
the Designer?
Oh, he always existed. Outside of time!
Isnt it then just as plausible to believe the universe always existed?
Perhaps oscillating out to infinity and down to a pinprick and back to
infinity in order to fit our understanding and scientific measurements?
Funnily enough, Intelligent Design is not as intuitively unreasonable
compared with having to believe that life sprang accidentally from
atoms banging around. We live in a world that unwinds and have a law
that describes it. I cant bang two rocks together until they become a pet
dog. But the more you learn about science, the more you realise that it
is all about confronting your common sense with evidence.
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In America, as well as elsewhere, there is constant debate and legal

cases to teach Intelligent Design in schools. As usual, people with
agendas blind themselves and lie wittingly or unwittingly to attain their
goals, either by omission or commission. This is like any other battle
between ideologies. If you call it a war, even immoral acts will be
justified in the name of Truth. In fact, most major religions fight for the
right to teach children the tenets of their beliefs in government-funded
schools. The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights actually
protects a parents right to educate their children as they see fit, which
includes religious education.
Socrates, a Greek philosopher, talked about how to assemble the
ideal nation-state in which the majority of citizens would be happiest. In
his discussion he mentioned the importance of a mythology that united
the states people. If belief is considered necessary to the human for
hope, moral guidance, purpose, a sense of direction and meaning in
their life, maybe we should not drive it out of society in the name of
science. Maybe we should believe in a system (as if belief was a
choice!) where every human is included in the saved; there is no
apocalypse; and, where we keep coming back into the world of our own
making. There would be no eternal punishment, because that seems like
a great waste of a consciousness. Then we would understand that every
good thing we do compounds with interest over time and that we are all
fragile. There would be no infidels. But how, then, would you protect
your people from unbelievers if they wanted to lead your believers
away from the mythology?
Socrates thought that the rulers of an ideal state should be allowed
to lie for the good of the people. He suggested that a lie in the form of
religious belief be given to the people in order to bind and strengthen
them. At the end of The Republic, by Plato, he described a mythology
about what happens to a person after death and their journey towards
being reborn in another body, with a period of purgatory for the souls of
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people who lived an evil life. The purpose of this, I assume, was to
encourage/scare people to be sacrificial and do good in their lives.
Considering his love of truth, I struggle to come to terms with his
arguments that lying is sometimes good for the benefit of the state and
its people.
What good is lying to protect people? Is the manipulation of
peoples weaknesses in order to achieve personal goals acceptable? A
leader may lie with the peoples best interests at heart, and yet the very
act is a betrayal of trust that makes us look on them with suspicion. Lies
can give a people strength that they need to face adversity as a state. Is
it acceptable to fuel those beliefs? At what cost? For what profit? Does
the truth matter if The People are motivated to protect themselves and
the state they represent?
Socrates also questioned the positive effect of democracy as a form
of rule on the state and the people in it. He suggests that tyranny is the
next stage of development for rule from democracy. This is interesting
to think about in todays age where the strength of a tyranny may be
required to make decisions required to avoid global climate catastrophe
(if those scientists are to be believed.)
I believe that humanity needs to come before religion. An
unbeliever is human and owed kindness. But how do you protect
yourself and your loved ones from evil intents, people and purposes?
Do some people really need the threat of eternal death to hold them
back from doing something truly horrific? Or do they need the promise
of eternal fun to help them do something truly horrific in the name of
their beliefs?
Socrates story about reincarnation includes losing all of your
memories before you are reincarnated. This makes it as unprovable as
the religions which believe in dying and going to heaven. As an
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alternative, though, remembering each past life would make the

eventual boredom scary to contemplate. It would be like the movie,
Groundhog Day, where the character played by Bill Murray continually
wakes up to the same morning and spends a good number of endlessly
repeating days trying to find a way out of the loop. Through many of
the loops he kills himself in despair.
One theme of the movie is that the universe/fate/god has a purpose
for you to fulfil and will keep confronting you with a situation until you
progress past it. There would be no regrets if that was the case in reality.
In our reality, though, opportunities do get lost forever. That is why it is
important to try to do the right thing the first time. It is also important to
be forgiving to ourselves and others when we make a mistake with
permanent consequences - even more so, when we understood what we
were doing, and what the consequences were going to be before we
made it.
Reincarnation may as well not exist unless we can learn from our
past lives. If life-regression hypnotherapy is true it could only serve to
make people excited that the world is more amazing than we currently
comprehend. That should give us hope for a better future than the one
that we predict based on our current situation as a flawed, finite, selfish
people in a dying world.
In Victoria, there are laws against the vilification of another
religion. Vilification is defined as the making of vicious and
slanderous comments. What is the test of the viciousness of ones
words? That a person wants to publicly teach that another person is
dangerous because of what they believe. The law now says that a
teacher or preacher should be held legally accountable for their critical
public convictions about the dangers posed by violent beliefs in other
organisations.
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In religion, only the strongest, most self-interested people get to the

top. Our fearless leaders are not the sacrificial servants they are
supposed to be (in Christianity, anyway.) They are often the most
skilled in the art of deception, diplomacy, division, and manipulation.
Put your hope in them if you are sure they are going where you want to
go. Follow them if you have nothing better to do.
A tide of public opinion is turning against religion as the cause of
many of our current wars and woes. But religion is just the expression
of our beliefs in a possible future. As humans, we predict the future in
our heads and plan our actions around those predictions. The ability to
believe in unprovable, irrational facts frees the human to take action in
the face of hopelessness. The willingness to do this underpins our
efforts to strive for a future for ourselves and what we care for in the
face of depressing and demoralising facts about the demise of the world
in which we live. The efforts and collective ability is directed by the
will of the leaders. When religion is understood to be little more than a
side-effect of our beliefs about reality that promotes human progress and madness, too - then we can take a more balanced view of its utility
and worth.
From about seven years old, I tried to have a relationship with God.
God was the ultimate imaginary friend. If you had a relationship with
God, you didnt just have a friend... you had a superhero for a friend. If
you asked him, he could right wrongs, change your heart, change your
mind, change your world, change your perception of the world, and be
there for you. He would understand you when nobody else could. He
would listen to you when nobody else would. He could make your heart
explode with joy or provide a soft landing when it was falling towards
the dark depths. He was the best friend ever. If I wasnt a guy, I would
have married him. I believed that following God implied being
subsumed in religious practice. This belief continued until I was twentyone years old.
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I was a piece of food that wanted to be eaten. I was a child

searching as hard as I could for a paedophile. I was asking people if
they had any lollies on them. I actively groomed myself and then with a
swag full of hope and unanswered questions I looked for a religion that
could make sense of the universe for me and answer all my questions
about right and wrong. I looked for a mouth that I could put myself in. I
looked to religion as a replacement for a fulfilling, healthy, sex-filled,
loving, human companionship which would have solved - and did
eventually solve - my crushing loneliness.
Eventually the religion on whose altar I sacrificed all my other
relationships digested me and shat me out of its arsehole. I recorded my
feelings along the way in poetry written from the age of about fifteen
years old.
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Train Set
Spinning, spinning, spinning ever around,
Like a model train set, imprisoned
In an endless circle until the energy which
Gives it life is turned off by the hand of a giant
Enthusiast (at his whim) whom the tiny toy train never
Comprehends.
The circle of track has a tunnel
Night/Day
Night/Day
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Search Still
Still I search with blind and misguided eyes
Still I walk the path I so much despise
When I stand among the unknown
The fears rise which I am told
Are unnecessary, for I cannot be hurt
Beyond death.
Beyond death
I feel?
I search still?
I meet my maker!
But I am still here
And I still live in fear.
And hypocrisy.
May I crawl out of my shell of these human failings
And into the arms of the comforting mother
And into the words of the comforting father
And into the light
My companion to be, the search is my destiny?
Do I get to share it with a friend,
The special one who chooses to share with me?
God dictate my destiny.
I place myself in the hands of thee.
So why do I still look for the mask which pleases
To qualify one for eligibility?
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Spiritual Expansion
Play the game of spiritual expansion
Theres many different ways
Therere many different levels on which
You choose to live your day
Your options are as follows:
Worship your guru and follow his wisdom
Live to his word and be part of his dominion
If you live by the sword, you will die by the sword,
If you live by the dollar, you will die by the dollar
Worship yourself and you close your eyes
to the poor of soul and materials cries
If you live by the self, you die by yourself
If you take out an eye, you will lose an eye
Worship God and live to his word
So that his wisdom can be seen and heard
If you live by God, you die beside God
But youll live forever for your lifes endeavour.
Live and love, grow and show
Expand yourself spiritually
And youll be shown
The bliss of living a life of good
The life God thought we really should
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Live by anyone but He

And youll not grow up spiritually
With the Holy Spirit in your soul
But rather, therell expand a hole
Of blackness filled with flashes of hate
Youll be knocking at hells gate
The gate beyond which hate is pure
Suffering is painful to endure
Truth is hidden and love destroyed
The Devils toys will play with you.
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Please
How lucky we are. How blessed we are
That our God hates sin and evil.
That Hell use his power to help us see
Our deeds are wrong and evil.
Praise God! He wont tolerate or compromise.
He hates all wrong, but he loves the right.
He doesnt change to suit His mood.
In Him we can trust and not take fright.
Be not afraid, He commands in a thundering voice.
How can we not be? resounds the plaintive reply.
Be still and know that I am God,
The one who delights in all that is right.
Jesus preaches, I stand at the door,
And wait for you to let me into your core,
Because I hate it when people serve with their mouths.
They have whitewashed walls, but a desolate house.
Father, Son, Holy Spirit, help me see
Your righteous nature for I am suspicious.
Open my eyes to your love for my life
And the room you are placing my heavenly riches
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Strive
Running through the windswept reeds
They try to break my flow
My passage through time
My passage through mind
To a place of eternal peace
My God inspires such delights
Such as I cannot imagine
For the reeds which stem my flow
Also blind and cripple me
Until I think Im left alone
My instincts, Oh human nature
Thou hast oft left me in distress
I placed my faith in thee
and yet ye chase your wan desires
But all the time I only asked
My goodness to transpire
I wish to tune myself to the voice
Which comforts in time of sorrow
I only ask to hold the hand
Which promises life tomorrow
I strive toward the path of truth
The perception of right and wrong
From the viewpoint of my Gods eyes
So that I may not be misled by Satans spies
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I pray that I may be lifted up high

By the beauty that I may sometime fully realise
The reeds are high
They block the view
But with Jesus with me I jump for joy
And see above the strangling grass
For maybe just a second
At the beautiful garden which lies beyond
The one we know as Eden Paradise.
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Psalm 1
Lord, write your words across my heart,
So that under Satans attack it may impart,
Your message of hope to my doubtful mind
To restore trust: my salvations lifeline.
When my family and friends try to convince me
Not to take your words so seriously,
Satans arrows fire at my soul,
To weaken my reason and resolve.
But, Lord, I return to your words of promise,
That implore me not to compromise
On your message of turning from sin in repentance,
To live by your word in loving obedience.
Your wisdom and love form my fortress!
May I take refuge there in times of duress.
I pray that by you my spirit be taken,
Before Satans salvoes leave me shaken.
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Psalm 2
Lord, make your words guide my every footfall.
Write them on my heart to be seen by all,
So that those who seek may be shown the way
To receive life; and in your light remain.
I love your work in the lives of the earnest,
The seekers of truth and light.
Though we all fall far short of your glory,
Your sons death has set us right.
Bring the righteous to glorious salvation,
Regardless of religion or nation.
Continue your work until all who are open,
Can be fished from the worlds sinful oceans.
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Psalm 3
If ever I am proud, cut me down, my Lord,
That my heart may not harden against your Word.
Protect my soul from the sin that is rife,
Before its cancerous growth spells the end to my life.
Upon my heart, Lord, shine your light
So my sins may be seen and then set right.
Listen to my pleas to change my heart;
Bestow grace, and force Satan to depart.
Lord, I am crushed in the face of the sin
Revealed from the depths of my heart within,
Change me and lift me, I humbly pray,
So I may praise you again with joyous acclaim.
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1993
Dawn has broken on a New Year
And some lessons have been learned.
I still succumb to the control of fear
But change is coming, for which Ive yearned.
The biggest thing in myself I hated
Was laziness, apathy, and inaction.
The battle against these has not abated
But I now have the chance to build conviction.
My aim by the end of 1993
Is to be filled with Gods peace;
To give God the reins so He can lead
And Ill enjoy the victories!
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Anger
Redness cascading like blood down the walls of my sanctuary.
My centre; the bedroom of my mind; my haven of security
Was invaded, peace shattered, the beast has moved in.
The beast is anger radiating and intensifying my sin.
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Anxieties
People will let me down but God wont.
He cares for me more than dandelions,
But they are clothed beautifully.
He made nature entwined
So why do I still worry?
Joy? Where is it?
Hidden behind a dark curtain
On which life is projected.
I want to want the best for others
Security that I have what I need
Content with what Gods given me
Just happy to be free.
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The Search for Acceptance

The mind plays games just under the surface
With the people I talk to. It has its purpose
To extract some love and confirmed acceptance
Against myself works this ungodly offence.
But its mine, I mustnt deny the truth
Or hide that Im selfish and my acts are proof.
I dont like others seeing me out of control,
But honesty is a balm that soothes the soul.
I draw out too many long-winded reasons
For remaining fruitless over four seasons.
I want to find justification, to feel OK,
But Ive learnt that I just want to do it my way And take credit for life, money, a girlfriend and power
Without being humble to God and letting faiths flower
Bloom into peace and acceptance of grace
And delight in being able to show God my face.
Delight yourself in the Lord, He says,
And He will give you the desires
of your heart. So accept the Lords precepts,
Because thats how Hell lift your life higher.
God has accepted me as an elected one.
What more do I want if Im a treasured possession?
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Lonely
I asked God to let me see
The reasons I felt - emotionally,
In my chest - a hole, a longing
But Im Christian! Wheres my sense of belonging?
I yearn, I cant deny it.
Im supposed to feel joy.
The world teaches that to be happy,
I need a woman, sex, toys and money.
Maybe a drink would soothe the feeling But only for a bit. It would return again.
Could I be ready to write poetry again?
Last time it gave me joy.
All these distractions are temporary.
God! Why arent you close to me?
Or is something ready to come out?
Things are never as bad as I dream.
I can and do bury myself in a pursuit.
But now that Ive stopped, and Im at rest,
The yearning remains.
Father, show me what I yearn for.
I will not be afraid.
I feel like I have no anchor.
I like feeling this way.
Am I just being compulsive?
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Poetic Balm
The soul must be searched
Decisions are mine
Am I looking back
On my emotional bind?
On self-solution of my souls troubles
For my own self-worth
Am I rejecting my spiritual rebirth?
Why did I throw out
The poems from the past?
I no longer needed them
But my heart didnt want to let go of them
And I want them back
I threw them out, out of emotion.
So long as I live life under Gods wisdom
I will grow (thanks to God) as part of His kingdom.
This truth will not change: that he knows what I need.
So be humble, my heart, and water the seed
That God planted in you and watered with love.
And remember the seed is sprinkled with blood.
May it flower through faith understanding Gods grace
And that God gives me reason to run out this race.
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I Just Wanna Feel, OK?

Its simple, Im frustrated, and
I just wanna feel, OK.
Im solutions oriented, so how do I change
Cos I just wanna feel OK.
Maybe if I do some good acts among others,
Ill be able to sleep at ease among brothers,
Having done my lot to erase the guilt
My foundation of safety once again firmly built
Only to fall again?
But wait!
I think Ive missed something
If the Word is so simple why do I forget?
The words that I read are so hard to accept.
Why should a promise of life, a free gift to us all
Make my heart contemptuous, if anything at all?
For I wanted to be able to help myself
And take pride in what I do and say.
I wanted the credit for my life and my fruit.
I just wanted to feel OK.
Oh, heart! Be silent! Be humble! Look on!
Accept and appreciate Gods gift of his son.
Surrender your life to the master above.
Youll be OK, by living under his love.
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Deflated
From the first you have to obey
Do the lot from your very first day.
But I dont love, Dont worry, just obey.
For the right heart, youll just have to pray.
I cant go on
To the beat of a heartless drum
Swallowing whatever comes
Commands sugar-coated
With the promise Ill be loaded
And rewarded after Ive passed on
If I just keep preaching along
But I have read, if I dont love
I wont be getting a thing from above.
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Death of a Conscience
Day by day, I see a little less
Of the rocky road that will lead me to happiness
Day by day, my feelings get more suppressed
I tune the radio to the station thats the loudest
But Im not depressed
Like a fading dream, is the hope I hold
To break down and cry, could I be so bold?
To open up my eyes, to see what Im told
To get into life, before Im too old, too old
Ive grown cold
Inhumanity no longer seems so bad to me
I feel nothing in the face of a worlds screams
I feel nothing in the face of my broken dreams
Nothing in the future really matters, or so it seems
There are no dreams
There will come a day when I stop running away,
From the things that scare me frozen today
My feet are fixed, but I think I like it that way
Help me please, dont let my life decay
I want to play in the land of the living
I dont want to fade, fade away
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Keeping The Lid On

Sin still gives me a sense of wisdom
Warning for the future
A light along a long worn path,
Open a spiritual suture.
What do I think? It depends who asks if Im angry or Im friendly if I can manipulate someone over
to my side by my sensing Of what they think - the things they feel
though I dont feel the same.
Actually, Im scared to know what I think.
Thus continues this masquerade
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Relationship with Hopes

Hope is by nature irrational. It is a vision of the future for our own
lives and the lives of people around us - those we know and those we
dont. You can hope for the demise of your enemies, fortune for your
friends, eternal life, or just your next meal. When you are able to choose
your actions based on your conscious thoughts they will be directed by
your hopes. Hope can lead you to strap explosives around yourself and
explode in the hope of a better eternity. Hope can lead you to put more
money into a slot machine in case a big win lies just behind the next
play.
Hope is most useful when evidence suggests that a course of action
is going to be useless but you want to do it anyway. If you act in the
direction of your hopes against contrary evidence (as you perceive it)
and your negative perceptions were actually wrong then hope has
served its purpose well.
It is a back-door way to act in spite of logic and reason. This
enables us to perform stupid acts as well as unwittingly wise ones. It
helps us to keep behaving in interesting ways. We usually dont know
whether we are being stupid or not until we find out if the hope was
founded. Considering how often we wrongly and negatively imagine
our unfolding futures and the contents of the minds of those around us,
hope has probably been an important contributor to our progress as a
species. It has been important to me.
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Hard (Song)
Doesnt it hurt when you try to do your best
Keep on falling down, have to get up again.
Isnt it easier not to try at all?
Mess up when youre trying and you feel the pain more.
I know when I die I grow.
Fear of life makes it come so slow.
Sometimes I feel like I cant go on.
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If I Could
If I could stop slow suicide
For long enough to be at peace
With the second law of thermos slide
Id come to terms with lifes disease
Id plan the projects I desire
To raise everyones living standard higher
Id bypass the powerful overlords
And free the masses from their cords
Cheap transports how we all can win
Not software - were not all plugged in
So where to now? Where do I begin?
A scrounge through dusty patent bins.
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Reawaken
Joy should be flooding my life every day,
My strongest emotions were felt when alone.
Now there is nothing, I feel numb and fake
A con-man searching for the next easy take.
So many changes, out on a limb,
Fear over-riding. Somethings not right
Is it all in my head? Could the years of abuse
Have convinced me that I am of no use?
I thought I was ugly
How can someone love me?
I knew love to be a catch-all
For duty and fear
I cannot believe that I can be loved
Streams of tears wait behind the veil of terror
I am losing myself, but I was lost long ago
In the passing time so painfully slow
I am in the care of an angel.
Will she leave the way she came,
Closing the door quietly on the way out?
Frustrated like I am that love came to nought.
Can I love and let go of the things I hold dear?
No one thought I was worth the time
Can I water my life with self-love and not poison
Show my strength in my weakness and not let my mind
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Take control of my body (like it doesnt know how)

And run from the man I could have been by now
Can I be honest to you and trust myself not to fuck up
The one biggest chance that Ive had to wake up.
The Way of the Peaceful Warrior, by Dan Millman was one of my

favourite books when I was in my twenties. The author specifically says
that the book is a combination of history and fiction. When writers
make this claim they allow readers and viewers to decide what is truth
and what is fictional. Guidelines for beautiful actions have a better
chance of being found in stories like these because they dont have to
rely on a solid reporting of facts. But you would have to look elsewhere
for accurate information about the author, characters and events
portrayed in his books. Claiming that a book or a movie is based on a
true story also makes the reader or viewer more likely to falsely draw
conclusions about reality, and we will discuss this later.
Peaceless Worrier describes my state of mind at most times.
Being present in every moment is preached in many self-help books.
It is a rare achievement/accident that I find can best be attained after
several drinks in the company of one good friend at a time.
Self-discovery and self-help books fill at least one shelf in nearly
every book store. Reading them can be like a breath of fresh air. But
mostly it is just a single short breath - a breath which can only be held
for a short time before being released. Sometimes it can feel like being
a victim of encephalitis in the movie Awakenings, or Charlie Gordon in
Flowers for Algernon. During this short time there is ample opportunity
to evangelise others with your new-found wisdom and generally end up
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irritating others and embarrassing yourself when you look back on your
acts during your temporary madness/sanity. They are popular, though,
because they provide hope for change.
Maybe there should be disclaimers on such books that read: If you
found this book in the self-help section of your book store, kindly tell
the staff that it will likely only help the author and that it should sit
somewhere between the reference and fiction sections - preferably with
mental health warning stickers on it.
On the other hand, if a pig eats a diamond you can find it by
digging through its shit. And so it is for many self-help books. Study,
experiment, keep what works, reject what doesnt. Like any product in
any commercial arena there are gems to be found in a morass of
rubbish. Products are advertised to varying degrees that are always
incommensurate with their quality. Advertisements are deliberately
misleading yet still informative. They leave me with the same conflicted
feeling as does some person at work who is annoying but good at their
job.
In the past I tried to believe that thoughts in my head directly or

indirectly influenced the unfolding reality around me. I either tried to
use direct mental control, magic, or an appeal to a higher power who I
believed had the ability to contravene the physical laws of the universe.
I wished that I could influence events from the smallest scale to the
largest scale without using visible or verbal cues, and with no physical
action required on my part. I tried to influence everything: making a
womans clothes fall off; affecting the results of a spinning roulette
wheel; and creating world peace. Nothing happened in spite of my best
efforts.
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But how do I know my mental requests and commands had no

effect? And if they had no effect, maybe I just didnt try hard or long
enough. Maybe I did make a difference. I can never know what life
would have been like if I didnt try, so who can tell? The only effective
interventions in the world that people claim to have caused by prayer or
thought are unprovable or vague. Time spent in prayer, reflection or
thought-control is valuable only as far as it gives you breathing space in
a busy world. The same positive effect can be achieved with rest,
meditation or exercise. No one can make a womans clothes fall off
without some physical cue. Or you can wait long enough around your
partner and then say, Hah! You didnt really want that shower! I made
you want it so that your clothes would fall off!
There is a clever trick that gets played on you by providers of
gambling games and risky investments. It involves making you think
you almost won and if you just tried again maybe this time you would
win. Dont be upset if you come close to winning the lotto or a raffle.
Almost getting five-in-a-row on a pokies machine is just the same as
missing by a mile because of the nature of chance. If you know the odds
of a gamble then you cant be upset at the outcome. It makes no sense.
It is calculated risk. If you buy into a market and are not prepared to
lose money you also cannot be upset if the market goes belly-up because you made a calculated risk. Both hope and greed confuse those
calculations.
If you were lied to about the risks by someone who stood to gain
from your investment then you probably do have a case for
misrepresentation. The next step would be seeking reparations if
possible, or accepting the most fashionable of statements that crooks
masquerading as writers, retailers and businessmen love to remind us:
caveat emptor buyer beware.
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Relationship with Knowledge
142

Knowledge represents an ever-changing body of information about
the world around us and the ways and workings of the people that
inhabit it. In the area of science one result of knowledge is the
technological progress we enjoy and endure. In the realm of history and
the social sciences knowledge provides a way to avoid repeating past
mistakes that we have made as a society (so long as decision-makers are
both aware of history and willing to learn from it.) It provides us with
new reasons to leave our uninformed prejudices behind.
Science can be described as a collection of testable knowledge that
often goes against our common sense. We are continually confronted
with new conclusions that are based on continuously consistent results
of experiments. When these conclusions contradict our current
prejudicial thinking we have an opportunity to give up our prejudices,
wrong thinking and wrong learning in favour of the evidence. Science,
though, can actually be used to bolster and generate new prejudices. An
example of this in Nazi Germany was the use of Darwins theory of
evolution to justify the purification of their race and elimination of
undesirable people in their territories for the future strength of the
German nation.
It is important to discover knowledge about ourselves in order to
understand our behaviour in new ways. Where previously we used
moral guidelines to judge and grade our behaviour, I believe that the
unfolding scientific understanding of our minds and brains will lead us
to a more generous attitude to human behaviour... even if it does not
necessarily enable us to change it! It will also allow government and
business to better plan around our new understanding of which
behaviours are considered voluntary and involuntary. There are three
areas of knowledge about our brains that operate as pillars underpinning
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our understanding about human behaviour: that our behaviour is shaped

by our brains experiences; that the world can be changed for a person
by changing their perceptions; and that our will and spirit is a product
of the brain interpreting our bodies experiences.
Now that we are learning more than ever about our universe and
the life which inhabits it, how can we ensure that our hard-won
knowledge over time is protected and not lost? When the Alexandria
Library in Egypt was attacked over a period from fifteen hundred to two
thousand years ago, a collection of most of the worlds knowledge was
lost.
Although a few cultures now still do not have a written language,
for most cultures spoken word as it was passed from generation to
generation was surpassed by paintings of pictures, written words, audio,
film and video recordings, and now the internet. Over time, a lot of
knowledge has been lost, destroyed or degraded beyond usefulness. The
context in which knowledge was recorded also becomes lost or
forgotten over time which makes the task of correctly interpreting old
information to extract knowledge from it prone to errors based on a
reading of it from the point of view of a different cultural context.
The internet is particularly prone to losing information or having it
changed over time for the purpose of correcting wrong information or
obscuring correct information. It has accelerated the process of the
rewriting of history on-the-fly. The loss and rewriting of history
concerns me, especially in the area of the archiving of real news stories
which contribute to our view of the world as it recedes into our past.
On-line news websites can be changed and updated without being
required to make a note of the post-publishing edits. A lot of websites
and software disappear over time and the information in them is gone
until it is recreated or re-discovered.
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This issue was brought to my attention when my father acquired a

copy of Barry Humphries book Bizarre. He bought it after sourcing it
and ordering it on the internet. It is an exceptional collection of strange
articles and photographs that is well out of print. Its equivalent on the
internet, the web forums of strange news, could disappear long before
Bizarre ever does. And so we lose cultural endurance. Whether cultural
endurance is considered valuable is for another discussion, but lets
assume for now that it is - for historys sake, at least.
It would be nice to publish a lot of websites in paper form, then
publish them as books to be kept in libraries so that they have less
chance of becoming lost. But finding books in the real world is harder
than finding information on the internet. So we have a conundrum: is it
better to find volatile information easily or have a harder-to-search
collection of longer-lasting records?
Information in a library is more permanent than information on the
internet but this situation is beginning to changing. The creation of
websites like The Wayback Machine,5 which archive web pages that
they have indexed by taking a snapshot of the whole website at a time,
enables you to compare different versions of a web page over time.
Websites like Wikipedia save an edit history of changes made to their
pages so that you can see the changes that occurred to each page, when
it happened, and who made the change. The ability for information to
be copied many times around the internet also safeguards its survival.
Archiving websites helps to ensure that we do not lose knowledge
in the passage of time. It is now beginning to seem as if knowledge on
the internet has a chance of lasting longer than records on paper or rock.
Whether we can easily find what we want in the future is altogether
another question.
5
Wayback Machine, http://www.archive.org/web/web.php
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One problem with the transition from paper to internet technology

