A TASTE FOR THOUGHT







A Study in Thought

sa044



by





Marius Heuff

Chapter 1

Content

A sequence of mental images; guided by logic, a focus of attention, or "free associations".
A multitude of questions and problems.
A variety of "mile-stones".
Difficult periods of transition, with a renewed need for reflective evaluations.
Goals; routine tasks and ambitious objectives.
The structure of beliefs, and its influence upon our thought-patterns.
The potential for learning, when going through a period of stress.
The false and dangerous illusion of "knowing it all".
The comfortable routine.
Are we contributing to the injustice and suffering of others?
A rebellious response.
The problem of having a lot of like-minded friends.
How did we become stable, sane and successful personalities?
Do we exploit the gullibility, and other weaknesses, of other people?
How did we get our sense of purpose, perseverance and discipline?

"Why would I have a taste for thought?", you ask, "and, what do you mean by this, anyway?". Right, let us first define the concept of thought, and, do not be afraid, that I will plunge, immediately, into a complicated technical and philosophical discussion about the meaning of thought, because there is nothing mysterious, or, even, highly intellectual about thinking.

We all think. Most of our waking hours, we have a train of thoughts going through our minds. As a matter of fact, we may safely state, that we all have some kind of a mental imagery in our mind, whenever we are awake and alert. Even, when asleep, we may experience a sequence of mental images following each other in a disorderly procession, and, if we remember some of these image-sequences after we have woken-up, we often wonder, how, and why, we experienced such a variety of dream-sequences, which appear to us, now, after we have woken-up, to be illogical and unreal.

Yet, experienceing a series of mental images in the focus of our attention is not quite the same as thinking. Just as we realise, that the sequence of mental images in a dream was disjointed, illogical and uncontroled, so can we notice, if we want to, that the mental images we experience during our waking hours are, often, uncontroled and not connected by a logical principle. These images do not seem to be guided by a purpose or a goal, and, they switch direction and content by whatever happens to catch our attention.

Thoughts become more coherent, whenever they are centered around a particular problem; e.g., whenever we are pre-occupied with problems and difficulties. If we want to concentrate on a problem, we try, intuitively, to get a firm grasp over this problem, at least, in our minds, and, we try to formulate or plan a series of responses, which may solve or help to solve the problem at hand.

Have you ever become conscious of the fact, that we experience a multitude of questions and problems during our waking hours? Sure, most of the time, our problems are not all that serious, and, we do not experience a significant degree of anxiety, whenever a particular problem seems to defy an immediate solution.

Let us assume, that, you and I, as well as everyone else, exist, for the largest part of our waking hours, in a routine environment. This means, that we are more or less settled into a particular niche of our social surroundings, and, we have a series of routine tasks to take care of. There are daily chores to be carried-out, which are, on the whole, not all that difficult or tiring.

It does not matter, whether we are old or young, prominent in society, or, an average worker; whether we are still going to school, or, have matured already into a senior citizen, plagued with a number of discomforts, or, perhaps, even, a serious illness. Most of us exist somewhere in society, largely unknown to the large majority of the people around us, and, we have our daily chores to perform. We may be caring for a family, e.g., as a mother, who works most of the day to keep her household functioning smoothly, or, as a wage-earner, making sure, that we bring-in the necessary income to pay our bills and buy our food, as well as the other things we need. As a single parent, we will have to do both jobs at the same time, but, we may still consider the circumstances "routine", even, if they are tiring and demanding, because the circumstances vary little from day to day.

We also go through periods when life is more strenuous. When we are growing-up, we are passing more frequently through periods of serious stress. For example, we have to pass examinations at school, or, we are getting married, become parents, or, we have to face some sort of a serious crisis, e.g., when we fail to find work and take a satisfying position in society. All these major events are "mile-stones". We have lost a friend or a member of the family, or, we may have lost a good deal of money or a job, and we may be in financial difficulties.

Regardless, where we find ourselves at this particular point of our personal history, we experience the fact, that we face a large number of tasks and problems, which have to be finished or solved. Most of these tasks and problems are relatively easy, but, occasionally, we are confronted with more taxing concerns, especially, when we are in a difficult transition period or face some sort of a personal or communal crisis.

Even, when we are able to exist comfortably and routinely, our minds tend to wander towards the future, in particular, if we are still young and are contemplating what we would like to become, to do, or to achieve; or, we look back upon our lives, when we have grown old, and, we experience a mixture of nostalgia, fondness and bitterness, as we reflect upon the memories of the past.

We still have an eye upon the future, even when we are older, be it not with the same scope and ambition of our younger years. It seems reasonable to say, that we all have numerous goals or tasks in front of us, regardless of the stage of our life-cycle. These goals may be the problems of the present, which are primarily routine tasks, but, we may also be concerned with more distant goals or achievements, which determine our long-term outlook on life and give us an overall framework for our thoughts and plans.

There is one more important category that influences, constantly, our actions and ambitions. This is the structure of our beliefs. How we came to believe in what we believe to be true, is an interesting subject for discussion, but we will not analyse, here, the reasons or mechanisms for the development of belief structures. Let us agree, that we all have a set of basic assumptions, or beliefs, which we accept without any hesitation, and, therefore, without hardly any thought.

The way we see ourselves, the way we see the existence of the human being in general, and, the way we see nature, our social institutions and our relationships with others, all these aspects of the perception of reality are guided by these structures of belief, which most of us accept and take-over from our social surroundings without much personal elaboration.

Throughout history, and, certaintly, for a majority of people, these structures of belief exist in the form of religious concepts, and, because of the fact, that the basic assumptions are still accepted so rigidly and without questioning, we are, often, not aware of the nature or extent of these belief structures. However, in periods of severe stress, during crises and times of turmoil, we often have to search deeply for satisfying answers, especially, when a tragic event has befallen us. We often feel a sense of despair; we are lost; our world seems to have crumbled, and, we are deeply distressed. We do not know where to go from here. Our comfortable routine, our pillars of support and strengh are gone, and these experiences are extremely painful. We have to rebuild our lives and our realities, and, we often wonder, whether life is worth living.

And yet, most of us come through such an ordeal, wiser, with a greater degree of understanding about life and the similarities between people all over the world. Most of us can, eventually, look back upon a personal crisis, and, we can say to ourselves, that we have learned a lot; that we understand, better, our fellow human beings, and, that we are now better able to relate to other people; with a richness of contact that was impossible before.

Is this thought? Or, is this more? Is this a general increase in maturity and wisdom that comes with the scars of life? Certainly, the processes that go-on during the period of maturation and after a deep personal crisis, extend far beyond the level of our conscious awarenesses. They certainly extend far beyond the level of an awareness we can verbalise precisely. Nevertheless, the painful re-evaluation of our beliefs and attitudes, as well as the particulars of our situation and the measure of self-confidence require an intensive and conscious effort to find meaning in what we epxerience. This defininition "to find meaning in what we experience", characterises, very well, the principle reason for engaging in an act of thinking.

Fortunately, most of us do not have to be shaken in our foundations by a tragedy, before we are willing to excercise the faculty of thought, but, it can not be denied, that most of us are quite willing to settle into a comfortable routine. This makes us somewhat lazy, complacent and self-assured. This comfortable routine may give us the dangerous illusion that we "know it all"; that the rest of society, or mankind as a whole, also lives in a comfortable routine, or, that other people should have no difficulties finding and accepting such a comfortable niche in their particular social environment.

A comfortable routine has a tendency to make us complacent, lazy and fuzzy in our ideas about right and wrong, just and unjust. We tend to indulge in our comfortable existence, while the rest of the world with its confusing chaos, its inequities and violence, its turmoil and insanity, seems to fade-away ever further from our concerns.

A personal tragedy may, then, shake us awake from this comfortable dream-world, and, such an event may push us back into the world of turmoil and injustice; back into the bitterness and suffering of human existence, which we had so conveniently forgotten or escaped from.

Let us ask ourselves, at least, once in a while, during a period of comfortable and routine existence, whether or not we could avert a set-back or disaster in the future, if we would be willing to spend a little more effort in analysing and evaluating, critically, the direction and path of our life. Let us, also, ask ourselves, in such a moment of reflection, whether or not we contribute to the suffering and inequity of others; whether we quietly accept a status-quo that is to our advantage. Let us ask ourselves, whether or not our situation is just, when viewed on a larger scale. Let us ask ourselves, how much sympathy and support we may expect from others, whenever disaster happens to befall us, if we remain blind and deaf for the problems of people, who seem to be so far away.

"Come on", you will say, "Why would you want me to get involved with the troubles of other people? I have my hands full to keep out of trouble myself. Besides, how often do people not get into trouble because of their own decisions. This comfortable routine you talk about has been obtained by hard work and sacrifices, and, it has to be maintained by hard work and self-discipline. I am quite well aware of the fact, that a clear understanding of the possible consequences of all my actions and decisions is necessary to keep myself out of trouble".

"You want me to feel guilty about my comfortable existence, but I do not feel guilty. I have achieved my goals with hard work and perseverance. I have saved and restrained my spending instincts, in order to possess, what I have now. Why should I feel compassionate for the fellow, who has wasted all his income; who has committed one stupidity after another, and, who is now in trouble? My taxes are already helping him to maintain his existence, and, now, you are telling me, that I can not enjoy my comfortale routine?".

You are perfectly right, and, I think, that you deserve your comfortable routine. Actually, you are not existing in a comfortable routine without knowing it. You have worked for a goal of tranquility and reasonable security, because you have recognised the value of such an existence. Obviously, you have thought about what you wanted to accomplish, and, you have secured for yourself, and your family, a basis of security, comfort and peace of mind. I congratulate you, and, I say this not facetiously, because I was thinking more about the attitudes of a comfortable routine, when we dream about our goals and achievements without really having the discipline and the fortitude to actualise or realise them

I am thinking, here, about the comfortable routine of our our social niche, the like-mindednes of our friends, the comfortable platitudes of our prejudices, as well as the self-centered, smug hedonism that is associated with a privileged society, or a privileged group within society; people, who have never been challenged seriously, who never had to work consistently for the achievement of a position of comfort and security.

But, even so, you, the successful achiever of a deliberately sought-after life-style of stability, financial and moral sanity and comfortable psychological conditions, I have a few questions for you. How was it possible that you made the right and wise decisions about the many temptations of indulgence and folly which must have come your way, while others did not seem to have been quite as successful in coping with these challenges?

How come, you could muster the necessary discipline to extricate yourself from a state of consumerist entrapment, while others could not? Have you not made any mistakes, or, were you lucky not to have made any really serious mistakes? Where did you get the ideas and concepts from, which made it possible for you to achieve a measure of stability and independence? Are you more intelligent than those who failed? Are those people you consider failures, indeed failures? What is a failure, and, what is success? Have you not had advantageous circumstances in terms of experience, contacts, or, perhaps, in your job or business enterprise?

Let me ask you another question. Do you make use of the gullibility of other people by selling them your products? Is your livelyhood, in any way, dependent upon the willingness of other people to spend their earnings and indulge a little? Are you in a monopolistic position as an expert or professional, where your time and efforts are handsomely rewarded because of an absence of real competition?

I think, that most of us will come to the conclusion, that, our position of success, stability and financial security is indeed related, in one way or another, to the need or willingness of other people to spend a part of their earnings on the products or services we have to offer. I believe, also, that very few of us have not made use of other people's gullibility or our position of authority and power, in order to siphon-off a share of the communal wealth and assets into our private hands.

Let us come back to the question, why we, as the successful and comfortable members of society, have earned what we have, and, whether or not we have been more intelligent or prudent than others. We have to ask ourselves, how we were able to choose a course of action that made us successful. Where did we get our sense of purpose, perseverance or discipline from? What made us into the personalities we are? How much credit can we take for the fortitude of our character? What are our goal patterns, and, how do we think society should function? What are our ideas about justice and equality, or, do we believe, that the winner takes all, and "to Hell with the rest?".

These questions require a few thoughts, is it not, and, we see, now, how important thinking is. We all think, almost continuously, but, we have to acknowledge, that we can think in many different ways. We have to examine the reasons why we think; what motivates us to think, and, what attitudes we may adopt as a result of our thought processes. Our thoughts influence our attitudes, and our attitudes influence our thoughts. What, then, are attitudes, and, how are they related to our thoughts?

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Chapter 2

Content

A short description of human behaviour; its attitudes, concerns and orientations.
The aggressive-defensive axis, and the sliding scale from egocentric to altruistic concerns.
A multitude of attitudes.
Choosing an action or an opinion.
The purpose of reflective thought.
Learning for the sake of understanding, or, to make a living.
The inter-play of many doubts.
Some depressing aspects of our modern, affluent societies.
The "killer-ape", and the problem of ethical concerns.
The nature of man; a religious or an evolutionary explanation.
The effects upon our daily lives of the manner in which we interpret our own existence, as well as the nature of life.
The lure of dogmatic attitudes and beliefs.
Enemies on the "right" and the "left".
Contributing to chaos and conditions of injustice.
Shaking the certainties of our beliefs.
The inverse reciprocity between the scope of vision and the visibility of details.
A remarkable ability to agree about sense impressions and their interpretations.
Biological and cultural factors in the make-up of belief structures.
The obligation to help with the re-construction of a sensible structure of beliefs, after certainties have been shaken loose.
Tolerance and compassion grow, as confidence increases.

It is tempting to slide into a detailed analysis and a laborious definition of thoughts and attitudes, but, such a digression into a theoretical discussion about meaning and terminology would spoil the taste for thought, which an average reader may have, or, may be willing to cultivate. Let us only say, briefly, that an attitude constitutes a whole complex of behavioural details. We can get an inkling of the complexity of behaviour by watching, as an outsider, someone else's actions and perceptions, and, by analysing this behavioural complex in terms of motivations, orientations and concerns.

Such an observation may reveal an exclusive concern with the well-being of the behaving individual, or, the behavioural complex may reveal a defense against, or an attack upon, someone else. It is also possible, that the behaviour-patterns reflect a variety of concerns about other people, and, all these variables of the behavioural complex are the reason, why an attitude can be classified as aggressive or defensive, compassionate, concerned or curious, manipulative, persuasive or abrasive.

In short, most readers will recognise this variability of behaviour, and, they will agree that it is possible to show many different attitudes. However, I would like to emphasise, here, the idea, that it is possible to assign to each attitude or behaviour-pattern a measure of aggressiveness or defensiveness, as well as a sphere of concern, ranging from egocentricity in its many shades and forms, to a sphere of concern that includes other people as well. Such a sphere of concern may extend from a good friend or a close relative, to a large social grouping, or, even, to the whole of mankind or the terrestial environment.

Let us define, briefly, a thought as a structure of mental images centered around a particular awareness, and, more specifically, around a specific "problem". The problem may be the choice of an appropriate behavioural response. A response may be a form or type of action, but, it may also remain, largely, as an attitude or decision. It may be the choice of an opinion or the interpretation of an experience. If we adopt a specific structure of beliefs, it influences a large number of experiences and decisions.

With these two short definitions out of the way, we hope to show the reader, (who may think that any thought or concern about what is obvious or self-evident is a waste of time and effort), that it is enjoyable to understand, at least, to some extent, what we do, as a rule, so automatically and naturally. We hope to show, that such an understanding of these natural and automatic mechanisms will reveal us the overall meaning and function of thinking, and, we also hope to show, how often, we use the powers of thought and understanding as a behavioural tool; as a weapon to secure a position of privilege and affluence. Finally, we hope to show, that, intelligence and understanding do not have to be used, exclusively, for short-range existential gains. On the contrary, understanding ourselves and our fellow human beings may entice us to adopt an attitude of tolerance , or, even, compassion. It may show us, that the processes of understanding may evoke an emotional surge, even, a sensation of beauty.

"Quite a list of promises", you say. "Let us see, whether you can deliver these promises. You still have to convince me, that you are talking about a valuable insight and not just about an obvious platitude. Of course, we know, that many people use their intelligence to cheat or to get an unfair advantage, and, what makes you think, that telling them that they do so, will change their minds? What is new about telling people, that they have to think about their problems? We all know that. We all know about attitudes, and, it is obvious, that people use knowledge or expertise for their own benefit".

