LEVELS OF AWARENESS I








A Study in Thought

sa068



by





Marius Heuff

Chapter 1

Content

A definition of awareness.
Analysing a problem, and dissolving it into a number of manageable objectives.
Storing the experience how a problem was solved.
Streamlining a skill with the help of experience.
Anxieties created by an existentially significant problem.
Fluctuating awarenesses.
A broad spectrum of interests.
The qualities of familiarity and patience.

Before we begin a discussion about the various levels of awareness we can be consciously aware of, you may well want to hear a definition of awareness. Indeed, what is awareness? I am aware, that, at this particular moment, I am writing this sentence as an opening in a discussion about levels of awareness, and, you, at the time you are reading this sentence, are aware of the meaning that lies behind these words.

We are continuously aware of something, and, almost always, awareness, means, that we can put a label or a name on something we are doing, seeing, hearing, or thinking about. I am aware, that I am thinking about what I would like to write down, but, in addition, I am also aware that I sit in a chair, at my desk, in a room of my house, that I am so and so, of a certain age; that I live in a particular village, in a specific country or place, etc., etc.

Therefore, I can be aware of a large number of facts, circumstances or conditions of existence, but, as a rule, only one or two are standing-out in my mind at anyone particular time, while the others may only come to the fore, as soon as I am thinking about other awarenesses I could be aware of at this time. I also know, that my awareness is different, when I sit still, reflect and think, compared to my awarenesses, when I am carrying-out a specific task.

If I am fixing something in the house or on the car, my awarenesses are narrowly focussed upon the problem at hand. I notice, that, initially, my mental activities are primarily "diagnostic", as I try to figure-out what the problem is, and, then, the focus of attention shifts to the question, how I can solve the problem. The task of repairing and correcting something, or constructing something from scratch, has to be analysed and broken-down into a number of "steps" or individualised objectives, actions or accomplishments. All these steps or individual tasks have to be lined-up in my mind, before I am able to visualise, how a particular task can be accomplished, or, how a specific problem can be solved.

Once I decide to actually carry-out the steps I have visualised, I will, invariably, notice a number of additional problems. Hopefully, these are quite small and easily solved. Sometimes, the problems which I did not foresee, are so large, that I have to design a different approach. Then, I let the actual attempt at solving the problem or carrying-out a repair, rest for a while, while I think about it.

If I run, indeed, into such a major obstacle, I feel disappointed and I come to the conclusion, that my mental preparations have been a failure. By the failure to foresee a major problem, the whole analysis of the problem and the construction of a number of steps to overcome this problem, has proven to be faulty. I have wasted my time and efforts, and, I may be even further away from a solution to the problem than when I started-out.

Most of the time, however, I do not have to abandon the approach all-together. As I carry-out the planned steps and monitor, carefully, the progress I am making, as well as the details of the problems and obervations that present themselves, I am usually able to complete each step satisfactorily. Eventually, I can accomplish the overall task I had set for myself, or, which the circumstances forced me to pay attention to, but, I am aware of the fact, that the accomplishment of this task went never completely according to plan.

By analysing or reviewing, carefully, where my mental imagery during the analysis and review of the problem, (before I began working on it), differed from the actual experiences I encountered, I can learn to refine my powers of anticipation and imagination. The closer the anticipated realities correspond with the encountered circumstances, the easier it will be to solve a problem.

After I have accomplished the solution of a problem, or the completion of a task, I store the "experience" in my memory. This happens, of course, automatically and subconsciously, but, the clearer I grasp, exactly, what happened, and, how I was able to obtain a more or less satisfactory result, the easier it will be to complete a similar task in the future. An overall experience with the problem as a whole, as well as a familiarity with relevant details that have a bearing upon the tasks at hand, will help us to "visualise" the solution of the problem we are confronted with.