for the storage of our worlds knowledge is in the transfer of
information that is currently only in paper form to the internet. Google
(with copyrighted books and scholarly papers) and The Gutenberg
Project (with uncopyrighted books) have programs currently running
which are in the process of doing this. One area of information which
will be lost forever, though, will be the newsgroups and discussion
forums which existed in the early days of the internet. Google went
some way trying to save old internet newsgroups by uploading old
archived backup tapes into their website but a lot of the information has
already been lost.
I wrote a program that was one of the first internet software
downloading programs in 1997. It was called Jackhammer. It was
distributed by Sausage Software and even got bundled with an early
retail deluxe version of the Netscape Navigator web browser. Even
though the program was also distributed on the internet, I cant find the
version that I wrote anywhere. I can find later versions but not the
original one.
Some people are concerned that the standard of our written literacy
is declining as a result of instant messaging on phones and on the
internet. Some claim that grammar and spelling is not being taught in
Australia in a way that is consistently producing literate people. Clive
James suggests that without a good vocabulary, we cannot hope to pick
fine distinctions between ideas and arguments. There is an argument
suggesting that the range of concepts we are capable of thinking about
is restricted by our language; a limited vocabulary will result in a
limited understanding of concepts and issues in the world around us.
This also describes the relationship between a lack of education and its
associated prejudices.
Illiteracy is not the only contributor to prejudice, though. Most of
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our prejudices are passed on by our authority figures and our peers.
Economic factors can also contribute to prejudice in a way that can be
confused with education factors. Immigration threatens the jobs of
lower income earners more than higher income earners. Lower income
earners are often less educated than higher income earners. Lower
income earners are more resentful of immigration than higher income
earners. Is the prejudice, then, because of less education or is it because
lower income earners have to share more jobs and government
assistance with immigrants?
The availability of YouTube.com and websites like it allow us to
record ourselves talking in a way that was never done by past cultures
that relied on oral tradition. In oral traditions, the story could change
with each telling, distorting through the generations and with each
telling. Some societies, though, had a class of people who took pride in
flawless repetition of the societies stories. One could have hoped that
writing would stop the rot in each telling, but context is lost in time
because the meaning of words in a language gradually change. When a
book is two thousand years old it has as much chance of being
understood exactly as intended by the author as if they had sent a
Chinese whisper two thousand years into the future.
Have you listened to comedy from one hundred years ago? The
burp and fart jokes are still funny but most of the rest requires an
education in the literature and history of the time in order to appreciate
the humour. How much more so do we need to study the culture and
times surrounding the religious texts that are supposed to direct our
lives? I would say that without this background knowledge, we cant
trust what we read in religious texts. Should we trust the interpretations
made by the people who claim to represent them? Ignore what they say
if they require you to treat unbelievers as if they have less rights than
you.
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When can we consider our knowledge of scientific theories as

ideas, hopes, beliefs, or fact? We stand between our own beliefs and the
forecasts, projections and conclusions of thousands of experts in their
respective scientific fields. An expert has a better chance than you of
being correct when talking about their own fields of expertise. But their
ideas are hard to swallow because they require a raising of our
awareness and an acceptance of a bigger reality. They may require a
different relationship with the people and the world around us, and they
may produce remorse and regret for our actions in the past based on
outdated beliefs. Their conclusions may also not actually be true
because they are only based on evidence available at the time. We can
make a decision to ignore their evidence based on our own faith
because they might be wrong or because we believe that thousands of
years of unchanging beliefs are not wrong. The website Edge.org asks a
question every year which over one hundred scientists and thinkers
attempt to answer. Following is a distillation of the answers to the
question asked in 2006: What is your dangerous idea? It is an
overview of what many scientists suspect might be true, and if so, what
it might mean for us...
We are not persistent, but an ever-changing mass of beliefs,
perceptions and attitudes. It seems impossible even for a thought to
maintain its identity over time. We are bacterial in nature and we are not
created equal. We have cultural and genetic differences between people
that are quantifiable and measurable. Human equality is a commitment
to equal individual rights rather than group rights, and not a statement
that all groups are indistinguishable. Our brains and bodies are evolving
and we arent the same people we were in recorded history. We are
freak accidents, able to reflect on our own existence. Even our countries
are not permanent and persistent. No U.S. president has died under the
same flag he was born under. The nation-state will disappear.
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Nature abhors a gradient. Air fills a balloon evenly. Water flows

downhill. Lifes role is to store energy to reduce the solar gradient over
distance. The discovery of a life-creating combination of a monomer (a
naturally occurring light connection of molecules) and energy would
help the idea that life is almost inevitable. If the laws of physics were
different, we wouldnt be here to ask why they are what they are. The
laws of physics are the result of evolution by natural selection. They
may not be permanent throughout the universe, but local environmental
conditions.
Science will probably not ever be able to explain the origins of life.
We wont even understand animal navigation without a whole new
scientific field. Every possible known mechanism for how homing
pigeons navigate has been tested against and found wanting. Our
scientists dont really understand plutonium either, and we have
thousands of ageing plutonium weapons in storage around the world.
Our brains and minds are pattern-matching drug factories. They
react when they detect sensory or logical connections. They produce
drugs when stimulated with certain experiences, like sexual play.
Oxytocin creates feelings of social bonding, dopamine creates pleasure,
and adrenaline creates feelings of excitement. Safe behaviour is a way
to discover novelty without taking risks - dopamine without adrenaline.
The long-term effects of mood-stabilising drugs are unknown, but they
are being prescribed indefinitely. Serotonin-enhancing anti-depressants
may lead to less love in the world and hence more social and political
atrocities. But the brain can handle a very weird future, so it may be
fine, anyway.
Mental discomfort requires new beliefs for alleviation. When a
persons behaviour is unjustified, cognitive dissonance occurs until their
beliefs are moved into line with their behaviour. Weaknesses in our
ability to think analytically are being discovered in behavioural
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economics and evolutionary psychology and are being exploited in

advertising.
Ideas can be dangerous, and the ground should be prepared before
letting them out. Ideas are capable of destroying everything we know.
Expressing unspeakable ideas may help uncover more truth. False ideas
like racism can spread and be dangerous, but true ideas like how little
free will we have can also be dangerous. Maybe considering that ideas
can be dangerous is a dangerous idea. Creativity is natural selection
operating on ideas. There are not enough minds to house the modern
explosion of ideas, so people will feel more alienated as common
knowledge decreases over time. But if we live in a society where all the
public discourse is reasonable and agreeable, it might be time to get out
of here. Giving equal time to opposing points of view is also farcical.
Time should be apportioned based on the likelihood of each divergent
view.
The differences between humans and non-humans are quantitative,
not qualitative. We do not have a soul that survives death. The soul is an
illusion perpetuated only by our belief in it. Spiritual and unprovable
beliefs are biological and inevitable. For many people, personal death
must be denied in order to go on living. Accept that life begins at birth
and ends at death. When the mind is considered a universally
distributed quality and not a pinpoint in our own heads, loneliness fades
and death matters less. Seeing chance and necessity as the causes of the
appearance of design in creation is not a stupid viewpoint.
We suffer from an illusion of seeing. When we look at a whole
scene with our eyes, we think we have taken the lot in, but many items
can be swapped in and out of it without us noticing. Our brains
complete incomplete pictures, end incomplete sentences, and complete
incomplete thoughts. They create reasons for absurdities, draw
conclusions from incomplete evidence and put words and feelings into
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the mouths and minds of everything around them sometimes even into
inanimate objects.
Eye contact creates and stimulates a relationship between two
living things. But we dont know for sure if certain creatures on this
planet are self-aware. For all we know, the internet may already be selfaware.
Based on how complex the brain is, we probably cant even trust
the science we perform. Scientists, economists and psychologists often
use a single bell curve to show the probability of events. But most
bell curves should be given thicker tails than they are. This means that
unusual events are not as unusual as is often predicted. The brain is not
able to completely understand the universe, but if we give up trying we
will be giving up basic research that has provided us with so much
technological advancement.
We were shocked to find out that the Earth was not at the centre of
the universe. We were shocked to discover that we descended from
apes. For those unable to even accept these discoveries, the next shock
will be even greater. It could be the dissolution of the distinction
between reality and fiction. However, a surprising or shocking
statement does not imply anything about its accuracy. Existence is nontime, non-sequential, and non-objective. Time, sequence and objectivity
could all be mental illusions. The need for the brain to survive does not
lead it towards objective truth, except by accident.
Authenticity is becoming less required than ever before. A movie,
television, or a picture has become enough to satisfy ourselves that we
have experienced reality. Reality is an ever-evolving network of
relationships. We play computer simulations of historical times for
enjoyment. This suggests that there is a chance that we are living further
in the future than we realise that we are inside a historical simulation
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of the twenty-first century.

We continue to learn that we are less in control of ourselves than
we thought. Everyone has a different amount of free will. Free will is
exercised by the brain before we are conscious of it. Most cognitive
processes that occur in the brain do not even enter our consciousness.
Conscious deliberation doesnt drive our behaviour nearly as much as
we think. Advertisers already understand this. They smile when young
people see themselves as media-savvy, cynical and in control of their
purchasing. Learning about free will helps those threatened by it to
undermine it.
Our concept of free will, currently based on a lack of
understanding, will be destroyed by research into brain mechanisms.
This will threaten the underpinnings of democracy, because our vote
will lose its meaning. Brain research could lead to direct control of
perceptions, memories, decisions and emotions. Our society will need
to re-evaluate personal responsibility in a social and legal context.
Media experiences can unconsciously create mirrored behaviour.
Violence experienced in media creates violent behaviour. Every human
has a dark side which is evolutionarily advantageous.
We cannot fully know ourselves through introspection. Selfknowledge may not change our behaviour anyway. We are bad judges
of our own motives, especially when considering actions in the past.
Intuition may be a poor guide to moral truth. Morality evolved
biologically and psychologically, but it didnt evolve from an ethical
basis. Self-interest can be altruistic. We have different rules of
behaviour for treating us and them. These evolved in the past for
survival purposes. Its acceptable for us to kill them, but not to kill
ourselves or our families.
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Assigning blame and responsibility is a useful fiction that we may

grow out of and learn to laugh at. When wrongdoing is considered the
same way that we consider the faulty behaviour of a mechanism, the
solution will become the fixing or replacing of the broken part. Without
society fostering the desire to be a hero, we are just as likely to do evil.
Our evolved nature is only good and right for our environment.
Culture evolved through natural selection. At present, the desire for
monetary profits, combined with limited targeted funding, is preventing
the research, alleviation and elimination of basic diseases, poverty and
hunger worldwide. After immediate needs are met, people only need to
feel relatively wealthy, not objectively. The free market is a political
and intellectual scam that benefits the rich at the expense of the poor.
Extreme Islamic views about Western decadence might be accurate. Our
young generations values might be too empty to help. An ant-hill relies
on the behaviour of its ants to function. If every ant wants to be the
queen, the ant-hill will collapse. Tribal people dont have a monopoly
on wisdom, though. They often damage their own environments and
make war, too.
Free and unrestricted trade is the surest path to world peace. Global
goals of health and exploration have a better chance of stopping people
from fighting each other than ideological compromise. Societies with
steep gradients of wealth show higher death rates and disease, also
among the people at the top. However, longevity may have a huge cost
to society.
Marriage is conducive to healthy adults, thriving children and
flourishing communities. It has not been proven that a childs
development is influenced by its parents. The studies that purport to
show it lacked proper controls and statistical analysis. The concept of
parents having total control over a childs development is dangerous,
especially if it is not true. But parental licences should be awarded to
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people who are twenty-one, married and self-supporting in order to

create a happier society. Incidentally, if we could choose the sex of our
children, the world will fill with men.
Government control and security must be increased before we will
be ready for new, powerful technologies. People are becoming less and
less well-informed about science. Schools should be abolished as a
waste of time, or totally overhauled.
The internet and mobile phone technologies have created a large
increase in the ability to communicate and interact anonymously. This
removes the inhibition experienced when two people communicate
face-to-face. Most systems with increasing anonymity fail.
Technologically developed anonymity and depersonalisation could
cause social problems that our brains have not evolved to handle.
Arts effect on humanity cannot be measured or anticipated. But
artists are leading scientists in risking everything by exploring the
unknown in order to gain deeper knowledge. Humanity is not defined
by its limitations, but by its ability to transcend them.
Politics works by rewarding friends and punishing enemies. Our
current political systems are based on combat, both in getting power
and in making laws. Politics based on empathy and not adversity would
make for better government. Policy-makers should be forced to engage
historians and vice versa. Bigger governments are harmful to society.
It is undesirable to believe in a proposition when there is no ground
whatever for supposing it is true. The probability of your god being the
actual god is very small. God is a superset of emergent properties with
downward causality, like societies are to a human.
Religious tolerance is a logical farce. Religions should limit their
articles of faith to an untestable and unprovable body of statements.
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Only then will they be truly free of the threat of scientific discovery.
Calvin considered obedience to tyrants to be putting ones trust in God,
but Franklin considered rebellion against tyranny as obedience to God.
Science should become a religion so it can be commonly accepted
and gain political curry among believing voters. Confrontation between
science and religion might end when science takes on all the trappings
of religion. But then it may be even more threatening. Science must
destroy divisive religious myths, or replace them if necessary. It
actually encourages religion in the long run.
But the scientific method is not perfect. Consistency does not equal
proof. Evolutionary psychology can be used to explain any behaviour,
but doesnt clearly differentiate between guesses and conclusions. Much
of todays grand scientific speculation does not take quantum
mechanics and relativity seriously. Science is becoming impossible to
explain. We will have to fall back on dogma. Research can be an escape
from reality. Science is a language and is therefore limited in what it
can describe.
Modern science is natural - a product of biology and therefore
limited in its scope and content. The multi-verse as a scientific
explanation may prematurely end research into various phenomena.
Relativism has the potential to derail scientific progress and human
well-being. When everything is explained, humanity will atrophy.
If aliens exist, they havent made contact with us yet because they
are at home playing computer games that more easily meet their
biological cues for sex and success - reproduction and survival.
Successful families, not indulgent individuals, will meet across the
stars. But as we look out into space, nothing may be staring back.
Discovering that we are alone in the universe will drive us back to
religion.
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Technology can dissolve a nation by separating an underrepresented technologically savvy group from the technologically poor.
Educated people have fewer babies, so the more people you represent,
the less education and economic power you have. This makes
democracy unfair to the educated few who may have different goals to
the uneducated many. There may be a political system which is better
than democracy. Technology and brain limitations combine to push
human usefulness to two poles - creativity and manual labour.
The planet Earth is not in peril, but humans might be. Our longterm desires may not overcome our short-term desires, bringing
humanity to an end. When biotechnology is domesticated in fifty years,
children will be able to use toys to create diseases. For quantum field
theory to remain consistent, it is possible to fit a one thousand megaton
bomb in a car boot. But at the end of time, man will still be standing.
From 1946 until 2004 Alastair Cooke sent dispatches from America
to England for broadcast that today would be called podcasts. Everyone
with the will and an internet connection has become a correspondent by
using weblogs and websites. So how does one stand out from the
crowd? With humour? Cooke did it with a weekly letter from the New
World, America, to the old, England. He posited the idea that Al Gore with Joseph Lieberman as his running mate - lost the 2000 presidential
election because America was not ready for a Jew to become president
if something happened to Gore. I discovered this in his posthumous
collection of BBC broadcasts which spanned sixty years.6
The internet provides ways to engage other people in the world as
an alternative to the single direction of television and radio. The ability
6
Alastair Cooke, Letters from America
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to publish ourselves and read or watch the opinions of others and

comment on them has excited people to become more involved with the
future of the societies in which they live. Even though talk-back radio
and letters to editors provided people with a feedback channel to their
media, the internet has excited more people than ever about getting
involved in their societies public life. Rather than passively watching
The Simpsons, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, or South Park, and
tuning out of the deals they have made with the masters of their
governments, people are recording their own opinions and engaging in
online debate.
Some people complain that much of the news we absorb these days
makes us dumber. Commercial news doesnt make you dumb but it can
leave you uninformed and misinformed in the balance of your
knowledge. It is like advertising because its goal has become the selling
of advertising. Without lying outright it can misrepresent the facts in
order to make you want to watch a show that appeals to most peoples
values, and interests most people in the demographics of its best paying
advertisers. It tries to scare you into believing that you will be cheated
and robbed by people who are not like you unless you watch it every
night.
Is this enough to make commercial news evil? Maybe it is just
unhealthy without being deliberately destructive. It is not a crime for a
company to make money or to sell you a lifestyle. There may not even
be a desired effect on your belief systems. There may not be a global
conspiracy to control your mind. Maybe it is just an accident that in the
quest for ratings and advertising revenue our fears and prejudices are
fed, which results in increasing separation and distrust between
different people in our own community. If we have to work so hard to
filter out this manipulation of the truth in the news, why not just ignore
it, or find different sources of information about the world?
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There is so much knowledge to learn in the world that it can be

either exhilarating or overwhelming. What is this life all about? Why do
we need to know anything anyway? Why do the stories of others matter
so much to us? Why is it important that our own stories are heard by
other people? Are we just a story, winding our way through life to the
inevitable conclusion: And then he died? Is it possible that if we
opened our eyes to the stories of those who suffer poverty, war and
oppression, we would demand changes that would stop them from
fuelling and funding the powerful with their misery and cheap labour?
Ignorance is bliss but equality of rights is spread through knowledge.
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Relationship with Truth
Only Wind
Whispering breeze, you tell sweet lies
You promise so much
But you hide from us your icy blast
Two-faced wind you comfort then kill
Where is your heart and soul?
You suit your action to your whim
You live your life of hypocrisy
In ignorance of your cardinal sin
Mighty, evil or benevolent you may be
In the end, you are only wind to me.
Truth is the subject of endless arguments. The truth can be

considered objective or subjective depending on who you are, what you
believe, and whether you are in denial or not.
Its your truth only - its not my truth. Our truths cannot co-exist.
You are deluded.
Someone may say this to you because they cannot accept the truth
of what you have said. Or they may say this because they do not believe
what you have said. It is hard for them to tell the difference between the
two reasons in the heat of an argument. What is actually true to a person
is a lot easier for them to determine in hindsight. This is true even in the
simple case that statements about the future are eventually proven true
or false. If you say that smoking wont give you cancer and it does then
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the falsehood of your statement has been demonstrated. Has your stance
against an opinion bitten you on the arse? If it did, then it was the truth
and you didnt accept or believe it previously.
But this doesnt help when you are trying to work out what is true
before it bites you on the arse. In this case, keep one thing in mind: if
you dont act on anything you take to be truth then you may as well not
consider it to be true. It may still bite you on the arse but there is little
point believing something if no action is going to come of it - unless
you just want to feel better about yourself by seeing yourself as the kind
of person who believes the things that you are trying to convince
yourself that you believe. Another way of looking at this is as denial as
a calculated risk, or the ostrich effect. When an ostrich sees danger it
buries its head in the sand. But it leaves its bum exposed and can still be
bitten there by the truth even if it isnt watching.
Truth rhymes with tooth, which it can have a lot of. Be warned. Its
possible to win all sorts of debates using false arguments or aggression.
But that isnt enough to change reality. If arseholes and dickheads
actually cared, theyd wonder why they ended up being wrong so often
even though the people around them ended up acquiescing to their
powerful rhetoric and arguments. There are many ways to argue with
yourself and with other people in order to win. If the argument has
incorporated false logic in order to prevail, then the conclusion might be
wrong. If a true picture of our world is most valuable for our long-term
happiness and survival then it is important to discover the truth in order
to make the best decisions. This is in spite of happiness and survival
sometimes seeming like opposing goals.
Michael Crichton, an author of science-fiction books and
screenplays, delivered a speech in San Francisco in 20037 about how
7
http://www.michaelcrichton.com/speech-environmentalismaseligion.html
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environmentalism has become like a religion in that facts are passed

around without verification, building a structure of false belief that
mankind is on a path to certain suicide as a result of unrestrained
scientific progress. This structure of beliefs is used to influence political
decisions and the distribution of taxpayers money. In essence, he
claims that fear is being created through a fictionalised account of the
effects of certain sciences on the environment.
Considering that his fiction forthrightly uses liberal amounts of
factual science in its plot devices, and uses fear of the unexpected
impacts of science to help generate thrills and suspense as entertainment
to sell his books, the question could be asked if his stance is not
somehow hypocritical.
People try to learn facts about the world from fiction, knowingly or
unknowingly. When a movie is based on a true story, some people are
up in arms when part of the historical story is glossed over or changed
to make the story more exciting. They will believe that this is what
really happened. There are claims that the authors of these stories are
trying to rewrite history. What makes people think this? Are they
assuming that people are taking their history lessons from fictional
movies? If there is no other easy recourse for historical education then I
imagine so.
When a book is based on science, some people become angry
when the science in a book contains errors. But why should this
reaction occur at all? It does because a documentary film, non-fiction
book, or news report is expected to be unbiased and truthful. Anger is
expected when this does not prove to be the case - although all three
forms of media are using the publics trust in their faithfulness to the
truth in order to manipulate the beliefs of knowledge-seekers with
editorialised and opinionated content.
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I dont believe there is, or ever was, an onus on fiction writers and
film-makers to be truthful. Fairy tales are entertainment and nothing
more. But novels are loaded with research in order to heighten the
suspension of belief. It is also done to sell the book as more than a
fairy tale (for example, The Da Vinci Code.) Readers and moviewatchers are taking it upon themselves to learn as much as they can
about the world through books and movies that are marked as partially
fiction - or edutainment at best. But the authors of such books rest
on the fact that it is fiction they have produced when accused of factual
inaccuracies.
Some historians (including Inga Clendinnen in her Quarterly
Essay, discussing Kate Grenvilles The Secret River) rail against
authors who write novels based on historical events and documentation.
Clendinnen is concerned that authors claim historical credibility for the
purposes of being taken commercially and academically seriously
within a form of writing that does not demand it. My criticism lies in
the understanding that we try to learn about the world through the
stories that we read, watch and hear. Unless stories are clearly labelled
as fiction there should be an onus on authors to factually represent
reality within their stories, for example, a battle in the past or the
unfolding of an operation in a hospital. The details should be factually
accurate so that people are not accidentally (or intentionally for
ideological, egotistical or commercial reasons) led astray, thus
undermining the value of the genuine reporting of facts.
How fiction has changed our expectations of reality is exemplified
in our general understanding that CPR (Cardiopulmonary
Resuscitation) nearly always works. This belief is based on the number
of times it succeeds on television or in movies. In fact, it works about
2% - 30% of the time, depending on the circumstances leading to the
person requiring it. Successful resuscitation can still leave the patient
with severe problems including massive brain damage.
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Perhaps Michael Crichton is not hypocritical in his stance against

environmentalists and their methods. He is a fiction writer; they are
claiming to espouse the truth. Although he presents his novel as
informative he is not obliged or responsible for the reaction of his
readers. If they used concepts in his book as a launching point to
research and investigate the science and issues presented in his novels, I
am sure he would be gratified - or he may not care. But his outrage at
the lies peddled by environmentalists to attain global political change
and funding is justified.
I am reminded of an episode of Crossfire8 on CNN where the
presenters invite Jon Stewart (of The Daily Show9) to the show. He
proceeds to attack them for pretending to be informative when really
they are partisan hacks spouting talking points and wasting time without
asking real questions of the politicians they host. Tucker Carlsons
response to this accusation was that Jon Stewart goes soft on the people
he interviews. Jon countered that he presents a comedy show and that
CNN shouldnt be taking their cues for how to present current affairs
from the Comedy Channel.
If a piece of literature or media claims to contain facts, but is also
fictional in some way, we should be aware of it, and research further if
we are to act on the information that we presume to have learned from
the fiction. The internet provides a great forum for the discussion and
analysis of reality after the broadcast of a television show or movie.
Who owes us the truth? Only those who claim to present it.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but they are not entitled to
their own facts. - U.S. Senator Pat Moynihan
Link goes to video: http://youtube.com/watch?v=aFQFB5YpDZE
http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/the_daily_show/index.jhtml
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I used to be besotted with Michael Moore. I thought he gave me

insight and thus power when I watched The Awful Truth, Bowling for
Columbine, and Fahrenheit 911. I thought he showed me honest and
uncompromising truth. I should have known better though, having
learnt the lesson that there are people who would rather control me than
tell me the truth - I spent three and a half years in a Christian cult. Then
I read Michael Moore is a Big Fat Stupid White Man by David T Hardy
and Jason Clarke. They criticised his movies with step-by-step analysis.
Following it with a DVD remote control in my hands and Moores
movies in the player, my attitude to him changed. I bought the book
because I thought I should give an alternative view to Michael Moores
opinions my attention as part of my quest to have a balanced view of
reality. The authors stepped me through Moores manipulation frame by
frame, and after seeing it I felt quite stupid.
I still believe that Michael Moore wants to leave the world a better
place for the under-powered and under-privileged than he found it. And
if someone wants to make the world a better place by lying, then so be
it. But I dont like it if one earns peoples trust and then uses it to run
personal vendettas against conservative power-brokers, as he did in his
movies.
Unless you believe the only way to make the world a better place is
to lie to the people who care, then get fucked - or maybe become a
politician. I suppose that is what Moore is now. I cant tell for sure.
Maybe planning the delusion of your biggest fans well ahead of time
(for example, when making a movie ) is acceptable. Who can tell in
these days of moral relativism? Does the end justify the means? Maybe.
But Moore has still lost my trust. He has not lost all of it, but he has
definitely lost the unquestioning kind. This may not be a bad thing
either, except for the fact that it takes a lot of time to research
everything that an untrustworthy person claims.
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Moore used every tool (ethical and unethical) at his disposal to

raise awareness about issues he thought were important. On the internet
I saw a hilarious clip by Australian comedy group The Chaser10 who
tried to break Moores record for the number of ejections from business
headquarters which was a staple in Moores The Awful Truth television
series.11
No one is perfect. But it should be possible to achieve political
goals without pre-meditatively misleading people. What makes a person
think they are so sure of the answers to the worlds problems that they
can bypass decency and fairness in order to make a short-cut to nirvana
for everyone?
Niccol Machiavelli, an Italian diplomat and philosopher from the
fifteenth and sixteenth century, made an interesting point in The
Discourses about how wise men probably invented religion to give their
laws more power over people. They did this, apparently, because the
principles behind the laws made them worthy of uptake by the
people. Wise men and women lied about religious beliefs to the people
they cared for in order to promulgate their wisdom, or to discount the
effects of unhealthy and religiously backed words from others. This is
called pulling the wool over someones eyes for their own good.
My problem with this abuse of peoples trust (a useful tool in the
hands of marketing, advertising and political professionals) is that it
often produces cynicism and scepticism in the minds of people when
the abuse is exposed. This leads to disengagement from choosing the
type of world we wish to live in. This is the case in Australia where life
is relatively easy for most people. In countries like Mexico and Pakistan
where life for many people is difficult, politics is taken far more
10 http://abc.net.au/tv/chaser/war/
11 Google the chaser michael moore
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seriously. Hardship in potential democracies is the key to activism.

There are many more countries in the world that see representative
government as the best solution to their poverty and social problems;
and people are prepared to protest, fight and die for a chance to have it.
Lies And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them, by Al Franken is funny.
Without being totally keyed in to the political and media events
surrounding American elections - I live in Australia - sometimes I find it
hard to distinguish his irony from fact. Al Franken is caustic. Is it with
good reason? Thats what he wants you to decide.
He counters his right-wing conservative enemies with the same
tactics that they use to discredit their own enemies. He does it firmly
with his tongue in his cheek in order to illustrate their unfair actions and
style in media. He illustrates that character assassination, smear
campaigns, and brazen continuous lying by public figures can create a
public perception and distort the truth effectively, to the point of
affecting a citizens vote.
People will lie in clever ways when reputations, power and money
are at risk. Disincentive for lying can range from a lowering of trust,
reprisal, boycott and rebuke from the receiver, to financial or temporal
penalty from breach of a legal obligation to tell the truth. Power is truly
in the hands of a person when they have money, time, or trust that
another person wants. The trick is in either not being caught in a lie, or
being able to minimise or divert the damage to your self once caught.
When a drug study cannot confirm that a drug does not cause
cancer, does this mean that the drug causes cancer? No cancerous
effect should be adequate evidence of a drugs safety. But this leads to
the reason that scientists are often loathe to call theories facts,
regardless of how likely they are: an undiscovered contradiction may
still exist. If you had to advertise a drug in one of two ways, which
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would you choose?