"Look at the schools, or, even, the colleges and universities. Do they not teach, primarily, for the sake of finding a well-paying job? Is our whole educational system not geared to equip young people with the best possible tools to secure one's niche in society through a process of competitive strife, as well as ruthlessly egocentric attitudes?".

"What about your promise that understanding will lead to an attitude of tolerance and cooperation? I have to see it to believe it. Your claim about experiencing a surge of beauty, whenever we understand, seems even more far-fetched. In our affluent and consumerist societies, knowledge is technology; the technology to make a large number of products, as well as the technology to entice people to buy these products, regardless, whether they need them or not".

"To manipulate, cleverly, public feelings and sentiments, public taste and beliefs; this is the objective of our consumerist use of knowledge. It is, therefore, difficult to see, how knowledge and understanding translate into "brotherly love". We will, probably, have to go back to the religions to find encouragement for our efforts to foster such an attitude of brotherly love, or, at least, neighbourly attitudes of cooperation and friendship".

"Have the sciences and their evolutionary theories not always emphasised the struggle for survival, as well as the survival of the fittest individual or most competent species? It seems to me, that the competitive and consumerist societies affirm these scientific interpretations of reality".

If you are thinking along these lines, you are fairly representative for the current opinions in our contemporary, affluent societies. Probably, many people still do not recognise to what extent the public is being manipulated, but, certainly, the more perceptive people have often turned-away in disgust from major streams of influence that are at work in our societies. Again, I have really no reason to disagree with your assessment, but, as always, we should look a little more in depth at the forces at work.

True, our societies seem to be increasingly pervaded by an atmosphere of egocentric advantage-taking, and, our educational systems have deteriorated, by and large, to the point, where they are merely a school for the exploitation of knowledge and expertise. Positions in society are determined, often, by ruthless competition for affluence and power, and, the pathways to the top are, frequently, leading through nepotist connections and elitist influence-peddling. It is not suprising, that any notion about finding a sense of beauty in knowledge and understanding, will be laughed-away as naive nonsense, and, the question what makes a society tick, will be shrugged-off as unanswerable philosophising.

True, the picture the sciences have been painting about the nature of life, and, of man in particular, is, by and large, a rather dismal imagery about a ferocious killer-ape, who has been able to suppress and exterminate his evolutionary relatives with cunning and ruthlessness, and, who has been able to dominate the realm of the kingdom of living intelligence with a finely honed intellect and an attitude of aggressive opportunism. The question of ethics, and, especially, the origin of ethical behaviour, or, at least, the potential to become ethical in our outlook and concerns, has not been answered satisfactorily by the sciences, and, man has, therefore, gone back to a religious interpretation in order to make sense of the ethical potentials and social requirements of human existence.

But, we have to ask ourselves, whether or not a society has to be as competitive and exploitative as we experience it to be. Does the scientific picture of man give us, indeed, only a bleak confirmation of the laws of the jungle? Can man find only a rational explanation for his dualistic behaviour of ruthless competitiveness and ethical concerns in an imagery taken from the religions? Does a free-for-all competitiveness in commercial enterprise lead, indeed, to a healthy and stable society? Are the attitudes of ever increasing consumerism and rising expectations an unavoidable side-effect of all societies that have reached a certain level of security and affluence? Do we really have a coherent picture about ourselves? Can we really explain ourselves satisfactorily; either as a creature in the image of God, or, as a product of natural selection and evolutionary change?

It does not take long to realise, that such questions have an effect upon our routine existence, our outlook on life, as well as on the interpretation of our realities, in spite of the fact, that, most of us will consider these questions and their answers to be only important for religious or civic leaders. Most of us have given-up the hope of finding satisfying answers to such questions in times of chaos and confusion, or, we adhere, fervently, to one or other dogmatic point of view, be it a religious command or a scientific doctrine.

Once we have committed ourselves to one particular point of view, we can not help, but see a large majority of people, either, as fools who do not know how to cope with and profit from the circumstances, or, as sinners, cast-out and doomed to an eternity in Hell. Or, we may see them as arch-enemies, be it in the form of a Socialist or Communist peril from the left, or as reactionaries and imperialists from the right.

The way we see ourselves and our society has an immediate effect upon our orientation towards other people, and, if we see a large part of society as doomed, wrong, stupid or dangerous, we actively contribute to the tensions within society. In our righteous mood of having been saved, of being right or just, of being the true pillars of society, we actively participate in a process of social disintegration, strife and chaos, and, we have a moral obligation to re-examine our position, again and again.

We shake our heads about the stories of violent persecutions in the past, or, in other, contemporary societies, but, are we not practicing the same sort of divisive elitism, when we tacitly consider ourselves righteous and saved in the eyes of the Lord, while we have already made-up the Lord's Mind about our neighbour, the sinner? We condemn, wholeheartedly, the scandalous exploitation of workers by big business enterprises during and after the Industrial Revolution, but, do we not contribute ourselves to the practice of exploitation, by making use of the powers of strong unions and professional organisations, or, by exploiting the gullibility and ignorance of the public, whenever we push our products and services, or, whenever we demand higher wages and prices?

We feel outraged by acts of injustice and the oppression of the poor, but, are we not contributing to oppression and injustice, when we push for dogmatic and violent changes in society? We condemn the despotism and corruption of a powerful dictator or a revolutionary elite, but, are we not participating in a similar process, when we undermine our competitors and consolidate our empires of multi-national dimensions?

In our comfortable niche, with our comfortable platitudes of shared opinions, in our comfortable consumerist habits and defensive conservative attitudes, we may be actively, if unwittingly, contributing to a process of social chaos and decay, which we so strongly condem and try to escape from.

In stead of developing a taste for thought, you may now begin to experience an aversion for this process of questioning and scrutinising; for this ever deeper digging into the security of our beliefs, and, you may actually be alarmed. You may become convinced, that, it is, not only, useless and confusing to start to undermine whatever we are already sure of. You may argue, that it is quite enough to have to wrestle with whatever we are not sure of, and, you are saying to me; "In stead of giving us a hand with our uncertainties, you are digging and up-rooting what was no problem before. By shaking the certainties of our beliefs, you have made the problems worse, and, it is not surprising, that, even, a long time ago, the eternally questioning philosopher was, eventually, silenced by a cup of poison.

Well, let us not dramatise the situation too much, because, after all, we are only inclined to question our common assumptions, if we, or, at least, a few of us, feel a need to do so. This need is, obviously, motivated by the experiences a few of us may have; nl., that the common beliefs and assumptions do not correspond, anymore, satisfactorily with our observations.

Since the upsurge of the scientific method of scrutiny and analysis of the past few hundred years, we have become aware of the fact, that the reality of any field of observation can always be described in various ways, depending on the focus of attention and the scope of the field of vision. If the field of observations is large, we tend to see only the major outlines, and, even, if we are aware of minor details, we do not pay attention to them, because these details may, either, be irrelevant, or, they may hamper us in our efforts to describe, adequately, the totality of this field of observations.

On the other hand, if we limit our field of vision to a smaller and smaller area of concern, the reality shows, increasingly, details, which we did not see before, and, eventually, we are able to see features or structures we did not know about. We have all experienced the fact, that we can always look for ever smaller details of an object, or, the more detailed cause and effect relationships of an event, but, quickly, our observations lose the quality of relevance and certainty, and, they have a tendency to slide into the grey areas of hypothesis and the black region of the unknown.

We have come to see, therefore, that our reality perceptions depend, first of all, on the biological characteristics of the human being as a living organism, but, what, exactly, the reality is of these peculiarities of our organism or organic existence, is not so easy to say.

The remarkable ability we possess as human beings to agree amongst ourselves about the reality or validity of a particular observation, (in particular, a scientific observation), depends, to a very large extent, upon our common physiological functions and anatomical construction. The many beliefs, customs and attitudes we adopt from our cultural environment have a much greater tendency to clash with those of other cultures, because these structures of belief and attitude are specific for a particular culture, and, they represent the development of a particular society and its perceptions of reality.

While the scientific methods of observation appeal to our common biological heritage as a functioning and integrated human being, culturally transmitted beliefs, customs and attitudes reflect, primarily, the specific cultural chracteristics of the society we happen to have been born into and grown-up in.

Regardless, whether our beliefs are, primarily, scientific, or, determined by our cultural heritage, we all can be aware of the fact, that beliefs and attitudes always change. Even a cursory look at history shows us the continuously changing aspects of beliefs, attitudes and scientific interpretations of reality, and, the questions of today will provide the answers for tomorrow, just as the questions of the past have helped to shape our contemporary reality perceptions. Let us not be ashamed, therefore, to ask questions, but, let us also make sure, that our questions are motivated by a genuine desire to understand the realities of our existence.

We have indicated, that, for many people, the loosening of a structure of beliefs is a painful and confusing event, because it increases their uncertainties and reduces, at least, initially, their ability to cope and function properly. We may be tempted to use questioning and the sowing of doubts as a malicious attempt to undermine someone's security, and, if this is the case, we are committing a treacherous form of aggression, but, if we throw a few questions with the intention to make people think a little more about the realities of their existence, we should also be prepared to help them construct, or re-construct, a structure of beliefs and attitudes, which could be an improvement and an advantage to them, as well as to the rest of their social surroundings.

There are few experiences that are more satisfying, than to see an individual or a group of people transform, slowly, a narrow and outmoded structure of beliefs and attitudes into a broader and more precise complex of thoughts and constructive attitudes. The encompassing of a far larger sphere of awarenesses will give such people confidence and courage, and, with it, will come, almost always, a greater awareness of the similarities in existence between themselves and those, who were considered to be strangers and potential enemies.

Tolerance and compassion grow as the measure of confidence and understanding increases, but, we are running ahead of our theme. We are trying to persuade the reader to see some merit in the process of reflection and thought, while we acknowledge, that this process is often difficult and somewhat unsettling.

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Chapter 3

Content

We will have to let some certainties go, before we can build a more comprehensive picture of understanding.
A note of caution.
Similarities between the goals of understanding and the attitudes of self-discipline.
Taking our treasured certainties with us into our graves.
The role of intuitive decision-making.
Intuitions and emotions.
The three poles of living existence.
A review of the mechanisms of thinking.
The problem, seen as a focus for reflective thought.
The sphere of concerns, and the orientation of our thoughts.
We need to experience a measure of security, before we can enlarge the sphere of our concerns.
The tolerance of variability in behaviour and thought.
The inter-play between emotions, moods and reality perceptions.
Applying the insights of a rational analysis to a conflict-situation.
The difference between tolerance and weakness; voluntary and involuntary mechanisms of accomodation.
Why our attitudes and actions may be interpreted as treacherous and hostile by our enemies.
The need for constant, honest communications.
We have to learn to live with our biological heritage.
The fragility of the attitudes of trust and cooperation.
The voluntary gift of mutual trust.

It is strange, that it appears necessary to increase confusion and uncertainty, before we can proceed to a larger scope of understanding, with a greater degree of clarity. Indeed, we may have to abandon the few ideas we are sure of, before we can enter a "promised land" of understanding and happiness. However, let me caution against any expectations with a religious flavour of "hope".

There is certainly no guarantee, that, a loosening of belief structures will lead to a successful coordination and integration of reality perceptions on a more comprehensive plane of understanding. Neither is there any guarantee, that a successful integration of reality perceptions will lead to a lasting happiness or a comforting security.

Just like any other attitude of self-discipline, (which has been adopted for the sake of trading a short-term satisfaction against a longer-term perspective), there is no guartantee, that such an attitude and practice will pay-off. Besides, the attitudes of discipline and restraint only make sense, if the individual has been able to formulate, clearly, a realistic long-term objective. One has really to believe, that this objective is obtainable, and, one must be willing and able to invest in this goal with hard work and commitment. One must have the courage, and the energy, to adopt a long period of restraint and self-discipline in order to enhance the chances of success, but, still, there are no guarantees.

The same applies to our goals of understanding. We must, first of all, have the conviction, that it is possible and desirable to enlarge our scope of understanding, and, we must, therefore, be willing to learn.

If we think, that we know it all, then, any effort to improve our understanding does not make sense. However, we should realise, that an attitude of "knowing it all" makes us rigid and inflexible, and, slowly, but surely, we are losing our ability to adapt. We are getting old, fragile and irrelevant for the younger generations, and, it will not be long, before we take our treasured certainties and prejudices with us, into our graves, quickly forgotten by almost everyone.

Let us not be too surprised about the conclusion, that it takes discipline to be thoughtful; that it takes an effort to think; that it requires a measure of restraint to substitute an impulsive reaction with a more deliberate and more finely tuned response.

Certainly, there is no guarantee, that a more deliberate response will be superior to an impulsive or intuitive reaction. We all know, that, on many occasions, we are able to respond appropriately and quickly to routine situations, and, we know, that the quality and efficiency of our response may begin to suffer, if we try to think about what we are doing.

When we drive a car or ride a bicycle, we, usually, perform better, if we are able to relax and let our intuitive judgments make the many motoric decisions necessary to guide us safely through traffic. If we are tense and worried about our ability to make the necessary responses, or, if we concentrate too much on what we have to do, we are more likely to be involved in an accident.

Yet, we should distinguish between two concepts, here, which we have lumped together, so far. We should make a clear distinction between an intuitive response, (where we rely heavily on quickly executed, subconsciously formulated response-patterns in "routine" or familiar situations), and a response-pattern that is emotional. An intuitive response does not have to be emotional, as we see, so clearly, in the myriad of motoric decisions we make during the course of a day. These are learned responses, but, these response-patterns become so familiar, that we are able to execute them, eventually, without any further need to shape, consciously, a part or all of this response-pattern.

At the same time, however, such a routine, subconsciously executed response-pattern becomes stereotyped, and, if we need to make a modification of this response, we will require a deliberate and conscious effort to do so.

In an emotional response-pattern, we see the expression of a more primitive, more biological aspect of our behavioural complex, which has been triggered into action by a significant level of existential concern. If we are involved in a situation that has a great deal of significance for our personal well-being, we become "emotionally aroused".

As we have described in previous essays, we may consider ourselves to be sliding on an emotional scale that varies from a defensive, anxious or threatened mode of existence to one that is highly beneficial or confidence-inspiring. Our moods will, then, vary from an anxious, defensive stance, through a zone of emotional near-neutrality, to a zone of confidence, aggression and exuberance. In addition, the orientation of our concerns may slide from a defensive egocentricity to a trustful reliance upon others, giving rise to a sliding scale ranging from defensive suspicions to relationships of mutual trust and reliance.

As a somewhat separate mode of existence in an emotionally aroused state, we have to consider the status of "sexual arousal". Biologically, sexual arousal is an off-shoot of a state of well-being, where a strong instinctive behaviour-pattern is triggered into action to ensure the procreation of the species. While this type of behaviour has, in essence, no existential meaning for the individual members of a species, and may, on occasion, even spell the end of individual existence, we see in the behaviour of sexual arousal an expression of the needs of the gene-pool or the continued survival of the species.

Without such a strong and successful pattern of reproductive behaviour, the chain in the succession of generations would be broken, and the existence possibilities for the gene-pool of the species would rapidly disappear.

After successful reproductive behaviour, the significance of individual existence for the gene-pool has been diminished, and, sometimes, there is no significance at all. At least, biologically speaking, the meaning of individual existence is then reduced, and, we see, therefore, that, on occasion, the act of reproductive behaviour is quickly followed by death; after the reproductive cycle has been successfully fulfilled, of course.

In species' that have developed a long period of reliance upon parental care for their off-spring, the meaning of individual existence for those who have already participated in the process of procreation, is extended far beyond the period of reproductive behaviour.

However, after this digression into the philosophical generalisations associated with the meaning of life, seen from a biological and physiological point of view, we should return to a discussion about the differences between emotional and intuitive behaviour. Emotional behaviour is a response-pattern that is coloured by primary, inborn drives, even, if we seldom see a complete absence of culturally acquired, modifying or moderating influences upon such emotional or instinctive patterns of behaviour.