The more familiar we are with a particular problem, the less effort it requires to bring-about a solution, but, if we can not rely upon a "model" for the entire problem, we will have to have a long and hard look at a new problem or situation, until we are able to analyse, or dissect, the problem into a sequence of steps that can be solved individually. Initially, this sequence is, often, long and complicated, but, later, with experience and familiarity, we are able to "streamline" the sequence of steps to a remarkable extent. The point is, that we have to find in each problem, or part of a problem, elements, which we can solve, either, by a process of association and familiarity, or, by logical deduction and testing; research.

Our awarenesses become, therefore, complicated and varied. They shift, continuously, their focus from one aspect to another. Often, each step has to be analysed further, into a number of details, or "sub-steps", which have to be dealt with separately, one after the other, before a particular step or phase can be accomplished. We are aware, that our mood is optimistic and confident, as long as we are making progress with a problem, or, if we are able to call-upon expert help and advise, when necessary. However, if we see no solution, we become discouraged and we are ready to "give-up". Whether or not we can give-up, depends on the degree of importance the problem has for us. If we find ourselves in a dangerous situation, the solution, how to get out of it has extreme existential significance. Failure to solve the problems may, then, lead to deeper trouble, and, perhaps, a life-threatening situation.

If the problems we face are the result of activities we have undertaken as "a hobby", our well-being does not depend on their solution, except, perhaps, for our sense of satisfaction and confidence. We experience, then, that the anxiety or frustration evoked by an obstacle, is much less pronounced, but, on the other hand, if we do not have a tenacious nature, such obstacles may never be overcome, because there is no "whip" behind us in the form of some sort of existential pressure. This pressure does not have to be a life or death situation, of course. There is often a pressure from our superiors at the place of work, dissatisfaction of a client with poor workmanship, or the pressures of friends and relatives to overcome personal problems, etc.

Our awarenesses fluctuate, therefore, constantly. They may reflect, simply, an "inventory", where we can immediately name the more important features of our sense impressions, in addition to a large number of circumstances and factors that colour our existence at that particular moment. If we are engaged in an activity, our awareness is often focussed upon a specific problem. Nevertheless, most of our activities are quite "routine", and the problems are easily solved.

Fortunately, our activities are nearly always "familiar" to us, and, only rarely, do we have to make a serious and sustained effort to solve an unfamiliar problem or situation. Some of us are trained to solve problems that have not been solved before, and, which are, often, not even known as "problems". We are thinking, here, about scientific workers and technical experts. In order to build-up an arsenal of "familiarity", or a series of familiar tools and concepts, the area of investigation has to be narrow, otherwise, the grasp remains too vague, and the approach too broad, to allow for a detailed analysis and solution of complex problems.

Only the philosopher can afford such a broad spectrum of interests and knowledge that it crosses many well-defined fields of expertise, because his task and efforts are geared to see large coherences, and, he does not need an arsenal of complex tools or techniques to do his work. However, he has to have the patience to familiarise himself with large areas of knowledge, and, he has to test and rephrase his ideas against his own judgements, again and again.

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Chapter 2

Content

The ability to sit-back and reflect.
The problem of death.
Feelings of "identity".
Sleep, and the awareness of our identity.
We are changing, yet, we are also staying the same.
Verbalisable and non-verbalisable awarenesses.
Sub-conscious mechanisms of the mind.
Willed, or deliberately chosen responses.
The extent of a memory-reservoir, or repertoir of memory-traces.
The existential "coloration" of an on-going experience.
Forgotten experiences, and the problem of "cerebral clutter".

Awareness, then, is the ability to sit-back, think and enumerate a large number of sense impressions, concepts and ideas, and, depending upon what we are doing, these awarenesses are, either, emotionally more or less neutral, or, they are coloured, to varying degrees, by emotions, such as feelings of confidence or anxiety.

However, you may be somewhat disappointed with such a brief definition and wonder, whether or not this is all that can be said about the faculty of conscious awareness. Is it, then, only the labeling of a psychological or mental image? Are we not, often, vaguely aware of moods and fore-bodings we can not name, and, which show no clear-cut reason, why they should emerge in the center of our awareness? What is this faculty of awareness? What is the essence of the fact, that I can experience the sensation that I am I, and not someone else? How is it possible, that I can think and worry, figure-out a problem, or know, that, sooner or later, I am going to die?