We cannot confirm that the drug doesnt cause cancer
We cannot confirm that the drug causes cancer
If medical effects of a new substance are unknown in the longterm, there should be a blanket protection of children from its use. But
then are we depriving a child of potentially helpful treatment? Harold
Pinter, a playwright and winner of a Nobel prize for literature said that a
writer must be vulnerable and expose the truth, and that protecting
oneself from the truth with lies is akin to becoming a politician.12
Written words, particularly from the distant past (in sacred texts or
historical documents) have resulted in a lot of rubbish being regarded as
the truth. When I think of the lifestyles and mors of Eskimos, or the
wisdom of native Americans, I wonder if we would be happier had we
been raised in a society without writing. But I would probably never
have heard of these societies if I hadnt read about them - unless I lived
in a society without written language that still valued the recollection
and teaching of stories and knowledge.
12 http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/2005/pinter-lecture-e.html
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Relationship with Values
168

Values are intangible goals for our behaviour. They are usually
unachievable (or if achievable, rarely perfectly sustainable) standards
that we use to judge the actions of ourselves and others. We
discriminate against other people when we apply different expectations
of behavioural standards because of the way another person looks, acts
or talks. In one sense this can be described as prejudice. In another, we
feel the need to draw conclusions about people in order to protect
ourselves and our loved ones from the danger of abuse and
mistreatment.
The spectrum of emotional reactions to our experiences are guided
by our values: expectation, surprise, withdrawal, shock, acceptance, and
anger. Our sense of diminishing returns over time, and our experience
of famine and fortune are also guided by our values. These emotional
reactions are not to be confused with our base animal responses to the
immediate world around us: hard-wired responses to perceived threat,
potential gain, or companionship.
I saw Thai kick-boxing for the first time in 2006. The night
consisted of a number of bouts, the first of which was fought between
ten-year-old children. I wish I had taken video footage at the time
because it shocked my sense of values in a really interesting way, and I
wanted to see if it happened again on future watching and
contemplation. I dont think that children should fight in an arena for
the spectacle of a paying audience, but we were looking at the pathway
towards a potentially successful life in a different culture, and we are
often told to respect and accept cultural differences. The highlight of the
night for me was when a referee leapt and caught the head of a boy
before it hit the mat after he was knocked out by another fighter.
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Thai kick-boxing is a culturally enshrined expression and

experience of violence for the participants and the viewers. Like any
spectator contact sport, the prevalence of murder, war and violence on
our televisions, in movies and in our books is supposed to be an
appropriately dosed and acceptable containment of our animal instincts
and blood-lust. But the inclusion of violence and killing in computer
games attracts a whole new level of criticism and debate. The
assumption is that participation in a simulation is more likely to
generate similar behaviour in the real world than passively watching or
reading about such acts.
Is killing in a video game acceptable violence? When is it
acceptable to kill in a video game? In self-defence? In defence of your
squad, your family, your race or your species? Is it acceptable to kill
when your enemies are the undead or aliens or animals or robots? If it
acceptable to kill if you are not playing a human character? What if you
are killing your friends? Is it important to only allow socially acceptable
actions in video games? For that matter, is even play-fighting in real life
acceptable? Is it acceptable to allow little children to pretend to be cops
and robbers or cowboys and indians shooting each other? Or is it all just
harmless play?
The argument runs in several directions. One side argues that
watching or participating in any violence in games, sport, movies and
television desensitises us to it and consequently makes us more likely to
perform the acts in real life, or at least able to tolerate others performing
the acts. They argue that if people do something in a computer game
then they are more likely to do it in real life. It appears that there is a
scale that ranges from hearing about some act to actually perpetrating
the act that determines the power of the desensitising effect upon us.
Video games are situated somewhere along this spectrum between
passive and active real-world violence. And on this basis violent movies
are acceptable to watch but playing a game with the same acts in it is
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worse because of its immersive and coercive qualities.

Another side argues that performing violent acts in sport or a video
game, or watching and reading about them, is a release for an animal
side of humans that already exists and needs to be unleashed in a safe
way.
Another side says it is all just harmless fun and unconnected to our
actions and attitudes.
The argument reaches a new level when discussing the impact of
exposure and participation in various types of violence to people who
are susceptible to performing the acts in the first place. Violent sport
and entertainment should be restricted from people without empathy or
compassion who are susceptible to enacting what they see and
experience in other words, sociopaths, psychopaths, and
behaviourally immature people, including children and mentally
retarded adults.
People who feel hatred or an absence of emotional connection to
certain other people - because they have been damaged or were never
socialised successfully - are supposed to be most vulnerable to the
influence of violent video games. When people like this rape, murder or
kill, we try to find a reason for it. Society is quick to blame video
games, rock music, the perpetrators upbringing or anything else
considered anti-social at the time.
It may be that some people are just born broken in terms of being
capable of empathy. Whether it is brain damage or psychological
damage makes no difference to the end result. Penny Arcade (PennyArcade.com) is a website I have frequented for some years. It thrives on
humour revolving around video-game violence but its readership also
raises a million dollars or more for childrens hospitals every year,
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which shows an enormous source of empathy regardless of the

supposed socially poisoning nature of violent video games. On the
website, the nature versus nurture debate raised its head one day in the
form of an article from a reader who was a step-mother of a broken
child.13 She described how in spite of every single effort by her and the
childs parents, the child was socially unfixable and constantly
performing cruel, criminal, violent and anti-social acts, yet cynically
blaming them on anything around him but himself, including video
games. The blame for this situation could not be placed on violent video
games, although the correlation was made.
But do video games, movies, television and books affect our
behaviour? In fact they do. One example is watching children (and
adults) imitate the wrestling moves of their favourite characters. I have
personally experienced the effect: about fifteen years ago at a friends
house we had spent an hour playing a racing computer game which
rewarded one hundred and eighty degree spins. We decided to jump in
the car to hire a video. Pulling onto the main road I pulled on the
handbrake and yelled out 180! while the car spun around, stalled and
ended up facing the wrong direction. This would not have happened if I
had not played the game.
Acting out and quoting from any popular media is mostly a way of
sharing cultural experience rather than for the purpose of hurting
another person. But damaged people also take their behavioural cues
from movies and books. Witness the mass school-shootings in recent
times. The killers mimicked what they saw on a screen, heard in a song
or played on a computer. Although the motivation for tragedy was
already there, would their victims have been more protected if the
murderers had not already virtually experienced the method of their
future madness? Our behaviour is affected by any of our interactions
13 http://www.penny-arcade.com/2007/02/21
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with the world, be they television, music, movies, conversations, rituals,

literature, treatment at the hands of our own families, friends, strangers
and enemies, or a game.
Would we be safer as a society if we blanket-ban video games? No
more so than if we banned any other behaviour-modifying experience
for example, advertising. We are not yet able to accurately identify
people who are going to behave anti-socially as a result of their
experiences. Until then, social, legal and religious authorities have to
balance their laws and restrictions to minimise damage without
curtailing too much freedom of activity and experience. Our behaviour
towards one another can be influenced by our media and video-gaming
experiences depending on how we comprehend them. While they can
teach us that unacceptable social behaviour is now acceptable
behaviour, they also provide a powerful positive education which
broadens our minds and imaginations.
I dont believe watching movies with abusive scenes or playing
violent video games necessarily reduces our capacity to refuse to
participate in cruel and inhuman acts. From my own experience and the
experience of my friends who have maimed and destroyed millions of
humans and aliens over the last twenty years on a computer screen,
none of us are violent or cruel in real life. There should be a point
where we trust ourselves to be able to safely experience something
awful without becoming more anti-social. It can be a positive and
precautionary experience to see the worst possible historical or fictional
situations. It can serve to motivate us to prevent others from having to
suffer the same experience.
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The Circle Of Belief

In order to perpetuate the values that I consider important, I started
a religion that aims to promote equality of human rights among people.
I also aim to aid the people who I think should be aided. Following this
paragraph are the tenets of the religion. If you would like to join all you
have to do is convince another person to join as well. As a result of this
entry hurdle I am still not a member of my own religion.
Our Chant
We stand in the Circle of Belief
Our belief is our hope
Our hope is our strength
Our strength is our power
Our power changes us and the world around us
Our desire is for everyone to stand in the Circle of Belief
Our Beliefs
We believe that diversity is strength
We believe that humanity overrides belief when they are in conflict
We believe that while a human suffers unfairly, humanity suffers
unfairly
We believe that there is enough for everyone
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Our Mandate
Criticism is not incitement to violence
Tolerance does not require forgiving, forgetting, or friendship
Doing something small is better than doing nothing at all.
Our Rules
Do to others what you want done to you
Dont do to others what you dont want done to you
Avoid loaded language
Beware of slogans
Control our charity
Protect our beliefs
Question our fears
Confront our prejudices
Embrace everyone
Stand with us in the Circle of Belief
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When a person believes something in the face of strong evidence to

the contrary, they usually do it for one of three reasons:
They are afraid of the consequences of not believing
They believe that faith is more valuable than truth
They do not believe the evidence
The Circle Of Belief requires fair-play by both believers and nonbelievers because it does not use power to establish itself. That is what
sets it apart from nearly every other religion in existence. Everybody
has fantasies of taking revenge on the bullies of their past and present.
This is about victims retaking their power: can your fear be conquered
in order to attain true and pure vengeance before your compassion is
unleashed in forgiveness and empathy?
I am not telling you to destroy anything that comes between you
and the equal treatment of people who do not see the world the same
way you do. I am not telling you to destroy your enemies. I am telling
you to keep them at arms length so that they can destroy you in good
time when they have built themselves into a mighty empire that draws
all power towards themselves. The religion dictates against offence as a
form of defence.
There is not enough power to go around. There are not enough
riches to go around. There is not enough recognition to go around. So
let those who need these things fight among themselves while we read
or hear about it in the political, financial and entertainment news
respectively. Meanwhile, those of us in the business of a fair go for
everyone will continue to argue, plead and pay the way of the underrepresented in our society and in the societies of others.
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Is consensual fun the best kind of fun, or should self-deprecation be

enforceable? The Chaser, a group of comedians with a television show
on the ABC, believe that if a person undertakes a public life they make
themselves available for public ridicule and humiliation. But is the
nature of humour that someone is always hurt? It is if the butt of the
joke doesnt want to be laughed at.
Is it acceptable to laugh at the funny things stupid people do? If we
can say to ourselves, What a fool we humans are! and laugh
genuinely, then yes. Otherwise we are laughing at people because we
look down on them, or maybe we look down on them because we laugh
at them. Either way, we are treating other people with contempt which
separates us from them. Non-consensual laughter makes people feel
embarrassed. Laughing at people because they look funny, dress funny,
wear funny hairstyles or speak in a funny way drives people apart.
Many people say it is wrong to laugh at people from different
international cultural backgrounds and practises and yet then laugh at
people from different cultures in our own society, as in the television
series Kath and Kim. But what is the difference? I think it comes back
to a belief that in our society people live the way they do because they
choose to. But our social strata have barriers between them that have
been built out of the fear of being tainted or plundered by people above
and below. A persons circumstances and opportunities are also shown
to be powerful influences on their final social resting place.
Mixing between classes and cultures doesnt work easily for most
people. Falling in love with someone outside your family and friends
class, ethnic, religious or social prejudices is downright difficult. Aside
from being punished with persona non grata status, some cultures
explicitly advocate violent means as a way of keeping members from
leaving their group. The sex, the profound connection, or both, must be
worth more than the unfair rejection that you will receive from your
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friends, family and social groups.

So is it prejudiced to laugh at different people and their ways, or is
it just funny? Could it actually be egalitarian to laugh at their bad taste
and prejudiced to stifle the laugh because it implies embarrassment on
their behalf and hence prejudicial judgement? Does thinking about this
even matter, or am I just being ludicrously uptight? Is this pontification
only occurring because I am too scared to join a pack in laughing at
another pack? Does my empathy stop me from wanting to laugh at
people who are different, or is it because I dont want to engage in
hostilities? I think I am an anti-snob. Pull apart my reasoning and find
the shame in my own prejudices.
You only get in trouble for the things that you get caught for, but if
you are well socialised your conscience makes you pay for the things
that nobody hears about. There are only so many ways I can avoid the
pointing inner finger of my own conscience. Most of them involve
distracting myself from my greatest judge - me. Staying busy, partying
hard, or doing something worthwhile seem like the only things that can
stop the Supreme Self Court from constantly finding me wanting. Quiet
relaxation is not an option. Who gives the court its authority? I dont
know.
Do not harm others.
There is often more than one motivation for our actions. Sometimes
I think that everyone elses motivations are unselfish and pure and that I
am the only person with selfish motives for everything I do. If we can
identify only selfish motivations for our actions, should they be
abandoned on moral grounds, thus denying potential yet unknown
benefits of the action? I believe that selfish actions are wasteful and
wrong. I disagree with the mantra, If I dont look after myself, who
will look after me?
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One of my strongest motivations comes from worrying about how I

look to other people. But I will drop friendships and relationships at the
fall of a hat for the next mark that I want to impress the most. Keeping
the peace is more important than keeping loyalties. Vanity may be my
true motive. The fear of conflict is greater than the desire to preserve
past relationships and the associated treasuring and ritual protection of
those memories. This means that I socially betray other people all the
time.
Why do I believe that everyone else has the potential for good
motives but everything that I do is tainted with selfish motives? I hate
imposing my own will on others but want everyone to do what I want. I
once caught up with a friend with whom I played in a Blues band. The
first thing he asked me was whether I was still taking responsibility for
everything that happens in the world. Maybe I am a little hard on
myself. Sometimes it feels like low self-esteem, wrapped up in
narcissism, shrouded by self-hatred.
I felt fear leading up to my wedding. Someone thought that there
was something potentially terribly wrong about having this kind of
feeling. I thought it was a good sign - that I was not making the decision
lightly. The dumbest decisions I have made led from following my
emotions. The smartest decisions my beautiful wife Tammy has made
were based on her instincts. We both made mistakes in the past but hers
were because she did the logical thing at the expense of her instincts;
mine were because I followed my heart at the expense of logic and
reason. From both of our experiences, we had drawn long-term
conclusions on which to base our future decisions. We had become
prejudiced in order to try to make ourselves safe by trying to minimize
our chances of being hurt again.
What is bravery? Is it the refusal or inability to consider the future
seriously? Is it a lack of feedback between your memories, actions,
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senses, thoughts and emotions? Or is it simply the ability to think and

act in spite of the physiological impact on your body of the drugs
created by your brain when it perceives a threat? I believe that with our
thoughts we make the world. But I could be wrong. There is a clever
little saying for just about every attitude that we consider virtuous
today.
Discretion is the better part of valour.
This is a saying from a Shakespearian play Henry IV. Discretion is
an honoured value in Australia. It is considered inappropriate for people
to talk about how much they give to charity. The Jesus in the Christian
bible drew attention to the difference between a rich priest making a big
show of giving money to the poor, and a poor woman who humbly gave
a single coin. Jesus said that in Gods eyes she gave the greater gift. But
what about in the eyes of the poor who receive it? Her beautiful
symbolic gesture wont feed them here on Earth! This is one example of
how taking a lesson from the bible in a desire to please God can lead a
society to adopt values that can actually get in the way of looking after
the needy. That is the kind of hypocrisy of righteousness that Jesus took
great pains to expose.
If people are only willing to be generous if they receive attention
for it, then why not give it to them? If having a persons photo in the
local newspaper makes the difference between a person giving a charity
one thousand dollars or nothing at all, then why not give them the photo
opportunity? Instead of judging them we should appreciate the fact they
gave at all and know that people in need are better off as a result. Being
generous in secret also provides no role model for others to imitate. The
recipients of charity are unaware of the purity of the motives of the
people who have donated. Nor should they care.
One objection to ostentatious shows of generosity is that others
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may feel shamed into being more generous. Similarly to the way many
people feel uncomfortable walking past beggars without giving them
anything, a person who makes no public displays of their generosity
may feel uncomfortable about how they look in the eyes of others
around them. In spite of that, I think boastful generosity should be
encouraged.
The Jesus character was only making a point that we shouldnt
think more of a person who gives a lot away when they have a lot to
begin with. We tend to think the story was about the fact the priest made
a big scene about it but I think his point was about the relative amount
of sacrifice. He didnt say ostentatious giving was wrong; he said that
the poor woman should be respected as much as the priest, even though
the amount she gave was much less. More importantly, Jesus was
addressing the attitudes and opinions of the people who were watching
with him rather than the acts themselves.
I wonder if animals taught social discretion to humans? Cats are
quite demure with their waste processes. They prefer to do them out of
sight and wont make eye contact when they are defecating. And what
of the hope that being generous will change the people who receive
your kindness, as well as the people who see you? If you perform a kind
deed for a selfish person in private, has the moral worth of the act (over
and above the value of the gift) been lost? If nothing else, you have
taught that person that you have been a sucker once, and may be one
again.
I hate going into the city at night. This is mostly because if I see a
person in need - being belted by someone, for example - I feel obliged
to help. Is that being nosy? What if the attacker told me it was
acceptable, that they were friends, and they do it all the time? Taking a
life is irreversible. So do we restrict our interventions only to the
actions that can be reversed or from which the victim can recover?
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Is it rude to question everyone around you? Or is it being a

friend? Is keeping your mouth shut when your friend is vomiting
offensive words an act of acceptance, kindness or compassion? Is it
irresponsible to leave disagreeable opinions unanswered? Is it better to
ignore words and actions that you consider unjust? Could moralising
monsters be worse than psychopaths in terms of how much damage
they do to people around them? Is it better for a person to keep their
values to themselves rather than telling people what they consider is
right and wrong?
Should a government have the right to stop an individual from
doing something that harms themselves? When we argue for our right to
drink, smoke and take as many drugs as we like, we are not considering
the impact that it has on the people around us our families, friends and
workplaces? Maybe the government could consider itself as acting to
protect others by restricting the freedoms of a citizen to act in a selfharming way.
Some of a societys values change over time and some stay the
same. Values in the many cultures around the world have developed at
different times and in different directions. Most of the differences that
matter between cultures involve the rights and responsibilities that the
culture assigns to people inside and outside of it. One culture may not
respect the right of homosexuals to live freely and without retribution.
Another culture may not respect the right of an unborn child to live.
Another culture again may not respect the right of a woman to enjoy
sexual intercourse. The reasons behind these rights may be old or
complex, well-intentioned or not, but the lack of equal rights for people
of certain races, genders, sexual orientations, beliefs or colours can
make other people very angry. How do we protect equality between
people while respecting the values of other peoples cultures? If it is
considered proper by someone to beat the snot out of an errant wife,
who are we to stop it? Or is there a set of standards and rights that all
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cultures in the world can agree to adhere to? We discuss this later in the
chapter Relationship with Humanity.
After pleasing enough voters to win government, political parties in
a democracy base their policies on several principles or values that they
deem important. These could include, that government is required to
protect its people from harming themselves; that government power
should be expanded at the expense of civil liberties in order to better
serve the nations interests; or, that governments role is to build a
strong economy for a country at the expense of social welfare.
Conspiracies about the hidden motives of governments and other
organisations of power fuel a lot of content on internet web logs. Only
verifiable facts can be proved or disproved, and like many superstitions
and religious beliefs, the juiciest conspiracy theory is unfalsifiable,
which means that it is impossible to disprove. The inability to prove or
disprove tenets of faith leaves people in a quandary as to whether the
central values of a canon of radical belief can be backed with enough
conviction to warrant a change of personal lifestyle.
Belief without action is meaningless. Therefore we do not have to
worry about the impact of moderate beliefs, which are just fanciful
opinions. Moderate belief is socially acceptable belief. That is, no
commonly held morals need to be broken to maintain integrity between
a believers canon and his or her actions.
Extremist beliefs are always extreme compared to the tenets of
the current social norm. Mutilation of childrens genitals in one way is
considered inhuman when considering the rights of the child (female
circumcision) yet in another way is excused out of respect for a cultural
practice (male circumcision.) When the rights of one party come into
conflict with the rights of another, a decision needs to be made as to
which party has their rights upheld. In the case of male and female
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circumcision, the age when it is done, the reason it is done, and the end
result in terms of pain or sexual pleasure are the dominant reasons in
excusing the Jewish male circumcision and condemning the female
circumcision, as practised by some Muslim cultures.
But circumcision is actually neither Jewish nor Muslim. In the
same way that Jewish orthodox dress is considered Jewish but is really
eighteenth century Polish aristocratic dress, so too has the pre-existing
practice of circumcision been adopted by various religions during their
history. But if the pre-existing cultural practises are now considered an
integral part of a religion then the religion should still be held
accountable for perpetuating antiquated, prejudicial, exclusive, antisocial and at times inhumane practises.
184
INTERFACE
INTERFACE
185
Relationship with Actions
186

Making connections between your thinking, emotions, and
planning can make the difference between success, failure and
mediocrity in your actions. Human will which leads to action can be
described as a hidden well-spring of human desire. It may also just be
the result of a combination of drugs created by the brain. We guess at
how we will respond to certain actions and use this guess to help decide
whether we will do anything or not. A drug addict imagines how they
will feel after their next fix, and this leads them to doing what it takes to
escape from the painful hunger they currently feel to the heavenly bliss
they crave.
This mental guess may be wrong, or ignore other more painful
realities that occur as a consequence of taking the action. This is where
the harsh truth of reality forces us eventually to adjust our thinking.
When reality teaches us how wrong our predictions of the future after
our planned actions were, we become a little wiser. Learning from our
mistakes is not useful unless we act on that lesson. Not acting can be
counted as action, too, in this case.
In many major cities around the world you can find a group that
meets regularly and shares just about any of your particular interests,
from art to sport, politics to terrorism. This can help you to expand your
skills and knowledge in areas that attract your attention; meeting also
increases your chances of taking action on your interests.
187
Power of One
Knowing limits to ones ability
Is accepting the truth, being able to see
That reaching great goals cannot be done
Insisting on using the power of one.
Knowing others and helping them out
Keeping your aims in their mind intact
Will give you a better chance to achieve
Any dream that your mind can possibly conceive.
188
Actions impact on the world and the people around you. They also
include what you say and write to yourself and others. An attitude kept
in your head that you dont act on will have no impact on the world
around you. Many ideas, feelings and intentions are best left
unexpressed physically in the world. I believe that most of our actions
are based on seeking resolution from emotional tensions in our brains.
Personally, I believe that I am an expert at everything before I try it. I
try about four or five new activities per year, searching for the magic
practice that I can constantly improve in (finding resolution for my
brains emotional tensions) without devoting endless years of tenacious
practise.
If you hold the opinion that everyone is of equal value, you may try
to act on the knowledge of whether the potential impact of your actions
on the lives and lifestyles of both people that you know and people that
you dont know is positive or negative. It can be paralysing trying not to
hurt anyone. One alternative to direct action is to change the world by
changing other peoples perception of it.
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Action Reaction
Inaction sanctions your bodys rape
By self the yearnings cant escape
Creatures of risk destined to fate
Soft-padded lives lead minds irate
To destroy the shell, the living hell
Of anonymity, alone and at home
Lashing out on the one who cannot fight back
The office boy kicked his own cat.
With our words we make the world.

Do words make the world go around? I doubt that is the case.
Words have stopped things from happening, though. A person talking is
a person doing nothing - except for the important fact that they will
change the future actions of their listeners. Thought has no value
without being expressed in communication and action. But action
without thought creates more unexpected mess than it cleans up.
Can experience via television replace real experience as a
motivation to action? People blame anti-social behaviours on movies or
video games, experienced through a screen. Does the size of the screen
matter? Or the audio quality and volume, or the number of repetitions?
It is possible that actions we see on a screen become acceptable to
repeat, regardless of previous beliefs and instruction.
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And what about our actions that we repeat again and again, yet
consider are unhealthy? This includes addictions - patterns of behaviour
that we regret, for example, exploding in anger at the slightest insult.
Or, should we use psychology to intervene in our behaving in
uncontrollable yet altruistic behaviour which inhibits us from collecting
great wealth? What if the behaviour, although uncontrollable, is actually
what we think is right action? Psychological intervention is an attempt
to get in-between the seemingly unbreakable influence of our
thinking and emotions on our actions. Sometimes we want to take the
power away from our thoughts and beliefs over our behaviours. Is it
wrong to give a person what they want by removing their defences?
What if that is our sense of guilt?
Some people see a psychologist if they feel constant internal pain
as a result of their memories and beliefs about themselves, others, or the
world in which they live. Other people see a psychologist to try to
improve the quality of their actions - or to stop behaving in a way that
they consider destructive or uncontrollable. Some people consider that
addictions to substances and activities are the result of a moral failing to
exercise a decent amount of self-discipline. A person who wants to
change the way they think and act should just pull themselves up by
their socks, get over it, or just grow up. By self-discipline, do they
mean spending an inordinate amount of time at distasteful tasks in the
hope that it will build a persons character? Why not spend it in labours
of love since our time is so precious?
Another common practise in the effort to help ourselves to act and
think differently is to read self-help books. If they really did help a lot
of people the media would pick up on the books effectiveness.
Statistics and stories would be published (outside of the books own
advertising) about the percentage of people whose lives were changed
positively from reading them.
191
If the purpose of self-help is to make people happy, a simpler plan

would be for everyone to try to make two other people happy. If that
idea swept the world then the laws of mathematics would see an
inevitable infestation of happiness.
192
Overshooting the Mark

The lure of the fixed-price job.
Money owing, wanted soon
You prostitute yourself for about two bob
You raving crazy loon!
The works not sex, far cleaner than that.
Its programming, but the works the same.
You burn your time to provide some pleasure
To the person who thinks youre just as lame.
Work per hour if you can, and dont
Be trapped by money lust.
Dont salary or fixed-price or youll find
Your financial arse is bust.
Theyll use you and screw you and take your time.
They breach and break your trust.
Because you agreed to let them squeeze
Your life until you bust.
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Speaking loudly is energising. It makes you feel powerful. It drives

your words into the heads of the people around you by being louder
than their own thoughts. They can reject you or accept you, but they
cannot ignore you. This is the essence of power: demanding a reaction
from living things around you, including people. Your powerlessness is
revealed when you demand a reaction from inanimate objects,
imaginary objects, and living things that are not paying you attention or
heeding your call to action.
Is it acceptable to accuse people of hypocrisy even when we are all
hypocrites? Of course it is. The truth should not suffer in silence
because of the guilt of the teller. You can have a huge argument with
someone because they have an idea of the way your life will unfold if
you take a certain path. They could be wrong and yet convinced they
are correct. You may not have any good arguments for why they are
wrong. This can occur if their assertions are unprovable and
unfalsifiable. But do not fear. In fact you probably will be wrong if you
follow your own life advice, anyway! This is the result found from
studies in happiness science, a relatively new study of the causes of
and paths to happiness. The most disheartening realisation about the
results of research in this area is that your excellent experience in what
not to do in life will most likely be ignored by the person you are trying
to prevent making the same mistakes.
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Smoking
Bubbling at the bottom of lungs worn past
Their supposed age by smoking gasps
Wheezing, breathing in then out
The final breath draws close, no doubt.
Tendrils claw through body rampant
Cancer renders organs rancid
Wasted only if their host
Had purpose - life had will to boast.
195
Final Flight
Against will and current deceleration
Workload seems more of an abomination
Of gratitude for effort, making yourself seen
As a whining bastard, void of sweat sheen.
But, you are thankful for your experiences and skills
Thankful for the after hours thrills.
If you fall out of contact, dont think it means
That your friendships are over, if thats what it seems.
Its just that the breaks between chats will be longer
And, hell, it may just make their hearts grow fonder.
If they want to catch up, you can just drop a line
Find a medium to speak to the other side.
And what will you take with you as you depart?
Well, for one thing, the generous gift of your farts.
The memories and skills from a long drawn out fight
To be the best of the best under critical light.
196
It is possible to judge another person as mediocre as a result of not

appreciating their subtleties. Some people do not read the signs in
conversation that they are incessantly boring, and conversation may be
one art where constant practise can make you worse. But conversation
with other people and the impact of their stories on your mind is also a
major contributor to your own actions.
A fairy-tale can carry truth as a free-loader. Approval or
disapproval of the actions of a character in a story can be discussed and
debated by people who know the story. Evidence provides an unfolding
story of the world around us. Taking words literally or figuratively can
make us take different interpretations of the same words as the truth.
With sacred or important texts this can give people an excuse for taking
actions without responsibility. It also gives us the ability to blame
something else for the actions that we may be dying to perpetrate on
others - like holy punishment and retribution.
Subjective appreciation of reality is the only truth. There is no
objective reality outside of our heads. Our minds, memories,
experiences and points of view change with time, with new experiences
and interactions with other people and events. Both scientists and
religionists often use a straw man argument to challenge the
irrationality of the other camps. By declaring that the other side thinks it
has the objective truth about reality, they define that objectivity in a way
that the other group does not, because it is fallacious. Then they accuse
them of irrationality! This is like putting words in another persons
mouth and then refuting those words that they never uttered.
Anna Freud, the daughter of Sigmund, used to say that if you
behave socially correctly, your ego will be strengthened and you will be
able to fight your dangerous impulses.14 I found the restraint of mental
14 http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/features/century_of_the_self.shtml,
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2637635365191428174
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desires caused stranger ones to emerge. I have a theory that we need to

know and maintain our vices. Everyone has a certain number of vices
that need to be maintained for mental balance.
When can somebodys actions be considered provocation for your
retaliation? Is there a time when can a person be justified in acts of
violence? Is it acceptable to beat somebody up if they taunt you or
insult your loved ones? What if they insult your God? There are cycles
of cruelty and cycles of violence which involve the sharing and
redistribution of pain, hate and shame among peers and down through
generations. This sets examples for our children to follow, but if
humans are part beast can we fully blame the example of adults for the
perpetuation of barbarity? Violence in the media probably doesnt help,
though, and I dont understand why we think violent crime and rape on
television stops affecting people after they become adults. Anyone
considered an adult is allowed to watch whatever they want.
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Sitting on the Edge

Motion transports us
TV taunts us
Conscience dictates
Tortures then waits
Drowning sorrows kill
Lonely moments still
Plenty more to come
Before life comes undone
Sit on a wire
Stay still in the fire
Dont lay down the law
Dont show them your fall
Lock your cocoon
And surely, soon
The door to nowhere
Will lead you there.
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Relationship with Technology
200