In the human being, almost every emotional response is influenced by a measure of rationality or restraint, where an effort is being made, primarily subconsciously, to refine the impulsive or instinctive response by a deliberate, more rational modification.

In the activity of "intuition" or intuitive judgements, the emotional forces may not come into play at all, and, the evaluative functions may make use of a very large variety of data in the memory-banks; by scanning these data in a nearly automatic manner. Such a subconscious or intuitive formulation of a response may by-pass, to a large extent, our deliberate and conscious faculties of formulating a behavioural response, since it does not seem necessary under such circumstances to consult the faculties of conscious awareness and rational thought.

In the concepts of thought and reflection, we indicate an awareness or verbalisation of this process of deliberate or conscious image-formation and evaluation, which is often centered around a specific "problem" as we have mentioned. A problem is an awareness of the fact, that a particular behavioural response, be it an action or an opinion, a belief or a reality interpretation, is not immediately available or clear-cut, and, it requires, therefore, an act of deliberate and often intense effort to shape such a response.

In most forms of thinking, we formulate a tentative answer to the problem. We have a tendency to test this answer in our minds, in order to evaluate the possible effects of the proposed or hypothetical response. In doing so, we may see the short-comings of our intended answers or reactions, and, we try again, formulating a slightly different response, and we let the potential consequences of this response pass through our minds, once again. In this way, we also learn to see the problems more precisely, and, this may facilitate, in turn, a more satisfying answer to the problems we are dealing with.

In the process of thinking, we are, therefore, almost always engaged in an absorbing activity of trying to match a precisely conceived problem with a precisely formulated answer. The problem we are concerned with, may vary; from a specific, personal problem to concerns about our immediate environment, or, the problem of a broad, philosophical generalisation.

We may ask ourselves, how we can espace a certain predicament, or, how we got into this predicament in the first place. Or, our concerns may extend to the well-being of relatives, friends or neighbours, and, occasionally, our concerns may wander to the far reaches of what we know or are aware of. Sometimes, professional problems concern us greatly, because it may be our responsibility to unravel the details of a specific scientific investigation, or, we may be looking for the common denominators of human existence.

All these problems constitute, in essence, a process of thought, but the motivations behind these activities vary widely. If I am exclusively concerned with egocentric problems, it stands to reason, that my thoughts and attitudes will have less relevance for others. If my concerns extend to my immediate surroundings, my thoughts may become relevant and beneficial to my social environment, and, I may become a leader, in one aspect or another. However, for an adjacent community, I may become an enemy, especially, if my area of concern does not reach them at all, or, if I see their existence and behaviour as a source for, or explanation of, all the problems we have in our community.

The orientation and area of concern we display in our thoughts and attitudes are important for inter-personal relationships; between individuals as well as between groups. Thoughts represent, merely, a stream of mental images we are trying to focus and orient upon a particular facet of our reality perceptions, and, understanding comes, whenever we see a gradual refinement of the problem, as well as an appropriate response to it.

As we mentioned, our thoughts may be centered around a problem of behaviour, or, a problem of perception. If we ask ourselves, what we should do, we are trying to formulate an action, and, if we are asking ourselves, what the nature is of a phenomenon, or, how we have to classify an observation or correlate a series of events, we are concerned with a problem in perception or interpretation.

The fact that we are able to question the accuracy of a perception, means, that we can, nearly always, experience discrepancies between what we expect and what we experience. If we focus our attention upon a practical problem about what to do, we incorporate, tacitly or subconsciously, a number of perceptions and interpretations into our mental calculations, and, from time to time, we come to the conclusion that these tacit assumptions are incorrect.

In times of relative security, reflective and inquisitive people may channel their energies into exploring the mental images of our commonly perceived realities, and, this imagery may go far beyond personal or communal existential needs or concerns. If such an exploratory attitude becomes acceptable and is encouraged, we may see a flourish of reflective scientific or artistic activities.

On the other hand, if an individual or community is pre-occupied with the formulation of appropriate answers to a variety of stressful situations, there will be a need to agree about the perceptions of the commonly experienced realities in order to go-on with the pressing task of formulating practical and precise behavioural responses. Then, there is a tendency for rigid and dogmatic reality perceptions to come to the fore, like fundamentalist beliefs and attitudes, associated with solemn rituals, clear-cut taboos and rigid precepts, as well as a lessened degree of tolerance for individual variability in behaviour and beliefs.

In summary, we can use our faculties of thought to shape, consciously and deliberately, a behavioural act by analysing all the factors involved, and, by testing, mentally, a variety of potential solutions. We may be primarily concerned with the re-evaluation of a perception, the interpretation of a belief, or the formulation of a specific response.

Reactions and reality perceptions may vary a great deal in the extent of the sphere of concerns, because we may be narrowwly concerned with our own problems, or, with the problems of a small community. If we occupy a leadership position, our concerns deal with the problems of the community under our jurisdiction, but, every professional is, in essence, fufilling a leadership function and should be concerned with the responsibilities that have been given to him or her as part of excercising a professional occupation in society.

Since the activities of broad, philosophical re-examinations of our reality perceptions are of no immediate use to a community, it is, usually, not prepared to pay any attention to them. These activities are, therefore, not suitable as a field of concern for some sort of a "philosophic professional", but, rather, these activities and concerns become the domain of an interested and reflective individual, who has been given a chance, by fortunate circumstances and a measure of financial independence, to spend a great deal of time in the pursuit of such activities.

Yet, we should resist the temptation to see the fields of re-evaluating perceptions and formulating behavioural responses as independent from each other. In the final analysis, reality perceptions will always turn-out to be behavioural tools, used as essential instruments for the fine-tuning of our collective or individual behaviour-patterns.

There is also a remarkable interplay between our perceptions of reality and our moods or emotions. A mood is a long-term coloration of our perceptions, while an emotion is the specific "ground-tone", or coloration, that is associated with a particular experience.

This interplay between perceptions, experiences, moods and emotions may come, at least, to some extent, under the control of our will, if we are able to see our experiences and perceptions in a much broader light. Such a broadened perspective may give us the confidence, that we have the appropriate tools and means to formulate an adequate response to whatever situation may appear to present a challenge or a danger, and, we may, therefore, come to the conclusion, that the situation is not as gloomy or anxiety-provoking as our initial reactions would led us to believe.

One of the most powerful and important consequences of a broadened perception of reality, is the fact, that, we can then analyse a conflict-situation in logical terms and predictable cause and effect relationships. We can then see, how both sides have been contributing to the tensions of a conflict-situation. These powers of observation and analysis are most successful, if we are relatively un-involved with the conflict-situation. Nevertheless, we should have a profound understanding of the factors that play a role in the behaviour of the antagonists.

By a process of extrapolation, we may be able to analyse, with a greater degree of objectivity, a conflict-situation in which we are involved ourselves, and, it does not take a profound insight to come to the conclusion, that such an ability to see the factors of conflict more rationally and objectively, should lead to a remarkable reduction in tensions and hostilities.

Yet, we will have to be confident, that such an attitude of increased understanding and tolerance will not lead to a position of weakness, which may be interpreted by our enemies as a chance to launch an attack of some sort. We must be confident and convinced, that such an attitude of tolerance and understanding has a chance to evoke a similar sense of understanding in our adversaries. We will have to ensure, that the motivations of our attitudes are clearly perceived by our adversaries, and, they have to be convinced that we are engaged in a genuine effort to understand and identify with their concerns, objectives or points of view.

If our enemies feel, that we are genuinely trying to understand and respect them, they may be inclined to do the same. Nevertheless, it is natural, that such tentative and searching efforts to come to a measure of mutual understanding, are punctuated by periods of suspicion and acts of treachery, because both sides are always tempted to take advantage of a development that seems to give an opening to the mechanisms of dominance and conquest.

We have to try, not only, to understand the position and psychological reactions of our adversaries, but, we also have to recognise, whenever our own actions and attitudes may be interpreted as hostile, treacherous or unjust by our adversaries. Trust, especially, mutual trust between adversaries, is a fragile flower that needs constant attention, protection and nurturing. Frequent or nearly continuous communications are necessary to ensure, that the reality perceptions on both sides remain compatible.

It is important, that our actions and attitudes are understood by our adversaries in the same manner as we understand or perceive our actions ourselves, and, similarly, we have to understand the perceptions, attitudes and behaviour-patterns of our adversaries in the light of their own reality perceptions.

These conditions are not easy to fulfill, but, a clear recognition of the pre-requisites to solving a conflict by non-violent means, may contribute significantly to defusing a tense or potentially explosive situation. We fail, so often, in our attempts to reconcile ourselves with our adversaries, because we do not realise, how difficult it is to come to a commonly shared perception of reality. We fail, also, because we are not consistent or honest in our motivations. If we use a period of negotiation to regroup our forces; if we negotiate only, because we feel we can not win, we do not exhibit a genuine desire to understand or come to a mutually acceptable compromise. We are, then, only trying to minimise our losses, and, we will revert to the methods of force and violence, whenever we think we have a chance to win. This is, in essence, an attitude of treachery, and, we should not be surprised to see, that our efforts to come to a negotiated settlement will be received with suspicion and hostility.

Both sides in a situation of conflict will be looking-out for their own advantage, and, their motivations are, therefore, egocentrically oriented. The beginning of a common perception of reality is often found in the conclusion, reached by both sides, that negotiation is preferable and less costly than continued warfare.

This conclusion does not alter the egocentric motivation or orientation as yet, and, we have to realise, that a durable contract of peace can only come, if we avoid to see our adversaries as an alien, evil or strange force; as a group of people with whom we have little or nothing in common. A durable peace and a genuine settlement will only come, if we begin to realise our own contributions to the conflict, and, if we acknowledge the similarities between the aspirations and desires of our enemies and ourselves.

It is not difficult to see, how important the excercise of thinking really is, and, how large the benefits can be, whenever we are able to come to a perception of reality that is widely acceptable and goes-out far beyond a circle of friends, the interests of a particular community, or the cultural specifics of a particular ethnic grouping.

If we all learn to broaden our areas of interest, concern and understanding, we have a much better chance of identifying with those, who are far-away and live so differently. If our reality perceptions broaden in scope and become less defensive or egocentrically oriented, there will be a much larger area of common interests and concerns, which will facilitate mutual understanding, as well as a feeling of a shared human identity. Yet, it is also realistic to expect, that the fragile bonds of mutual trust will be broken, whenever abuse, treachery, egocentric advantage-taking or dominance re-assert themselves.

We should not deny the existence of these tendencies in each and everyone of us, regardless, how altruistically oriented we may be, or think we are. It is not realistic to consider these trends to revert to narrow, egocentric concerns as alien or evil, or, as a reactionary tendency we can conquer, once and for all. We will have to live with the knowledge, that we can all revert back to egocentric attitudes, whenever our defense mechanisms have been aroused; whenever we feel insecure, abused, dominated or neglected.

It is far more realistic to consider the human tendency to be socially concerned, altruistic and trustful, as an attitude that is fragile and transient, but, also, as an attitude we are all capable of; whenever the circumstances are relatively free from anxiety-provoking stimuli and free from feelings of injustice, abuse, oppression or humiliation.

We can never force an individual, or a group, to belong to, or to genuinely contribute to society against their will. Often, we are successful, or, we appear to be successful, whenever we are trying to enforce such attitudes with the power of authority and the threat of reprisals, but, the appearance of social cohesion is, then, an illusion, ready to shatter and fragment, whenever the opportunity presents itself.

True social cohesion is based on the exchange of mutual trust and understanding. It is a voluntary gift to the other members or groupings of a socially integrated entity, in return for a reciprocal gift of trust, respect, justice and security.

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Chapter 4

Content

All reality experiences depend on a measure of agreement.
Thoughts and awarenesses are tools for shaping an appropriate behavioural response.
The fragility of a reality perception.
The pragmatic focus of our attention; a number of examples.
A review of the imagery of human evolution.
A long way to go, before we have a comprehensive imagery of human existence on the basis of natural evolutionary changes.
Thoughts and ideas will always remain under the influence of evolutionary pressures.
The fragile and transient equivalence between belief and reality.
A note of caution to those, who are already "converts" to the imagery of the sciences.
Some of the difficulties associated with a religious explanation of human existence.
Euphoria is not a sound basis for an attempt to grasp reality.
My sympathies go out to the average individual, who is not sure what or whom to believe.
Confusion breeds suspicion.
The jungle of a complex, affluent society.

Let us leave the subject of social concerns for a moment, and, let us turn our attention to the meaning and function of thought for the reflecting individual. After all, in our plane of observation, it is the communication between individual people, which is most apparent and important; at least, to us as individuals. It is the living individual, who creates in the moments of his existence, the reality perceptions that include, not only, an awareness about himself and his immediate environment, but also, an imagery about the Universe and God.

All reality exists, only, in so far as we agree amongst ourselves, be it in varying degrees, about the validity of certain concepts, and, we have argued, before, how the past and the future exist, exclusively, as an extention of our contemporary reality experiences. We have also seen, how the past and the immediate future become intricately inter-woven with the awareness of the present. We have discussed, how the function of recognition is only possible, because we have access to a storehouse of memory-traces that let us classify the familiar and discern the unusual. Besides, we guide the behavioural choices of the present within a context of what we expect to happen in the immediate future.

A tendency to reflect may elucidate these mechanisms and make them available to us as conscious abstractions, but, we certainly need a large variety of images from the past, including those from the sciences, in order to facilitate this process of awareness and understanding. We need a basis of understanding about the mechanisms of nature, and, these mechanisms of nature include the mechanisms of our own existence.

The sciences provide us, now, with a very large variety and a wide scope of images, and, in spite of the fact, that it is not yet apparent to most people, it is possible to integrate this large panorama of scientific images into a rather coherent and plausible structure of thought, explaining the workings of the human body and mind. Let us not take the word "explaining" as a static, unassailable imagery of the truth, but, rather, as a temporary and useful "working hypothesis", which allows us to comprehend the human being quite well, provided, we never forget, that we are dealing with mental images of a human and biological nature, and not with an absolute truth.

While we have still only a vague and sketchy idea how life arose, and, how the human being developed, (with its numerous contradictory and poorly understood faculties and behavioural trends), the evolutionary concepts and ideas, describing the transformation of matter and energy, seem to provide us, now, with a really broad spectrum of understanding. Many details are still lacking, and, most likely, we will always have to live with the fact, that, many details about the evolutionary development of the living organisation will remain a fertile field for speculation, since no definitive answers are possible.

Yet, is this so strange? If we reflect for a moment upon the many familiar objects and circumstances we live with, we come to the conclusion, that, in each instance, there are certain attributes or characteristics we are not sure of. I have no idea, exactly, how long or how heavy the pen is I am writing with; nor, do I know, how it has been put-together, or, where it has been made. I do not know, exactly, what type of ink has been used, nor, do I know how this ink has been made.

We are not bothered by the aspects we do not know, because the answers to these questions are not relevant in relation to the purpose I am using my pen for. As long as it writes and writes easily, without releasing large blobs of unwanted ink on the paper, without faltering or scratching, I am satisfied, and, I will continue to use the pen until it runs dry.

We approach all our concepts about any common object or structure of knowledge in the same manner. I have a picture in mind about the earth, the sun, the moon and the solar system. From these images I can deduce, logically, the phenomena of day and night; the tides, the seasons, the changing faces of the moon, as well as the wandering planets in the nights' sky. It does not matter to me, that I do not know, exactly, the distance of the earth from the sun, or the mass of the moon, nor, do I know the radius of the solar system. Sure, if I had to calculate the thrust of a rocket in order to send a satellite into a specific orbit, I would have to familiarise myself with a whole host of factors and mental images that have, at the present time, no relevance for me.

The same considerations apply to our ideas about evolutionary changes. We have an overall idea, how the forces of gravitation condense ever larger quantities of inter-stellar dust and gases into massive stellar bodies, and, we know, how the crushing forces of gravitational contraction within such large gaseous bodies start to disrupt the atomic configurations of the elements, leading to various kinds of nuclear fusion-reactions with the outpouring of enormous quantities of radiant energy.