What is death? What happens to my awarenesses, when I am dead? Can I be aware of being dead? I certainly can be aware of the fact, that I am going to die, can't I? Yet, we know, that people thought they were going to die and did not, while others never realised that they were dying; at least, they never communicated the feeling or awareness that they knew, or accepted the fact, that they were going to die.

Therefore, we seem to have problems anticipating, accurately, even such monumentally important happenings as our own death. What, then, is this feeling of "I"? My identity? Is it a reality, or, is it a label I have learned to put on myself, when I learned to use a large number of concepts and ideas people use in my social environment?

To what extent are my thoughts, then, my own, if I seem to be able to define my awarenesses only as "word-labels", which I took over from my social environment when I grew-up and learned to speak? Does this mean, then, that all our awarenesses are nothing more than mental images we have learned to give a name to in the process of communication? Is the label of "I", my identity", then, also, nothing more than a convenient label for the organism or individual who happens to be me?

Is my "I", my identity, something that is separate from my body or not? I have the impression, that, this feeling of identity is not lodged in anyone particular part of my body. It seems, that I can lose a finger or toe, or, even, an arm and a leg, without necessarily losing anything of my identity. Yet, when I am falling asleep, where does my identity, my I-feeling go to? In my dreams, I feel to be me, but, I do not always dream and, often, I experience a gap of many hours that seem to have gone-by without a trace.

Where has yesterday gone? I was awake and aware of it, at least, during all my waking hours. Today, yesterday is nothing but a memory, and, tomorrow, even today will be gone. What is the nature of the experience of time, and, is it related to the fact, that changes are going-on continuously?

Am I changing? Certainly, I am changing all the time. My ideas and experiences change, even, my attitudes and outlook evolve, my experiences are continuously growing, but, I am also losing experiences into a vague subconscious reservoir, as new awarenesses are added to the sphere of my reality perceptions. Yet, I have the feeling, that, in essence, my identity, the feeling of being "me", is not any different, now, than it was twenty years ago.

The last, major problem we should concern ourselves with, here, is the question, whether or not an awareness is an awareness, even, if we can not put a label on it. Are animals aware? They certainly seem to be "aware" of many things, because we see them react to the circumstances and situations in a way that is very similar to our own. Yet, we know, that they can not talk, and, they can not put a label on their awarenesses. What kind of awareness is this, then, and, how do we have to interpret these awarenesses, since we seem to be able to name everything we are aware of? Does this mean, that we have great difficulties imagining an awareness that is not "labeled"? Are there instances, where we can be "aware" of non-verbalised, or, "non-verbalisable stimuli", or, do we only talk, then, about such vague notions as moods, feelings, forebodings or a non-specific restlessness or agitation?

Later, in a review of the images of the biological sciences, we will see, that there is, indeed, a very large field of awarenesses, or stimuli, which we react to, just like any other living organism, without being able to name these stimuli accurately or completely. For example, all the adjustments of our muscles when carrying-out a movement, are reactions to external stimuli, together with the feed-back of events that are taking place in the muscles themselves. None of these mechanisms enter into the focus of our awarenesses. In this respect, we resemble the operator of a complex computer. We want something from this computer, e.g. information, or we want a specific task to be carried-out. We give the appropriate instructions, and, soon, the desired results begin to roll-out on paper or appear on a monitor.

If we want to pick-up an object, we "will" this act, and, "automatically", some muscles are contracting while others are relaxing, and, this complicated process results, finally, in a smoothly flowing movement. We are not aware of any of the internal mechanisms of muscle adjustment, nor, are we aware of the neurological events that go-on in the brain, just as the computer operator has no idea what is going-on in the innards of the computer; from the time the instructions were given to the appearance of the results.

Certainly, we will have to answer the question, where our "will" comes from, and, how our "will" operates in making decisions. We are aware of the fact, that, for long periods of time, we do not seem to have to exert our will to any extent, as we follow, without any effort, the events and stimuli we are exposed to. Most of the time, our responses are more or less automatic, and, our will is standing-by, relaxed, without doing any serious work. We behave, then, like a supervisor in a highly mechanised production plant, who lets his eye wander over the many dials and indicators that show him what is going-on. As long as everything is routine, the machinery handles the flow of information and issues the appropriate responses, and the supervisor only watches.