Scientific research is currently funded by governments,
universities, private companies, publicly traded companies, religious
organisations and individuals. There are many reasons for long-term
and pure research other than purely profit. These include finding a cure
for disease outbreaks, increasing the food supply, exploration of land,
space and sea, military domination, refuting currently accepted beliefs,
or conducting studies that better help us understand ourselves and the
world around us for the purpose of making better decisions.
The invention of the internet and its amazing expansion into many
of our lives has resulted in a revolution of information sharing: not just
in the proliferation of personal diaries, movies and photos, but in the
publishing and subsequent ability to find scientific and research
information for the progress of our development of ideas, opinions and
knowledge.
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Bridge
Writing toward a new age of cyber-checkout,
Establishing a foothold on both sides of the divide
Between cyber and physical reality.
And then bridging the two,
Like thin strands of threads flashing out between two distant cliffs,
Enmeshing, becoming one.
Funding this research increasingly comes from private and public

companies which are able to direct the research into areas which
represent the greatest opportunity for profit. This can have the effect of
leaving longer-term or less profitable areas of research unfunded or
underfunded. This provides a fund-raising challenge for people
interested in furthering our knowledge in these areas. The following
short story demonstrates one possible avenue for raising research funds
in the future...
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Carolling
Heinrick Jones stretched half-waking, suddenly eyes wide in confusion
and panic, the first time in his new abode. The panic of waking up in a
sealed coffin. Scream rising from the depths then dissolving with
realisation and relief. Deep breath and a long sigh.
Away in a manger, no crib for a bed, he sang to no one. The sofa was
too short. But at least I am not weightless.
He opened his eyes and sat up, no harness needed. The Agency had
decided that putting centrifugal spin on their craft was cheaper than
developing technologies to contain the effects of zero-gravity nausea. It
contained the vomiting. Less food and liquid was required per person
per day. Less waste disposal and clever air filter design was required. It
also restrained a blackmailing media. No more bribes were necessary to
hide the sordid unromantic details of space travel from a fickle public.
Well, that wouldnt be a cost now, anyway, Heinrick chuckled to
himself.
The space program was a delicate balancing act between public opinion
and government support. Sensing this, the press made away with a
sizeable slice of taxpayers involuntary contributions to the space
program. That was until Heinrick Jones suggested to the Agency that
they should focus on developing technology that reduced the overall
cost of space travel.
Impossibly, he had also improved the other side of the Agencys
accounting ledger: the Agency was making a profit in sales. Television
companies climbed over each other to host pay-per-view television
events of space flights. And the public was paying in droves. The space
program was liquid.
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The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes, he hummed as he moved to

his teak desk and sat in a comfortable leather chair. Irony heaped upon
irony. Public opinion insisted the interior of spacecraft looked as much
as possible like a room in a normal house on Earth. The Viewers wanted
something familiar. Not like the cells of missions past. There were no
windows, though. The spinning stars would drive anyone mad. But that
was a small price to pay for spinning the whole ship. A faux window
frame was attached to one wall surrounding a lovely photographed
poster of the stars - taken from Earth.
A clock on the desk read one hour and counted down. Time for his shot
at fame. Time for his shot of the latest drug developed by the Agency.
Opening the top desk drawer, he withdrew a syringe and injected
himself with courage.
But little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes.
Eventually the viewers would tire of this shtick and demand new
entertainment. But for now, serious space research was being funded. A
rushing sound in his ears like the sound of a long wave breaking along a
shore was accompanied by a relaxing numbness in his mind and wellbeing in his body. He sat and waited.
A red light came on above the desk. The show began. Millions tensed.
Heinrick stood up and walked to the fake window. He placed his hands
on it and could hear a sizzling sound as smoke rose from around his
fingers and palms. He unpeeled his hands, looked at them, and smiled.
Turning around, he held his hands up to the camera. Oozing blisters
waved across space to his captive audience. Walking to the other side of
the room, he pressed his face to the wall and waited for a satisfying
popping sound and half-blindness. It did not take long. Facing the
camera again, he danced a little. He sat on the sofa and kicked off his
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shoes. He stood and walked over to the desk, each step leaving a
burning, smoking mark of flesh stuck to the frying pan floor. He
slouched on the chair, and passed out.
Soon after, his skin began to blister and melt. The window poster
ignited. His hair burst into flame. The desk caught fire. Flames ate the
room. The walls melted, and the last brief camera shot was of a huge
sun.
And take us to heaven, to live with Thee there.
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Michael Crichton is a prolific author of science fiction novels,

many which have been transformed into feature films. Although I find
his writing style annoying when I start reading his books, I still like
them and finish them in rapid time. Why annoying? Because they read
like he always intended them to be screenplays, and it makes them dry.
Why do I like them, though? He puts enough technological research
into his novels to keep an armchair scientist interested. His stories are
entertaining, even if totally predictable. All of Crichtons books that I
have read have read like screenplays. This begs a chicken-and-egg
question: did his style lead to easy and frequent implementations as
Hollywood movies, or did his successful transitions to Hollywood
movies lead to him seeming to write with a movie screenplay in mind?
Or is it perhaps just his style?
Lovers of science fiction books, movies and television series are
often willing to accept that the literary or production standards of much
of their beloved science fiction may be lower than that of a Salman
Rushdie or Stephen Spielberg, but that the concepts within the stories
make up for it. And when top quality concepts, writing and production
combine the result is an extraordinary spiritual experience for the fan.
Stenislaw Lem, a Polish writer, wrote an interesting piece15 in 1975
about how the American science fiction field lauded itself undeservedly
as a result of its inbred inward-looking perspective (with the exception
perhaps of Philip K. Dick, whose writing style is difficult to read, but
creativity was intense) and its lack of attention to literary criticism.
As anyone who has read his novels will know, Crichton likes
writing stories about how the combination of scientific progress with
corporate and individual greed puts the world at risk. The world is then
15 Science Fiction Studies, Depauw University,
http://www.depauw.edu/sfs/backissues/5/lem5art.htm
206
saved by a good scientist using his knowledge. Sometimes the scientist

has family problems that get resolved at the same instant that the world
is saved. It is an effective if tired formula for good pulp fiction and
Hollywood movies, but I repeat myself. Andromeda Strain, Jurassic
Park, Timeline and Disclosure are some of Crichtons books and movies
that I have experienced and liked, and yet I still squirmed at the style
and plot.
Prey is based around nanotechnology but otherwise follows the
same formula. Nanotechnology was first described Richard Feynman in
195916, so it is not that new an idea. But it has been making a lot of
progress in the last ten years. It describes man-made microscopic sized
machines, engines, additives and tools. Scientists are studying ways that
this technology will be able to self-replicate like bacteria or virii. The
book is written in the first person which allows Crichton to teach the
new technology to interested readers through the protagonists own
thoughts. Or at least that seems to be the case. Much of the book is an
exposition on nanotechnology and computer programming (particularly
in the areas of distributed processing and artificial intelligence.)
Mutant 59: The Plastic Eater, published in 1971 contained a
similar plot with humanity losing control of a scientific discovery which
became a microscopic threat. This is a particularly scary and thrilling
plot device because the reader can imagine being preyed upon by a
threat that they cannot see. Because it is a new science whose very
existence is kept a secret in order to control a companys corporate
image when the invention goes awry, the victims could never anticipate
or understand what happens to them. This is a believable and repeated
scenario in our world. Any organisation, business, government or
religion, will keep what secrets it can unless the law requires them to be
open about their mistakes. This is why the transparency of such
16 http://www.zyvex.com/nanotech/feynman.html
207
organisations operations is vital to the health and safety of humanity.

I love technology. I dont know exactly why, but I do know that I
feel a buzz of excitement when I learn about, buy or interact with new
technology. This excitement inspires me to be creative and gives me
joy. I am a computer programmer by trade, and once when travelling
overseas, I was asked by an Australian customs officer whether I
thought computer programming was a science or an art. My immediate
thought was that this was a trick question - some clever line of
questioning to determine if I was a potential terrorist - because it was so
unexpected. I answered that I thought it was a science, but added that it
was an undirected art for bad programmers, and a sublime art and
science to experienced ones. He explained that he was having an
ongoing argument with his girlfriend and a group of students at a
university and that he was just curious.
Scientific progress is natural. Many superstitious people see it as an
unnatural thing, as opposed to what they call natural. They are
scared of the consequences of new technology, and argue against it
using an appeal to our fear of the new, strange, unknown and evil. But
science arose from our curious natures (natural), our ability to make
tools from the things we find around us (also natural), and our desire to
either profit personally or improve the lot of those around us (natural.)
How is the way that we interrelate with our tools and knowledge
different to how an organism interacts or learns to interact with another
organism for mutual benefit? Would it be more natural if we used bones
as hammers?
When somebody says that a human should die when they are no
longer able to keep themselves alive without technological help, I say
that they shouldnt use medical intervention in any form of injury, and
should just let nature run its course. Cut yourself on rusty metal? No
tetanus shot for you. Triage would be out as well. There are a lot of
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issues around when a person should die or be allowed to die that is not a
part of this argument. The question being argued is the level of
technology that is supposed to be appropriate to be used to prevent
death or prolong a persons life.
People often refer to events that they consider morally correct as
natural. Events that occur as a result of a lack of human intervention
is also often considered natural. By rights, therefore, they will say that
human intervention in certain events is unnatural, and therefore wrong.
They are forgetting that we are just as much a naturally occurring part
of life on this planet as a monkey or a duck. I see the invention and use
of technology as a natural extension of our humanity, and therefore as
natural as using your hand to swat a fly from your face.
The full progress of humanity cannot be described as anything but
natural. Evil? Good? Forget that. Surgical progress is nothing but the
natural progression of life towards its own healing. To say that
technological advance is unnatural is like saying that making a house
out of bricks is unnatural because brick-making is an unnaturally
occurring technology.
But it keeps the rain off our heads, stops our food from spoiling,
and stops us from becoming sick.
So the technology of artificial housing stops you from becoming
sick? Well, throw it away because it isnt natural. Of course, comfort
and laziness often gets in the way of a good principle.
Some people say that Gods will is what would happen without
human or technological intervention, and that our free will is not
supposed to get in the way of it - but instead be bent towards Gods
will. They say that you have been called to act on your Gods behalf,
and any inaction against the things that God finds distasteful will be
209
met with his wrath. Pity those who stand on the fence, because they will
be burnt for the longest time on the barbecue of the weak-minded and
the indecisive. This would include all those awful scientists who have
spent their lives spitting on the gospel truth by performing experiments
to find a likely reality that exists outside the beliefs of the preachers.
Funnily enough, if the preachers and organisers of religions have
an ounce of scientific education they would know well enough to not
answer their followers questions about things that our discovery of
reality has newly determined. Our planet, for example, is more than six
thousand years old. They can save themselves their own embarrassment
and their fellow believers from conflicts of faith when confronted with
scientific evidence that undermines the pillars on which their faith has
been built. Technological progress has provided us with the ability to
discover more about the reality of the universe in which we live than
was available when the tenets and stories of most of our religions were
established. Technology results in discoveries that should force people
who love the truth to re-evaluate false conclusions that they have drawn
and believe about their faith.
An alternative way preachers and promulgators of religions deal
with the discovery of an error in the interpretation of their texts and
stories is to fight with and denigrate those who disagree with them,
along with the science and technology they used to discover new facts
about the world. Scientific conclusions are not always right, but
scientists are capable of admitting error when new evidence comes to
light. Religious representatives should leave the nature of the reality of
the world alone and answer the why questions about life and not the
how questions - unless they have something a little better than a two
thousand year old body of knowledge to draw from.
Technology has provided us with the means to produce,
disseminate and consume an incredible amount of information during
210
the course of our lives. Books, radio, television and the internet have
contributed to an ever-increasing supply of messages and opinions. It is
mostly a fire-hose streaming the same old shit filled with occasional
useful new nuggets. And it is getting harder to pull our heads out of its
stream. Whole industries are devoted to focussing and keeping the
stream aimed firmly at your head, no matter which way you jerk it. That
is the advertising industry. The challenge that faces us these days is not
access to information, but finding ways to effectively filter and find the
information we are searching for to avoid being inundated with
messages that other people wish to foist upon us when we are not
willing.
Google is a well-known company that is using advertising to fund a
solution to finding what one wants in the sea of the worlds available
information. But it is not yet a complete record of our knowledge. I
used to have a Leeds lemonade yo-yo as a kid, but no one that I know
who is younger than me can remember them, and I couldnt find them
on Google. There is still plenty of cause to search outside the internet
for research and information but it is quickly becoming the central
information repository - stored and presented with our trust in public
companies to maintain and leave it unchanged for posterity.
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Relationship with Education
212

Education is the institution of learning. Sometimes the institution is
mistaken for the organisations entrusted with teaching. Sometimes it is
mistaken for the buildings and teachers within it. But it really describes
the distance between ignorance and knowledge in any of the thousands
of areas of knowledge in our world. It includes history, science, arts and
stories that are taught systematically to people in our societies in order
to progress and protect the lives of the individuals who live in it - and of
the society itself.
The Second Law of Thermodynamics dictates that heat will flow
from a warmer area to a cooler one. If information was seen as heat,
education can be seen as obeying the Second Law, too. It is the flow of
knowledge towards ignorance. And who are the teachers? Anyone or
anything that a person will learn from, listen to, and trust.
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School
School is a pill,
Ive had my fill.
Im gonna crack,
If I go back.
Everyday is all the same
School is just a stupid game
Society plays to shape and form
Each and every new-born.
Is the value of education understood by the learners who swim in

it? Many people are happily ignorant and jealously protect that from
interference. On some level they understand that new knowledge
demands a change in our actions in order to maintain personal integrity.
Knowledge is power. Once you discover that you are powerful you
must use that power or be condemned as having wasted it. Once you
discover that every human is your brother, sister, mother, father, son or
daughter, you must use your power to pull the ones below you out of
the drowning waters of suffering. Once you discover that you yourself
are enslaved, you must use your power to pull yourself out of the
slavery towards freedom. This is the yoke of knowledge. It can be
thrown off with action true to your conscience, or by running away
from the reality with medication, entertainment or therapy.
Knowing how difficult it is to live in a world where you believe
everybody is equal and deserving of human rights, would you inflict the
pain of such a pre-determined course on your children? Or would you
want them to be happy and free from the yoke of responsibility that
comes from such enlightened attitudes? The road to personal peace is
214
paved with ignorance. What right do you have to torture your child with
the shackles of empathy and decency? You should be incarcerated for
negligence because you did not give them their god-given opportunity
to be ignorant and happy. That is the double-edged sword of education.
If you rely on one or two news sources that you like, you cannot
hope to get a complete picture of what is happening in the world. It is
great, though, if you wish to be thoroughly titillated and constantly
entertained. It is like experiencing an action movie with murders,
explosions, love affairs, betrayal, horror, hope and laughs for anywhere
from five minutes to twenty four hours a day, depending on how you
access it. Without knowing what your news source is ignoring or underreporting in their news or current affairs, newspapers or websites, you
cannot expect to see the world in a balanced way.
For most viewers the events described in the news will have little
bearing on their lives, except for financial news. Viewers will rarely
have any influence on how the news unfolds. If you follow commercial
news to expand your education, be warned that there are a number of
reasons it will not provide a complete and balanced meal. This is the
fate of every news item:
if it doesnt rate it wont be seen.
if it offends the advertisers it wont be seen.
if it offends the most vocal of viewers it wont be seen.
if it offends the media owners it wont be seen.
if the content doesnt match the best advertisers demographics

it wont be seen.
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if the content offends the friends of the station it wont be seen.
if the content puts the station at legal risk it wont be seen.
if the content is paid for by an advertising company it will

likely become a current affair.
whatever is left will be seen, with a few brave exceptions.
This is fine if you dont see commercial news as your only window
to the world. It really doesnt make a difference if you dont care to
learn or act for anyone outside of your colour, class, age, wage bracket
or other demographic, because we are divided and targeted for
consumption and influence. Our fears are used to make us buy and
believe. Our fears are also used by politicians to make us cling to their
legs when they wish to expand their power. We will be taught to fear
people who are not like us, and be given no chance to embrace them.
If you want to be part of one world, listen to, befriend, learn about,
help and support people you dont understand, or even like. Avoid
commercial news, commercial newspapers, and commercial radio
unless you have another source of information to balance their views.
All the worlds voices are on video, on the internet, in books, or in
groups that meet regularly.
There is no absolute good or evil though, and commercial radio,
print and television provide a valuable information service to people
that they can use to make everyday decisions about the best way to live
their lives and raise their families. This is in spite of constant emotional
manipulation for ratings, advertisers and thus profit. We need to rely on
voices that we trust, and spread their opinions like a cold around the
people that we spend the most time with. Commercial media is like a
self-interested, self-absorbed friend. They are loud, they lie, they screw
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us from time to time, but sometimes they look after us and we are loyal
to them as a result.
This is a known result of what is called random reinforcement,
which in psychology (and marketing by association) is a well-known
way of creating reliable behaviour patterns in people by rewarding
desired behaviour in an unpredictable fashion. It is one of the reasons
we are loyal to abusive relationships, gambling, cults and commercial
products that let us down most of the time - but work every now and
then.
The gradual degradation of our written language in children
coming through the education system is often lamented by older
journalists, authors, teachers and academics. Shorthand texting on
mobile phones and the move away from the importance of The Three
Rs17 in education are two targets for blame for this situation. The
implication is that complexity of thought and its expression to other
people can only (or best) be achieved with a correctly spelt and
conjugated written language. I dont think the grammar or spelling is as
important as the breadth of vocabulary. It is in being able to finely
distinguish between two ideas that true communication exists.
Before the printing press, some cultures trained people incessantly
in their oral tradition, and great pride was taken in accurately repeating
what was passed on from one generation to the next. The advent of
massive recording and archiving of video on the internet allows the
recording of thoughts and ideas in a way that is as permanent as a book,
provided it is backed up reliably. What is not available at present is an
easy way to find videos relating to particularly finely selected criteria,
the way we currently can with text in Google.
Words change their meaning over time. Words from even twenty
17 Reading, Riting and Rithmetic
217
years ago have changed their meaning. Wicked once meant evil, then
good, and now evil again, depending on the context. Awesome used
to mean fearsome. Now it means excellent. How much more difficult
would it be to understand the correct meaning of words written
hundreds or thousands of years ago?
Experience and the education required to understand it is the key to
wisdom. Together they provide lessons in how to act in spite of our
fears. Education is the KY Jelly of society which lubricates its
members and allows them to interact more tolerantly. Linguistics, the
study of language, is feared by many politicians, power-brokers and
con-men. Learning about false logic in arguments can be used to
confront prejudiced thinking in ourselves and others, and can be used to
identify manipulation by others. A love of history and study of the use
of our language can be used to critically analyse and expose the
meaning behind the words of our leaders, for our benefit.
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Relationship with Expectations

From a very early age we develop expectations of our world. We
learn to expect certain behaviour from other people and we learn to
expect certain consequences of our own words and actions. Some of us
also expect our thoughts to have consequences, as if they were able to
change our bodies or the world around us somehow a God Complex.
Some expectations come from what we are told by other people (Dont
hang around with him or youll get yourself into trouble) and some
have been learnt from our own experiences. Getting your heart broken
continuously could lead you to expect your next relationship to end
badly. In this case, you should look at what the common thread in all
your bad relationship break-ups was... you!
Coincidences and miracles are events that occur more frequently
than we expect. We also call one-off events that are supposed to never
happen, miraculous. Dwelling on these occurrences and trying to
make sense of them leads us toward belief systems, be they spiritual,
religious, or fantastic theories about aliens invisibly controlling the
world. When our understanding of how unusual such an event really is
gets changed by the receipt of new information (scientific discovery,
logical reasoning or the disclosure of someone who kept the facts of a
situation secret in order to trick us) it is time to re-evaluate the basis of
our belief systems in which we invested. It is time to change them or let
them go if necessary.
Our brains and memory are like fishing nets that most of our
sensory experiences pass through. Once we pay attention to something,
though, we begin to notice it more. Things that previously slipped
through the net suddenly seem to jump out at us. One common
experience of this is buying a particular brand of car. I was amazed at
the number of Kingswoods on the road after I bought mine. The actual
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number had not changed, however I started to notice them. Advertising

works by reinforcing a message through constant repetition so that
when we think of purchasing a type of product or service, we will recall
their brand because we have associated it with quality in their version of
the product. This is known as memory recall by association.
Another type of memory recall is free recall, which is the ability
to remember something without cues. The more we review an idea or
association, the more we are able to recall it without needing cues.
Conscious recognition of repetition, or finding a pattern, creates a
buzz in our brains; we have just rewarded ourselves with good brain
drugs for doing something that would help us survive on some level.
When I experience a coincidence, I also feel an excitement which is
somewhere between a feeling of being under threat, and high
anticipation of something wonderful about to happen. I find I am able to
have an exciting hope that there is more going on in life than the
evidence would allow me to believe.
I often get surprised when I discover information about ideas that I
have been thinking about, or when questions I keep in my mind are
answered by a discovery in an unrelated thread of inquiry. I was reading
a book several years ago when I stumbled upon the word coracle. The
next week I was reading a celebrity gossip magazine, and there was a
photo of Prince Charles with a coracle on his head, according to the
caption. A coracle is a small boat. The April 2007 Quadrant magazine
had an article about lost respect for humility in society, one about our
memories, and one about separating historical truth from fiction. I was
contemplating all of these ideas leading up to this time and was mildly
surprised at happening across articles that discussed the very areas in
which I was interested.
Was this a coincidence? Did it just occur because our brains are
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effective pattern-matching machines? Did it occur because God is

guiding me on a life-long lesson in personal growth and these are just
the current themes of my lessons? Did it occur because my soul is
taking my body on a similar journey of growth, teaching me by
repetition the themes I need to cover in order to progress towards
Nirvana? I dont know - and I am never likely to find out.
Increased media coverage and public awareness initiated by
governments, businesses or other organisations can cause an idea to
penetrate your attention directly and indirectly. You may read an article
about the idea in a newspaper (for example, that obesity is endemic in
Australia); you may then also overhear other people speaking about it as
a result of their exposure to the same campaign. Increased
bombardment with a concept is not necessarily being directed by
supernatural powers, extra-terrestrial civilisations, secret societies, the
collective unconscious, or a special life purpose.
When I was younger, I had a number of lucky escapes from the
consequences of my stupid actions that should have resulted in me
having the deaths of other people on my hands, or at least a record that
would have closed so many doors of opportunity for me in the future.
I pondered this and decided that someone was looking out for me. I
decided that this someone was the Christian God and devoted myself to
him again, as I had several times already in my life. I had been
recording my questions about life in exercise books and finding regular
answers to them in the world and words around me. Now I knew who
was providing those answers! Then, near the end of my final year in
secondary school, I stumbled across members of a Christian cult in a
shopping centre in Melbourne. I felt this was all part of my unfolding
life plan. Three and a half years later, after much anguish and pain for
myself and those who loved me, I left the cult, feeling that I no longer
believed in the God of that church. Later I believed in no god at all.
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I had expected some things from God based on promises in the

Christian bible. On not receiving them, I began to lose belief. This is
because Jesus said, If you hold to my teaching, you are really my
disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free
- John 8:31-32. As far as I was concerned, I did hold to his teachings,
and the truth didnt set me free.
The realisation of our expectations leads to contentment. Nonrealisation leads to grief and a re-evaluation of our expectations of those
who have disappointed us. It is part of making our own version of
reality more closely match that in the world around us. This has to be
good for our survival.
Sciences understanding of reality is limited to testable theories.
This means that it is blind to validating or invalidating unfalsifiable
claims. While this doesnt make the unfalsifiable claims right or wrong,
it does mean that a good number of research scientists are keeping
blinkers on to protect them from academic flights of fancy that are
going to be our next centurys reality.
Isnt it strange that with science we can develop an understanding
of the limits of our understanding but we are unable to extend our
understanding as fast as wed like? We know in one hundred years that
we will have a deeper understanding of the world around us, but we
have to wait for science to catch up in order to believe it. Or do we?
Can we believe in a vision of the future and act on it now without
evidence that this future will ever happen?
We struggle to clearly understand how people in our recent past
saw the world. Our own parents and grandparents struggle to
understand why we believe and expect what we do. They struggle to
understand why we choose to do what we do. So why not take a look at
the world of today with its widespread pain, struggle, jihad, starvation,
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greed and inequality, and make a mental leap to visualise a world with
no hunger or war? Let the missing links in this evolution present
themselves over time and get to work living as if the new world is both
probable and inevitable. That should be the relationship we have
between our expectations and the future.
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Relationship with Medication
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Medication encompasses naturally-occurring and industriallyproduced chemical products that affect our bodies' ability to perform,
sustain performance, concentrate, think and create. Our brains are
constant producers of drugs which alter our emotional and nervous
state. What is sadness and negativity? Is it caused by the absence,
withdrawal, expectation or presence of drugs? Maybe it is a result of
our interpretation of the effects of drugs on the body.
Opioids, cannibinoids, dopamine, adrenaline, and endorphins are
produced by the brain when our body experiences different situations.
Our brains constantly pour drugs into our bodies in response to the
input of our senses, thoughts and memories. These drugs influence our
ability to think and act in certain ways. They affect the way we interact
with other people, the way we bond in relationships, our available speed
and strength, and our sense of well-being or threat. If the amount of
drugs produced by the brain in response to situations overrides our
ability to think clearly and act in line with our actual goals (that we are
able to choose and ponder in times of quiet, safe reflection) we consider
ourselves to be out of control and in need of some kind of treatment,
either by ourselves or from others.
One way to trick your brain into producing particular types of
drugs is to focus mentally on one thing that produces a particular
emotion. Imagining a person holding a gun to your head can make your
brain flush adrenaline through your body. Another way is to continually
recall your previous peak experiences which will make your body
produce dopamine which gives you a feeling of well-being. Going for a
long run causes your body to produce endorphins which also result in a
feeling of well-being. Fasting from food and sleep also produces
unnatural balances of chemicals in the brain, resulting in altered
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experience. Inhibitors to these types of experiences include good

behaviour, suppressed emotions, and suppressed self-expression however, suppression followed by release can heighten the altered
experience.
Humour and unexpected good twists and surprises in the plots of
stories we experience - or the lives that we live - make us feel joy as a
result of the release of chemicals into our body.
Manufactured drugs, both legal, prescription (controlled), and
illegal, are designed to create an altered experience for the brain - and
hence, you - by manipulating the chemical balance within your brain.
Psychology aims to achieve the same end through conversation, on the
assumption that false or negative thinking is producing undesired braindrug experiences that result in a feedback loop of more negative
thinking, and thus experiences.
Naturally occurring plants and minerals can have a powerful effect
on our mental experience, ranging from agitation and paranoia through
to unadulterated bliss and a sense of belonging. Nature has an amazing
match of plant life and organic compounds which can alter the mental
experience in the brains of living beings.
I believe that altered and unusual mental experiences caused by one
or more of the previously described sources provided the root for many
of our worlds religious beliefs. In his book The Outsider, Colin Wilson
suggests that mescalin is not an effective opener of the gateway to
continuous religious experience because it does not allow him to
concentrate, but it is used by indigenous societies throughout the
Americas for religious purposes.
Our society, and hence media, declare, There are two types of
drugs: the drugs that are bad, and the drugs that are good. This is a
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gross simplification. In a discussion about the intended effect of drugs,

it is not useful to divide the classification of drugs into legal and illegal
drugs, or manufactured and naturally occurring drugs. In discussing
harm-minimization, harm-prevention, zero-tolerance, and the health and
social impact of drugs in the public sphere, these classifications are
used to narrow the debate into areas where pragmatic policy positions
can be taken based on the current public attitudes to just good and
bad drugs.
Drugs can fall into any combinations of the following categories
(and can be both within a single categorisation):
Some are legal and some are illegal.
Some are bad for you, and some are good for you.
Some are cheap and some are expensive.
Some are useful and some are useless.
Some are effective and some are ineffective.
Most have long-term side-effects that offset the short-term

usefulness over a period of time. After breaking drugs out of a simple
good or bad labelling, lets rely on the information about them that
the government either provides, or forces the legal producers to provide
to the users and their brokers. With the exception of being able to sue
companies or people for misleading us accidentally or intentionally,
only we can take responsibility for the things that we willingly put in
our mouths, on our skin, or in our bloodstream. I believe the Prostitutes
Guild has a similar policy.
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But at what point is the person who recommends, sells, markets, or

makes laws and rules regarding a drug that is harmful actually
responsible for their conduct? When that drug is proved to be harmful
in general? When it is proved to be harmful in certain circumstances at
certain dosages, in combination with other drugs, or in certain
conditions? With certain types of people? When it is discovered to be
harmful after the fact?
Drugs have the potential to give you the best experience that your
life has ever offered, but at a price. What many people who have never
tried heroin fail to understand is that this is true. By the very nature of
how heroin interacts with your brain, this can never be anything but
true. Every single gateway to pleasure in your brain is opened up,
flooding it with good feelings and physiological pleasure. But at a cost.
Like everything it has a cost, and as long as you are prepared to pay it,
and as long as we are considered to be responsible for our actions, then
so be it. The question of abuse and neglect of those in the care of drugtakers is part of being responsible for our actions, and at some point the
government must be able to intervene if the health of a person is at risk
from another persons behaviour. On the other hand, taking
responsibility for everything I do can be seen as a strategy for avoiding
conflict, rather than confronting someone else in order for them to take
responsibility.
I have done the very nicest things that I have ever done when
rolling drunk. I dont seem to have the courage to be generous beyond
the bounds of embarrassment in our society. When I want to do
something nice for someone in the street and people are watching me when it is well beyond what would reasonably be socially expected - I
find it really difficult.
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One of the essaylettes in the 2006 Edge.org Question Essays18

discussed a concern that a scientist had for the impact of antidepressants on our world markets as a result of the impact they have on
our ability to assess risk. While watching Deadwood, a fictional
television series about frontier life in 1850s America, I wondered about
how many of humanitys big decisions were made under the influence
of drugs. Alcohol, which affects human judgement, allows trust where
trust may not have existed, and lets people take risks which would have
been avoided had sobriety prevailed, could be responsible for paths of
history that would never have otherwise occurred. The flow-on effect in
our history must be remarkable.
Can we say that we owe the pace of our human progress over time
in some part to drugs? And, in doing so, should we not be so afraid of
the plethora we now take? Or do we take warning from the way brownbrown, a combination of gunpowder and cocaine is forced on child
soldiers19 so that they commit enormous atrocities and destroy their
own lives and the lives of those they attack?
And what of the legal addictive drugs in our society? Alcohol
affects my courage, concentration and enjoyment of sporting and social
experiences. In its favour, it relieves my stress and worries in the early
stages of effect. It initially replaces anxiety with courage (moral,
especially) and then gradually devolves me alternately into an
argumentative, unthinking loud-mouth, or a love-filled, physically
intimate, massaging, dancing fool - or some combination of the two.
If our thoughts are able to produce drugs in the brain which then
affect the body, is it possible to think our way to illness? I would have
18 Edge.org, http://www.edge.org/q2006/q06_index.html
19 In the Mind of a Child Soldier, All In The Mind,
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/allinthemind/stories/2007/1812727.htm
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said that a thought alone cannot cause a change in our bodies (except
where a good attitude helps us to look after ourselves when we are
sick), but if our thoughts can make the brain produce chemicals, and the
chemicals suppress our immune systems, and we then get sick and
perhaps die, we can say that our attitude does have an impact on our
bodies.
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Relationship with Environment