Yet, many details are unknown to me, and, I would have to acquire a large amount of additional information, if I had to solve specific problems, answer specific questions, or, if I had to teach a detailed mental imagery of cosmology to students. For my purposes, the knowledge I have is largely sufficient, but, from time to time, in an effort to discuss a certain aspect of reality, I feel compelled to consult a specific text-book or encyclopedia on a particular field or topic. For the purpose of tracing a specific argument or sketching a mental imagery, I need, then, a more detailed or a more specific mental image than I have available at my finger-tips.

Similarly, if I want to trace a plausible picture of the evolutionary development of the human being, I make use of the rough outlines of biochemical and cellular evolution I am familiar with. I may trace, summarily, the transitions from biochemical to uni-cellular and multi-cellular existence, and, I may neglect, completely, the enormous variety of life-forms that exist, now, or have existed in the past, and are known to experts in these fields.

We have now fairly convincing fossil and biochemical evidence to show, that the human species developed as an anthropoid creature, many millions of years ago. This ancestral species of mankind developed together with a substantial number of close relatives, who did not survive the rigorous pressures of natural selection.

If we look at the spectrum of living organisms today, it becomes difficult to imagine, how this gap between an ape and a human being can be bridged, but, if we look at the evolutionary history of the past twenty millions years or so, we see, clearly, the flowering of a number of anthropoid species', who could run and climb, grasp and throw, protect the weaker members of their societies, and, who became, eventually, cunning and fierce hunters on account of their hands, their cerebral capabilities, as well as their instinctive ability to cooperate with other members of the small social grouping in which they lived.

In view of these images, the picture of evolutionary development becomes more plausible, more logical, more understandable and realistic, but, at the same time, we should also acknowledge the fact, that the sciences can tell us very little, as yet, how man started to think or talk. The sciences still have great difficulties tracing a convincing imagery, how man developed his intellect, his ability to speak, think and communicate, and, the sciences find it certainly difficult to trace, boldly, a coherent picture of the human personality; why man may be a sadistic killer, as well as a loving parent; a cruel conqueror, or a tender lover; why man worships his gods, or, how man arrives at his belief structures, his cultural pool of notions, as well as all the other behavioural guidance-patterns with their many contradictory trends and tendencies.

We will, probably, always be speculating, how, and when, the human being developed these capabilities, or, perhaps, evolutionary liabilities. The reality picture of ourselves is intricately interwoven with the reality picture of our environment and the Universe, and, as we look at nature in many different ways, we will also look at ourselves from many different perspectives.

At this stage in the evolution of our ability to think, we have hardly begun to develop a truly common and globally acceptable image of reality, and, even, if such a development would take place at some time in the near future, we may reasonably expect, that the nature or content of such a "main-stream" reality perception will remain subject to changes and adaptations.

We are now in an interesting phase of the development of knowledge and insights. Only recently, have we learned to formulate the evolutionary principles of change on a truly large scale, and, we have just begun to apply these ideas to the field of image-formation itself. Only now, are we beginning to get a comprehensive "feel" for the essence or nature of living existence. Only now are we beginning to develop an appreciation for the totality of the evolution of life and its search for possibilities of existence. Only now, are we beginning to see, how fragile and transient our instinctive equations between reality and belief, really are.

Yet, if we want to be convincing to a majority of the living generations of mankind, we will have to speculate, carefully and sensibly, about the development of awareness, intelligence, symbolic representations, as well as the mechanisms of abstraction. We have to discuss the mechanisms of communication, together with the development of beliefs and reality interpretations.

We will not trace these developments, here, in detail, because we have done so before. I only like to emphasise the concept, that it is possible to extract from the many sciences, a picture that is becoming increasingly coherent, and, I want to emphasise the fact, that this picture will be helpful in constructing a deliberate and conscious reality perception with a global relevance.

If you are already a disciple of the sciences, I would like to suggest, that you make a serious effort to grasp the whole of the sciences in a philosophical over-view. If you fail to do so, you will see reality only from you own particular vantage-point, and, you will never develop the ability to become really broad in your comprehension. It is, then, likely, that you use your particular scientific field of endeavour, primarily, as a means to make a living, and, if you use your scientific knowledge in this manner, you will not be able to take the distant view, which is so necessary for a broad perspective of all our behaviour-patterns and insights.

If you adhere strongly to a religious perception of reality, there is a good chance, that you look upon most of the sciences with a measure of suspicion, and, certainly, the ideas of natural evolution of the human species will clash with the concept, that man has been created in God's image. Some of us will dabble in the many mystical fields of experience and pseudo-knowledge, and, we will be searching for this elusive emotion of happiness, tranquility, or, "cosmic consciousness".

Unfortunately, it has become fashionable to abandon the long road of ascetism and contemplation in favour of the short-cut of hallucinatory drugs when attempting to obtain such mystical experiences and emotions of cosmic awareness. If you had any idea about the nature of awareness, the fragility of our reality experiences, as well as the fragility of our physical existence, you would not so lightly poison your body and delude your mind.

Euphoria is not a reality. It is an artificial suppression of our physiological warning systems. Would you ignore a fire-alarm by plugging your ears and pretend that there is no fire, because you feel no heat or smell no smoke?

Fortunately, most of us do not know, precisely, what to believe about the fundamental questions of human existence, and, this is a good and useful starting-point, because it means, that we have the potential to be receptive to a reality-image that makes sense. A strict and carefully elaborated religious reality perception certainly does make sense, and, it has the advantage of a long and prestigious tradition. However, the many, many questions which the sciences pose for the religious believer, together with the numerous findings and observations the sciences have given us to think about, make it difficult to keep ignoring all these sources of thought and evidence, unless we are going through life without any significant exposure to scientific and historical data.

Fanatic religious attitudes will always find a fertile breeding ground in times of stress and ignorance, but, fortunately, the time of really widespread and massive ignorance has disappeared for good; at least, as long as we do not lose the ability to communicate with each other on a truly large scale. Our modern communication methods, the almost continuous and intensive contacts with a large variety of events taking place all over the world, make it increasingly difficult to keep our heads buried, honestly and convincingly, in the religious sand.

However, if we are scientifically oriented, it is about time, that we abandon our ignorant attitudes of scorn for religious attitudes and beliefs. It is about time, that, we, as scientifically schooled people, learn to recognise the many defensive behavioural traits in our own behaviour and opinions, while we hide, so comfortably, in the certainties of our specialised field.

My sympathy and attention go-out, in particular, to you, the average reader; the average individual in our affluent societies, who finds life, in spite of its material comforts, quite confusing and depressing. You, who feel trapped in your massive cities or suburbs; you, who are bombarded with so many confusing directives; buy this, do that, spend all you have, and borrow even more. For what? To keep the merchants and manufacturers happy?

You have your doubts about your leaders, your politicians, your clergy, doctors, and other professionals. You are suspicious, because you feel, that most people want to take advantage of you. Yet, in the back of your mind, you know, that you do the same, because you have to survive, don't you?

In spite of this sea of confusion, suspicions and chaos around us, most of us care well for those who are dependent upon us. Here and there, we have a good friend, whom we would not think of deceiving. We have a few dear and meaningful contacts, but, by and large, we are cynical and mistrustful of anyone in a position of authority and leadership. We have seen too many people abuse their position of power. We have seen too many ruthless struggles for money and power. We have experienced, too many times, the massive inertia of the bureaucracies, as well as the inequities of living in a complex social conglomerate.

Sometimes, we feel somewhat guilty, when we realise, that we contribute to this process of inertia and opportunistic advantage-taking. But we have to survive. Who will care for our relatives, children and dependents, when we are dead? Life is a jungle, and, it was a long time ago, when we gave-up hope that we can really make sense of it all. It was a long time ago, that we lost our youthful enthousiasm for the idealistic belief that we could change our societies for the better, or, that we should trust the stranger in our midst.

We have a few dreams left, but, we know, that it is becoming increasingly difficult to realise them. When we look back upon our lives, we notice, that we have accomplished a few of the cherished goals we formulated when we were young. Yet, what has happened to the promise of happiness that seemed so strongly associated with these goals and objectives? Could it be, that the goals we still have, will also become a disillusion? What is happiness anyway? How can we escape this jungle of people, as well as this jungle of my own contradictory thoughts and aspirations, because I really have no clear idea, who I am; why I behave the way I do; what I believe, or, what I am sure of; why I am subject to so many tendencies or instinctive promptings, which, I know, can cause a lot of harm to me and the people around me. Are there really answers? How do I know, what to believe or whom to trust?

"What are you talking about? It is foolish nonsense to try to think and get answers to all these questions. We have work to do. Where is the money going to come from? How can I pay my bills? And there you are, talking about a taste for thought!".

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Chapter 5

Content

It is not easy to acknowledge that we are "average".
Does average mean "mediocre"?
It takes above average insight to acknowledge, that we are "average".
The strength of society lies in its ordinary, average citizens.
A wide spectrum of skills associated with being average.
The faculty of "common-sense" is the prerogative of the average individual.
The philosophy of common-sense, and the common-sense of every useful philosophy.
A deliberate effort to verbalise common-sense accurately.
Common traits of the philosopher and the artist.
The commercialisation of artistic and philosophic endeavours.
Good art and common-sense are often "somewhat unpleasant".
Why some conclusions of common-sense may not be to our liking.
The erosion of common-sense ideas and attitudes by a prolonged exposure to commercial propaganda.
The need for an ever enlarging cash-income.
Mechanisms of inflation.
You and I, the common, average people will have to pay, in the end, for the fiscal irresponsibilities of our leaders.
Never be ashamed of being average.
What we need to write into the Constitution.
We have to re-discover the value of discipline and self-discipline.
Pre-requisites for the excercise of discipline and self-discipline.
We have to have a measure of confidence; in ourselves, as well as in our social surroundings.
A sense of confidence is always linked to a feeling, that the sense of justice has been satisfied.
Society returns, so easily, to the laws of the jungle.

Ironically, most of us, average people, have some difficulties acknowledgeing that we are average, since we think that average means "mediocre". Besides, we certainly find it difficult to acknowledge, that we are trapped in financial obligations, including our particular way of life and our prejudices. We find it painful to admit, that we are somewhat confused and bitter about the chaotic input from our social environment.

Actually, dear reader, if you are able to see yourself as an average individual, you have an above-average intelligence and insight. Most of us tend to see our neighbour as the typical, average individual, being pushed and cajoled by the pressures around him, but, we find it difficult to acknowledge, that we exist in essentially similar circumstances.

Take heart, however, because it is the average citizen who makes society tick. It is the willingness of ordinary people to work, which makes a socially integrated environment possible, and, any leadership will have to listen to the ordinary people, if it wants to be re-elected to office and maintain a measure of support.

It is the willingness of the average individual to work hard, which determines, whether or not a society is viable, and, the ideas and opinions, attitudes and insights of average citizens, once galvanised into a coherent voice, will determine the direction of social development. The beneficial and competent leaders will come from the average citizenry and make the spirit of this citizenry their guiding force and principle.

Certainly, if the average population is divided, depressed and egocentric in its orientation because of a chronic lack of meaningful leadership, the strength of a society is crumbling rapidly, and, the positive influence of the ordinary people disappears, but, when we look at the behaviour of man in a historical perspective, we see, so often, that it is the collective strength and contribution of the average citizen, which provided the backbone for social renewal, especially, after a period of violent conflicts and devastating internal strife.

Do not feel guilty about being average, but, let us honestly acknowledge our short-comings, as well as our confusion or entrapment. Let us acknowledge, that any individual with a particular skill is dependent upon other people, and, such a specialised individual may, actually, be somewhat below average in the other spheres of human endeavour, because the efforts needed to develop a highly specialised skill will, inevitably, stunt the growth of other skills.

Average means, that we have developed, to a satisfactory level, most of our skills and potentials. None of these skills has been developed to an exceptional level, but, we have not completely neglected any one of these skills either. You, average citizen, you are far more versatile than the specialist, and, do not become blinded by the glamour of the specialist in his particular field. If you take a closer look, you will see, that he has to rely for many functions upon other people; functions, you can perform for yourself.

If we are average people, it is reasonable to expect, that we are also average in our ability to express an opinion, excercise a thought, or formulate a question. Because of our average endowment and development, we look towards the specialists for leadership in almost every field, but, let us not forget, that this leadership may be defective, because of the fact, that the outlook and way of life of the specialist-leader may be so different from our own.

There is one faculty, that is, by and large, the prerogative of the average individual. Just because the average individual is somewhat familiar with a large variety of endeavours, he is able to correlate, better than the specialist, the relevant aspects of many fields. The specialist may know everything about a very small area, but, he is often totally ignorant in many other fields. The practical aspects of this ability to correlate is known as "common-sense", but, unfortunately, the practice of common-sense becomes, often, buried under the sophistry of a specialist jargon, together with a somewhat condescending attitude.

It should be the task of a competent, general philosopher to bolster and fortify the common-sense of the average individual, and, to expose the narrow and, often, erroneous opinions and view-points of the specialist.

You see, philosophy is nothing more than a statement of common-sense, because the philosopher is, just like the average citizen, interested in, and familiar with, a large variety of fields of human endeavour. A competent general philosopher can never be a specialist who is only familiar with a small area. Therefore, the philosopher is an average individual, who is aware of the value of common-sense, and, the only way in which the philosopher differs from the average individual, is the fact, that the philosopher has made a deliberate, and, often, long-lasting effort to bring this faculty of common-sense, together with the common denominators of human existence, into a sharp focus of verbalised awareness.

Of course, the philosopher has to be aware of a large area of human knowledge. He has to spend a lot of time acquiring this knowledge and insight, and, he has to put the facts and facets of reality in their proper perspective, but, the philosopher is fundamentally different from the scientist who buries himself in a small field of expertise.

The good scientist is like a pioneer who is admired and recognised for the quality of his research-efforts, and, such a recognition is important, because it takes time and money to be a scientist. Indeed, life as a scientist will be much more pleasant, if the element of admiration and recognition is translated into a measure of financial support.

The philosopher does not have a chance to find a new piece of scientific evidence, or, to develop a new item of technology. A philosopher is a builder in common-sense, and, therefore, his orientation is essentially similar to that of the average citizen. Certainly, a philosopher should be keenly aware of what is happening to him, as well as the other people in society, and, he should be able to express these awarenesses quite clearly. He is, in a way, just like a good artist, who expresses somewhat more vaguely felt notions and sentiments in a manner that is recognised as valid by the average individual.

Every good artist will eventually be recognised by ordinary people, either in the present, or, at some time in the future. He will be recognised because of the fact, that he has expressed something clearly, which is, eventually, acknowledged as true and genuine by the audience. The philosopher does the same thing, but, in stead of expressing himself in a piece of music, a painting, a song or a dance, he expresses himself in a discussion, an essay, or some other form of writing about the way we feel and inter-act with the realities around and within us.

Many poets, song-writers, novelists and other artists function as a "folk-philosopher", in the sense, that they express what people feel. Unfortunately, the expression in the field of folk-art and song-writing, as well as the writing of prose, becomes, so easily, dominated by a yearning for escapist dreams and desires, fueled by the need to create a commercial success. This leads to an important shift in accent of the artistic expression, because, rather than portraying, accurately, a genuine artistic perception, the main purpose becomes to feed the people, what they want to hear or see.

Unfortunately, people are far more willing to pay for what they like to hear and see, than for what they need to hear and see. As a result, every artist, who has to live off his craft, will be forced to produce something that will sell. For these reasons, the folk-wisdom of our artists is watered-down to an easily palatable and commercially saleable product, which is, so often, a fraud and a deception, and not a true artistic achievement.

The reason, why art, including the art of clearly expressed common-sense, is unpalatable for many people, is related to the fact, that true art and common-sense often deal with somewhat unpleasant realities, and, we all are reluctant to acknowledge or spend time on something that is somewhat unpleasant.