Since he does not have much to do, there is always the danger that the supervisor will doze-off to sleep, and, we will see, that the same course of events is likely to happen to our conscious awareness, if it is not stimulated, now and then, by "interesting" stimuli; stimuli that require a more or less deliberate or "willed" response.

We have been reviewing, here, "physiological" mechanisms, which are, in essence, reflexes or "stimulus-response reactions" of the central nervous system. These reflex mechanisms never come into a focus of conscious awareness, (because our will has no role to play, here), but, in addition, there is a large reservoir of awarenesses and experiences that sink, slowly, into some sort of "subconscious pool".

A subconscious level of awareness, means, that we can not recall these experiences voluntarily into a focus of attention, but, occasionally, such an experience, which had already been "forgotten", may be brought back into a focus of awareness by the experience of a very similar situation. However, by far the majority of these experiences are "forgotten", in the sense, that, we can not recall them, anymore, nor, are they recalled "specifically", or in detail, by a similar experience. Yet, as a group of experiences, they determine, to a large extent, the "feeling" or existential significance of an on-going experience.

If I experience something at this moment, the experience is recognised and "compared" to other experiences that have been grouped or classified as belonging to the same category of my memory-reservoir. Part of the memory reservoir lies in the verbalisable sphere of awarenesses, and, we can, then, recall a number of similar experiences that help us classify the on-going experience. This classification of the experience will give a certain "existential flavour" to the experience. However, this "flavour", mood or coloration of an on-going experience, is also brought-about by the subconscious pool of experiences. A vague notion or mood is added to a recognised experience of the on-going situation by the subconscious stimulation of such a "fused" and forgotten series of experiences.

This "coloration" of the mood is particularly strong and important, if we do not have a clear-cut category in our verbalisable memory-reservoir to classify the on-going experience accurately. For example, if an individual experiences something that has previously been "rejected" as unpleasant", or, which led to a feeling of guilt, because it was considered to be unbecoming or detestable, this "traumatic" experience has been actively "suppressed". Since a conscious memory of such an unpleasant experience gives rise to anxieties, the individual tries to "hide" such an unpleasant experience by actively suppressing the conscious memory of this experience.

Since the record of an experience can never be eradicated completely, it is pushed into the level of the subconscious, where it still exerts its influence, now and then, by colouring a similar, on-going experience of the present.

Yet, not all "forgotten" experiences have such a strong emotional influence. Most of our experiences and observations are much less intensely coloured by emotional feelings, and, because we are exposed to a continuous stream of sense impressions, we have no choice, but to classify them into categories and "forget" the details of each individual experience.

If we would lack this ability to classify similar experiences into categories of similarity, we would quickly "clutter" our brain by trying to retain a large number of irrelevant details. Such a cluttering of the brain by details is a serious obstacle to the task of handling this constant stream of incoming sense impressions, and, if our mind would be unable to evaluate, continuously and accurately, what is coming in, we may miss important bits of information that could have a great deal of existential significance.

A computer that has been "overloaded", or bogged-down, will take itself "out of circulation". The computer of the brain can be overloaded in a similar manner, and, the individual loses, then, the ability to respond appropriately to the environment.

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Chapter 3

Content

Keeping pace with incoming sense impressions.
The ability to "know".
The faculty of "common-sense".
Abilities that require practice.
A short review of the human personality.
Symbolic representations, and the function of memory-recall.
An "idling mind"; image-progression by loose associations.
A core of agreed-upon meaning, and a "shell" of variable meaning.
Routine or unquestioned experiences.
The "red light" when there is a need evaluate a sense impression deliberately or consciously.
Awareness, and the concept of a "field of vision".