The environment is more than the green places on our planet. It is
also the urban space in which most people in the world live. It is our
own surroundings and the surroundings of others. It is uninhabited
areas, the sky above us and the water beneath us.
Mr Train Cleaner
Why does the bubble gum stick
To the carpet that used to be clean?
Im sure your pride has been pushed aside
Due to time or cost or greed.
Im sure its not your fault that the trains
All stink, are wet and dirty
You cant blame the travellers of the line
For getting bloody shirty.
It must have been a huge job.
Cleaning made the trains lose money.
Now that their privatised Im sure
This will become less funny.
Clive Hamilton, wearing his happiness studies hat, delivered the

keynote address at my wifes graduation in Geelong. It was a
fascinating discussion about how to change the world by changing other
peoples opinions. Sometimes you cannot change the world just by
changing your own behaviour. Global warming and drought are
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examples of this: we have shared resources in crisis, and we need to

change most peoples opinions and behaviour in order to protect and
preserve those resources.
But how does a person best appeal to another in order to shift their
opinion? How do you shift public opinion so that policy can be effected
which directs us toward a more peaceful and equal existence? The
answers lie deep within a knowledge of marketing, the use of mass
media, and the setting of a personal example by respected people. Even
without a high media profile, committees within governments develop
policies in all areas of our lives. When the profile of an issue has been
raised high enough politicians will also take notice (especially towards
election time) and direct the governments policy toward meeting the
desires of most people.
When deciding what is good or bad policy for a government I am
one part Utopian Socialist and one part realist. I understand that care for
the environment is important, but also that our standard of living is the
result of economic progress without regard for protecting the
environment. The optimum result for government performance is
probably achieving an unhappy medium where none of the
stakeholders are satisfied with the governments policies.
In a monetarily rich society such as ours, if we havent tied our
hands behind our own backs with crippling debt, expensive tastes and
vices, or out-of-control loan repayments, we all have the power to
change the world. One effective way is to direct the fire-hose of money
that flies into our hands from our work and then out again in purchases.
If enough people pay for the things that they like, more of it gets
produced. If people pay for a genre of music, more people will make
music in that genre. If people pay to sponsor children in third world
countries, more organisations will be created to help children in third
world countries. If people pay for products because they guarantee the
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working conditions of the people who produce them, more companies

will stick to these standards in order to create the product. It is a
powerful tool that can be used to guide the direction of our unfolding
economic history.
Money, time and attention are the three biggest weapons that
insignificant individuals have against aspects of todays society that
they do not like. Providing money and time to organisations which act
to change society in ways that you want is the most effective way for
people to create change. A conscientious person may want to leave the
environment in a better state than when they entered it. This could be
achieved by planting trees, or reducing their waste. It can also be
achieved by eating food developed closer to home, or eating less
processed food. Converting grain into animals is a form of food
processing that can be avoided by becoming vegetarian or vegan.
Maybe a good environmental idea is to have an ink that disappears
off paper, so that you can reuse the paper after reading it. How many
pages get printed out so that an article can be read once, and then
discarded? Thermal printers (often used for receipts) currently have this
effect if you leave the print-outs in light. This makes is difficult to keep
receipts for the length of time required for taxation purposes.
One of the best ways to help the global environment is to take a
dollar from our economy, and inject it into a poor economy. If you fund
an organisation that feeds or educates people in a third world country,
two weeks of coffees bought before work can buy a child school books
and materials for a year. The purchasing power of an Australian dollar
there is much greater than it is here, even after administrative costs are
taken from it. It doesnt even need to be considered a sacrifice. Loose
change can make a difference.
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I feel a little responsible for how the fumes from my cars exhaust
affects the environment. Something I can do about that along with
driving less and using a bike or public transport more is making a
donation to an organisation called GreenFleet. They will use that money
to plant enough trees to offset your cars carbon emissions. Even though
it is probably more symbolic than practical, it is better than no action at
all. It is a small step towards appreciating the environmental cost of my
actions. If enough people do things like this, the world will become a
better place for our future.
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Relationship with Money
Relationship with Money

Money, earned or borrowed, provides us with the power to act in
many ways. We can buy with it, store it, invest it or give it away. We
can turn it into experiences, services, consumable products, and
collections. We can spend it on ourselves, people we know, or people
we dont. Theres a certain amount of personal responsibility that
should be taken in choosing how to spend our money. Of course its up
to anybody exactly what to do with it - or how much they want to use
for the benefit of people they do not know. This is known as making
someone elses problem your own.
It would be interesting to know how much of the tax I pay the
government goes towards funding policies that I dont agree with, or
cannot accept in good conscience. Trying to influence the government
to stop funding the war in Iraq with my taxation, and instead spending it
on rebuilding the countrys infrastructure is one way I can choose the
way my money is spent.
I have started betting with donations to charities. Let me explain: if
I believe my opinion is correct in an argument, and I am not sure if the
other party is just arguing for fun or if they are prepared to stand by
their opinion, I will sometimes say, Ten dollars to your favourite
charity if Im wrong. We then check the facts. If I am right, Amnesty
International gets ten dollars. If my wife is right, Oxfam gets ten
dollars.
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Relationship with Wealth
236

The concept of wealth varies greatly between individuals, but it is
always associated with having more than a person needs to survive. A
person can feel wealthy when they have enough to eat, a place to live,
and more than enough to meet other needs. When we decide who is
well off and who is not, we are judging the lives and lifestyles of others
against an idea of what it means to be rich. Underlying this, though, is
really a belief that wealth equates to happiness. We look jealously
towards wealthy people and believe they are happy people while
missing the sheer amount of time, effort and pain required to maintain
that wealth.
There will always be people with more than you and people with
less than you. It is common in our society to blame the people less
fortunate than ourselves for their own situation by believing two lies:
that we are where we are solely through our own efforts; and, the less
fortunate are where they are through their own lack of effort.
Before China annexed Tibet, the country operated under a feudal
system where people used Buddhism to convince the poor that the
wrong they did in their past lives was the reason they were so miserable
today. Our own belief that effort brings reward and therefore poverty
implies not enough effort is a logical fallacy. Effort is not the only cause
of financial success, and lack of effort is not the only cause of poverty.
There are many factors that determine the likelihood of an
individuals personal success (and hopefully happiness, or at least selfsufficient satisfaction.) Early education, opportunities, available
services, available employment, strength of relationships, and family
and personal issues are some of the less controllable factors related to
whether a person is financially successful.
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The social benefit of a person becoming financially successful

rather than requiring government assistance is the lightening of the
government funding load. Many of us are jealous of people who receive
government assistance when we do not think they deserve it. Some
people will always abuse a system of welfare assistance, but what of the
people that it helps? Should they be hurt in the process of making the
welfare system fairer? The concept of government welfare is based
around two important ideas:
That a persons situation or disadvantage is not necessarily the

fault of the individual
That long-term social costs can be offset with shorter-term

assistance
One way of determining the success of a government is whether it

can produce and maintain productive citizens. A productive citizen
provides a net profit to the society and strengthens the government,
increasing its power. A citizen that is a net drain on a government
weakens a society and hence its power. It is therefore in the interests of
a government to pursue policies that result in the most productive
citizens. Providing an environment where the disadvantaged are helped
with aid and money to improve their chances (and their childrens
chances) of being productive citizens makes sense. And this is without
needing to resort to moral arguments for the fundamental equality of
everyone or the biblical underpinnings on which our societys laws are
based in the first place.
If I were to send a message to the super-rich in the world, I would
say that there is not enough to go around for you but there is enough to
go around for everyone else. There is enough for everyone except rich
people. Is it possible for one society to be wealthy without another
being poor? Can a society thrive without inequality? The greatest fear
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of the wealthy and comfortable is that there is not enough to go around

for everyone to be as comfortable as they are. This was Karl Marxs
complaint about capitalism: that it could only exist through the
exploitation of other peoples labour.
I read a book by Clive Hamilton and Richard Denniss called
Affluenza which discusses how an addiction to affluence results in the
purchase, usually on credit, of luxury versions of household items that a
modern family would consider a necessity, instead of a reasonable,
affordable and functional version of the same item. The thesis of the
book is that the purchase of the more expensive of these items does not
make us happy it is the result of addiction.
The salient point for me was that the range of prices of goods that a
person or family considers essential in a middle-class society has
become so wide that we can buy two versions of a similar product with
a ten times price difference. The trick for advertising agents, then, is to
convince us that we need the ten thousand dollar television instead of
the three hundred dollar television. The book is full of graphs of
spending patterns that become a little monotonous, but the message and
the lesson is clear: we have become trained that luxury items are
necessary and should be purchased, even if we cannot afford it.
Here are some of the essential possessions for an Australian
household:
TVs
Computers and laptops
Cooking appliances
Stereos
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Video and DVD players
mp3 Players
Microwave ovens
This is just seven types of item. Consider that one can purchase all
of the above items for under three thousand dollars, or for over thirty
thousand dollars. That is serious money that we can spend without
being conscious of it. These purchases do not even include the more
expensive regular payments we make on mortgages, rent, broadband
internet, mobile phones, insurance, utilities, and credit card repayments.
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Spent
You pay for a plasma telly
Your old one will last longer
You can keep a poor family fed and healthy
For longer than the screen will last.
But theyll overpopulate the world?
They might not have as many
If they thought theyd damn well live
Unless they do it for their belief.
Ownership of ideas, inventions and creativity, in combination with

laws to protect their ownership, and technology to prevent access and
use of the ideas and creativity without due payment, have resulted in a
new form of wealth that is not strictly monetary. Unlike money, though,
an idea, invention, book or song is often the result of many previous
ideas and inventions. The concept behind patent and copyright laws is
that the government grants temporary ownership and the exclusive right
to financially benefit from ideas and their expression. For copyright,
this was granted because of the artists right to profit from his or her
own work. For patents, the government wanted to stimulate businesses
to invent by granting a temporary monopoly for the invention, and then
turn their discoveries over to the public for the public good.
Significant holders of rights to intellectual property constantly
lobby their governments for changes to the law which will extend the
time they can exclusively financially benefit from those properties. The
music and movie industries would rather we paid every time we
watched a movie or listened to a song. They would also like us to buy a
movie or song again each time we get a different player. As the current
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owners of the intellectual property this is their right. We do not have a

right to illegally download or copy intellectual property, even if we
think it is unfair that the various content industries licence their content
and ideas the way that they do.
I have three suggestions for how to address this issue: one is to
lobby governments to shorten the amount of time an entity gets to profit
exclusively from their intellectual property before it becomes public
domain and freely usable by anyone; the second is to move from being
a content consumer to a content creator - write, sing, record, film,
invent and think up your own creative content; finally, remember that a
business requires customers. Not purchasing from a company will make
it change its ways in order to profit again. With respect to being
creative, there are laws which govern the amount of someone elses
content you can incorporate into your own, along with the ways that
you are allowed to do it if you wish to profit from it.
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Relationship with Happiness

Happiness is a popular pursuit in societies where the basic needs
for survival have been met and there is extra money, time and resources
to spend as you please. Abraham Maslow20, an American psychologist,
organised our needs into a hierarchy, suggesting that the needs in one
level need to be met before a person can concentrate on the needs in the
higher levels. Happiness and contentment lie in the meeting of as many
of these needs as we deem necessary for a fulfilling life. The levels are,
in order of their potency:
Physiological: air, food, water, sex, sleep, excretion
Safety: security of body, employment, resources, family, health,

morality and property.
Love/belonging: friendship, family, sexual intimacy.
Esteem: confidence, self-respect, achievement, respect of

others, respect by others.
Self-actualisation: creativity, morality, spontaneity, problemsolving, lack of prejudice, acceptance of facts.
Making mental connections (intellectual trains of thought,

conclusions about surrounding evidence, discoveries, or understanding
a joke) produces a sense of well-being. This feeling of well-being is just
a flood of chemicals produced by the brain. Where contentment is the
absence of anxiety or unease, happiness is considered a more positive
20 Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Maslow
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feeling than contentment more like an excitement or bliss. If we

believe that taking a risk could result in what we think will provide us
with happiness we are often not satisfied to be contented, let alone
unhappy.
Aside from taking pleasure from the suffering of people we loathe,
this is a list of things that one might trade in the search for an overriding
happiness rather than a slow-burning contentment or unhappiness:
Predictability for unpredictability
Stability for instability
Sanity for insanity
Joy for sadness
Comfort for pain
Peace for conflict
Order for chaos
Relaxation for a buzz of excitement
The brain remembers things that make it feel good but it also grows
less excited with an experience the more it is repeated. Does this mean
that extreme experiences are constantly required to maintain our
happiness? And what of the role of hope, magic and escape in our
happiness? The brain remembers peak spiritual and religious moments
of great meaning. Some drugs - LSD for example also can produce
powerful, positive mental experiences that can be clearly remembered.
These memories produce contentment when they are recollected.
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I live my own life in a near-constant state of anxiety. Contentedness

for me would be the absence of that anxiety - happiness would be
contentedness plus a constant state of joy. I lived my life as if my
world-view would dictate my happiness. My perception of the world
and my place in it is the most important factor in whether I am happy or
not, and I believed that changing that was one of the prime keys to my
happiness.
It hasnt worked. My brain is still a mass of constant anxiety, which
it seems to make sense of by generating judgemental thoughts, selfberation and condemnation. Without surrendering to an acceptance that
this unhappiness was my permanent lot, or that this wasnt a good way
to find happiness, I decided that I needed to find new questions to
answer in the hope that the illumination of their answers would provide
me with the peace I so much wanted.
I like to question my assumptions from time to time, and was
wondering if fame, fortune, and wealth were worth chasing as the ideal
path to happiness. Flow, by Mihaily Csikszentmihalyi is one book I
read as a way of researching this question. He references a lot of
research undertaken to establish the truth or otherwise of ideas that we
take for granted around what it means to be happy. These are my
thoughts upon reading it.
Attention throughout life is limited. Enjoyment involves the
improvement of our skills and mental capacity. How can we incorporate
meaningful action into our enjoyment? As a goal, this is more likely to
lead to happiness than the pursuit of pure pleasure. Complexity and
chaos occur at the border between boredom and frustration. Called
flow, this is the place where interesting things occur to our minds and
their perception of happiness. Flow is the ideal state to be in. Flow is
the place where we are not aware of the passing of time because of the
focus of our concentration. We grow mentally while we are operating in
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a state of flow.
Control your consciousness by making rule-based games out of
every pursuit - games that can be won, which improve your skills, and
which provide feedback to you about your progress. This is the art of
making the creative act your own, rather than relying on the creativity
of others for your pleasure. You need to keep increasing the challenge
as you improve to avoid becoming bored, but if you make your games
too hard, you will become anxious. The aim is to be engrossed but not
obsessed.
These games bring order to a chaotic mind. Escape is not as
satisfying as the games. Its not why you play, but how you play that
makes it work. Control your consciousness and not the environment.
Create the external influences you enjoy. If you like to listen to music,
try creating it. Writing doesnt just communicate information, it creates
it. Do you believe that doing useless unprofitable things is a waste of
your time and your life? Do things for their own sake and not for the
sake of your own happiness.
Increased complexity in life occurs in the methods and frequency
of your communication, learning and activity. The increasing
complexity in our lives leads to generation gaps, and to a breakdown in
our ability to cope with life. The contents of your home can provide
help in ordering the chaos in your mind. Over-inclusion is a mental
condition suffered by schizophrenics when thoughts cannot be
controlled and the mind is flooded with too many thoughts to handle.
Starseed, The Third Millennium by Ken Carey, and Flow are both
re-imaginings of the message in the new testament of the Christian
bible. The message is that there is a new way of living which is not
based on the completion of a set of legal and social requirements, but
instead an acceptance of our own imperfection, through which we can
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accept the imperfections of others. Finding new environments is more

likely to lead to happiness than changing existing ones. But isnt it
wrong to run away?
Differentiation versus Integration: There is a time to be alone and a
time to be social. While some people find being with other people is
energising, others, like myself, find it draining. No social expectation
will change that. If you have nothing left to give when social demands
are made on you, no one will benefit. Therefore, for those who are not
stimulated by social interactions it is important to find enough time
alone to gather their strength.
For many people, the world looks after itself, while serving up an
enticing combination of horror and good news stories on television.
They have embraced disengagement of people from their communities,
families, friends, and in particular from politics and the general running
of communities, cities, states, countries and the worlds in which they
live. Happiness is ignorance of the machine that provides a cocoon and
nipple to their happy existences.
Feeling exhausted gives me the sense that I have achieved
something. At the least, it fools my brain into thinking that it has
worked hard and satisfyingly. Unfortunately, being stressed out all day,
staying awake all night, or going out for a good time also tricks the
brain into thinking that it has achieved something meaningful, when all
it has done is made me poorer financially and a lot less productive the
next day. Indulgence, neurosis and obsession as methods of achieving
happiness suffer from the law of diminishing returns.
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Relationship with Humanity
248

Humanity is the ideal that all humans have the right to be treated
humanely for the purposes of human development. Humanitarian
groups aim to have egalitarian human rights made the basis of laws and
decisions made in business, government, religions, families and greater
society.
Sudanly - (Sung to the tune of Suddenly, by

Billy Ocean)
I used to think Darfur was just a fairy tale
Until that genocide until that first smile
But if I had to do it all again I wouldnt change a thing
Cause this war is everlasting
Sudanly gangaweed has new meaning to me
Theres beauty up above and things we never take notice of
You wake up Sudanly youre in poverty
Girl youre everything a man could rape and more
One thousand words are not enough to say what I feel inside
Holding dismembered hands the U.S. and China walks along the shore
Never felt like this before now youre dying in Darfur
Each day I pray this love affair would last forever
Theres beauty up above and things you never take notice of
You wake and Sudanly its not our oil war.
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The legalisation of euthanasia is a continual social debate. Why do

some people have such a problem with allowing an early ending of your
own life? If you are in chronic, untenable pain, why drag it out in order
to dubiously teach others the sanctity of life? Pathological murderers,
and leaders with the power to take life away in unjust wars are not
persuaded by sanctity-of-life arguments. Also, you cannot expect to
teach many people to stretch their meaningless lives out as long as
possible by using an example of constant undignified suffering. I say
that more people will be inspired to respect and enjoy their tie with life
if they are set an example of partying without care - even to the delight
of the Grim Reaper than they would watching a government keep an
unwilling person alive. Note that suicidal thoughts resulting from
mental illness should not be grounds for suicide, but treatment.
Is the only way to advance humanity to protect the sanctity of life?
There are many social forces that make people confront and endure
much more pain than they should be required to, in the name of human
decency. The strength of our will to live can vary according to our
circumstances. If I was given a choice whether to live incredibly
painfully for another forty years or to die painlessly now, would I
choose to take the painless death? I have no beliefs about the afterlife
that would influence this decision. Pain avoidance or responsibility for
my family would be my chief concerns, so the question will always be
skewed by this before the ethereal, ethical beauty of a perfect morality
which represents respect for life was taken into account.
Is that suicidal? I wonder how many chronically ill people pretend
to accept, like or love life because they actually do and how many do
it because they have to. How many people are alive because they should
be and not because they want to be? If I had the choice, would I take
two days of excruciating pain in exchange for forty years of gradually
increasing pain? I dont know. Perhaps I would be seen as weak and
disrespectful if I took the easy option, but I see dismal, continual,
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involuntary suffering as undignified and dehumanising.

I think that most people understand that we are part animal. Even
the most devout religious people who understand that we are beautiful
creatures in Gods creation know that we are riven with sin. Blaming
parents for our outcomes has become a very popular pursuit in the less
established of scientific circles, but research is indicating that parents
had less to do with our outcomes than even they would like to know.
Not that it matters unless you have an axe to grind.
As humans, I dont think being an animal can be used as an excuse
to ignore what is decent, beautiful and good. Transcendental and
intrinsic values are more important for human dignity, decency and
compassion than the efficiency of our social structures, our economies
and our personal behaviours. Dignity and compassion are the hallmarks
on which to base our moral decisions. Its how you play the game is a
guide to making the world a more equal place.
The progress of the morality of our own actions over time does not
always match that of the societies in which we live. We can be morally
ahead of our time and not know it. Unfortunately, the society that
ostracises us for strange beliefs is not aware whether those beliefs are
futuristic. But one can be attached to future humankind more so than to
the people in the immediate physical environment.
As an example of a new sense of values, is it possible to separate
the lazy disadvantaged from the keen disadvantaged and apply a
moral grade differently between the two? Disadvantage is not a choice
by definition. Advantage is mostly hereditary and therefore also not
solely meritoriously earned even though we are constantly taught that
advantage is earned. Exceptions to these rules are newsworthy, but the
status quo is not. Hand-outs are not conducive to change.
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Does insisting on the way government benefits are spent offend the
dignity of the people receiving the benefits? Does it make them feel
more excluded from society? Does their dignity have to come before the
right of their children to nutrition and education? Research suggests that
welfare payments are best distributed without restriction on how they
are spent. I disagree. The rights of future humankind must also be taken
into consideration.
Compassion, integrity and social cohesion will have a bigger
impact than simple financial aid on the raised levels of violence, crime
and rape in disadvantaged societies. Prejudice across classes is fuelled
by faulty logic, and stoked with stereotypes. Asians are stereotyped as
bad drivers. When I see bad or dangerous driving in Melbourne, the
driver is usually Asian. But this does not mean that all Asians are bad
drivers. Most suicide bombers are Muslim, but not all Muslims are
suicide bombers. It is false logic and prejudice that leads to this kind of
conclusion. It is the same when we judge people based on how they
look, what they wear, where they live, or whether they work. It is faulty
thinking and you have to catch yourself drawing conclusions about
people before you get to know them if you are to have any hope of
accepting strangers as equals.
Sneaky politicians use your prejudices to gain popularity by
appealing to your weak logic. They are the ones to be mistrusted, not
the different people that they make you want to fear or hate. People by
nature are disappointed by the people around them. Im a pretty good
guy, but Ive disappointed everyone Ive left - that is, dropped the rate
of visits to zero, or near zero, so that from their point of view a close
relationship is impossible. Vanity may not be my most evil vice. It may
be over-sensitive empathy that constrains me.
Is the money spent on keeping a pet morally justifiable when there
are programs you can fund to keep humans alive? Moral questions like
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this are uncomfortable to discuss or think about because they lead one
through the exposition of our humanity in all its imperfect hypocrisy.
The question can be repelled or quashed quite easily without too much
bother. As well, the logic of such a monologue or dialogue can be
followed through, and then put away without action or change.
The question can usually be avoided with the following logic:
You dont have to choose between one or the other.
I am not responsible for the lives of other people, especially

those I dont know.
They should look after themselves and stop fighting each other.
They are not as important as my pet.
I cant do anything to help them.
We have had our pet for ten years.
If I give money to an aid organisation, it will just go to the

corrupt leaders of the country, or to the administration costs of
the aid organisation.
Why dont you stop spending money on your favourite vice and
spend it on hungry people as well?
Who are you to tell me how to live my life?
The problem is insoluble, so I ignore it.
Jesus said the poor will always be with us.
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Why dont you spend your time and money looking after your
own family rather than strangers?
I would just be doing it to make myself feel less guilty, and that
would be the wrong motivation.
If I follow this path then I would end up spending all my money

on helping others, and none on things which make me happy.
It is easier to throw money at a problem to make you feel better

than it is to invest time in it.
Nobodys perfect. I make my choices even if I dont think they

are morally the best.
Morality is relative.
The relationship between one human and another is possibly just as

much a figment of the imagination as the relationship between animals
and humans. It is a connection that exists in your brain. It is in some
way a fabrication. Instead of keeping alive a pet, one could be building
the capacity of a third-world human to build their own society and stay
alive. We are of the same species as our starving brothers. But perhaps
that relationship is a mental fabrication, too.
The surest way to create the world we most want to live in is to
make it ourselves. Even the smallest contribution is a move in a
direction we desire. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(UDHR) is the best document I have seen that states the rights of an
adult human to enjoy life regardless of their beliefs, gender and values.
According to the declaration, though, parents still have the right to
educate their children as they see fit, and this includes the right for the
parents to choose a school that will inculcate their child with
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established hatred, religious fantasies and prejudices.

In a nutshell, it contains thirty articles which affirm the dignity and
worth of all people, and declare their equal and inseparable rights to
freedom and privacy. It is not enforceable unless enshrined in a
countrys laws, and it is not common law, however its observance by
governments, non-government bodies and individuals is encouraged
and promoted by non-government organisations such as Amnesty
International, and by political pressure from some countries towards
others.
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Universal Declaration of Human Rights21

PREAMBLE
Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and

inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation
of freedom, justice and peace in the world,
Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in
barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the
advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech
and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the
highest aspiration of the common people,
Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have
recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression,
that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,
Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly
relations between nations,
Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter
reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and
worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women
and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of
life in larger freedom,
Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in
cooperation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect
for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,
21 http://www.udhr.org/
256
Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is

of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge,
Now, therefore,
The General Assembly
proclaims
This Universal Declaration of Human Rights
as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all
nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society,
keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and
education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by
progressive measures, national and international, to secure their
universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the
peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of
territories under their jurisdiction.
Article 1
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards
one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Article 2
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this
Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex,
language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin,
property, birth or other status.
Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the
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political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory

to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-selfgoverning or under any other limitation of sovereignty.
Article 3
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

Article 4
No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave

trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.
Article 5
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or

degrading treatment or punishment.
Article 6
Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person

before the law.
Article 7
All are equal before the law and are entitled without any
discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal
protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration
and against any incitement to such discrimination.
Article 8
Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent

national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him
258
by the constitution or by law.

Article 9
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

Article 10
Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by

an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights
and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.
Article 11
(1) Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be

presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial
at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.
(2) No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of
any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under
national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor
shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at
the time the penal offence was committed.
Article 12
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy,

family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and
reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against
such interference or attacks.
Article 13
(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence

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within the borders of each State.

(2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own,
and to return to his country.
Article 14
(1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries
asylum from persecution.
(2) This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions
genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the
purposes and principles of the United Nations.
Article 15
(1) Everyone has the right to a nationality.

(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor
denied the right to change his nationality.
Article 16
(1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race,
nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family.
They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at
its dissolution.
(2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full
consent of the intending spouses.
(3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society
and is entitled to protection by society and the State.
260
Article 17
(1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in

association with others.
(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.
Article 18
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and

religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and
freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or
private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship
and observance.
Article 19
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this

right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to
seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and
regardless of frontiers.
Article 20
(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and

association.
(2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association.
Article 21
(1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his
country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
(2) Everyone has the right to equal access to public service in his
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country.
(3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of
government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine
elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be
held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.
Article 22
Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security

and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international
co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of
each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for
his dignity and the free development of his personality.
Article 23
(1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment,

to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against
unemployment.
(2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay
for equal work.
(3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable
remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy
of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of
social protection.
(4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the
protection of his interests.
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Article 24
Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable

limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.
Article 25
(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the
health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food,
clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and
the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability,
widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances
beyond his control.
(2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and
assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy
the same social protection.
Article 26
(1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at

least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education
shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be
made generally available and higher education shall be equally
accessible to all on the basis of merit.
(2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the
human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights
and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance
and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall
further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of
peace.
(3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that
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shall be given to their children.