Commercial interests have been telling us, for decades, to give-in to all our desires, immediately; to gratify our sensual pleasures and live for the day, and, it is, therefore, difficult to believe, that common-sense also includes a number of opinions and attitudes that are contrary to the dictates of commercial interests, or the utterances of their advertising wizards.

For decades, now, our basic common-sense has been eroded by the commercial needs of merchants and manufacturers. In order to keep selling their merchandise, we had to be persuaded, constantly, to buy their products; whether we wanted them or not; whether we needed them or not, we had to buy them. These merchants have been manipulating and stimulating our desires to buy, whatever they brought to the market.

Our attitudes of common-sense have slowly been transformed from taking a measure of satisfaction in a sensible life-style and the appreciation of independence and achievement, to an indiscriminate accumulation of material goods; most of it junk.

Our pride in doing good work has been eroded by the constant stimulation to possess everything, now, without putting any real effort into it. Quality of workmanship and durability of goods have been abandoned in favour of a rush-rush approach and a deliberately built-in obsolescence. We need an ever larger cash-income to satisfy our artificially stimulated wants, and, we completely neglect to ask ourselves, where that ever larger cash-flow is going to come from.

Does anyone ask himself, whether or not he or she deserves to be paid more for products, services or labour? Does anyone ask himself, what it means to receive ever larger sums of money for the same product or the same type of work?

We have allowed our common-sense to be dulled and silenced by the false and erroneous promises of our political leaders. Our politicians and their economic advisors are foremost to blame for encouraging an indiscriminate spending spree, because it suits their objectives. It allows them to fulfill their election promises, and, it makes it possible for them to sooth the frustrations of ever rising expectations amongst the people.

You and I know, that we have to balance our budgets, at some time in the near future. We can not keep spending more than we earn, but our political leaders seem to be oblivious to this simple truth. By pumping more and more money into circulation, and, by borrowing heavily on the money-markets, they are responsible for the phenomenon of inflation and a crushing public debt. In addition, they rob the people of the true meaning of "value for money", and, as a result, our short-sighted political leaders erode, completely, any incentive to save some money for a "rainy day".

Our political leaders have perverted the common-sense of the people by their irresponsible election promises, their irresponsible fiscal policies, and, they contribute, greatly, to the chaos and decline of society. Our leaders do not provide leadership anymore. Many of them are lured into public life by the promise of lucrative contacts and a position of prominence and influence from which they hope to profit; perhaps, not so much during their tenure of public office, but, certainly, soon thereafter.

Yet, you and I, the common people of the nation, we will eventually have to pay for the mismanagement of our leaders. After a few years in office, they will disappear from the scene, probably, with their personal financial safety ensured, but we, the public, we are left with the debts, as well as the constant erosion of the value of our earnings.

Never be ashamed people, for being average, because, I tell you, we have to excercise a lot more common-sense to restrain our leaders. It is time, that, we, collectively, demand from our elected representatives to work with balanced budgets; to conduct fair and open government, make responsible election promises, and, we have the obligation to resist the facile temptation to look only at the specific benefits we, as individuals or as a group, are being promised by political candidates.

We should write into the Constitution, the imperative of a balanced form of government spending, and, we should write into the Constitution, also, the requirements for a complete freedom of information; the right to scrutinise each and every public function, as well as the right to criticise and point towards wasteful practices. We should curb the powers of the commercial interests and take the mass-media away from them. We should, once more, educate ourselves, and our childeren, in the art of common-sense.

But, we also have to learn to be honest with ourselves, and, we should not only blame other people for the chaos we are in. We should acknowledge, honestly, that we have participated in this all-out grab for money. We should recognise, that, we, too, have been demanding, and receiving, more money without any increase in quality or productivity, or, without making any other contribution to the economic process.

We should acknowledge, that an ever increasing need for cash is due to the fact, that we have allowed ourselves to go into debt, and, that we have allowed, or, even, encouraged our political leaders to go into debt on our behalf. We have spent far more than we earned, individually, but, especially, collectively, and, now, the frantic rush is on to cover our debts.

We have to learn, once again, to see the value of discipline and self-discipline. What is discipline? The principle of discipline is the decision to deny ourselves an immediate gratification or fulfilment of a desire, in exchange for a goal or achievement that lies somewhat further into the future. If we have a small sum of money, now, with which we could buy something we like, we may decide to save this sum of money and deny ourselves the pleasure of buying something, now. We save it, until we have a larger sum of money at our disposal. Then, we could buy something with a more lasting value.

This is the principle of discipline. If we impose discipline upon ourselves, it is a form of self-discipline, and, these attitudes are beneficial to maintain our health, to achieve our goals, and, to live-up to our conscience and ethical obligations. For example, we may decide to give-up the use of drugs, alcohol or tobacco, because we realise, that, in the long run, we will be better of. We will be healthier, and, besides, we will be able to save more money.

The initial decision and the will-power necessary to stick to our decision to give-up a habit, requires a considerable degree of energy, as well as an attitude of self-discipline. We are willing, and able, to endure a discomfort, now, in exchange for an improvement in our situation, later.

Similarly, we may decide to forego a lucrative form of employment, now, in order to finish our studies, or, to go through a long apprenticeship for the sake of reaching a profession or a level of perfection we really care about. This takes self-discipline. Even in a moral sense, we are continuously confronted with a choice, that is, in essence, an excercise in discipline.

We all have experienced the fact, that we could acquire an immediate gain by a slightly dishonest action, but, most of us will see, that it is beneficial to us, as well as to the relationships with our fellow human beings, if we resist the temptation to acquire a gain in this manner.

However, let us look at the conditions and expectations that are necessary in order for the excercise of discipline to be viable. What circumstances make the excercise of discipline possible and meaningful? Many of us do not quite know, when, or why, the sense of discipline is being eroded. Most of us have only a vague feeling, that it sometimes does not make any sense to be frugal, disciplined or honest in our dealings with other people, or, to be restrained in our desires for material wealth and immediate gratifications. Even the prospects of a long period of health and a sober mind are, sometimes, insufficient to make us give-up the use or abuse of drugs, liquor, as well as other habits that are detrimental to our health.

If we think about it for a moment, it becomes clear, that an attitude of discipline only makes sense, if we are confident, that we will reap a benefit in the more distant future. Certainly, we know, that we have no guarantees, but, we have to have a reasonable level of confidence, that our plans for the future have a good chance to come true, and, that they are not likely to be swept-away, or made impossible, by disastrous social and environmental changes.

Therefore, if we realise, that the value of our money, wages and savings are eroded by inflation, from year to year, what is the sense of saving, and, what is the meaning of restraining our desire to spend everything now? If we believe, that society is rotten to the core and falling-apart, and, if we experience, that we are doomed to live in a ghetto of injustice, crime and poverty, what is the sense of a condition of good health and a long life? If we see, that most people with money have acquired their property and status by somewhat dishonest means, what is the sense of being honest ourselves? If we see, that the most ruthless and powerful elements in society are surviving and thriving, what is the sense of being compassionate and help our fellow human beings?

It becomes clear, therefore, that the attitudes of discipline and self-discipline are inextricably inter-woven with a sense of confidence and justice. If we do not have any confidence in our social surroundings, and, if we do not believe, anymore, that honesty and a sense of fair-play will be rewarded, then, there is nothing to stop us from adopting an attitude of immediate gratification and ruthless opportunism. "Let us grab whatever we can and enjoy it, while it lasts".

If we do not believe in a future, there will be nothing to stimulate us into an effort to achieve long-term goals, and, our whole life will become one ceaseless effort to fulfill immediate desires and sensual instincts. We all know, that such attitudes do not contribute to social well-being, but, we feel helpless and trapped. How can we change society, if we see everyone around us behaving in the same manner?

We rarely realise, that our neighbour may be asking himself the same questions, and, we rarely realise, that we may fortify our neighbour into a similar, negative and egocentric attitude, if he sees us behaving in such a cynical manner.

Once confidence has been lost, social cohesion disappears, and, it is only a web of external trappings, such as the need to earn money, which maintains a semblance of social cohesion, while, in reality, the society has already died, and the individual members have reverted to an attitude of ruthless competitive strife. Then, the laws of the jungle prevail, where the clever and powerful survive, at least, for a while, and, the other members are exploited and impoverished, while they have been deprived of any hope of improvement in the near future.

.......

Chapter 6

Content

Soothing frustrations by satisfying rising expectations.
We all have an enormous stake in maintaining the economic momentum.
At some time in the future, this momentum will come to an end.
Nobody wants us to save, because political leaders and business people alike want us to spend everything we earn, in order to maintain "consumer demand".
Yet, is it wise, and, is it to our benefit, to give-in to the temptations of consumerist behaviour?
The voice of sober realism will, eventually, come to the fore and be heard.
The relationships between leaders and their electorates.
The many strings tied to political candidates in affluent, Capitalist societies.
Distortions in the mechanisms of democratic representation.
The threat of governmental paralysis.
The obligation of the elected leader to lead and inspire his electorate.
The importance of exemplary behaviour by leaders and other public figures.
When a leadership fails to tackle the problems of inefficiency, frustration, stagnation and corruption.
We will have to outline for our leaders the limits of what they can promise.
Constitutional Guidelines are necessary for all social and individual aspects of life.
Regulating the relationships of our society with other nations through stringent Constitutional Guidelines.
The aspects of "socio-centric" behaviour.
Ethics re-defined.
We, average citizens, know, how to live within the constraints of lawful behaviour; often, more so than our leaders.
Good-will disappears, so easily, into a feeling of helplessness.
We, average citizens, are responsible for designing Constitutional Guidelines with a world-wide relevance, and we will have to teach our future leaders who will come from us, average people.

By and large, dissent and despair have been kept within bounds in our modern, affluent societies, because it has been possible to sooth the feelings of depression and entrapment with a constantly rising level of material acquisition. Almost everyone has given-in to the temptation to strive for ever-rising levels of affluence and consumption, and, we find ourselves, now, clinging desperately to our sources of income, while anxiously watching the balance between the monies coming in and going out.

In a way, we have become "cemented together" by the common bonds of our consumerist needs, and, the one over-riding interest we all share, is the need to maintain this precious cash-flow. Never mind, whether the money is gradually losing its value, as long as we can increase our prices, wages or fees, we will be allright. We all have developed an enormous existential interest in the maintenance of this economic cauldrum, and, our political leaders preach, in unison, the wisdom of ever-inceasing economic expansion.

Yet, if we think for a moment, and, if we look back upon this crazy rat-race of modern, affluent existence; if we can distantiate ourselves, just long enough to take a good look at this crushing economic momentum, we should be able to see, that the whole system has to come to a halt, at some time in the future. This awareness is, gradually, getting stronger, and, it contributes to a feeling of depression, aggravating, indirectly, the pressures towards adopting egocentric attitudes.

While we are beginning to be dimly aware of the impossibility to continue, indefinitely, the social and economic momentum of affluence, we do not quite know, how to avoid a collapse. We are reluctant to acknowledge, how much we have come to depend upon this economic momentum, and, how disastrous a short-fall in cash-flow would be.

Those, who have borrowed to the hilt, profit from inflation, at least, to some extent, because they are paying their loans back with a devalued currency. Nevertheless, the borrower is burdened with the obligation to repay his loans, as well as the interest-charges on the outstanding capital.

Our governments are also heavily in debt, and, they, too, benefit from inflation. Actually, they have a much easier time than the consumer who has gone over his head into debt. A government can always borrow or print more money, and, its creditors have only limited powers to demand a fair and real return on their monies. In short, the practice of saving money and lending it to other people or governments, is, often, not very rewarding, and, the only reason, why governments have to raise their interest-rates from time to time, is related to the fact, that the money-lenders are getting reluctant to invest.

Look at our governments, the financial institutions, as well as the commercial enterprises; nobody wants us to save. They do not want us to discipline ourselves. They want us to spend everything we earn, and, preferably, they want us to commit ourselves to a huge loan or mortgage. Then, we will be enslaved to the system for the rest of our lives, and, we become will-less slaves to this economic momentum.

But, who has sat-down and asked himself, where it all leads to? Are we not behaving like fools, engorging ourselves, as much as we can, while we are wasting, thoughtlessly, our natural terrestial heritage? Are we not undermining our health, physically as well as mentally, by subscribing to such a slovenly attitude of consumerism and indebtedness?

These trends have to stop, and, they are going to stop, because a majority of the peoples on earth are watching, how the affluent nations are wasting the terrestial resources and polluting the earth's eco-systems. The question is; are they going to take-over our wasteful habits, leaving us forgotten and impoverished, regretting our foolish behaviour of the past, or, will they be able to institute a more sensible life-style, after they have wrested the powers of economic expansion and military dominance from the affluent nations? Is it possible for the citizens of affluent societies to re-discover the virtues of self-discipline and common-sense, before it is too late; before the collapse is upon us?

Let us not despair, people, because, throughout history, we see, that the forces of change, resurgence and sensible leadership have sprung forth from the common people. Time and again, a sober voice will come to the fore to put matters into a reasonable perspective, and, if the people are ready for it, such a voice will be heard.

But, the voice of common-sense will have to become clear and powerful. Enough people will have to realise the fallacy of the way we are going, before this voice will become effective. A sufficient number of ordinary citizens will have to regain confidence in a common-sense approach, before the elected leadership will listen to such a voice, or be replaced by another leadership that will be heeding the voice of common-sense. A large enough number of us have to re-discover the virtues of self-discipline, before we can hope to prolong the life-expectancy of our consumerist societies.

"But", you will object, "in our Western democracies, the leadership is elected by the people, and, one of the major problems seems to be the fact, that the leadership has to listen to so many divergent voices and interests of the population. Such an elected leadership is seldom able to implement unpopular restraint programs, because it will then lose the next election. Besides, to become an elected representative or candidate for public office requires an expensive election campaign, and, such elected representatives become, not only, captive to the many promises they have made in order to get elected, but, they have also become tied to the many people and organisations who have supported them. It is not surprising, therefore, that almost all politicians are caught in a series of obligations, where they have to satisfy the expectations of their constituents and party-workers, as well as those influential power-brokers who have supported them financially or with a "block vote".

These factors cause, indeed, a distortion in the process of democratic elections in affluent, Capitalist societies, and, we see, here, clearly, how important the responsibilities are of common-sense, together with a sensible, collective, popular voice. If we, as a people within a nation or society have reverted to egocentric concerns, and, if we have lost trust in our society as a whole, we tend to vote for those leadership candidates who promise us the most.

In doing so, we contribute, directly, to a further fragmentation of society, because we will elect to our Parliaments or Houses of Representatives, a group of people, whose primary allegiance is to their own region, or, to the people, who helped them get elected to a position of power and influence. As a result, we see an endless round of bickering, a serious and stifling power-struggle within the governing institutions, as well as a lethal stagnation of the social metabolism.

On the other hand, we can also argue, that a leader has the responsibility to lead and persuade the people who have elected him. It is his responsibility to take care of the interests of the nation as a whole. A leader has the responsibility to show people the need for common-sense and restraint, as well as the need for a healthy and viable attitude towards spending and consuming, including the need to curb the desire for immediate gratifications.

But, how can we expect a political leader to do this, if we do not want to hear these common-sense wisdoms during an election campaign? If a politician has been elected on a rather short-sighted promise of immediate and localised benefits, we can be sure, that this is the way he is going to behave, when elected to a position of power.

Here, we see the fundamental difference between the candidate who tries to bribe his way to a position of power with facile promises and platitudes, and, the responsible, concerned and far-sighted leader, who dares to tell the people that they can not have everything they want; who dares to lead them into attitudes of greater responsibility and concern.

This means, that we, the people, are, indeed, responsible for the leaders we elect. Nevertheless, it is the responsibility of every leadership, regardless, what it has promised to the people, to ensure long-term viability for the society as a whole.

If people do not see uplifting examples of good leadership, the sense of social togetherness and trust is eroded even more, and, nothing will sour the atmosphere of social cooperation more than blatant examples of corruption, nepotism and injustice from those, who occupy a position of power in high public office.