The ability to learn is, in essence, an ability to "grasp", and this ability to grasp, intellectually, a number of mental images, depends upon the ability to keep-up with the pace of incoming information. To keep-up with the constant stream of sensory stimuli, we have to have an adequate and confident mechanism that lets us, first of all, make a distinction between what is important and what is not so important. Whatever is selected as important, is then quickly classified into the appropriate categories, and the details of this information is allowed to "settle" or sink towards a more or less subconscious level, while the unimportant sense impressions are ignored and will not be registered.

The details of what has been registered can often be recalled with a systematic and logical "scanning procedure" that is carried-out via a system of associations and logical thought-sequences. We should resist the temptation to try to memorise these details by an act of our will. Frequently, social pressures lead us to believe that a whole series of facts and information is "important to know", in particular, if we are students and have to pass examinations. The ability to "know", means, always, the ability to grasp a subject in a logical, overall structure of coherent relationships, where the details fit-in naturally, and, without any strain.

However, sometimes, such a structure of logical and coherent relationships is absent or faulty. We become, then, somewhat anxious and confused, because we find it impossible to arrange all the facts we want to learn into a coherent relationship, and, in a desperate attempt to learn at least something, we try to memorise the most important facts we have been taught and told to know. Yet, we do not really understand what we have learned. We can not work with this knowledge, and, the details become a chaotic mass of incoherent facts that pose a major strain on the faculties of memory.

Grasping easily a set of coherent thought-structures is a great asset, and, this ability to comprehend is given to all human beings, but, not in equal measure. Some possess this ability in abundance, just as others may be highly gifted artistically or athletically. Some lucky individuals are endowed with a great natural affinity to learn, which is, indeed, defined by the ability to grasp a stream of information quickly and coherently, while others are less endowed by nature and function at a much lower level of comprehension.

Society has many different levels of function, and, with a careful study of each individual's potentials, it should not be difficult to find a place in society for most people, except, perhaps, those, who are mentally handicapped and can not look after temselves in a more or less independent manner.

We want to come back, for a moment, to the fact, that, nearly all details of this continuous stream of sense impressions have been "forgotten", and these sense impressions have been categorised only in a general manner. While we can certainly not recall a majority of these experiences, this coherent "fabric" of classified and generalised features of our sense impressions, gives us a "sense of familiarity", where we are able to solve many problems and situations with the faculty of "common-sense".

Common-sense is the ability of an average individual, who has been exposed to a large variety of common problems, to use his experience and understanding in such a way, that the problem is solved or the task is accomplished with a minimum of effort, without the individual being able to verbalise, precisely, each step of this effort.

If we focus our attention, specifically, upon abilities that require a great deal of "practice", we see, that the experience-base is largely "intuitive", motoric, or, below the level of verbalised abstraction. Yet, the fact, that the level is largely "subconscious" does not necessarily mean, that it has strong emotional connotations. Empirical knowledge, or, an intuitive manner of solving problems and accomplishing tasks, rely upon a large body of subconscious but adequately classified experiences, which are, and should be, in essence, emotionally neutral.

Let us retrace, in a few steps, the structure of the human personality, because we have been able to build a more or less coherent imagery about our own existence. This imagery is based on the sciences, as well as on common-sense observations. We need this imagery to fit the concepts and ideas of conscious awareness into a coherent structure. We are a living organism, heir to a long evolutionary line of developments, which places us in the category of animal life with a tendency to arrange ourselves into small, hierarchically organised social units of about a dozen or so animals. We are also heir to an evolutionary trend that experimented with viability on the basis of flexible adaptations of individual behaviour-patterns. This form of adaptation allowed a much quicker response to rapidly changing circumstances of the local environment compared to a response that has been genetically encoded, but, this route of behavioural flexibility also loosened the strict and precise instructions of the genetic code.

The development that sets us more or less apart from all other living animal species', began several million years ago, when proto-man started to explore the possibilities of mental image-recall by gesticulations and mimicry. This allowed the synchronous re-living of experiences by a small, social grouping, as it watched one of its members "act-out" a significant recent experience, such as, e.g., a scene of the hunt.