Article 27
(1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of
the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement
and its benefits.
(2) Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and
material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic
production of which he is the author.
Article 28
Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the

rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.
Article 29
(1) Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free
and full development of his personality is possible.
(2) In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be
subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the
purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and
freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality,
public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.
(3) These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary
to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
Article 30
Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any
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State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform

any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set
forth herein.
G.A. res. 217A (III), U.N. Doc A/810 at 71 (1948)
Adopted on December 10, 1948 by the General Assembly of the
United Nations (without dissent)
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Finding similarities with each other leads to empathy, but

respecting diversity also strengthens our communities. What is the point
in knowing that people can be very different? One reason is that before
we judge peoples behaviour according to our own, we should
appreciate their background. This is not an excuse to ignore the
accepted law of our lands though, and in some way, protesting a
governments treatment of its people under its laws is almost like saying
that people should be able to break another countries laws, when really
what is being said is that the law should change, and that the countrys
authorities should then abide by the new law.
Without actually getting involved in the process of government you
can support groups that already appeal to governments around the world
to improve their human rights record with law changes and the release
of prisoners of conscience. In a country like Australia where a lot of
people have a significant disposable income, a small portion of your
income could be set aside to be a member of Amnesty International
(AI), who work hard to secure the freedom of people who are
imprisoned or tortured for political reasons. Political reasons is
defined as the organising or joining of an organisation that is in
opposition to a regime in power over a particular country or region. AI
try to raise awareness about indecent acts that particular governments
conduct. They also campaign against restrictions on freedom of speech.
When a government has unfairly imprisoned, tortured, or made
people disappear, human rights organisations attempt to raise public
awareness of the case in order to pressure or shame the government into
releasing such people or revealing the details of their deaths.
Disappearing has become a verb that is used in human rights
movements to describe a person that has been kidnapped or killed
secretly because they were considered a threat to the power of a
particular party or government.
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Amnesty International tries to achieve political ends with nonviolent means. That is something I am quite interested in, and that is
why I am a member. You can also make a monthly contribution which
will be used for projects and campaigns of your choice. Other groups,
like the environmentally activist organisation Greenpeace, may be more
closely aligned with your beliefs and acceptance of their methods.
Either way, by donating money you can make a positive difference in
the world with very little effort on your part.
One thing that made me consider donating my money to
organisations that will help shape the world the way I wanted it, was
when I disagreed with the Australian government spending billions of
dollars of tax money on the war in Iraq which was proven to have been
started under false pretences and yet continues to be waged. I started
wondering how much of my tax money is spent on projects that I
strongly disagree with.
I understand that in a democracy you vote once every few years to
put people in power, and those people then consider themselves to have
a mandate to do whatever the hell they like because we voted for them.
Not everybody agrees with everything that a government will do, but
when 70% of our countrys people disagreed with participating in the
war in Iraq, then there is a possibility that it might not have been be in
the interests of the people. It might actually have been a good time for
a government to listen to the peoples will, instead of lying their way
to their next election victory.
How much of my tax is spent on using violence to achieve political
ends? How much is spent on unfairly killing and imprisoning people
instead of helping them, and perhaps in doing so discovering and
addressing the causes of their grievances? It would be good to be able to
measure the amount of my taxes that are being spent on policies that I
like or dislike.
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Science (good and bad) is a favourite tool used by leaders to

morally differentiate between one group of people and another.
Different races are genuinely biologically different in relation to the
origins of their blood and the exposure of that blood to various diseases
over the centuries. Different races are genuinely different in their
proportions, average physical abilities, and even intelligence (thanks to
the hereditary nature of intelligence as measured by I.Q.) Different
races are genuinely different in their cultural and moral values. But in
light of these differences, is it reasonable to consider them as more or
less worthy of human equality?
There is a difference between prejudicial hatred and prejudicial
negligence in terms of how you treat a person based on your opinion of
the value of their race. But the end result is the same. While hatred
leads to discriminatory actions, the withholding of opportunity is also
damaging to the harmony of our communities. The same applies for any
other difference between you and another person that leads you to value
them differently, including their sexuality, gender, religious beliefs,
colour, class, income or habits. It has been shown that people would
rather work in cooperation than in competition, and yet division is a
powerful tool for people with power to prevent the sharing of it.
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OUTSIDE
OUTSIDE
269
Relationship with Society
270

Our society is comprised of citizens and leaders. Although
government is discussed in its own chapter later, some areas could not
be separated from the discussion about society because they are both
part of the one organism.
Should we feel obliged to help other people in our society? And
what do we think our society is anyway? People of the same language?
Colour? Geographical area? Football team? For me, it is the entire
spectrum of people in the world. It includes friends, loves, family,
peers, leaders, strangers, enemies and people you never see or hear.
Your relationship with society is shaped by your interactions with it
during your life. Your attitude toward your society is mostly based on
your experience with your peers, especially as a child. The impact of a
persons parents and other authorities has been shown to be less than
one would expect.22
Our relationship with society is very much dependent on the
conscious and unconscious prejudices of the people around us who are
able to have an impact on our lives - by either communicating with us
or doing business with us. Awareness of prejudice in a society is not
enough to actually change our attitudes to people around us. Whether
we like it or not, there needs to be an experience of positive stereotypes
of a particular group of people in our society in order to reduce our own
level of prejudice.
Is anger useful for convincing people of your point of view or does
it just scare people into submission? Our relationship with the people in
society around us is shaped by our own reactions to the anger of people
22 Stephen J. Dubner and Steven D. Levitt, Freakonomics : A Rogue Economist
Explores the Hidden Side of Everything (ISBN: 0061234001)
271
with whom we interact. Whether we embrace, fight, negotiate or ignore

the anger of people around us determines how much we like or hate
ourselves, what we do, and how much conflict we encounter from day
to day.
Does the concept of equality require that everyone should have the
same role in our societys life? Equality determines that everyone
should be allowed the same opportunities, but need not necessarily have
the same role. Nature does not require equality between the roles within
animal societies; cooperation does not proscribe it; and the concept of
trading appreciates that people will bring different produce and skills to
a market.
But people are mad. The strong ones are able to shape their lives
for success with a combination of force, skill, luck and determination.
They will then write books for the rest of us to read which will tell a
somewhat different story to what actually happened - taking more
personal credit for their success than they should - and then maybe
outline a plan that we can implement to duplicate their success. The
weak then buy the books, devouring and implementing the lessons for
success, and then wonder why it didnt work out for them.
Television is a national source of strength that provides government
or business the ability to shape the values and opinions of the people
who watch it. Do not be mistaken in thinking that your attitudes are
immune to change and manipulation by the programs and advertising
that appear on television. Being aware of the processes of persuasive
techniques is not enough to protect us from their influence. Free will is
a lot less free than we think and our society - with all the forms in
which we interact with it - has an incredible impact on the shape of our
lives and our minds.
If you feel obliged or willing to help others in our society, then the
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Christian and Jewish bibles contain the best advice I have ever heard
regarding coaching, managing, and being friends: encourage the weak,
rebuke the strong.
There is a pretty simple way to determine who is weak and who is
strong, but it requires either encouraging or rebuking them. When you
rebuke a weak person they dont improve because they dont need it.
They are already rebuking themselves and it is not helping. Their failure
is not the result of deliberately doing wrong and a reprimand is not
going to help. When you encourage a strong person after they have
done something that they know is wrong, they dont improve because
they do not need an encouraging word. They have chosen to do the
wrong thing and criticism and correction is appropriate in this situation.
In leading or coaching, if you have not judged your team correctly or
you do not know the players well enough you will probably damage it
in some way if you get it the wrong way around. The Christian bible
promises that God will be the harshest judge for the people who
presume themselves to be teachers, but your mileage may vary.
It is the right of a human to expect a certain degree of security in
life. A human should expect not to be attacked by their friends, their
neighbours, strangers, or their governments. They should not expect to
be attacked by other governments. Should a human expect the society in
which they live to protect them from attack? There is an expectation
that tax collected by a society is used to protect its citizens. The
participation in unhealthy activities like binge-drinking or smoking can
be considered to be damaging to a society, in terms of health and other
costs. Based on this, should we expect our governments to stop us from
taking part in these activities? Does the government have a right to
control our behaviour if it is going to hurt ourselves and the society in
which we live? The law and its policing determines what we are
allowed to do. Whether an activity is legal or not does not necessarily
coincide with what is healthy or cost-effective for our society.
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Tree-hugging hippies and protesters of their ilk are not just there
because many people need a cause. Some are there because they believe
in what they do. Some are there because they didnt get a chance to
wake up to life with a silver spoon in their mouths. But many believe
that the world is being irreparably damaged by the actions of selfish
people, and science is beginning to agree with them. Many people also
believe that powerless people deserve a voice, so they protest on their
behalf. It comes down to empathy. Can you put yourself in the shoes of
people who suffer? Or are you suffering so much that you can only take
the time to look after yourself and your own obligations? What if you
were the target of exploitation, shunning, abuse or unfair imprisonment?
And what of our attitude toward the rich? The rich are not often
received well in the media. Is it because they are not understood? The
impact of their actions is farther reaching than other people in our
society. But maybe the desire to see the powerful fall from grace fuels
the stories which sell most newspapers and magazines. Everybody
wipes their bottom but some of us have extra ambition, opportunity,
luck, narrower focus, higher thresholds of pain, less fear, more likely to
take risks, less disadvantage and are less likely to be hampered by their
empathy. These people will be the rich, powerful and famous.
Personally, I am jealous that I do not share the attributes required to rise
to the top of our society.
But the rich, powerful and famous have problems that we read
about yet may never understand. The obligation to protect themselves
and their assets from poaching by others is an all-encompassing task,
along with the necessity of maintaining a reputation and public image in
the face of spiteful opposition. These are full-time occupations.
Compassion and mate-ship needs to go in both directions of the
financial spectrum in order to build a strong and happy society.
Empathy needs to be directed toward those with more than us as well as
those with less.
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Does a man need a tribe of men to feel like a man - or to be a

man? This was a question I considered when talking to a great friend,
and a superior man among men that I respect uncontrollably. Im not
one hundred percent sure that I want to be part of a tribe that isnt allinclusive of everyone on the face of the earth. But what of friendly
sport?
Sport allows men and women to express their desire to compete.
Playing sport exposes the best and worst of the human condition. Being
a supporter of a sporting team also exposes our strengths and
weaknesses. Being both a player and a supporter gives us opportunities
to improve our skills and experience situations that give us a chance to
become better people. It also gives us opportunities to express our
prejudices in a mob, and to see people we hold in contempt get
smashed, humiliated, hurt and upset.
Spike Lee made a film, Malcolm X, that I watched soon after I left
the Christian cult in the early 1990s. It showed me the impact of a man
who did not compromise his beliefs with inaction. Often my own life
feels like one big compromise and that inaction has confused my
convictions. But I think this is the way it is meant to be for someone
like myself, who has tendencies towards fantastic and unrealistic
thoughts about how the world should be. I am also afflicted with too
much fear of what other people think to be considered anything other
than harmless.
I have a constant feeling of discomfort when working with others
in an environment that requires resolution of conflicting opinions for
the best outcome. In life outside work, I have a constant feeling of
disappointment for not insisting on forcing my vision of the way the
world should be on the lives of those around me. It is acceptable to be
uncompromising if your vision fits in with the people you spend your
time around. But when it is at odds with nearly every social norm
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around you what is one to do? Be in perpetual conflict? I hate that! If

the infliction of your opinions about how life is to be lived involves
forcing people with more to share with people with less, there is going
to be conflict. Who has the right to tell other people how to live their
lives and what to do with their wealth?
And so the great compromise is struck on the understanding that
maybe it is better this way for myself and those around me. I feel like I
have sacrificed my ambitions in the name of wisdom and decency, but
sometimes I would like to see the end result of all of my ambitions,
good or bad.
I am often surprised at the reaction of people around me to my
honest opinions or descriptions of my emotions when I let them out.
People are often hurt when I dont expect them to be, or encouraged
when I expect them to be hurt. Because I can not predict the impact of
my words or emotions on the feelings of other people, I keep them
locked up to be safe for everyone. I also do not want to let myself land
in situations that I cannot control, predict, or plan an escape from, that
does not end in humiliation.
I think people should be able to wear an Opt-Out badge that
requires people to leave them alone when they are walking down a
street or on public transport. Headphones are currently the best way to
do this. When I was living in the city I would wear headphones with the
lead in my pocket, and nobody would talk to me. Without headphones, I
was constantly stopped. Shaving my head completely bald and wearing
a big moustache was also effective in being left alone.
The opt-out badge could contain a listing of what one is prepared to
be interrupted for. Then people on the street would not interrupt you for
things that make you angry. A badge might look like this:
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Interrupt me for: Money, cigarettes, gym membership

DO NOT interrupt me for: Greenpeace, Red Cross, Christianity,
anything else.
In our society, we have the right to have an opinion about other
peoples problems in which some would say we have no business.
Why? Because of the bond of humanity that overrides the right of
inhumane leaders to tell us to be quiet. Israel and its conflict with
Palestine is one such example of an incredibly complicated problem. It
is complicated because some people value power more than the wellbeing of people. This includes both Israelis and Palestinians. Violence
and the threat of violence has also solved political problems for
repressed people in the past, so it is still relied on as a way of finding
peace. Also, some people are naturally scared of people from another
country, culture or race. They then teach their children to hate, have
contempt for them, or be scared of, in order to protect them. They are at
war. Their leaders also use politics to keep them scared.
In Australia, the national broadcaster ABC has a radio station called
Radio National that presents dozens of programs covering science,
politics, religion, culture, art and society. Most of their latest programs
can be played or downloaded from http://www.abc.net.au/rn. Australian
taxpayers pay for the service, but the Australian government had been
trying to strangle it for cash and put people on its board that better
represented the governments views. This probably is an indication that
it was fulfilling its role as an independent broadcaster that makes
government processes more transparent. Just as likely is that it was a
reaction to a broadcasting company that was ideologically opposed to
the government, and thus unfairly portraying it.
There was a recording of a presentation by Dr Bernard Sabella, a
Palestinian Christian who was on a speaking tour of Australia during a
round of open Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He had been involved with
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religious exchanges on the border of Israel and the Palestinian

territories. Jews, Christians and Muslims are living together peacefully
with tolerance and compromise. They want peace for themselves, their
families and their neighbours. They were not trying to kill each other. I
had never heard of this on commercial news or current-affairs shows.
Information like this is really important to discover because:
It gives hope that there can be a peaceful resolution between people

of opposing religious beliefs.
It continues to show that we cannot rely on one source of news for

an accurate understanding of the world around us.
We should not be discouraged into thinking that the world outside is a

hopeless place that should be ignored because it is intractably messed
up. We are tempted to think this because of the slant and selection of
stories being presented to us with the agenda of making money,
generating conversation, and other political ends unrelated to whether it
inspires people to help and to hope.
A simple understanding of a situation is not enough on which to draw
life-changing conclusions. This applies equally to our beliefs. A
complicated situation is resolved with compromise. Victory is the
cessation of violence and hatred. Common ground can be achieved by
walking away from the fight, taking a breath and returning to the table
of discussion.
Jaw, jaw, jaw is better than war, war, war.
What is victory worth when it destroys the lives of the combatants
and the people they are protecting? Make truces, trade and pull down
walls. But there is a responsibility to protect others from your own
people, and also a responsibility to protect your own people from
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others.
There are people in the world, regardless of what the leadership of
certain countries say, that really are more interested in getting along and
not killing each other. It is very important that a diplomatic and political
solution is found to problems where more than one nation-state feels
that it owns the same land.
Blowing peoples bodies apart with weapons is the old way of
solving political problems. A political problem is one where people
want more power, freedom, comfort and peace. The spreading of ideas
around the world by using force is uncivilised. A civilised country is
one where the government makes reparations to the people from whom
it took its land. Building walls destroys the ability to travel, trade and
mix. This weakens us all. It would be really good if political problems
including resolving the sovereign rights of nations to exploit the people
around them and to exist without people trying to destroy them or their
citizens - could be found over a table, or perhaps over food and some
music.
A few years ago I had an idea that there should be religious
exchanges where somebody from one religion gets invited into the
home of somebody from another religion and vice versa. It has been
unsuccessfully tried on Fox television in Trading Spouses to scary and
hilarious effect. A search on YouTube.com for darksided will expose
this. If a particular religion claims that they are the only religion and the
only truth, in opposition to another religion with a mutually exclusive
viewpoint, then its probably more important to find a political solution
than a religious one between them.
The media is an integral part of our society now. It is the out-loud
thinking of the minds of many different sections or our society. It
reflects the views of the people who consume the various publications
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and reports. I used to think that it had less impact on public thought
than people commonly considered, but after recent reading books like
Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell, it has become apparent that we are not in
control of our reactions to our prejudices, and our prejudices are fuelled
uncontrollably by what we see, read and experience. We are not a
society full of free-willed people. The media can shape public opinion.
If I had a large media profile and did not rely on it for my income, I
would love to use it for fun with a friend for whom public reputation
did not matter. We would play a game where the goal would be to see
who could make the other person look like the biggest idiot. We would
send coded messages to each other like Chinese whispers and see if
we couldnt get certain words into our interviews. We would introduce
new language and ideas in order to see how much traction they gained
in the chatter among our societies. Then we would catch up for a drink
and joke about it. Actually, I believe movie stars already do this in their
interviews.
In society, does a fellow human need respect to grow? In the words
of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, growing is
described as developing the personality during life. What do you do if
your need for respect is counteracted by your fear of other peoples
opinions of you? If a person is too worried about what other people
think of them, they are exposed to and enslaved by another persons
emotions. That person can then be hurt by another persons anger and
disappointment.
What is rude or mean? Rudeness and meanness are defined as
behaviour which makes other people feel bad. It is meant to be
considered bad if you act in a way that's purpose is to make other
people feel bad. But why should we even be bothered by another
persons mental comfort? How can we ever get ahead without ignoring
the emotional needs of those around us? How can we hope to become
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wealthy without exploiting others and ignoring their plight?

You shouldnt talk about people within earshot of you as if they are
invisible, unless that is your intention. It is cruel and alienating. It is
different to addressing them directly or making them know what you
think by raising your voice in a public space. It is exclusive and
threatening. It puts them in a position of social humiliation which they
can either swallow at the cost of some of their self-respect, or push
them into conflict with you or your group in order to save their face.
How valuable is your own comfort? Is it more important for you to
have a seat on the train than for a pregnant woman to rest her tired legs?
Are you able to say, Its your fault you are pregnant, so get over it and
stop looking at me as if I am meant to feel guilty for sitting while you
are standing? Or is there an invisible policeman in your heads telling
you to stand up for her? Does she have a right to even ask for the seat?
That is the politics of personal choice. On the side of economic utility,
we should make pregnant women comfortable to produce more
taxpayers. On the side of unjustifiable moral decency, its a nice thing to
do.
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Relationship with Loves
282

Our lives are defined by our loves of people, pursuits and ideas.
Healthy love feeds itself and those around it with happiness and wellbeing, safety and confidence. It is a joy to see good love, and painful to
watch unhealthy obsession.
What is the difference between an obsession and love? If the end
result of your passion is in conflict with your initial goals, then you
know you are obsessed. If you continually injure yourself in your
pursuit of athletic performance in a way that prevents you from
competing at your best, then your obsession is thwarting your ambition.
Likewise in a relationship, if your desire to be with somebody makes
them feel uncomfortable or unhappy, then you have an obsession and
not a love.
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Right Shop Wrong Brand Blues

Standing so far from you
Yet sitting at the same table
Im sure I should have learnt my lesson
From an old Greeks fable
Keeping your distance, would you have
If I was someone else?
Are you scared of love itself
Or just the brand stocked on my shelf?
I got the right shop wrong brand blues.
My packagings all wrong for you to choose.
My marketings crap, the advertising rank
I got the right shop wrong brand blues.
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Thin Line
When I tell you that its OK
To go back on your own
If after the fallout of these few days
You want to continue alone
It doesnt mean that I dont want
You with me forever
It doesnt mean that I wont feel
Cheated - my heart severed
I dont want to let you go
But I cant make you stay.
I wanted you to know this
Just in case we do part ways.
It was so easy to say Its OK
But after I wanted to cry
I usually give in without a fight
But for you Im going to try.
You have so much to offer
And you see so much in me
I dont feel alone at night
Do you know what I mean?
So, could we still be friends from now,
If things dont turn out right?
It would hurt like hell, and I dont see how
I could keep myself nice.
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The Gift
You gave me joy and love and grief
A life and a reason (or so it may seem)
Through truth you set me free
You filled a hole in my life
And your greatest gift was
That when you left
You left a hole mostly filled.
I used to think that friendship was
The greatest thing in the universe
But now I know that in a single month
We gave each other far more than
We could have in a month as friends.
I hurt you by respecting you
And now we are but friends again
I cannot say how much you meant
And yet I am glad to have
Given you a gift, too.
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Hands Off
I cant write a poem for you
I cant lie in bed going to sleep
Thinking about you
I cant let you fill my thoughts
Or let my feelings flow free
I cant touch you, I cant kiss you
And I especially cant love you
The way lovers love each other
Because you are not mine
I cant write you poems
And I cant hold your hand
I cant ring you to say good night
And I dont know if I ever will
I have three choices, but only two will do
I can sit and wait and give you my heart
But nothing else is allowed
I cant even touch you
Or I can force you away, and leave you
Free to fix your life and make your own way
As should have happened but didnt because
Thats how things turned out.
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I could find another woman

That would be a right thing to do
You would hate it but you
Would know it was right
I want to wait, my complications
Are small compared to yours
My life is no different now than it was
A month ago
But to do what I want, I could live with that
If you could.
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Through Your Eyes

You stopped being my friend,
When you started loving me.
Your looks changed
And you became secret and you no longer
Wanted the best for me, you were competing
For our friendship or so it seemed
The principles of life were absconded
My happiness you no longer wanted
You got jealous for no reason
And reactions got all strange
Can the two exist together?
How do you know if the relationship you are in is abusive? There is

a list of indicators but in the end it only really becomes clear after you
have left it. And likewise, you can not really say you have left an
abusive relationship until you see it as such. Sometimes we believe that
an abusive relationship is better than no relationship at all. This is true
for people who find loneliness crushing, heart-sapping and souldestroying. It is also true for people who have never experienced better.
Denial is a major sign of psychological abuse, physical abuse or
neglect. But how can we ask ourselves if we are in denial? It is almost
indistinguishable from a normal belief. While it is acceptable to
occasionally hold unprovable and unjustifiable beliefs (that is the
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source of human hope, after all), if we find ourselves in constant

conflict with friends and family about our choices, it is useful to find a
quiet place to contemplate our decisions and list our reasons.
Low self-esteem, sexuality issues and withdrawal from family and
friends are signs that you could be in an abusive relationship. But they
are not proof because they can appear as indicators of other problems.
The symptoms can last a long time after the abuse has ended,
sometimes forever. Being unable to trust people in authority over you
and having difficulty thinking objectively about your experiences are
signs of being in an abusive relationship, along with dependencies on
addictive substances and activities.
Abusive relationships can exist between you and your lover, your
family, your friends, your workplace, your church or anyone else in
society around you. The indicators are the same, and courage is required
to make a choice on the best path for yourself. Always remember that
there are people you can talk to who will provide options, and not force
you in one direction or another. The government provides confidential
services to give you space and an opportunity to discuss any aspect of
your life and relationships. You will not be the first to find yourself in
these situations, and you will not be the last. If you fear discovery that
you are searching for these services, you can use the internet in a public
library or a public phone in order to contact the services.
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Relationship with Family

Family is a collection of people that, through sex, adoption and
marriage, bind us to a common purpose. I am often surprised to see the
wills of those who passed away distinguish between blood and marriage
lines in the family when distributing wealth. I would have thought that
marriage would have made a person family, but that is my opinion and
in my naivety I though it was commonly accepted. The law also can
make it so, often against the wishes of remaining family.
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I wrote this in appreciation of my Twin Towers:
Twin Towers
From the word go, before I could feed
Twin Towers looked over me
Before I could look, do nothing but sook
Twin Towers saw that I had no need
And as I grew larger, and learnt how to see
Twin Towers were looking after me
I went to be taught, I had want of naught
Twin Towers ensured that I learnt what Id need
I ventured away to learn another way
Twin Towers saw me off on my great journey
I came back red-faced and empty-handed
Twin Towers let me back into their keep
I gathered my strength and leapt out again
Twin Towers sent me away with home kit
I lived with my loves and and we parted our ways
But Twin Towers were there for the quiet days
So Ill write an ode to the Twin Towers in my life
Who did more than I could expect or receive
Let the best of my life be a testament to
What you two have achieved.
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Is providing for your family a legitimate excuse for selling your

soul to the devil? By this, I mean is it acceptable to drop your moral
standards in order to provide what you can for your family? By this, I
mean is it acceptable to screw other people over in order to give an
advantage to your own family? Its easier when you steal or cheat to say
you were doing it for someone you love, because in your own mind it
goes some way to making your wrong action acceptable. We can blind
ourselves to the needs of others a lot more easily with the excuse that
we are looking after our own families. Now that I am married, I will
have plenty of time to deal with these moral dilemmas.
Depending on the society that you live in and what you expect your
quality of life to be like, size matters. By size, I mean the size of your
family. Normally, discussion about the size of a family centres around
the number of children a family has. But I think it is time to reconsider
the number of adults a family unit should contain. Polygamy is
outlawed in most western countries, but the economic reality of the cost
of home ownership, rent, fuel, education, services and goods is reaching
a point, where, if a certain standard of living is to be maintained, it may
be worth rethinking whether a family would be better off with three or
more parents.
This is already occurring informally as a result of the increasing
frequency of separation and divorce. So I predict that it will eventually
be written into the law that this style of family unit come under the
same laws that a current marriage between one man and one woman
enjoy. The gradual alignment of the rights of gay marriages is a start
towards society becoming more accepting of what constitutes a legal,
loving, and healthy family, recognised by government, and qualified for
the same assistance as any other family.
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Our prejudices will always lag behind progress in society until they
are confronted with positive role-models of the stereotypes that we hate,
abhor, fear or do not understand. If the rising cost of living is
unavoidable, why not just increase the size of a legal family?
Fear Fuck Breed

Fear Fuck Breed
Fear Fight Fuck Breed
Fear Fight Run Fuck Breed
Fear Kill Fuck
Fear Run Fuck
Fear Yell Fight Fuck Breed
Yell Fear Fuck
Yell Fuck
Fuck Breed
Laugh Fight
Fear Laugh Fuck
Yell Laugh Fuck Kill
Laugh Fear Fuck
Laugh Fuck Yell
Laugh Fuck Fear Breed Fight
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Relationship with Peers

Your peers are the people with whom you work, play, or study the
same skills, games and interests. You feel kinship with them and share
respect with them. You do not consider peers those you hold in
contempt or those you worship. A peer relationship is one of respect not fear, mistrust or disgust. It is best described as a friendship but you
do not have to be friends with your peers. Friendship, though, is the
common result of mutual respect.
Societies (secret and not so secret), guilds and unions often have
their roots in a desire to group together resources between peers to
become more powerful in the face of oppressive conditions in order to
produce a situation in which they can thrive within their areas of
pursuit, whether it is business, arts, sport or power. When an oppressed
group of people do this, they are considered justified in fighting for
their freedoms and rights. When already powerful groups do this they
are considered oppressive, greedy, monopolistic, and unfair. For those
of you who did not stand up to bullies in school, you missed your
chance to become successful arseholes. You will have to settle for
actions far below your own moral standards in order to get your power
back.
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The Arrogant Many

In many facets of school life,
Arrogance is running rife.
Although not everyones to blame,
People exist who play the gameWhere theyre A-1, and they alone,
Sit on their self-devoted throne.
Students, teachers, authorities:
Legends in their own fantasies.
Imposing themselves on other beings.
Forcing the lesser ones to believeNumero Uno is here to stay
And no one else is as good as they,
Or beautiful, or strong, or smart, or cool.
Id like to stand up, call them tools,
But all I hate in them I see,
Is something I can find in me!
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Hip Hop Dream