If the leadership allows its structure and bureaucratic channels to become stagnant, inefficient, or, even, corrupt, how can you expect the people to remain confident, trusting and full of good-will? If the leadership makes facile and irrealistic promises, how can you expect the people to believe them, again and again? If a leadership fails to address problems efficiently and clearly, how can you expect the people to remain confident, that these problems will be solved? A leadership that allows an increase in frustration, injustice and disparity, is, in essence, corrupt.

After all, people have to be led. The people choose their leaders, primarily, to be guided, educated, inspired and up-lifted by them. The democratic system is designed to remove from office, by peaceful means, a leadership that has lost the confidence of the people, as well as its ability to lead, but the fact, that there is an input from the people into the election of its leadership, does not mean, that we can ignore the disastrous consequences of short-sighted manipulations of popular sentiments.

It is wrong to allow an irresponsible political promise to be made. It is irresponsible for any government to place steadily increasing burdens of debt or environmental pollution on the unborn generations of the future. We, the average, common-sense people in society; we, who do the work and elect our leaders, we will have to tell our leaders, what the limits are of what they can promise or plan, and, we will have to curb the influence of commercial interests and their control over the mass-media.

The overall outlines of the management of a society, its rate of economic expansion, fiscal policies, its structure and function, including those of the leadership and the bureaucracies, all these parameters have to be laid-down in a Constitutional Framework. The political Parties and their candicates may, then, present to the public differing degrees of emphasis on one aspect or another during an election campaign, but, the overall direction of society, (such as the size of the bureaucracy or the public debt, the degree of collective or national ownership of resources, land and industries, as well as the divergence between the rich and the poor) all these factors should be safeguarded and regulated by Constitutional Guidelines, which have been forged through an extensive public debate and can only be changed, slowly, and, with the full participation of all members through the mechanisms of a referendum.

We have to safeguard society, and ourselves, against the havoc of irresponsible leadership, and, we can do this by enshrining the basic structure of fiscal and economic restraints within a Constitutional Framework. But, we should go one step further. After we have regulated the options of our leadership in matters of national or public ownership of land, resources and industries, fiscal policy, economic expansion and the level of private and collective consumption, we should also regulate, with Constitutional Guidelines, the behaviour of our society in relation to other nations.

In a civilised society, individual members learn to develop their interests and ambitions within a framework that respects, also, the needs and rights of others, as well as the common good of society. This is the system of ethical guidelines which keeps a society together and viable, and it emphasises the need for a curb on egocentric attitudes and desires. However, the system of social guidelines seems to stop, so often, at the borders of its own national entity. Ethical concepts and attitudes, which we consider to be the epitomy of virtue and exemplary behaviour, and, which secure the survival and viability of our social environment, have a tendency to consider alien interests as "evil", or foreign concerns as "treacherous".

We rarely realise, how strongly "socio-centric" or nationalistic a system of ethical concerns really is, and, it is time, that we learn to see the disparities between the behaviour of a socially responsible individual, and the egocentric or socio-centric behaviour of our society as a whole.

The leadership of such a socio-centric society considers itself, invariably, as the epitomy of the common good. It believes, that the highest moral and ethical standards of the nation are represented by the national interests of this society, and, its leaders become obsessed with the security, honour and prestige of "their nation". The leaders, often, deal effectively with the complex and difficult problems of the many divergent peoples within their society. Yet, from an international or global point of view, we may see these socio-centric activities of a community and its leadership as a narrow, egocentric orientation of the society as a whole.

Since there is, as yet, no clear-cut, effective, supra-national body of government with regulatory and executive powers, the contacts between societies or nations resemble, once again, the primitive, competitive struggle for survival between living organisms.

We have sketched these developments before, but, it is important to emphasise, once again, the interesting observation, that the ethical considerations of a society, regulating and organising the inter-individual relationships of its members, are the only guidelines that play a significant role. The questions of good and evil translate, then, into a search for what is good or bad for the society as a whole, and, this attitude is seen as narrow, egocentric or socio-centric, when viewed from a much larger perspective.

Every social leadership is pre-occupied with the tasks and problems of keeping society together, and, the concepts of national or ethnic sovereignty re-enforce a blind faith in the justification of an attitude that concerns itself, in essence, exclusively with the well-being of its own structure.

It is the average citizen, used to live with a compromise between egocentric desires and the needs of other people, who is able to see, much more clearly than his leaders, the parallels between his own position as a member of society, and the nation, (his society), as a member of a much larger community of nations.

I grant you, that, not many average citizens are, as yet, capable of expressing this concept clearly, and, it remains, often, a vague and poorly articulated feeling, but, most of us will recognise, that, on occasion, the thought has crossed our minds, how incongruous it is to see our nation fighting exclusively for its own interests in a situation of conflict with its neighbours, while this same society and its leadership preaches to us, ordinary citizens, about refraining from bickering and fighting amongst ourselves.

Most of us are easily persuaded by our leaders to think, only, in terms of a nationalistic code of conduct, in particular, when there is an external threat to our society. Most of us do not see any flaw in the logic, that we are taught to love our neighbour, but, that it is quite all-right to hate a neighbouring country. We are taught to share our possessions, at least, to some extent, amongst the members of our own society, but, as a nation, we guard jealously our sovereignty over resources and territories.

We are taught to be generous and kind towards the poor in our own nations, and, we are admonished to concern ourselves with the plight of the poorer nations in the world. We satisfy the demands of our conscience and religious beliefs by an act of charity and a quick donation. Yet, we see it as an unquestioned sovereign right to bar the import of inexpensive products, manufactured, in those developing countries, by people who are willing to work had and live frugally.

We believe, that we have a right to "defend" ourselves to such competition, because these hard-working people put a strain on our own industries, and, they pose a threat, as well as a challenge, to our own unwillingness to work harder for less pay.

We feel compassion with the poor and the enslaved of foreign countries, but, when refugees want to settle in our own society, we become immediately defensive, because we are afraid, that our own standards of living may drop, or, that we may have to compete with people who are willing to work harder for less money.

Most of us are so eager to profess compassion with the poor and the suffering, but, as soon as we are being asked to make some sort of a real sacrifice, our egocentric anxieties win-out from our conscience.

Slowly, we are recognising the need to extend the area of our concerns and compassion far beyond the borders of our own social environment, our own culture or nation, but, the prospect for a real and permanent change in our living conditions makes us nervous and defensive, and, we retreat, then, quickly into a more egocentric attitude and a smaller sphere of concern.

Our leaders are particularly prone to identify themselves, exclusively, with the common good of the society under their jurisdiction, and, they fail to recognise, so often, that their highest ethical ideals, in which they believe so strongly, are a detriment to inter-national cooperation and inter-cultural understanding.

While leaders have a clear idea about the need for justice and essential equality within their own societies, in the inter-actions with other countries they represent, primarily, the narrow, egocentric interests of their own nation.

However, leaders are not the only people to blame, because we have contributed to the attitudes that justify national concerns and interests as being the equivalent of the highest moral and ethical principles. Here, we are entering the fallacies of the attitudes of patriotism to which we hope to devote an entire essay.

The tendency to slip, unthinkingly, into an attitude of patriotism is the reason, why we have a duty to inform ourselves about the rest of the world, and, to think about the many contradictions and discrepancies we can observe in our ideas about what is good and what is bad. We owe it to ourselves, as well as the other members of mankind, to think about the reasons, why we are, so often, in conflict with each other, and, what the requirements are for a way of life, that will minimise the development of disparity and injustice.

After all, we are, sooner or later, choosing one of us, average citizens, as the new leader of our societies, and, we have a reponsibility to make sure, that the leaders we choose will not lead us astray; that they will not blind us with facile promises and will not ruin society by irresponsible acts of fiscal or environmental mismanagement.

We owe it to ourselves to make sure, that our future leaders are well-educated and well-balanced human beings, who have learned, that the average citizens of the world want to live in harmony; not only, with their immediate neighbours in their own society, but, also, with all societies and countries of the world.

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Chapter 7

Content

The responsibilities of average citizens all over the world.
We have to think for ourselves.
Living conditions will become more difficult in the future.
It is so easy to sit-back in our comfortable niche.
It is unfortunate, that we often shy-away from reflective thoughts.
Reflective thought and rational behaviour easily lose-out to more primitive, instinctive patterns of behaviour.
We still like to use the solution of violent confrontation to ease severe tensions.
The possibilities of rational, thoughtful behaviour.
We have to be patient and helpful, when trying to nurture the qualities of rational and thoughtful behaviour.
A series of exhortations.
Coping with a variety of behavioural adaptations.
We tend to use the tools that have helped us in the past
A review of the relationships between rational and emotional behaviour.
The varying scope of our vision, and the changing patterns of details.
The advantage of "re-structuring" many details via a process of deductive reasoning.
The function of "natural laws".
Natural laws are generalising principles with which we construct a vast and coherent framework of reality perceptions.
Confusion caused by relying too much on "expert opinion".
The arbitrary focus of importance caused by specialisation.
Every field of knowledge has a central core of agreed-upon facts, surrounded by a zone of hypotheses, and a sea of the unknown.
Forging conceptual links between the many fields of scientific knowledge requires an intimate mastery of many fields, but, it has to be accomplished, by necessity, without numerous known details.
Here, we have the essential task for the general philosopher.

We, average citizens of the world, we have to make it our primary responsibility to choose a beneficial and competent leadership for our societies, and, we have to make sure, that these leaders will benefit us all, regardless in which society we happen to live. We have to make sure, that justice is maintained and improved; that inequities are removed; that our needs and drives are not exploited. We have to make sure, that our leaders are well-educated and will respond to Constitutional Guidelines.

It is our responsibility to make sure, that the functions and decisions of the leadership are carried-out openly, and, that, we, the people, are honestly and completely informed about everything that is going-on. We have the means, now, to accomplish these objectives, and, it is possible to curb the tendency to take an unfair advantage, or, to become inefficient and corrupt. This can be accomplished by a variety of controls and monitoring processes, which are now available.

We have to think, people, and, we have to learn to think for ourselves to a far greater extent than was necessary in the past. We can not afford to continue with our endless conflicts, wars and other acts of devastation, because we will imperil the existence of us all, if we do. We have to develop a taste for thought, because we have to shape, far more deliberately and consciously than in the past, the conditions and circumstances of future human existence.

Whether we like it or not, future generations will have to cope with ever more serious threats, such as significant and near-permanent pollution problems, scarcities and population pressures, and, the time has gone, forever, that we can take the presence of fresh air, fresh water and an abundance of nature, for granted. We will have to make deliberate and collective efforts to preserve our natural heritage, as well as our individual and collective possibilities of existence, and, in order to accomplish this, we have to know, what we are doing, and, where we want to go.

A taste for thought is not, any longer, the luxury of an affluent and leisurely life-style, but, it has become an indispensible tool in the struggle for survival.

Unfortunately, such a broad perspective and wide-ranging conclusion is still an esoteric and irrelevant line of thought for most of us, because the need to come to such an apparently radical point of view, is not yet apparent. Even the recognition of the problem, let alone, the solution, will be difficult, or, even, impossible at the present time, since we are so used to being motivated and aroused, exclusively, by concerns that affect our immediate well-being.

It is so easy to sit-back in a comfortable niche and close our eyes and ears for the long-term implications or consequences of a particular trend. We have enough immediate problems to occupy ourselves, and, any attempt to view the happenings of the world in a global perspective, becomes an excercise in confusion, which we abandon as quickly as possible.

Yes, it is unfortunate, that a tendency to be reflective and take stock of our conditions and circumstances on a large scale, is, so often, suppressed as useless and irrelevant. It is unfortunate, that we shy-away from an excercise in reflective thinking, because we abhor the uncomfortable feeling of uncertainty that is generated by such activities.

Certainly, it is true, that, to reflect, question or scrutinise our certainties, will lead, at least, initially, to a heightened sense of confusion, and, because we are unable to see beyond this initial phase of confusion, we quickly abandon this treacherous activity of reflection.

Only, if we have the intuitive feeling, that such a process of re-thinking may, eventually, lead to the solution of important and relevant problems, only, then, are we willing to give it a try, but, even then, we tend to rely on the thought processes of someone else, rather than on our own. We search, then, for solutions by examining the ideas of one leader after another, and, we choose, eventually, an individual, who is able to inspire the most confidence, and, whose thoughts appear to give us the best chances of practical results for the foreseeable future.

If such leadership is not available, the processes of reflective thought and scrutiny become much more painful and arouse acute anxieties. We are not sure, then, whether or not there are solutions at the end of a tunnel of reflective thinking, and, we have a tendency to seek salvation in simple and rigid dogmas that make a clear distinction between right and wrong; between good and evil; between us and our enemies. Then, we replace a reasoned analysis and realistic approach with an undifferentiated but tenacious attitude of "hope".

Reflective thought, rational attitudes, as well as the art of behavioural fine-tuning have then lost-out, once again, to the much stronger, but, also, much more primitive impulse of forcing a solution with the polarising choice between good and evil. The battle-lines are then drawn, once again, and we pray for help to our God, who is, undoubtedly, on our side.

If we have been fortunate to experience, early in life, clearly, the value of rational and reflective behaviour, we may, eventually, become confident enough to apply this method to most of our personal crises, and, we will continue to reap the benefits of such an attitude of understanding and comprehension for the rest of our lives. Once we settle into a mode of behaviour that relies heavily on emotions, we will never be able to appreciate, fully, the possibilities of rational thought.

Reflective thought has to be rational and broad in scope, as well as honest in its intentions. Unless we are willing to acknowledge in ourselves the universally shared tendencies towards egocentric behaviour and anxiety-provoking concerns, we will not be able to recognise, fully, the multitude of factors at play in the people around us.

In our contacts with people who shy-away from rational or reflective behaviour, we have to learn to see, why, they, or, we, ourselves, are often frightened, or bored, by the apparently irrelevant considerations which broadly relective thoughts always bring to the fore. We should resist the temptation to look-down upon such an emotional reaction of aversion for reflective thought, because we would only re-enforce a primitive feeling, that such intellectual capabilities are threatening the person, who is less familiar with them.

Let us not forget, that, emotionally reacting people feel, often quite accurately, that, those of us, who have learned to use the tools of rational analysis, use these tools to fortify our own position and harm those around us. In stead of adopting a somewhat elitist and slightly condescending attitude towards those who are incapable of reflective thought, we should try to encourage these abilities, gradually and patiently; by helping people to understand themselves. Then, we may become persuasive educators, making others see the value of rational thought and a reflective perspective, but, the moment we give-in to the temptation to use our powers as a weapon, we will lose the gains we have made during our laborious and patient efforts to help others understand the nature of their own experiences.

Let us acknowledge the reasons, why people are reluctant to abandon their certainties, because these certainties are the scaffolds and systems of reference that determine their sphere of reality. Without these certainties, they would lose the ability to cope with problems, all-together. Their confusion and anxiety would increase sharply, and, they may even lose their sanity.

Let us not destroy certainty without offering people a clear alternative and a useful perspective. No-one abandons the solid ground under one's feet, unless one has the confidence that it is possible to swim safely to the shore. No-one will be willing to let-go of one's reality perceptions, uless one has seen, and recognised, a vista, that is clearly more advantageous. If we fail to persuade someone to see reality as we see it, let us refrain from concluding, that the other person is ignorant. Perhaps, we are failing in our efforts to get our vision of reality across, and, let us acknowledge the possibility, that the vistas our friend has seen could be more useful than the one we are so anxious to bring.

If we really have a worthwhile contribution to make to the reality perceptions of other people, they will, eventually, listen and recognise our efforts. If we really want to persuade the people around us to see the value of a particular vision, let us then, constantly, scrutinise the quality, honesty and precision of this vision, and, let us not get impatient or frustrated, if our efforts do not seem to generate any response.