Re-living experiences, together with the ability to evoke a memory-trace into a focus of awareness by an act of mimicry, had enormous consequences, because it became possible to sharpen the repertoir of mental images by a frequent and voluntary recall of these memory-traces, without being exposed to the grave dangers that were often associated with the re-stimulation of a memory-trace on the basis of a similar or analogous experience. (An analogous experience is the recognition, or re-call of a similar experience, by associating a presently occurring sense impression with an experience that has been recorded, in some detail, as a memory-trace).

Memory-traces could, now, be evoked voluntarily, frequently and without the dangers associated with a recall through an analogous experience. The symbolic recall of a memory-trace began to serve as a "form of communication", because the re-stimulation of a memory-trace took place, at least, initially, as the result of an inter-action between an "author" and his "audience"; the author is the actor or gesticulator, and the audience is formed by the other members of the group who are watching.

The gestures and acts of the author functioned as "symbolic representations" of the actual experiences that had formed a memory-trace in the members of the group, and, later, this process of rapid inter-action between author and audience took another leap forwards, when arbitrary vocal sound-symbols began to play the dominant role in a rapid sequential recall of acquired and experienced memory-traces.

We have argued, on previous occasions, that the concept of conscious awareness is based, entirely, on the evolutionary origins of sign and language communications. The crux of the matter lies in the fact, that the human being, when awake, uses a nearly constant stream of "symbolic repesentations", such as words, signs, gestures, pictures and reading symbols. This means, that we "name", almost constantly, if subconsciously, the many sense impressions we are receiving from our environment.

Human awareness is, therefore, very strongly centered on the ability to label or name what we see, hear or feel, as well as those images that are evoked from our memory-banks by talking to other people. These memory-traces are recalled by what we read, or hear over the public media, as well as by our own thoughts, because we think, primarily, in the form of a stream of verbalised or verbalisable awarenesses. These awarenesses may be tightly coherent, whenever we are thinking about a particular problem, but, they may also occur much more "loosely" bound together, in a process of "associations". The latter is happening whenever our mind is "idling".

The vast number of "verbalisable awarenesses", or, symbolically representable awarenesses, would be completely useless and overwhelming for us, if our mind would have failed to develop an efficient classification system for all these awarenesses. Even so, each individual uses, and "knows", only a fraction of all the symbolic awarenesses that are current in one's social environment, and, for this reason, no two members in society have an identical conceptual vocabulary.

We all differ, not only, in the content of the symbols we have mastered, but, we also notice, that, many concepts or verbally represented notions and mental images are somewhat vague, and, therefore, we tend to differ in our interpretation of the meaning of many of these concepts. Yet, there is often a "core" of meaning we all accept and agree-upon, but, this core of meaning is surrounded by a shell of more variable meaning and connotations, fluctuating from one individual to the next, or, from one social environment to another.

Because many, if not most of the notions, concepts, ideas and other symbolically represented items of awareness are surrounded by a shell of more variable meaning and usage, we come to the conclusion, that the cultural pool of a society, (this conglomerate of symbolically represented awarenesses used by a community), can also be divided into a "core", which is interpreted more or less in the same manner by everyone, as well as a much larger, but, also, much vaguer "shell", representing a large number of notions, ideas and concepts that are used and understood differently by different people.

Let us go back to the structure of the human personality, and, we see, that we call an "awareness" something we are consciously aware of and can identify by name. Often, we are not happy with the degree of precision of this awareness, and, the more attention we pay to what we are aware of, the more we become aware of the fact, that we can not describe this particular item of awareness with a great deal of precision.

We notice, also, that the "routine" or "undisputed" awarenesses of our daily life and familiar environment tend to sink into a status of "automatic acceptance". This is a status where they are taken for granted, and, we would only notice them again, vividly, if we notice something different.

This brings-out an important point, because it links our conscious awareness to the "voluntary will". The voluntary will represents the faculty of conscious decision-making, where we have to make a deliberate effort to make the connection between a stimulus and a response. We have to do this, whenever the "automatic" mechanisms of responding to a stimulus, fail, or, perhaps, it is more accurate to say, that, somewhere, somehow, our organism has sensed something unusual. A "red light" has gone-up and a warning has sounded, or, a state of alertness has been aroused, saying; "be cautious". The situation is not routine. It needs special attention, and, therefore, the coupling between stimulus and response has been loosened.