Shake, shiver, jive, roll
Cool hip, man!
Taking toll
On boys and girls whose sole intent
Is drowning themselves in music sent
Through mounted speakers on the walls
Surrounding multicoloured, spotlit floors.
He swears that hell be dancing when he dies,
She swears that shell go by his side.
To dance, to sleep. No more.
Friends are a collection of people, similar to families except for the

fact that the participants usually get more choice as to who their friends
are. Also, you may have had sex with more of your friends than your
family, but unfortunately this is often not the case. Friends usually have
common interests, common histories, common beliefs, and mutual
respect. One fraught activity in our society is taking a close friendship
and trying to turn it into a romantic relationship.
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Friendship Love
All I really want to know
Is if theres any chance
To carry on our friendship
Through the wall into romance.
If youve made it bleeding obvious
OK, so Im a dunce
Taking naivety into account
Ill ask again (just once)
Its easy to say no
When nothing has to change at all.
No fears faced, no hurts embraced
No need to have the gall
To find an honest answer
To a very scary question:
If I break my outer shell
Will someone love the yoke within?
If his nibs turns round and says, Youre it.
Lets make this more than sport.
Then all the best, Im glad
You both have found a decent sort.
If theres zero chance for us
Ill end this romantic flotsam,
Get back on track with jokes and flak
And keep our friendships clothes on.
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There are many reasons that we make new friends and see old ones
less often, including changing jobs, moving homes, or unresolved
conflicts. Advancing our philosophy (or growing in new directions) can
also lead to making new friendships and leaving others behind.
Alcoholics Anonymous believe that the better you get to know yourself
the better you get at staying off the drink. One of the characteristics of
an alcoholic is that they are geographical and relationship drifters. Are
all drifters alcoholics, though? Muslim nomads would disagree!
Drifting from friendship to friendship through life is considered normal
but it still makes me feel guilty for leaving people behind. The weight
of this guilt requires recovery time that could otherwise be spent with
friends or family. Also, friendship is limited by not being single23 and
despite best intentions, it is impossible to see either your partners or
your own friends enough. Especially if, like me, you are the type of
person who recharges their batteries by spending time alone.
Seizing or missing opportunities for success among my peers is a
constant source of reflection in my life. Why is success so elusive? Why
does it happen in places I have left, or in places I decided not to go, or
with people I have abandoned and no longer associate? I do not take
into account the success of people I have not met, or allow for the fact
that other peoples success may be the result of my own help and that
I did not stay long enough to reap the rewards. It has been an obsession
with me, probably unhealthy, to think too much about these things.
A burgeoning pile of missed successes makes me wonder if the
universe is teaching me to stick at something long after I believe I
should give up. Maybe fate is teasing me. Maybe it is the price of failed
courage and betrayal by abandonment. Is it natural to walk away from a
group at any time? If other people joined a group that I was part of and
23 Sister Veronica Brady, a nun on Phillip Adams Classic Late Night Live,
broadcast 6 April 2007, ABC Radio National
299
were energised by my convictions, then my walking away would make

them feel insecure and betrayed. The betrayal in this case is just a
discomfort experienced because they are going to have to make it on the
strength of their own convictions and not comfortably flow along with
mine.
Maybe that is the nature of betrayal. It is anger that you no longer
can rely on the strength of a peer that you trusted. I dont think that I am
alone in thinking this. Revenge in the face of betrayal may be the taking
out of ones own pain on someone else who let them down for a breach
of trust.
Are you responsible for the feelings of people who put their trust in
you, whether you want them to or not? Are you responsible for their
well-being? Are you responsible if you actually wanted their trust? If
you desperately wanted to be accepted and respected by the people
around you; if you think you manipulated them so that they would look
up to you; if you then walked away because you were not as attached to
them as you tried to make them attached to you; are you then
responsible for hurting them by breaching that trust?
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Relationship with Leaders

Leaders are people whose decisions have an impact on the quality
of your life and activities people whose opinions impact you or matter
to you above the level of your peers or family. The queen of England
can be seen as a leader even though she has little direct impact on the
laws and lives of Australians. Your boss and your boss bosses are also
leaders in your life, impacting the quality of your working life by their
decisions. Leaders are people who wield power over our lives.
Leadership involves the wielding of power in order to align the actions
of a group of people into the path of a single will.
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Obscure
I reckon my boss travels backwards in time
He doesnt remember a thing I say
And hes always sure hes processed my pay
And he thinks hes told me a hundred times
To do something, whatever, he stamped and swore
But I reckon hed never told me before.
But his tomorrow is my yesterday
I tell you what, if I kick his arse
So hard he goes the other way,
He would not even remember
That the day before I pulled out my member
And told him to suck it because I knew
That was a day he wasnt going through.
Political leaders, often maligned because of their tendency to lie in

order to maintain public trust have part of their purpose exposed in the
following cynical quote:
The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed
and thus clamorous to be led to safety by menacing it with an
endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary. - H. L. Mencken
Priests and other religious leaders find their power in the beliefs of
their constituents and an implicit trust in the power structures within the
belief systems of the congregations. They do not need their own
convictions or proof of what they profess in order to enjoy the fealty of
their flocks.
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The founders of religions require a special discussion in order to

put borders around the meaning of their leadership. The following
relates to the foundation of the Muslim and Christian faiths, but equally
applies to the founders and early proponents of many others. Whether
or not God exists, and whether or not miracles occurred during the early
days of many religions, a lot of people believe that the early founders of
many of our religions did actually exist. Scientology can vouch for this
because it began so recently that people alive still remember the
founder.
Were the founders inspired by a god through divine intervention
and given a mission to spread word of their beliefs around the world? Is
a god a being that exists outside the bounds of our senses, or an
aberration inside our brain that seems real but is really an illusion? Were
people inspired to perpetrate hoaxes in a belief that they may make the
world a better place? In the name of truth, Socrates suggested planting a
mythology that made a nation-state strong for his peoples own good.
Parents create stories for their children for their own good, so why
shouldnt a leader do it for his or her people? But this type of deceit,
once discovered, sows the seeds of distrust among people who were
seeking truth and not comfort.
Religions are used by determined and power-hungry leaders to
extort the time, money and blood of the believers for their own ends.
Did the originators plant the seeds of their religions destructive abilities
by beginning them with false premises and asking people to give them
their trust? Surely religions founders were acting in the best interests of
humanity. The starters of religions championed a set of ideas that they
wanted to take root in the world. They must have known that they could
have been killed for their ideas, and yet had been prepared to stand by
them in the face of death. Sometimes I wonder if Jesus actually
manufactured his own killing so that his ideas would gain greater force.
He was, after all, a slave to his own ideas and convictions.
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Imagine what would happen if Jesus was born in a society that did
not have a written language? His wisdom would have been passed
down by word of mouth and deeds. He could have been an Eskimo! The
words that we have in the new testament were likely passed down
through word of mouth before they were written. The act of translation
between languages and the migration of the meaning of words over time
also has the same effect as passing the stories from one mouth to
another. That is, the meaning, context, content and focus changes over
time according to the latest person who wrote or told the story, and the
last person who read or heard it.
I have been slowly reading Mein Kampf, the autobiography of
Adolf Hitler. He wrote it while he was in jail in 1925 after a failed coup
attempt on his countrys government. I was struck by his rhetoric and
logic. His logic plays out if you accept his initial assumptions as true.
So his assumptions must be inspected. I was interested in the number of
his policies that are now considered normal in the course of a western
government this includes the place of propaganda in effective
government, using fear to control people, spending on infrastructure to
build the economy and recognition of the negative effects of globalised
business on national manufacturing. I am sure a lot of people in power
have read this book.
He professed a love for his country above any other nation. In line
with this, he did not consider that a person of any other nationality
deserved to be treated as human while his own nation was in a life-anddeath battle for survival and supremacy. He maintained a hatred for
weak politicians who he blamed for the current state of his nation,
which after losing the First World War was in a perilous financial state
caused by the cost of its financial penalties and reparations. He blamed
the countrys syphilis epidemic on its uncertain leadership. He believed
direct and decisive action was required to deal with these problems.
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He blamed an uncontrolled media for his countrys weakness. He

believed that a state-controlled media with a focussed propaganda
message was vital to the strengthening of the nation. He hated
communism and stood strongly against Marxism and trade-unionism
too. He softened his stance on trade-unionism when he saw that workers
contained the strength and resources that he needed to focus on
rebuilding the country.
Central to all of these views was his hatred of Jews. By picking a
scapegoat (an ironically Judaic term) for society to blame its ills on,
Hitler fulfilled his own advice that in order to succeed in politics the
people must be shown to have a single enemy. This was Realpolitik at
its most coldly calculating. It appealed to deep biological desires for
identity, protection, and drawing together around a fire in the prehistoric
cave of our unconsciousness. Few things bind people like a common
enemy.
Most of his policies were underpinned by his prejudice; his
consideration of history and current events; his belief that people from
another nationality do not deserve humanity; that his own people were
in a life-and-death struggle to survive; that because of this no recourse
to morality was required; and, that the only way to survive was to
destroy his nations enemies, the weak and the sick, and to nurture his
own nations strongest people for a glorious future.
Ignoring his racist policies and attitudes, if we now consider the
whole world as that single nation he loved so much, would his policies
be beneficial? If a person is working against our interests is it wise to
consider them a friend or to hold out the hand of friendship? We are
tempted to think that one world will only work if everyone thinks
they are on the same team - otherwise we must protect ourselves from
the enemy. But who is the enemy? Everyone who sees us as
competition. But if no one takes the first step of peace, how does
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cooperation occur? Most likely, even if we do attain a single world

government, it will be by force and maintained by force.
Australia Day passed recently with a lot of nationalist dickheads
being racist while waving an Australian flag. That isnt patriotism, its
rooted in prejudice. It is based in hatred, fear, lack of respect and
contempt. Top men and women come in all colours, races and religions
- and so do dickheads. Dickheads are the enemy of humanity. How do
you identify a dickhead? What should be the standard of behaviour? Is
there justification for their behaviour?
Compare racist behaviour to the declaration of human rights
printed earlier. Tolerance doesnt mean you have to like someone or be
their friend. It just requires you to acknowledge your prejudice and try
to behave towards them the way that you would treat anybody hopefully based on their own behaviour and not your learned
stereotypes of people who look or sound like them. Lets run the dickheads out of our country (and off our planet if possible) and not take the
easy route of blaming our problems on groups of easily identifiable
people.
Exposure of humans to cruelty, war, killing and the harshest
conditions for survival can destroy ones capacity for pity. This is in
addition to naturally occurring sociopathy and psychopathy. Either
naturally occurring or as a result of Hitlers experiences in the First
World War, he was able to hate people to the point of trying to destroy
entire races.
We can strip away our sense of empathy with acts of cruelty against
each other. Maybe people who have killed other people are not suitable
to run a country. But who would you turn to if your country faced
economic, physical or spiritual destruction at the hands of another
group of people led without mercy?
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Is there a place in the leadership of a country for people with mercy

and integrity? John Hewson was an opposition leader in Australia for
the Liberal party during the reign of Paul Keatings prime minister-ship.
He was strongly raised as a baptist, having learnt the value of hard work
and honesty. He thought it was more important to work hard at his job,
even at the expense of somewhat neglecting his family.
So he entered Australian politics and was not made welcome in it,
either by his own party or by the government. He was not a junk-yard
dog or school-ground bully. Everybody else knew it and they tried to
destroy him. I believe that the appearance of honesty in the Australian
political scene was threatening to the dogs who were there, because
they knew that honesty is popular with the Australian people, and they
were not prepared to sacrifice their power to provide it.
Should our leaders have the mind of a shepherd? The kind of good
shepherd described in the Christian and Jewish bible is one who would
go to extreme lengths to save the life of one lost sheep. It sounds like a
mind that these days would be called obsessive/compulsive - a mind
that cannot stay focussed on the big picture because a small part of it is
not quite right. These kinds of minds may well pay great attention to
detail, but in power may focus on the needs of the few at the expense of
the many.
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Relationship with Strangers
308
Relationship with Government

Government is any body or organisation that uses politics to collect
resources from and make decisions on behalf of its members. Different
styles of governments have prevailed around the world and throughout
history, ranging from democracies to dictatorships. Politics is known as
the process of punishing enemies and rewarding friends.
Some people complain about our own society becoming
disengaged from the process of politics in our public life. Many people
are not interested in the decision-making processes in our society whether in making a meaningful vote, or presenting their desires and
ideas to their political representatives. The reasons for this include a
combination of living comfortably and feeling that they are not being
listened to by people in power.
It is also difficult for people who are well-off to find empathy and a
voice for the disadvantaged. However, people will find their voices as
financial pressures increase as a result of economic upheavals in our
markets caused by overzealous risk-taking by investors. The results of
this are currently unfolding around the world.
The effectiveness of a democracy is based on this:
That each interested person has the same right to control the
direction of the government.
Periodical election of leaders by people makes for more

efficient governance through voting based on their honest
promises.
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That the governments decision-making process is transparent

and available for critique.
That the government fairly shares its riches and fairly taxes its
citizens.
That government corruption is minimized by freely allowing

political opposition and separating legal powers from political
powers.
For everyone practising evil hates the light and does not come
to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. - John 3:20,
Christian Bible
Regardless of the level of government local, state, or federal it

is possible to make representations, write letters or lobby in order to get
policies implemented that are in your interests. But one of the problems
with democracy is that after an election, the elected leaders have an
implied mandate to do whatever they want, whether it is in the interest
of most of the people or not.
Our free trade agreement with America was a pre-emptive favour
done by the Howard government for the United States of America. For
countries that are supposed to be saying that global free trade is the best
policy for the worlds benefit, signing a Free Trade Agreement
between just two countries seems most hypocritical. Even if one argues
that the lowering of government protection of their own countrys
industries is better done one country at a time than not at all, the
fundamental unfairness to developing nations is still outstanding. If you
think that your country should not have a free trade agreement with
another country on the basis that it is both unfair in substance to our
country and to the name of global free trade, there is something you can
do about it.
310
You can get in touch with your representatives, join a political

party, write letters, join a group and let people know what you think.
You can put a show on the internet, spruik your values at the pub, make
comedy, write, or otherwise raise consciousness in others about the
situation. Do we have the right to push opinions that we feel strongly
about down the throats of people around us? That depends on how
important the issue is. But people probably do have the right to remain
ignorant in our society, and they certainly have the right to not expect to
be bothered by strangers if they do not want to be.
Can taxpayer money be considered to be stolen by our
governments when they privatise our infrastructure, projects and assets?
A lot of money is also paid to financial institutions and companies for
the management of our compulsory superannuation. Theft of taxpayers
money may occur when the government pays private companies to
conduct projects that were once government responsibilities. There is
less disclosure of exactly how the government spends our money when
tendering to private companies under the guise of protecting the
commercial interests of the private company. How are we supposed to
know where our money goes? 24
Politicians and other leaders who derive power from their influence
understand that the way something looks is more important than the
truth behind it. We vote on their image as much as what they have done.
That is the premise on which they base their electoral campaigns,
usually using fear and appeals to our prejudices so that we prefer them
over their opposition. It is exciting on rare occasions to see a forward
thinking politician able to successfully appeal to the humanity and
common sense of the voter in an environment like this.
We get taught by our leaders to think of their enemies as less than
24 Editorial, Dissent magazine, edition 17
311
human. Governments demonise individuals, groups and races that

oppose them in order to justify to us their unjust actions. The best way
that soldiers can kill other people is to think of them as less than human.
But unless you are defending yourself or your country from attack,
killing people to achieve peace is an international crime. I dont know
how governments get away with it sometimes, but what they do is
eventually exposed in books written during the tragedies and after it.
Government acts that are shameful should not be brushed under the
carpet. A people should not feel guilty for acts that their governments
have done or are doing. In many countries around the world, direct
opposition to the government can result in imprisonment, the removal
of rights, torture, death and reprisal against the offenders family and
community. We can count ourselves lucky that we live in relative
freedom in Australia, although anti-terrorism laws passed in the last ten
years have eroded much of our right to be free of secret government
harassment.
If we are powerless or under threat from a government which acts
in a way that we think is unfair, then one can understand not acting on
their atrocities. But if we live in a safe country, then arent we somehow
complicit in remaining silent while a government that we voted in is
inhumane? To what degree are we to be held responsible? There are
extremists who consider that the citizens of democratic governments are
responsible for its acts, even though we know that we do not have the
power to influence every decision.
Either way, stories of national shame should not be brushed aside.
They should be remembered. And they should be remembered regularly.
Government should be reminded that they cannot do inhumane things
knowing that their acts will disappear in time, or with a thick overlay of
lies and blame-passing. People should not feel shamed into silence by
the guilt of a previous generations governmental atrocities.
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Quoting a countrys shameful history is not incitement to violence,

nor is it unpatriotic. It is a decent act aimed at protecting fellow
humankind from having these kinds of atrocities visited on them again.
That is not inciting people to be violent, regardless of politicians
protests and the enacting of sedition laws. It is trying to protect people
from government. National shames should not be forgotten because they
are painful. They should be remembered as a warning of what can
happen again. It is an act of responsibility on behalf of people all
around the world to remember past crimes of government.
I read The Latham Diaries, by Mark Latham (published by
Melbourne University Press) who led the Australian Labor Party to an
election defeat in 2004. Whether or not this book is filled with bile
(as described by most of the people referred to in the book) it is a
fascinating look at the Labor Party through one mans eyes. Mark
Lathams conclusions about what is wrong with Australian politics can
be summed up fairly succinctly by saying:
that the incumbent government is beholden to giving favour to

the powerful.
the opposition is beholden to its own internal power struggles

with no vision for the future.
Australians are disengaged from and discouraged by the

political process and dont really care about what happens to
the country so long as they dont have to pay too much and the
disadvantaged dont get too much of their tax money.
He also takes a fair swipe at political commentators in saying that

they should read more of the Hansard and talk less to politicians off
the record. His ideas and efforts in social policy reform and his attempt
to put it back on the political agenda were commendable, but felt like a
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lost cause. This is explored by Clive Hamilton in his essay in the

Quarterly Essay.25
In Australia, it is compulsory to vote at both the federal and state
levels. Combined with the two-party preference system this means that
your vote will eventually count for one of the two major parties in the
election. The only way to protest this at present is to make an informal
vote - one that cannot be counted because it does not follow the
instructions. If you do not vote at all, you require a letter of explanation
or you will receive a fine.
What do you vote for? Do you vote for economic security at the
cost of the needy? Do you vote to pay more for a kinder society? Do
you vote for your familys interests ahead of strangers interests? Do
you vote based on future promises or past performance? Do you vote
for what you know or for something new? Do you vote to punish those
in power or support the opposition? Do you vote for a minor party that
has one or two major policies, or a major party that has a broad range of
policies? Do you vote for a party that promises to restore humanity to
your countrys laws? Or do you vote for a party that promises
continuing economic success and security? We can only vote based on
the promises of the political parties during a run-up to an election.
I read an article in the paper version of Time26 magazine about
free radicals. Free radicals in the diet can contribute to diseases related
to ageing, including cancer and heart disease. In places in the world
where particular foods in peoples diets are defined by general scarcity
in the availability and range of foods, the diets are often low in free
radicals. People living in these areas live a lot longer on average than
25 Clive Hamilton, Whats Left? The death of Social Democracy, Quarterly Essay,
edition 21.
26 http://www.time.com
314
those in a western culture. In some places in China and around the

Himalayas it is not unusual for people to live for over one hundred
years.
The Chinese government has known for a long time that Free27
Radicals28 are also dangerous, and even today are doing what they can
to eliminate them. A government protects itself by starving funds and
rights to groups that oppose it. Non-government agencies spoke out
against humanitarian abuses by the Howard government in Australia. As
part of its response, the government made it more difficult for
organisations to receive tax-free status, which is a financial punishment
that benefits the government at the expense of the welfare targets of the
group. If a government makes it harder to help the needy (environment
or people) maybe we can help by directing the benefit of our tax cuts
towards the non-government organisations that we believe in.
Can we call our country civilised if it does not act in a civilised
manner? It has been said that a country can only consider itself civilised
if it makes reparations to the people from whom it took land and
resources. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made an historic apology to the
aboriginal people when his party took power. There was a fear that this
would end up in countless court cases for reparations as this was
tantamount to an admission of guilt. It is the reason that the previous
Prime Minister, John Howard, refused to apologize. It is right that our
courts be the next step in our countrys growth towards civilisation. The
true test of a democratic society is that you can take on the government
in legal action and have some chance of success. If you cannot, then the
government has made your society undemocratic.29
27 http://www.dfn.org/
28 http://www.christusrex.org/www1/sdc/tiananmen.html
29 Geoffrey Robertson, The Justice Game
315
I read a book called Freedom Next Time, by John Pilger. He is a

journalist who has exposed inhumane U.S. government atrocities in
Cambodia and Vietnam. A section of this book discusses the unfortunate
crimes against the Chagosians. Chagos was a British colony in the
Indian Ocean. You may have heard of Diego Garcia, an uninhabited
island which has a United States armed forces base on it. It is an
important part of the US ability to perform air strikes from the Indian
Ocean.
Chagos used to have two thousand people living on it who had
been there for two centuries. They were moved off the island when the
British government secretly sold the island to the United States
government. The British government lied to the United Nations and the
rest of the world about the sale, and progressively moved the people off
the island to other countries like Mauritius, not allowing them to return.
Another chapter describes the inhumanity of Israeli governmental
policies against the Palestinians. Its a powerful story about how
violence breeds violence. The techniques that they are using against
Palestinians now are little different to what was used against Jews by
the Nazis leading up to, and during, the Second World War.
Any criticism of Israeli policies and humanitarian crimes - like
punishing entire communities for the crimes of one person - is not
tolerated. But this and other acts are essentially state-sponsored
terrorism. Acts like this circumvent international law. Who will bring
justice? The Israeli government needs to protect its citizens from
Palestinian terrorism, and refuses to be constrained by international law
in the prosecution of this, implicitly claiming that it is an unfair
restriction on their capacity to defend themselves.
Leaders of any country, including those in the Free World speak
of the justice of their own government and the inhumanity of their
316
enemies. They talk about the well-being of their people and the benefits
of a democracy that must be forced into other countries by means of
economic or military war. But do not blame the concepts that come out
of the mouths of people hungry for power. Do not blame democracy or
Muslim beliefs for the inhumanity of a leaders actions. A philosophy
like capitalism or communism can never be blamed for inhumanity. It is
the inhumanity of the leaders which is to blame. The best we can do is
try to encourage openness in government which is the surest path to
reducing inhumanity and corruption in our world.
If we needed to have religion, it would be nice if a religion based
on compassion, unity, healthiness and inclusion was encouraged and
allowed to flourish among all of the worlds people. That religion is
Falun Gong, which is characterised by Compassion, Truthfulness and
Forebearance. Because its proponents speak out against the single party
government in China, it is portrayed as a dangerous belief system by the
government. Unless people in Falun Gong are taking up arms and
killing people, I find it unusual that it needs to suppress the movement.
From several accounts, it has even been claimed the Chinese
Government is harvesting body parts from political dissidents including
people in Falun Gong. The number of available transplant kidneys and
livers from China per year has gone up since 1998 - depending on the
body part - by anywhere up to 1000% or 2000%. So, where maybe five
hundred kidneys were sourced from China in 1998, something like
4000 kidneys were made available last year.
Where did they come from? The miracle of the Chinese economy
would mean that there are more hospitals and education that enable
people to make these organs available. The concern, though, is that the
organs are being sourced from prisoners of conscience rather than from
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people passing away naturally or volunteering them.30

Australia has a very disappointingly low uptake in the donating of
our own organs upon death. This seems strange for a fairly secular
society. If you need to get a liver transplant it takes two years to find the
right one in Australia. It takes about four weeks to get the right one
from China. There are a lot more people in China, so one would expect
a better chance of finding an organ match. In 2007, people were
handing out pamphlets about this situation in Melbourne, Australia. In a
country like China, with no free press, though, the truth may never
present itself, or be able to be trusted when it is.
Did you know that in 1938, Britain declined refugee entry to
German Jews? Why? For political reasons. In order to maintain good
relations between countries, peoples rights are abrogated. Governments
are also able to be inhumane towards groups of people against who
societies are already prejudiced. Anti-Semitism was not new to Europe
when Nazism began. It had been strong enough for decades beforehand
to be used as a platform for political parties throughout Europe.
Governments continue to deny rights to humans in order to maintain
cordial economic relations with more powerful countries. Witness the
restriction of West Papuan refugee immigration by the last Australian
government in order to appease the Indonesian government.
The Australian government has combined two sections of the
Migration Act in order to create the ability to indefinitely detain illegal
entrants into Australia.31 Section 189 requires immigration officers to
detain anyone under a reasonable suspicion of being an unlawful
non-citizen. Section 196 states that unlawful non-citizens can only be
30 More information can be found at http://organharvestinvestigation.net or by using
Google.com to search for chinese organ harvesting
31 Robert Manne, The Unknown Story of Cornelia Rau, The Monthly, September
2005.
318
released from detention after being granted a valid visa or by removal

from the country. As tested in the High Court in 2003 in the al-Kateb
case, regardless of a willingness of the detainee to leave Australia, in
the absence of a country willing to offer a person a visa, they can be
detained for life.
This leads me to an idea that if someone made a fund-raising
website, we could offer money to another country that would be willing
to grant these detainees a visa. We should find out what the government
of other countries are prepared to receive per detainee and thus create a
market for the repatriation of detainees to (hopefully) another country
of their choosing. Alternatively, we can campaign for our government to
reintroduce humane immigration policy. Opposition to these ideas may
come from the detention centre market, though. It may also come from
people who see the website idea as another form of human trafficking,
but we should be pragmatic (and law-abiding) when it comes to
attaining peoples freedom from unjust laws.
In Australia, the Howard government began an armed sweep of
aboriginal communities in order to enforce criminal law and provide
medical aid to remote aboriginal communities. It was based on reports
about the failure of allowing self-determination in aboriginal society,
and the resulting alcoholism and child abuse in aboriginal communities.
The push included temporarily taking control of land ownership and
withholding welfare payments in order to redirect them towards rent
and food. Is child abuse a feature of aboriginal culture? Are the
statistics relating to aboriginal health a source of national shame, a
result of cultural practice, or the result of a lack of legal enforcement
over time on the grounds of cultural self-determination?
The intervention has been continued by the new incumbent
government, but there are mixed reports as to its impact on the
communities. The quarantining of welfare based on race goes against
319
the ideals of human rights. If it is such a good idea, why is it not rolled
out across the country? Hopefully the current government will be open
with its own reports on the interventions effectiveness, and transparent
and flexible in its response to outside criticism.
When a government response to a social situation is aimed squarely
at a particular race of people, is it racist policy? If a government
addresses a social problem and targets a particular group of people as
the highest prevalence or risk area, would it not be inefficient, if, in an
effort to appear egalitarian they spread their resources thinly across all
demographics? Governments should be unafraid to direct aid or
attention to a demographic in need. If the policy is evidence-based, it
will be hopefully be accepted and useful. But if it is applied unevenly
across people in the same situation except for their race, then it will be
exposed as racist and politically motivated.
I wonder if Islam would be good for Aboriginals who are
struggling to find their feet when their history contains painful
memories of defeat and exploitation as a people? Islam is the fastest
growing religion among black people in American prisons. Islamic
movements provides shelter, food and jobs to its followers in need after
they leave prison. Islam provides a belief system that they can hang
their lives on which provides a source of strength. Whether you
consider that the people who join the religion are doing it for the
material or spiritual benefits, or whether the religion is doing it for
altruistic or nefarious reasons, the end result is that they are feeding and
sheltering the needy. They are meeting the needs of their ever-growing
numbers of faithful.
V for Vendetta is a movie about a plot to make a violent symbolic
act against the government of a totalitarian state by blowing up their
house of parliament. It covered the themes of:
320
a parents right to educate their children as they see fit
violent retribution against a government for the torturing of

political prisoners
control of people through unjust laws, fear and force.
In Australia, yet another land of the free and home of the brave,
we can now have secret trials with evidence undisclosed to the
defendant, after the government passed legislation to allow this in
response to the ongoing global terror alert. In order to fight terrorism,
a person can now be detained without warning, and not legally allowed
to talk about their detention under the threat of further prison time. This
is considered to be in the national security interest. Indiscriminate,
private detention is for up to a period of two weeks, and can be
indefinitely renewed based on the opinion of the relevant minister of
government. Muslims, rather than white Australia voters, have been
bearing the brunt of the new anti-terrorism laws.
Is justice through violence against a tyranny justified? Australia
passed laws in 2005 against seditious intentions, which means
having the intention to use force or violence in order to:
bring the country into contempt or hatred
encourage dislike for the government, parliament, or the

constitution
urge people to break the law in order to change established law
incite hostility between groups that disturbs the peace
Amnesty International is an organisation that is opposed to
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violence as a means of achieving political freedom. Among other

campaigns for human rights, they organise campaigns to pressure
governments to free prisoners who have been jailed for political
reasons. Because of their non-violent stance they did not support
Nelson Mandela when he was jailed because he organised and planned
a violent campaign against the racist government of South Africa in the
early 1960s. He was therefore not considered a prisoner of conscience
according to Amnesty Internationals own principles. It took a lot of
debate within the organisation to reach this conclusion.
Should we support terrorism? No. It uses the destruction of
innocent civilian lives as a method of obtaining power over another
government or leadership. This is unjust whether it is done by the
United States or the Taliban, the Israelis or Palestinians, the Tamils or
the Sri Lankan government, the Russian government or the Chechens.
But how does a country gain freedom or hold onto its territories
against a more powerful enemy without terrorism or the threat of
violence? Surely asymmetrical war is the only option available in the
face of overwhelming opposition in a strictly military sense?
Democracy should be allowed to run its course, but any form of
government can be considered to be unfair to its citizens or the people
of other countries.
A dictatorship or a democracy can both serve the interests of one
group of people in a country at the expense of others. Any form of
government can both strengthen a nation or weaken it. Any group can
consider that it is not being looked after by its government and thus
organise against it in order to produce better political or governmental
conditions for the interests of the group and their allies. The limit of
legal protest allowable in our country is disruptive, non-violent, nondestructive mass public protest.
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Should we fund freedom fighters? Governments have a list of