After all, we all think to some extent, even, if we are not aware of the fact, that we use our faculties of thought. Some of us are highly skilled and confident in the use of our rational faculties, and, we tend to use this process of analytical deductions and synthetic reasoning, largely, for our own use, as we have pointed-out on so many occasions. Others rely much more on an intuitive process of decision-making, where the ability to visualise and verbalise the logical sequences in a process of deductive reasoning, are short-circuited by a quick, subconscious mechanism of intuition. Again others rely, predominantly, on emotional behaviour-patterns, depending on the development of their personality and the mode of behaviour that has paid-off in the past.

We can safely state, that, none of us behaves only rationally or emotionally, whenever we are trying to cope with the circumstances in which we find ourselves. On various occasions, we have put forward the idea, that, emotional behaviour-patterns are based on innate, instinctive, biologically inherited instructions. We recognise, that, in the human being, these innate patterns are remarkably modified and influenced by culturally transmitted guidance-patterns. Emotional behaviour is, therefore, a nearly inextricable intertwining of cultural and biological patterns of behaviour, and, none of our emotions are entirely void of some degree of rational modification.

In the behaviour of rationality, we see an activity that seems to be specific for the human being. It can be characterised as a careful balancing act, where the many contrasting sense impressions are consciously evaluated, and, the emotional input is deliberately or consciously curtailed. We say, then, that our behaviour takes place in a vaguely defined zone of "emotional neutrality", realising, that a complete absence of emotional stimuli, or input, is virtually impossible.

Yet, the technique of finely tuning a behavioural response in a more or less emotionally neutral zone or attitude, lies at the root of man's ability to grasp reality in an enormously complex but coherent structure of thought, as we see exemplified in the many branches of modern science.

The scientific reality picture is based, primarly, on a careful cultivation of the ability to observe and correlate phenomena in an emotionally neutral framework of consciously formulated concepts. This framework has become so vast, that it is impossible for anyone particular individual to grasp this scientific reality picture in its totatility, together with all its details.

In order to grasp a small fragment of this scientific reality-image in all its details, an individual has to devote many years of study, and, if one wants to make a further contribution to a specialised field of knowledge, one will have to limit the focus of one's interests even further. In order to master the tools that make it possible to unlock another small fragment of scientific knowledge, one has to sub-specialise to a remarkable extent, and, often, one has to design a series of intricate test-situations or experiments, before one is able to obtain a stream of data that may lead to a refined insight or technical capability within this particular field.

If we look at the problems associated with an attempt to grasp scientific reality-perception in their totality, we see, that it is necessary to develop a technique that allows a grasp of reality in a condensed and highly abstracted form. In contrast with the scientists who devote a remarkable amount of time and effort to refine a small detail of scientific reality, (and uncover aspects that were hitherto unknown), the individual who wants to broaden his scope of vision beyond what can be grasped by one scientist, has to devise a technique, where one can forget the many details that are available within a specific field, without losing the essence of the subject-matter.

Occasionally, such an individual may be successful in his attempts to distill from a large variety of scientific reality perceptions, a common principle that grasps this reality in its essential outlines. If such a generalising principle is correct, it will allow many details to be re-constructed, largely, by a process of deductive reasoning.

Here, you see the advantage of such a generalising principle. Where we had to make a conscious effort to create in our minds a complex scientific reality, we can, now, forget most of the details, beause we understand and grasp the overall principles lying behind this image of reality, and, we can re-construct many of the details through logical reasoning, with the help of overall, generalising principles. Such a technique of deductive reasoning and re-constructing details relieves us from a large amount of "memorising".

Initially, man had to build, slowly, a reality-picture of the sun, the moon, the earth, the tides and the stars, together with their different motions, but, eventually, the innumerable and apparently independent observations could be grasped into a coherent system of thought, where the principles of the earth's rotation around its axis, together with the gravitational laws of attraction between celestial bodies, simplified the effort of understanding to an astonishing degree.

Any "natural law" is an attempt to simplify our reality perceptions with the help of a generalising or organising principle, and, if we think about it for a while, we realise, how essential the use of such a generalising principle really is for the scope of our understanding. Therefore, if we want to broaden the scope of our understanding, we have no choice, but to search for valid generalising principles. We lose, temporarily, sight of many details that are available, yet, we may retrieve a majority of these details, later, if we want to, by applying these generalising principles and reconstructing the reality via a process of deductive reasoning or logical thinking.

Many of us may not be consciously aware of these mechanisms, but, anyone, who asks himself, how we know and how we understand a particular aspect of reality, will see, that we make use of generalising principles in the process of understanding, even, if we do this intuitively.

To recapitulate the main thesis of the last few pages; it is unavoidable that we have to relinquish some details in any field of knowledge, whenever we enlarge our scope of vision. When we look at a landscape, we know, that we can increase our field of vision by walking backwards, or, by going to a mountain-top, but, we also know, that we see increasingly less details. Certainly, this is all very obvious, but, let us acknowledge, then, that exactly the same principles play a role, whenever we want to encompass a field of scientific knowledge that stretches over more than one specialty.

It will be impossible to know as many of the details as the specialist is aware of, but, if we are able to find a useful and valid generalising principle, we do not have to abandon our grasp over the essential mechanisms that lie behind this specialised field of knowledge.

It is important to emphasise this point, because so many of us shrink back in awe for a specialist in his or her particular field of knowledge. We abandon, completely, any attempt to grasp the essentials for ourselves, and, we rely, entirely, upon the expert to give us these essentials. As a result, we accept, completely on authority, the many and varied utterings of scientific experts, and, I do not have to remind you, that the composite picture this variety of scientific or expert opinions gives us, is far from coherent.

There are several reasons, why this composite picture is, so often, confusing and chaotic; to the point, that it appears to have become useless. Many of us, average people, are not sufficiently aware of the fact, that each scientific field has a central core of facts about which the experts agree, and, that each and every field slides, gradually, into an area, where the concepts and ideas become a "working hypothesis". A hypothesis is an interpretation of reality about which the experts can argue, often endlessly, but, invariably, every field of scientific expertise slides into an area of question marks; the zone of the unknown.

We also have to keep in mind, that, every scientific discipline sees the scientific reality centered around its own particular field of vision. The scope and focus of interest determine the reality man perceives, and, it is logical, that a scientist, who is used to analyse reality in terms of atoms, molecules and chemical bonds, will see the whole world, primarily, in the light of his scientific discipline. Similarly, a historian, an artist or a doctor will see their own contemporary reality, strongly, from their professional point of view, and, it is almost impossible for scientists and professionals to remove themselves so far from their particular vantage-point, that they can oversee all the disciplines of human knowledge and endeavour at once. Consequently, they can not see the totality of the scientific reality without a bias towards their own field of familiarity.

Then, there is a third reason, why distortions are introduced into the reality perceptions of specialised people. While the mental imagery within a scientific discipline is linked by correlative ideas, the links between one field of science and another, are, often difficult to perceive clearly, since the boundaries between fields of knowledge and expertise fall beyond the jurisdiction or responsibility of any one particular discipline. The forgeing of conceptual links between a large number of facts or items of knowledge, requires an intimate mastery of the material on the boundary-line, and, if such a field is not clearly within a scientific discipline, it will be very difficult for specialised people to master such a boundary area.

One can only perceive, trace and sketch these connecting conceptual links between various fields of knowledge, expertise and endeavour, by generalising, accurately, the essential contents of a variety of neighbouring fields, and, then, it becomes possible to apply these generalising principles by looking, with an enlarged and more generalised scope of vision, at the adjacent fields that have become visible, simultaneously, within this enlarged scope of vision.

Therefore, in order to carry-out such "conceptual linkage work", we will, first, have to abstract, accurately and convincingly, the generalising principles of a number of fields, and, we have to try to link those principles into an enlarged framework of cohesion on the basis of an essential assumption; nl., that all observable phenomena can, eventually, be grasped and described, reasonably accurately, by an overall, organising or generalising principle. Here, we have the essential task of the general philosopher.

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Chapter 8

Content

A review of the many practical problems, we, average people, are confronted with as we grow-up and grow older.
Existential concerns and their influence upon our outlook.
A review of growing-up, and the tools we learn to handle.
The inter-twining of genetic and environmental influences in the development of our personality.
At all times, we obey the "general law" of the living organisation; the search for a possibility to exist.
A short review of the mechanisms of socialisation.
Varying needs for conformity in behaviour and outlook.
Energy relationships of a social unit.
Why social integration exacts a price from its members.
A short summary of evolutionary developments in the make-up of the human personality.
There is nothing wrong with the concept, that, even the attitudes of social concern and responsibility are, ultimately, based upon the insight, and expectation, that these attitudes and practices will benefit the individual who adopts such attitudes.
The trap of opportunism.
Soothing our conscience with superficial platitudes.
How easy is it to deceive ourselves.
We do not have to stagnate at the level of cynicism, after we have become "world-wise".
Let us not assume, that we "know" human nature.
A global common-sense.
A powerful voice of common-sense from common people, after we have learned to use the faculties of rational thought and insight.

We have strayed, somewhat, from our discussion about the average individual, who uses, at least, to some extent, the powers of rational observation to orden his reality perceptions. We perceive our realities, essentially, as a set of problems centered around the security, meaning and opportunities of our own existence.

A scientist may, eventually, be primarily concerned with the nature of things, (an attitude or orientation that pays-off, whenever one is reasonably successful and competent in discussing such matters), but, most of us are confronted with more mundane questions, such as the need to find a job and to earn money.

As we grow older, the focus of our attention and questioning shifts to the maintenance of our position in society. The questions we are concerned with, may still be largely intuitively formulated and poorly verbalised, but, they center around the problems of income security, the need to fulfill financial obligations, to stabilise family relationships, or, the working conditions at the place of employment. Eventually, we become concerned with the maintenance of our health, our way of life, as well as the inevitability of death. In other words, at every stage of our life-cycle, we are confronted with existential problems that reflect the phase in which we find ourselves, and, this generalisation applies, of course, to everyone, professionals and scientists included.

Obviously, such questions and problems arouse anxieties, because our security and existence are at stake. We all react with a mixture of deductive reasoning, an assortment of culturally cultivated responses, as well as emotional patterns of behaviour. We concentrate on the patterns of behaviour that have paid-off in the past, and, as we get older, we rely, increasingly, on behaviour-patterns that have brought us success.

Perhaps, we do not realise, clearly, that the environment of our up-bringing has, indeed, a great deal of influence on the sort of behaviour we adopt for the rest of our lives. In early childhood, we absorb from our social environment, primarily subconsciously, a number of apparently successful behaviour-patterns, and, we choose, again largely subconsciously, the type of behaviour that seems to deliver the expected results in the quickest and easiest manner.

If we get away-with a temper tantrum, and, later in childhood, with persistent demands and an irritable behaviour of displeasure, we grow-up in a markedly egocentric orientation, where we expect our wishes and desires to be fulfilled by pressing our demands relentlessly. On the other hand, if we grow-up in a competitive society, where a clever use of opportunities is frequently rewarded with a gain, we will become shrewd, and, if we grow-up in an atmosphere, where a reasoned behaviour of cooperation, mutual trust and respect is rewarded with praise and prestige, such an orientation will make a life-long impression.

Certainly, we modify our behaviour, constantly, throughout our existence, and, it is somewhat artificial to divide our lives into the various phases of a life-cycle. Nevertheless, it seems reasonable to assume, that the major outlines of our character take shape early in childhood. It seems, that, throughout our lives, the range of flexibility in our behaviour is steadily diminishing.

It is reasonable to assume, that genetic disposition plays a major role in the formation of our character. We are, probably, born with a disposition to develop into a certain direction, but, it is very difficult to isolate the genetic contribution to our character from the influences we receive during our development. The stream of sense impressions we are subjected to, is so wide and varied, and, we still have so little insight into the effects of these early sense impressions, that we are not in a position to say, with any degree of certainty, what characteristics of our behavioural make-up are determined by a genetic contribution, and, which are due to the chance-happenings of our personal history.

Let us come back to the idea, that our personality is formed, largely, through a wide and varied stream of contacts and experiences. Certainly, character developments take place within this vaguely outlined range of genetically given pre-dispositions. This means, that, certain experiences and events will have a much greater influence than others, because some do, and other do not, activate a pre-existing disposition or propensity.

We may also state, with confidence, that, every developing personality makes use of the most advantageous circumstances, and, every person searches, subconsciously, for the most beneficial behavioural responses, because, in such a definition, we re-iterate the fundamental generalisations of the living organisation; the search for a possibility to exist. In view of this generalisation, it is logical to see the emergence of those characteristics of the spectrum of possible developments, which are of immediate benefit. These are the elements and characteristics of our behaviour rewarding us with an increased possibility to exist under the prevailing circumstances.

As we mentioned before, it is not really justified to separate the rational and emotional characteristics of our personality too sharply, since we arrive, then, at theoretical extremes, which have no counter-part in reality. We know, that we can vary our behaviour between the poles of rational and emotional behaviour, but, we can also slide from an egocentric orientation to one that takes the concerns of others into consideration. This feature of behavioural flexibility in the direction of our goals and concerns, is subjected to rational as well as emotional mechanisms.

When looking upon life from a biological point of view, we are inclined to see, primarily, the egocentric orientation of all life-forms, and, we tend to consider the conscious, deliberate, ethical attitudes of concern for others as purely human potentials that have been fostered by man's belief in God. While it is certainly true, that, only the human being seems to have a clear awareness of the possibilities of a deliberate or conscious choice of his behaviour, nature has developed many successful forms of symbiosis or biological inter-dependence, and, on previous occasions, we have discussed these inter-dependencies extensively. We can see them in the biochemical relationships within a cell, or, as symbiotic forms of existence between groups of cells in multi-cellular organisms.

The primary biological criterium for the developent of a particular form of inter-dependence has always been an increase in the viability of the components or members taking part in such an interplay of inter-dependence. Even in the process of secondary socialisation, (which has developed in many of the highly evolved, behaviourally flexible species'), this criterium of viability is, still, the ultimate judge of evolutionary success. If members of a social or symbiotic system would not experience a clear-cut gain in viability, the tensions within this community would rapidly rise, and, the unit would fragment again into its components, each member exploring, independently, its possibilities of existence.

It is, therefore, quite justified to see our ability to work and live together in a social context, as a mechanism, where the members are seeking, intuitively and pragmatically, to increase their ease of existence. This principle is clearly demonstrated by the fact, that, small social units, existing under harsh circumstances, develop, often, a remarkable degree of cohesion and unity, since the necessity of cooperation is re-enforced continuously by these existential pressures. The price paid for viability under harsh circumstances, is, indeed, a remarkable degree of conformity, because individualistic tendencies would severely affect the viability of the group, and are, therefore, vigorously suppressed.

If a social unit gains a great deal of existential security, the pressures to maintain a state of coherence diminish, and, invariably, such a community starts to diverge, and, it will, eventually, fragment. Man has, therefore, a strong urge to seeek security in mutual cooperation, whenever the circumstances are harsh, and, under such conditions, the common-sense attitudes that are brought to the fore, will promote the qualities of trust, concern, cooperation and a socially responsible outlook on life.

The energy necessary to suppress egocentric desires is considerable, in particular, when an individual or sub-grouping feels, that discriminatory or exploitative practices and attitudes are prevalent in the other members, or the social leadership. Such feelings and experiences raise the level of frustration, discontent and anger, which may, eventually, lead to a violent rebellion or a prolonged malaise of chaos and stagnation.

There is, therefore, little doubt, that socialisation exacts a price from those who participate in the mechanisms of social integration, and, as soon as a member or sub-grouping perceives, intuitively, but, perhaps, incorrectly, that it is being exploited, it will come to the conclusion, that membership in society is not anymore to its benefit. There will, then, be a strong desire to break-away from the main social unit, or, a pressure will emerge to change its position of disadvantage in the social hierarchy, or, to change the leadership of the social unit one belongs to.