organisations that it says sponsor terrorism and outlaws the making of
financial contributions toward them. Therefore, it would be a good idea
to check out these lists before providing money to support the efforts of
these organisations that fight for some form of freedom. A moral
difficulty arises when a violent organisation provides funds to the poor
either directly or indirectly through other charitable organisations. A
government expects people to not give money to charitable
organisations that help the needy if they have links with a violent
organisation.
Rendition is the word used to describe the transportation of
prisoners of war to a country with very relaxed rules surrounding
torture and interrogation. The American government has been doing this
during its war on terror. The American government knew that the
American public would not tolerate such a breach of the Geneva
Convention and basic human rights. They secretly flew people to other
countries for violent interrogation, torture and imprisonment. They did
this knowing that the confessions of a person under torture cannot be
relied upon. This implies that they are using rendition as a terror
technique, against international law.
Government leaders complain about the use of emotive words in
the description of their treatment of prisoners of war. Torture is
considered unfair. They would prefer interrogation and detention.
But I dont think interrogation quite captures the physical and mental
pain that prisoners have been subjected to over the years that many of
them have been incarcerated. Where is the line between security and
humanity? Have they forgotten about the rights that we have won for
individual liberty in order to guard a nations sovereignty or protect a
politicians power or friends? Have they no concern that agreements
like the Geneva Convention were put in place to protect their own
soldiers well-being?
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Fear is channelled and concentrated by the media. Any person in

power understands this. Emotions are the switches of a nations
instinctive behaviour. The only way that we as a people can behave in a
civilised way is to make decisions to act in accordance with our values
and not our fears. Generalising about people grouped by colour, sex or
class is our instinctive way of protecting ourselves from danger. Even if
it goes against our instincts, taking each person on their merits even if
they look like a terrorist brings us a step closer to equality. That
sounds like a scary thought, but it takes us one step closer to
civilisation. Compassion is a good emotion by which to be controlled but it does put us at the mercy of unscrupulous people.
Nothing that happens in the world of politics is new. Each person
or group that puts the government in its sights are targeted for
demonisation by the government using the old tricks of us versus
them, vilification of a minority, theyll eat your children, et cetera.
This has been going on for centuries. Lies and the lying liars who tell
them - bullies and sly con-men - continue to pit one citizen against
another, manufacturing stories to manipulate us into being afraid of
each other. It is because they are afraid of our unity. They are scared of
the truth being exposed because in the shadows lie their power. They
build up an image of the boogie-man and scare us with it. Dont tell
your family that I am fucking you, or you will regret it for the rest of
your long life.
The government considers that religious belief should be second to
the rule of law; if you want to live in a nation-state or country then you
are beholden to the laws of that country; and, you are expected to have a
higher loyalty to the country than to the religion of which you are a
part. Religions that disagree with any of these statements will be
targeted by the government. I believe that humanity should come before
the tenets of a religion or the government. Will I be targeted for that?
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In Australia, some Muslims are treated as pariahs because of their

association with Muslim extremism. Religious prejudice in our society
is not new. Just ask Catholics or Jews. Religious and racial intolerance
also goes both ways though, with the rape and abuse of white Australia
women by Lebanese Muslims (they appeared to be both racially and
religiously motivated.)32 It is a great shame that people from all walks
of life are quick to paint a broad brush stroke across an entire group of
people when a small percentage of them are dangerously intolerant.
Tolerance does not require friendship or agreement, but respect
demands us to leave each other alone to work out our lives as we see fit
within the laws of the country in which we live.
If people will not relinquish their faiths in the name of humanity
then perhaps their faith can be appealed to in the process of raising their
consciousness about humanity. The restriction of inter-marriage by a
religion is a sure way for it to be rejected en-masse by the people of a
freedom-loving society. But even intolerance of intolerance is no excuse
for illegal retaliation. The battle lines become drawn in a simple way.
There is no compromise to be had with religions, groups or individuals
that act outside of the law of the day, if the law is humane. The law can
be changed in time if required. Believe it or not, the tenets of a religion
can also be changed.
The morality of religions change a lot slower than the morality of a
progressive society - some would argue that the direction of the change
in progressive societies is for the worse. In general, though, secular
society is shifting towards greater equality between people of different
genders, sexual persuasions, political persuasions and religions.
Why cant the people in control of religions come to the party with
regard to equality? It is because they are hungry for power in the same
32 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_gang_rapes
325
way as politicians are, and their constituents demand traditional

values. The key to political success is making people hate a group that
wants to keep to themselves. They have always been easy targets and by
their lack of popularity are easily outnumbered by the people who bind
themselves to one another with fear.
Is being ethical or truthful in politics beneficial to more people?
Openness and transparency in government leads to less corruption and
better living conditions for most people, so the answer is yes.
Courageous truth is ideal, yet some would also argue that it is
sometimes not in the nations best interests to be honest, especially in
time of war. In World War Two, Allied knowledge of the Enigma
machine codes could not be exposed to the Germans. This demanded
allowing thousands of servicemen to be killed in the Atlantic Ocean
with prior knowledge of the attacks on the convoys. This knowledge
had to be kept secret in order for a greater use of the machine in the
invasion of Europe through Normandy. Propaganda and other lies
perpetrated against its people by a government are seen as acceptable
during wartime. But lying during peace-time is unethical and barely
tolerated by a voting public. Hence exists the need for a constant state
of war in our democracies to maintain government secrecy, propaganda,
lies, and the expansion of government power. I present to you, The
War on Terror.
Here is delayed news, just in. From 1945 to 2005, the United
States attempted to overthrow fifty governments, many of them
democracies, and to crush thirty popular movements fighting tyrannical
regimes. In the process, twenty five countries were bombed, causing the
loss of several million lives and the despair of millions more.33
33 William Blum, Rogue State, Common Courage Press, 2005, via John Pilger,
Freedom Next Time, Bantam Press, 2006.
326

Strangers are the people that you see or talk to, but you do not
know them and you do not have a relationship or history with them.
You may see the same person everyday on your way to work and think
that you have developed a relationship with them over time but it exists
entirely in your head. They are still strangers.
Eye Aversion
Like a metal detector beeps more urgent
The closer to gold it gets
The joining of eyes, the locking of souls
Causes the heart alarms to rent.
Squashed in the personal space of each other
A comfort can only be trained
And fear that grips and strangles the will
Can be stopped only by father or mother.
Writing or reading, typing or sleeping
Or staring between the gaps
Can be safe, yet lonely, defeating the people
Whose bonding would be their safe-keeping
327
We often treat strangers with fear. We have not built any trust with
them and our attitude towards them can only be based on our
prejudices, previous experiences and stories that we have been told.
I saw a strange woman one night in a shopping complex in the
middle of Melbourne. She looked strange, making loud noises, holding
her hands askew and shuffling toward a large concrete pillar. When she
reached it she stared into it for about two minutes, making noises, her
nose touching the surface of the concrete. Then she moved around it
and shuffled on.
The Stranger
I saw a mentally ill woman last night....
I saw a crazy person last night...
I saw a person on drugs last night...
I saw a person possessed by the devil last night...
I saw a person with brain damage last night...
I saw a human. But was she broken?
I felt great pity, but what if she was happy?
328
Parents want their children to be safe. In doing so, they may teach
their children that some people are better than others; that certain types
of people are to be avoided; that injustice for some people can be safely
ignored because they are animals and not really human; or, that some
people are their enemies because they want to take advantage of them,
hurt them, or even kill them.
How do you protect your child from harm without teaching them to
mistrust people you do not trust? Can it be done without drawing broad
conclusions about whole groups of people? There isnt enough time to
do background checks on everyone that your child comes into contact
with. But this cycle of mistrust must be broken by someone, or by some
group. Although it requires personal risk, trust will then be able to grow.
The Binds That Tie

The binds that tie, or the ties that bind.
never leave your life behind
Never fear the betrayeds leer
The dominants gaze
The communication of the damned.
329
Even though the relationship we have with strangers exist solely in

our minds until we interact with them, we can prepare ourselves for a
relationship of trust. We can imagine life through their eyes and we can
examine our own reactions to it. We can learn about our own attitudes
and how we react based on how a stranger looks or sounds. Can you
sense any connection with strangers? Help them if they look to be in
need.
Antony Lowenstein, a Jewish author, appears semi-regularly on
John Safrans radio show, Sunday Nights with Safran, (on Radio
National in Australia.) He believes that otherwise moral people can
have a blind-spot in their understanding of human rights as they apply
to people that fall under their particular prejudices as being less
valuable than themselves, their friends and their families. He draws
attention to the plight of Palestinians under Israeli occupation, and how
it is ignored by many otherwise moral Israelis.
Likewise, a man can love his wife and kids and then go out with his
mates to bash gay people they find in a parks public toilets. We need to
come between the way our mind reacts to strangers and our response.
We need to stand in the gap between our unthinking emotional reactions
and our actions in order to take back control over interactions with
strangers, in order to build trust.
330
Beautiful Stranger in a Laundromat

An icon of raw beauty on a table for two
Swinging her legs in a nice fashion too.
Patience in reading the age-old chick mags,
Awaiting the load in the screeching Maytags.
I hold my breath in the presence of her.
Choked with a nervousness, unfounded fear.
One day Ill be easy around such a sweet head,
But for now Ill just have to write poetry instead.
331
Relationship with Foreigners
332

Foreigners are people from other cultures, nations, beliefs,
attitudes, morality, colour and shape. Your measure of the foreignness
of someone is based on how much you think you understand or
empathise with them. It is also based on how much you agree with their
values.
Should a nation, race, religion or culture teach its people not to
trust, associate or marry foreigners to their group? Do people who
believe in the exclusivity of their group deserve to be treated with the
equal respect and dignity as a person who has no such beliefs or rules?
Should they expect equal opportunities in trade, business and respect of
their human dignity? And if a society did not expect reciprocation of its
values from people that it extends rights to, would it not be opening
itself to abuse? When should values like those in the Declaration of
Human Rights come before your own beliefs, the beliefs of those
around you, or even your own religion, in the way that you should treat
a foreigner?
When we watch movies with aliens in them, we have the same
uncertain reaction to them that we do when we encounter people from
another culture for the first time. A sense of repulsion or mistrust
prevails until they do something we recognise as human. Then, if we
can, we feel empathy. Our natural reaction is to treat foreigners as
other-worldly until we can understand and trust their values. The fear
we feel about others that are different to us stems from our fear that
they may hold contempt for us. We think that we should be wary of
people we dont understand because there is a good chance that they
will not treat us with equal respect because we are different.
I have seen the enemy, and he is me
333
Based on our own understanding of human nature by virtue of

looking at ourselves, we realise that all humans at a basic level are a
combination of naively trusting beings and fearful, xenophobic killers
with no desire to get to know anyone who looks or acts differently to
themselves. But what mix of the two characteristics does that foreigner
have? Getting to know them is the only way to find out.
334
Relationship with Associations

Associations are guilds, clubs, societies, unions or religions. It is
rare to have a good relationship with more than one group of a
particular type, especially if they are in opposition to each other. You
will be questioned on your loyalty by others within each group. Some
groups build their strength on the mistrust and contempt of others.
It seems as if most major religions were started by people who
were prepared to die or kill in order to make their ideas live. A story of
supreme sacrifice by the founders of religions would most likely be one
that helped it survive among a hundred other religious stories, so a
religion is almost expected to have one. Torture, love, loss - all the good
elements that make a story last for centuries.
But should associations be allowed to exist if they do not benefit
humanity? If a religion teaches unfair treatment of non-believers, isnt it
then to be considered inhumane and to be abolished or changed? Are
religions beneficial to humanity on the whole?34 What do religions do
that other associations do not? They all have their rituals, traditions, and
history.
In favour of organised religion is a sense of purpose, hope,
community strength, and the ability of its leaders to organise its
members for good works for people in need. Against organised religions
is an insistence on beliefs that have been debunked by rationality and
science, and the ability of its leaders to manipulate its members into
neglect, abuse or violence towards other people. The same can be said,
though, for many associations, including political parties, and those of
certain ethnicities.
34 John C Perkins, Religion and Vilification, I Dissent Volume 17; Arthur C Clarke,
The Fountains of Paradise; Robert A Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land
335
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you
commit atrocities. - Franois Marie Arouet Voltaire, 1694-1778
When a missionary organisation teaches a newly discovered
cultures people that rape for revenge is wrong, thus changing their
ages old culture, have they committed a crime against humanity?
When a missionary organisation preaches abstinence instead of
contraception thus working for the spread of sexually transmitted
diseases in third world countries, are they committing a crime against
humanity?
A large number of human conflicts at present are the result of
people placing their religious and ethnic beliefs higher than the value of
a human life. There are very few, if any, mainstream religions that
actually advocate this behaviour. If you investigate the annals and
sacred books of many religions you will find that the value of human
life is rated highly. The reason for the taking of human life in the name
of religion often bubbles down to the dictates of religious leaders at the
extreme fringes of the religion that use unsophisticated believers as
cannon fodder to achieve their political aims.
To combat this discouraging state of affairs, I believe major and
minor religions - and splinter groups of particular religions - should
participate in the religious exchanges that I mentioned earlier. These
would be similar to the cultural student exchanges that currently exist. A
person in one religion is to be exchanged for a person in another
religion for a period of time from one month to a year. The participants
should not be required to participate in observances that are deemed
offensive to their own religion, but in any other way they should
immerse themselves in the lifestyle and observances of their host
religion, learning as much as they can about the other culture and the
people in it.
336
The purpose of this is to gain an understanding that there is a

human core to every religion, and that the common thread that binds all
humans transcends even cultural beliefs. There is no room in our world
for religious hostility - especially from unjustifiable cynical attacks
from agnostic or atheist unbelievers. It is not an acquiescence to the
beliefs of another religion if you do not react violently to their heresies.
Tolerance only requires respect of a persons right to be left alone, not
agreement.
Every point that I make in this chapter about religious intolerance
also applies to ethnic, political, sexual and gender intolerance.
The aim of minority organisations should be their ultimate
redundancy. Associations for gays, blacks, and any other section of our
society that is treated unfairly because of government policy or
common prejudice have an important role to play in finding a balance in
the treatment of their members. The aim of minority organisations is for
their members to blend in to a society and be treated the same as
everybody else, therefore eliminating the need for their interest group.
The aim should be for the adjective describing them to not be used
in language that talks about what they do. While this takes away the
ability to provide positive stereotypes in non-visual media, it also takes
away the ability to strengthen negative stereotypes. It should be enough
for people to know that a person won a three-legged race, not a gay,
black, poor, paraplegic man. Another aim of minority associations is
for their description not to be used as derogatory adjectives, for
example, That is retarded.
National leaders want us to fear that some people are putting their
religious beliefs ahead of the laws of the country in which they live. In
the case where this results in the breaking of inhumane laws, I dont see
this as a problem. In the case where the laws are humane, I think this is
337
a big problem. Not because a persons religious beliefs are coming

before the law, but because humanity is not coming before both the
nations laws and religious laws. The order of prevalence should be
this: humanity, nation, religion.
338
Relationship with Enemies

Enemies are people who do not care about your well-being except
when it can benefit them. They may hate you, be angry at you, be
hostile or indifferent, or deceitful. They may want revenge or just see
you experience pain for their pleasure. They do not see you as equal to
them or people who they like, associate with, or to whom they belong young versus old, rich versus poor, white versus black, powerful versus
powerless, man versus woman, Christian versus Jew versus Muslim,
ethnicity versus ethnicity.
I read a book called Dining With Terrorists, by Phil Rees. I am
normally suspicious of news and media that insists on fitting as
complex an unfolding history as our worlds into tiny sound-bites and
paragraphs. The issue of whether or not modern media contains bias
when reporting about international issues - and whether the reasons for
this bias are political, financial or ideological - is sidelined by the
simple fact that there is not enough time and space to flesh out issues
like terrorism outside of a fairly large book. Having read it, I am even
more convinced of these views.
On my commute home from work one night I saw a short review of
Dining With Terrorists in a free tabloid and tore it out. I was intrigued
by the idea that a journalist would undertake a project to dine with
people considered terrorists by our governments. I was curious about
what he had discovered.
I expected the book to be sympathetic to the perspectives of the
people with whom Rees dined. I also expected to be left with a burning
sense of injustice about the current implementation of US foreign policy
and the blind complicity of the U.K. and Australian governments. I was
mistaken. By chronicling his at times tense and emotional travels over
339
the past fifteen years in as concise and documentary a way as possible, I

felt like I had shared the experience with him.
The book covered:
The theocratisation (so awkward a non-word) of political battles in

countries.
Governments killing more citizens than terrorists
The changing definition of the word terrorism over time
His own conclusion about the inability to define and use the word
terrorism without implicating nation states as terrorists as well
The use of terrorism for achieving political aims
Religious groups helping poor people and finding support as a

consequence
The incitement of rage by imams travelling through Muslim

countries on travelling road-shows showing (sometimes doctored)
photos and articles from western media
It made me question my own definition of terrorism and my

willingness to use the word in everyday conversation. Interestingly, the
US government is now also beginning to stop using language such as
The War on Terror (although the war is continuing.)
340
Leaving Chance To God - A Cautionary Tale of

Pride and Internet Security
Phil surfed to his own website for a quick buzz of selfcongratulation. He had posted a message to the young punks - Script
Kiddies he had called them - to do their best to discover his password.
He only used one. A meaningless number. He was sure that no one
would guess it because it was random. Almost. He thought it was. He
knew there were no random numbers. The very act of a human choosing
a number arbitrarily was an exercise in denial. A person would choose a
number, and then refuse to analyse his decision. Believing that
ignorance of his method produced true chance, he would once again
play into the hands of a flawed yet pervasive logic that directed politics,
religion and persecution ever since Adam blamed Eve for things going
really wrong in the great green garden. User Name: Phil Cretin
Password: DO YOUR WORST SCRIPT KIDDIES The message
taunted, teased and enraged hundreds of intelligent young teenagers,
already mentally and emotionally damaged in ways a good-looking,
sporting, sexually active and intellectually uninspired senior school
student could never understand.
Although he didnt know it, Phil had unwittingly provided the
universe with one of those strange coincidences that make unstable
people wonder about God, and Evidentialist pedants write terse letters
to the Oxford Dictionary demanding that the definition of coincidence
connote a far more likely circumstance. More than one of the angry
young men looked from their screens to the phone handsets on their
computer desks and back to the web page. More than one of the prepubescent balls of indignation wrote down combinations of phone
numbers which spelt DO YOUR WORST SCRIPT KIDDIES. More
than one tried these numbers randomly to access Phils bank accounts,
tax records and personal shopping accounts at sordid on-line sex shops.
341
More than one got it right. Soon, they all had it right. The Internet
is like that. It multiplies opinion. It multiplies revenge. It gives pride
another three or four dimensions into which it can fall. Phil didnt know
that. He had a sneaking suspicion, though, after the eighteenth strip-ogram knocked on his door to sing, It had to be You. He only received
eighteen. His bank accounts were empty, and his credit cards filled.
342
They Wont Play Nice

Ugly creature full of turmoil
Rears its head, its face pure spite
Cradling itself in a world of trouble,
It thinks the world is there to fight.
It pities itself, thoughts distorted,
Reflecting on its efforts - thwartedTo make peace with society.
But no one listens to its plea,
So now it puts the world at fault:
Theyll never tame this wild colt!
But the animal refuses to see
The problem is it in reality.
343
How can you hold out the hand of peace and generosity to the
damaged, broken people around you if they have neither empathy nor
sympathy for the hurt they caused you or the people around them? How
can you forgive a person that does not either see or acknowledge that
they have hurt you or people you care for?
One thing that annoys me a lot about many people is the way they
take advantage of another persons ignorance for their own personal
gain. This can be in the form of a retail or business person ripping
another person off and then saying, Buyer beware!; or, not disclosing
the truth about a situation to maintain a position of strength in an
argument. You have a choice when you are in an encounter with another
person and you realise that they are missing some knowledge that will
save them from being screwed over - either now by you, or in the
future. You can enlighten them, you can screw them, or you can leave
them to be screwed by someone else.
Maybe Im too sensitive, but I cant help thinking about the longterm effects of betrayal of trust, and the long-term effects of being
helped out by someone who could have screwed someone, but didnt. I
think the ripple effect of human behaviour, like a stones ripples in a
pond, should be in peoples minds before they take advantage of people
for personal gain.
Can trust be given a monetary value in relationships? Who am I
trying to kid? People put on business suits every morning like they are
putting on armour. They go into battle to tear each other to pieces
professionally and financially for the mutual benefit of those who run
the cock-fights. Competition is exciting and fun for many. Winning can
be an addictive aphrodisiac and possibly provides pain-relief from
making other people hurt.
344
If you dont look out for yourself then whos going to look after
you? And if you dont look after your family, who will?
How can you tolerate people who teach their children to hate you
or treat you with contempt? The Roadmap to Peace is a slogan that
was coined to describe the path that the Middle East must presumably
travel in order to arrive at a situation where no one acts on their
compulsion to blow each others guts across streets and out of windows.
It is pursued more vigorously by the US about a year before each
federal election in an effort to be the administration that made peace in
the Middle East.
It can be summed up in several simple words: compromise and
tolerate. These are shockingly unacceptable concepts to apply to people
who hate you with a hate that can only be satisfied with murder and
violence. You simply cannot appeal to these sentiments when they have
had their homeland ripped from under them, whether it is fifty or fifteen
hundred years ago. But it is the only way that their children have a
chance of living without violence defining their existence.
How do you deal with an enemy that wants to destroy you?
Religion is blamed for the consequences of human ambition. We blame
a lot of conflict in the world on religion, but that is only part of the
story. Most of the conflicts in the world are based on political
differences and power struggles among the leaderships of different
people. The leaders prefer to use religious beliefs as a way to encourage
their followers to kill themselves and each other in the name of their
religion, but usually all they are really doing is furthering the political
ends of their leaders.
Terrorists attack civilians because they are not strong enough to
fight a pitched battle with a governments army. They gain power with
fear. They believe they can overthrow a government in a democracy by
345
forcing the leaders to give in to the wishes of its people for peace, thus
meeting the terrorists demands. They also sap the will of the people for
war.
People will kill themselves for their god or country. But will they
do it for their company? Could globalisation be an answer to terrorism?
No, because people who run companies, like the power-mongrels that
use religion and patriotism to arrest the will of people have little regard
for the health of an individual.
The best answer lies in the creation worldwide of the best form of
government that we can currently imagine: a strong, representative,
transparent, constitutional democracy with power split between an
executive, legislative and judiciary branch, voted for by the people and
in control of its military. No group operates without oversight of the
others, and none is above the law.
346
Relationship with People You Never See
Relationship with People You Never

See
People you never see are people you do not know and may never
know. You will never see their faces on the television, and they would
be lucky if you ever read or heard about them. But they are people with
the same rights and deserving of the same opportunities as you. They
have families, friends and goals in life. They have prejudices, beliefs
and skills. They are influenced by their leaders and their own
experiences, good or bad.
Close your eyes and imagine six billion people on the planet. You
may know several hundred personally and several thousand casually.
There are another six billion you have never seen. When our ex-Prime
Minister said, Well decide who comes into the country and who
doesnt he was trying to appeal to our fears, not our humanity. Clever
politics lies in a different realm to practical humanitarianism. Of course,
there is a limit to what we can do for complete strangers and people we
will never see, but we can always do more.
We must move past the idea behind us versus them - that people
who are different are not to be trusted. Christians, Muslims, Jews and
Hindus, racism and all that accompanies it must be moved past. For you
to believe that a person living in Palestine under abominable conditions
in a refugee camp - destitute and not allowed past checkpoints to get
medical attention - is not deserving of human rights because their nation
is at war with another, then you are missing the point of humanity.
347
BEAUTY
348
BEAUTY
BEAUTY
349
BEAUTY
350
BEAUTY
When you look back on your life, it will be the beauty of your
relationships with every aspect of yourself, your life and the world
around you that determines whether you decide it was mostly a waste of
time or a life of significant contribution to the world that you cared
about (even if that world only included you.) This is the relationship
between your life and your happiness. It comes under several names
depending on which book you read, but I call it our sense of beauty.
When you see a person in a great relationship with some aspect of
their life, you can feel a sense of appreciation for the beauty you are
witnessing. I believe that this is the sense of good and bad - right and
wrong - that is supposedly within us from birth: our true sense of
morality.
Our repulsion at ugliness can have several causes, evolutionary and
learned. Our repulsion from sights, smells, touches, sounds or tastes are
partly based on hard-wired brain functions that have developed over
millions of years in order to help us be aware of dangers in order to
survive. Painful experiences in our own past remind us of what hurts us.
But rejection of people purely on the basis of how they look, act, speak,
or believe is taught to us by our peers, media, parents and authorities.
We must not consider their lessons as right if they are not humane. We
must decide to be civilised, with the strength of our trust, positive
experiences and institutions.
By its nature, an overriding beauty that is beyond description is
difficult to find words to describe. When you feel a great experience
your interpretation of the world around you is at its most open. It could
be the achievement of a great victory, or the compassionate acceptance
of a new reality.
The world contains so much ugliness. So many people are ugly in
both their thoughts and actions and there doesnt seem to be much we
351
BEAUTY
can do about it, without joining them in the mud. Government policy by
its nature is required to be compromising and pragmatic rather than
hopelessly and self-defeatingly idealistic. This is because of the limits
to its resources. Moral or idealistic social commentators are often
criticised for being unrealistic about the range of decisions available to
leaders in public life, and therefore are considered to be unfairly critical
of them.
Can holding people in public life to an expectation of top moral
and ethical behaviour be justified by the adage of aiming for the stars in
the hope of landing on the moon? Can we hold the same standards of
judgement to ourselves, our friends, family and peers? Supporting
people who do not deserve it, providing power to the powerless, food to
the hungry, comfort to those in pain, knowledge to the ignorant,
treatment to the sick, and providing for unmet needs is the goal of a
civilised world. The pursuit of unjustified and unjustifiable moments of
beauty will lift our selves and our world towards a better place.
If I was given three wishes, what would they be? Give me just one.
That everyone and everything be happy forever. If a god cant or wont
do that, they are either evil, not all-powerful, or impersonally and
inhumanely curious.
352
BEAUTY
Seeing the World Again

Smile with wonderment at what exists around you,
For whether or not you know it, it is true,
That beyond our limited range of sight,
beyond the shadows of both day and night,
beyond all the beauties I could describe,
And beyond the grasps of deceit and bribe,
A truth stands firm, unseen, yet not,
corrupted or diminished by our mental rot,
Which left us stuck in the world of today
feeling oppressed by our senses decay.
If only you could feel the way
The ecstasy Im feeling swells this day
far further than I can see, hear, touch, or smell,
Beyond the grasps of heaven and hell.
Inside, I have spread to infinity
I am drawing strength and vitality
which is available to all who seek.
I plead you accept this reality.
For then you can join me at this place,
Where pride, hate, shame, and fear fall from grace
to obscurity and a small dark place,
Far from where we stand.
353

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Relationship with Hopes................................................................ 135

known to many people. I think most people would prefer to enjoy my

Relationship with Emotions

Relationship with Emotions

Relationship with Emotions

All In The Mind, ABC broadcast 26 August 2006,

Relationship with Emotions

way to overcome them! Maybe drug therapy is a solution for constant

Relationship with Emotions

more self-controlled and disciplined when the fears rise in my gut.

Relationship with Emotions

Relationship with Emotions

In my past I contorted my entire sense of reality around the single

Relationship with Emotions

Relationship with Emotions

I get scared of doing nothing and scared of falling short of my

Relationship with Emotions

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occasionally momentarily generous. But most of the time I avoid

Relationship with Emotions

which is unsatisfying for the other person. My empathy makes me feel

Relationship with Emotions

hunger until I am satisfied. That is the only way to determine exactly

Relationship with Emotions

planned action or accidental conversation, I am left in a state of constant

John Lynch, When Anger Scares You

Relationship with Emotions

Relationship with Emotions

Relationship with Emotions

Relationship with Emotions

Relationship with Memories

Relationship with Memories

Relationship with Memories

Relationship with Memories

Back Where I Began

Relationship with Memories

Relationship with Memories

Relationship with Memories

Relationship with Memories

Your Memory Has Been Overwritten

Relationship with Dreams

Relationship with Dreams

Relationship with Dreams

his voice on it. Following are some of my favourite dreams. As short

Relationship with Dreams

Relationship with Dreams

Relationship with Dreams

Relationship with Dreams

which was a gateway to another dimension. Maybe that was their

Relationship with Dreams

I Dream of the Forces

Relationship with Dreams

Relationship with Dreams

I Dream of Malformed Genitals

Relationship with Dreams

Relationship with Stories

Relationship with Stories

Relationship with Stories

Day in the Life of a Pickpocket

Relationship with Stories