We have frequently mentioned the fact, that the human species has inherited strong but contradictory behavioural tendencies, which manifest themselves as strongly contrasting emotional behaviour-patterns. On the one hand, courage, cunning and ferocity have been rewarded with a significant degree of viability because of the ability to explore larger territories and obtain more abundant food-supplies. On the other hand, cooperation, care and concern for the weaker members of the group, as well as the attitudes of loyalty to an admired leader, have strongly beneficial effects upon the survival of the group as a whole. We have also discussed, on many occasions, how the long and vulnerable period of human infancy, childhood and adolescence, requires a remarkable accentuation of the instincts of parental care and concern.

This is only a short summary of well-established evolutionary principles, but, I hope, that it is clear, why the human being can slide, easily, between attitudes of suspicious egocentricity and a trustful care and concern for others. It also explains, why these antipodes of behaviour have an instinctive, genetically endowed background.

We have discussed the reasons, why the human being can vary its behaviour from a predominantly emotional form to one that is far more rational and emotionally controled. However, even, in a state of emotional control, our behavioural orientation can be narrowly egocentric, as we see in the attitudes of clever opportunism and deceptive amicability, and, it is quite possible to adopt, deliberately, an altruistic attitude, because we believe, that such an attitude will be reciprocated and will, eventually, be to our benefit.

There is nothing wrong with the admission that a rational or emotional attitude of altruism, good-will or trust, has, in the final analysis, the viability or well-being of the individual as its central motivation. Any attitude that tries to negate the significance or right of existence for any individual, is neurotic, irrealistic and, essentially, deceptive in nature.

We can not deny, that we are all born with a healthy dose of egocentric concerns, and, we can not deny, that there are many circumstances and events, which will arouse a powerful feeling of anxiety and concern for our own existence and well-being.

If we learn to recognise these emotional mechanisms in ourselves, and, if we learn to accept the implications of our biological heritage, we may also learn to recognise the reasons and mechanisms, whereby we arouse the egocentric anxieties and concerns of those with whom we are coming into conflict. It is my intense desire to show, that we all can understand these mechanisms; that we can recognise them in ourselves as well as in others. This is the only way we may understand our enemies, and, it is the only way we may learn to balance, rationally, the compromises we have to make in order to secure a greater existential security for everyone.

As long as we keep falling into the trap of taking advantage of a situation at the expense of other people, we will sow the seeds of injustice and anger. As long as we continue our efforts to secure our own existential needs by hoarding resources and walling ourselves off from those in need, we have to accept the fact, that, those, who are excluded from our privileged conditions, will, eventually, reach for violent means to take these privileges away from us.

As long as we sooth our conscience and doubts about the justice of our privileged position by reminding ourselves, that, we, or our forefathers, have worked hard for these privileges, or fought hard to retain them, we continue to contribute to the tensions of injustice.

Victory can only be secured, permanently, by the radical elimination of the loser, but, who in his right mind would advocate such a completely ruthless attitude? Besides, even, if this attitude could be rationalised by a devious way of reasoning, or, if it could be implemented, we can be sure, that, we can never eradicate every enemy or potential enemy. Even, if one seems to have been successful, and, even, if all opposition seems to have been stamped-out, former friends will, eventually, turn-out to be bitter enemies, because the forces of mistrust and suspicion will rise to a feverish pitch as a result of such ruthless attitudes and genocidal practices.

In order to know ourselves, we have to recognise the emotional forces that are at work in each one of us, and, before we can understand how remarkably similar we all are, we have to learn to think a little. Thinking is nothing more than a serious effort to understand, as well as an honest effort to recognise our own drives and aspirations. If we use the powers of reasoning and perception exclusively as a finely honed tool to gain an advantage, to deceive or outwit, we are not thinking, but, we are behaving primitively and instinctively, while we think that we are clever and rational.

We deceive ourselves, if we think, that we can use the tool of rationality, solely, as a weapon with which to combat others. We may be sure, that we are not contributing one iota to the well-being of other people, nor, to the happiness of future generations.

If we learn to think for ourselves, we will also be able to avoid being manipulated by those, who use their intelligence as a tool for obtaining an egocentric advantage. While we may become less gullible and more cynical, (whenever we begin to recognise the multitude of manipulations to which we are usually subjected), we will, at the same time, also develop our faculties of judgement, and, we will recognise in what direction the societies of man have to develop, in order to reach those elusive goals of a lasting co-existence in peace, justice and essential equality.

We do not have to stagnate at the level of cynicism and a feeling of depression, because we have learned, not only, to accept a somewhat gloomy and sobering reality, but, we have also learned, that there are many avenues for effecting an improvement in the conditions of our existence.

We should not glibly accept the notion, that we know human nature, and, that human nature will inevitably lead to chaos, corruption and strife. There are numerous examples in history, as well as our own, contemporary societies, where fairly small groups of people have learned to co-exist as a remarkably healthy, happy and viable social entity. We have to learn to analyse and understand the factors that contribute to social success, and, we have to learn, not only, the techniques that are necessary to govern a really large social conglomerate, but, we have to learn about the many insights and the pragmatic approaches that will keep a large number of people informed, content and willing to contribute to a social unit of global dimensions.

Most of us, still, do not look much further than the concerns of our immediate environment, our family and relatives, or, the small community in which we live. Our leaders identify, often, only narrowly with the community over which they have jurisdiction. Unless we learn, that it is to our own immediate benefit to work towards an essential equality of existence on a global scale, we will never be able to overcome the disruptive tensions of mistrust, frustration, anger, as well as the hatred generated by a wounded sense of justice.

We have to learn to think a little, before we are able to recognise the need for a global sphere of concern. It is my impression, however, that many ordinary, average people, throughout the nations of the world, have already a good, intuitive sense of justice, and, they recognise, and, occasionally, verbalise this common-sense attitude. They often express, in one way or another, the conviction, that the world would be a lot better of, if living conditions and opportunities for development were equitably distributed throughout the world. But, the next moment, these thoughts are gone again, because we all feel so hopelessly inadequate to do anything about the miseries of the world. We put such thoughts aside as irrealistic day-dreams, and, we let our own interests determine, once again, our actions and thoughts. We let our leaders manipulate our outlook and emotions, and, we let our cultural guidelines narrow-down our focus of concern to the social environment we happen to live in.

Let me tell you, that we do not have to be ashamed of these thoughts about a global common-sense. We do not have to feel, that it is impossible to change the world. It is not impossible to really work towards a greater level of mutual understanding and concern. We do not have to be manipulated by big business interests or the aspirations of our nationalistic leaders. We do not have to accept the confusing cacaphony of our many experts as the only imagery of reality, and, we do not have to accept the vacillating attitudes of our elected representatives as the only valid example of democratic leadership.

The voice of the common people will, eventually, become an enormously powerful force of common-sense, where a little effort at rational thinking and a common-sense attitude of good-will may change the world for the better, and, these forces of common-sense and global good-will may curb the clever deceptions practiced by so many special-interest groupings.

Do not underestimate your ability to understand. Do not be goaded into an attitude of unproductive cynicism, nor, to a facile belief in easy or dogmatic solutions. Do not underestimate your ability to understand and be honest with yourself, but, neither underestimate the many compromises and sacrifices we have to make, especially, if we happen to occupy a privileged position.

The power of clear thinking is gigantic, and, the possibilities for a rational, evolutionary adaptation to changing circumstances, is probably, the most precious gift we have received from our biological heritage.

Let us start to use our ability to think about who we are, and, how much we have in common. Let us think and reflect, and, we will discover a remarkable source of confidence and strength.

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Summary

1. A sequence of mental images; guided by logic, a focus of attention, or "free associations".
   A multitude of questions and problems.
   A variety of "mile-stones".
   Difficult periods of transition, with a renewed need for reflective evaluations.
   Goals; routine tasks and ambitious objectives.
   The structure of beliefs, and its influence upon our thought-patterns.
   The potential for learning, when going through a period of stress.
   The false and dangerous illusion of "knowing it all".
   The comfortable routine.
   Are we contributing to the injustice and suffering of others?
   A rebellious response.
   The problem of having a lot of like-minded friends.
   How did we become stable, sane and successful personalities?
   Do we exploit the gullibility, and other weaknesses, of other people?
   How did we get our sense of purpose, perseverance and discipline?
   
   
   
2. A short description of human behaviour; its attitudes, concerns and orientations.
   The aggressive-defensive axis, and the sliding scale from egocentric to altruistic concerns.
   A multitude of attitudes.
   Choosing an action or an opinion.
   The purpose of reflective thought.
   Learning for the sake of understanding, or, to make a living.
   The inter-play of many doubts.
   Some depressing aspects of our modern, affluent societies.
   The "killer-ape", and the problem of ethical concerns.
   The nature of man; a religious or an evolutionary explanation.
   The effects upon our daily lives of the manner in which we interpret our own existence, as well as the nature life.
   The lure of dogmatic attitudes and beliefs.
   Enemies on the "right" and the "left".
   Contributing to chaos and conditions of injustice.
   Shaking the certainties of our beliefs.
   The inverse reciprocity between the scope of vision and the visibility of details.
   A remarkable ability to agree about sense impressions and their interpretations.
   Biological and cultural factors in the make-up of belief structures.
   The obligation to help with the re-construction of a sensible structure of beliefs, after certainties have been shaken loose.
   Tolerance and compassion grow, as confidence increases.
   
   
   
3. We will have to let some certainties go, before we can build a more comprehensive picture of understanding.
   A note of caution.
   Similarities between the goals of understanding and the attitudes of self-discipline.
   Taking our treasured certainties with us into our graves.
   The role of intuitive decision-making.
   Intuitions and emotions.
   The three poles of living existence.
   A review of the mechanisms of thinking.
   The problem, seen as a focus for reflective thought.
   The sphere of concerns, and the orientation of our thoughts.
   We need to experience a measure of security, before we can enlarge the sphere of our concerns.
   The tolerance of variability in behaviour and thought.
   The inter-play between emotions, moods and reality perceptions.
   Applying the insights of a rational analysis to a conflict-situation.
   The difference between tolerance and weakness; voluntary and involuntary mechanisms of accomodation.
   Why our attitudes and actions may be interpreted as treacherous and hostile by our enemies.
   The need for constant, honest communications.
   We have to learn to live with our biological heritage.
   The fragility of the attitudes of trust and cooperation.
   The voluntary gift of mutual trust.
   
   
   
4. All reality experiences depend on a measure of agreement.
   Thoughts and awarenesses are tools for shaping an appropriate behavioural response.
   The fragility of a reality perception.
   The pragmatic focus of our attention; a number of examples.
   A review of the imagery of human evolution.
   A long way to go, before we have a comprehensive imagery of human existence on the basis of natural evolutionary changes.
   Thoughts and ideas will always remain under the influence of evolutionary pressures.
   The fragile and transient equivalence between belief and reality.
   A note of caution to those, who are already "converts" to the imagery of the sciences.
   Some of the difficulties associated with a religious explanation of human existence.
   Euphoria is not a sound basis for an attempt to grasp reality.
   My sympathies go out to the average individual, who is not sure what or whom to believe.
   Confusion breeds suspicion.
   The jungle of a complex, affluent society.
   
   
   
5. It is not easy to acknowledge that we are "average".
   Does average mean "mediocre"?
   It takes above average insight to acknowledge, that we are "average".
   The strength of society lies in its ordinary, average citizens.
   A wide spectrum of skills associated with being average.
   The faculty of "common-sense" is the prerogative of the average individual.
   The philosophy of common-sense, and the common-sense of every useful philosophy.
   A deliberate effort to verbalise common-sense accurately.
   Common traits of the philosopher and the artist.
   The commercialisation of artistic and philosophic endeavours.
   Good art and common-sense are often "somewhat unpleasant".
   Why some conclusions of common-sense may not be to our liking.
   The erosion of common-sense ideas and attitudes by a prolonged exposure to commercial propaganda.
   The need for an ever enlarging cash-income.
   Mechanisms of inflation.
   You and I, the common, average people will have to pay, in the end, for the fiscal irresponsibilities of our leaders.
   Never be ashamed of being average.
   What we need to write into the Constitution.
   We have to re-discover the value of discipline and self-discipline.
   Pre-requisites for the excercise of discipline and self-discipline.
   We have to have a measure of confidence; in ourselves, as well as in our social surroundings.
   A sense of confidence is always linked to a feeling, that the sense of justice has been satisfied.
   Society returns, so easily, to the laws of the jungle.
   
   
   
6. Soothing frustrations by satisfying rising expectations.
   We all have an enormous stake in maintaining the economic momentum.
   At some time in the future, this momentum will come to an end.
   Nobody wants us to save, because political leaders and business people alike want us to spend everything we earn, in order to maintain "consumer demand".
   Yet, is it wise, and, is it to our benefit, to give-in to the temptations of consumerist behaviour?
   The voice of sober realism will, eventually, come to the fore and be heard.
   The relationships between leaders and their electorates.
   The many strings tied to political candidates in affluent, Capitalist societies.
   Distortions in the mechanisms of democratic representation.
   The threat of governmental paralysis.
   The obligation of the elected leader to lead and inspire his electorate.
   The importance of exemplary behaviour by leaders and other public figures.
   When a leadership fails to tackle the problems of inefficiency, frustration, stagnation and corruption.
   We will have to outline for our leaders the limits of what they can promise.
   Constitutional Guidelines are necessary for all social and individual aspects of life.
   Regulating the relationships of our society with other nations through stringent Constitutional Guidelines.
   The aspects of "socio-centric" behaviour.
   Ethics re-defined.
   We, average citizens, know, how to live within the constraints of lawful behaviour; often, more so than our leaders.
   Good-will disappears, so easily, into a feeling of helplessness.
   We, average citizens, are responsible for designing Constitutional Guidelines with a world-wide relevance, and we will have to teach our future leaders who will come from us, average people.
   
   
   
7. The responsibilities of average citizens all over the world.
   We have to think for ourselves.
   Living conditions will become more difficult in the future.
   It is so easy to sit-back in our comfortable niche.
   It is unfortunate, that we often shy-away from reflective thoughts.
   Reflective thought and rational behaviour easily lose-out to more primitive, instinctive patterns of behaviour.
   We still like to use the solution of violent confrontation to ease severe tensions.
   The possibilities of rational, thoughtful behaviour.
   We have to be patient and helpful, when trying to nurture the qualities of rational and thoughtful behaviour.
   A series of exhortations.
   Coping with a variety of behavioural adaptations.
   We tend to use the tools that have helped us in the past
   A review of the relationships between rational and emotional behaviour.
   The varying scope of our vision, and the changing patterns of details.
   The advantage of "re-structuring" many details via a process of deductive reasoning.
   The function of "natural laws".
   Natural laws are generalising principles with which we construct a vast and coherent framework of reality perceptions.
   Confusion caused by relying too much on "expert opinion".
   The arbitrary focus of importance caused by specialisation.
   Every field of knowledge has a central core of agreed-upon facts, surrounded by a zone of hypotheses, and a sea of the unknown.
   Forging conceptual links between the many fields of scientific knowledge requires an intimate mastery of many fields, but, it has to be accomplished, by necessity, without numerous known details.
   Here, we have the essential task for the general philosopher.
   
   
   
8. A review of the many practical problems, we, average people, are confronted with as we grow-up and grow older.
   Existential concerns and their influence upon our outlook.
   A review of growing-up, and the tools we learn to handle.
   The inter-twining of genetic and environmental influences in the development of our personality.
   At all times, we obey the "general law" of the living organisation; the search for a possibility to exist.
   A short review of the mechanisms of socialisation.
   Varying needs for conformity in behaviour and outlook.
   Energy relationships of a social unit.
   Why social integration exacts a price from its members.
   A short summary of evolutionary developments in the make-up of the human personality.
   There is nothing wrong with the concept, that, even the attitudes of social concern and responsibility are, ultimately, based upon the insight, and expectation, that these attitudes and practices will benefit the individual who adopts such attitudes.
   The trap of opportunism.
   Soothing our conscience with superficial platitudes.
   How easy is it to deceive ourselves.
   We do not have to stagnate at the level of cynicism, after we have become "world-wise".
   Let us not assume, that we "know" human nature.
   A global common-sense.
   A powerful voice of common-sense from common people, after we have learned to use the faculties of rational thought and insight.

.......