The ultimate decision about the response has now been given to a "voluntary choice"; the deliberate will, which synthesises, "manually", so to speak, a response. This deliberate, conscious synthesis of the effort to respond is experienced by us as an awareness, because the "problem", or, the non-routine situation, has presented itself to the focal point of our conscious awareness. We are, then, consciously aware of a great many details that have to be evaluated and weighed carefully, before a response can be made successfully. Success means, that the response will be helpful, and, that the result of the response is appropriate for the situation it was designed for, but, success also means, that we experience a feeling of confidence, because we expect, on good grounds, that the manually synthesised response is going to be adequate and effective.

Seen in this light, awareness resembles our "field of vision". Just as our visual fields, (the areas our eyes see and our brain registers when we look at something), can be divided into a small focal-point, where we can see a great many details, and a much larger, surrounding area, where we see only overall structures or outlines, so is our field of conscious awarenesses also divided into a focal area, where we can concentrate on small details, together with a much larger field we are only dimly and roughly aware of.

This means, that we have to engage in a process of "scanning", whenever we encounter a problem that does not fit in its entirety into the focus of our awarenesses. Then, we consider the overall structures, together with its important details, "in succession", one after the other. We scan these aspects closely, and, we scrutinise them in the center or the focus of our awarenesses. In this way, we can bring a part of the much larger surrounding sphere of vague awarenesses into a focus of attention and precise evaluation, but, we are always aware of the fact, that the "edge" of this field of awareness slides, imperceptibly, into a periphery that falls outside the sphere of knowledge and awareness. This is another parallel with our visual fields, because we can not say, exactly, where these fields end or begin, without special tests or techniques to outline the boundaries of our fields of vision.

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Chapter 4

Content

A stream of sense impressions.
Affluent life.
For whom are we writing?
A world-order, based on insight and justice.
How to harnass the collective will.
Problems associated with living at close quarters.
Cerebral and mental systems of classification.
The ability to "recognise".

We are aware of the fact, that we receive, continuously, a stream of sense impressions throughout our waking hours. Almost all of them are "familiar", and, our attention or alertness is hardly aroused. We classify these routine sensations or sense impressions without any difficulties or questions, as we exist, relaxed and comfortably, in our particular "home environment".

This stream of routine sense impressions is enormously varied. If we look at it in some detail, we see, that a large part of our time is spent looking after our existential requirements. This includes a variety of physiological, physical and psychological needs, ranging from food and drink, to a variety of comforts, such as the ability to wash and clean-up, take care of necessary bodily functions, etc.

In our modern times, we can extend the list of existential requirements to the bills we have to pay for the services we have received. We have to pay rent for the house we live in, or, taxes on the property we own. We pay for electricity, water and sewage, gargabe disposal, our cars and other transportation needs, etc. We see, that, almost all our waking hours are filled with a continuous and apparently never-ending round of concerns and questions about the fulfilment of requirements, which we need, or think, we need.

If we think about it, we see, that, nearly everyone of us, living in an affluent society, has created an inextricable blend between the things we need and those we want and enjoy, and, we have discussed before, how affluent societies can be characterised by the way they have indoctrinated their members to spend a life-time looking after the requirements of their, often, unnecessary consumptive habits.

For these people, the ability to sit-back, think and relax and to wonder about themselves, (how their minds work, why they are continuously engaged in these activities, and, why their worries are getting more numerous every year), such activities seem to be a waste of time. A discussion about awarenesses, together with the various levels of awareness we can be aware of, will seem a futile and wasteful pass-time, which could be spent more usufully making money and increasing the level of consumption, or "cash-income".

Even for those, who are not affluent, such activities will seem a luxury, because a great deal of time and effort is spent by the poor and under-privileged to stay alive; to secure the basic necessities of life, and, whatever time is left-over, will be spent in practical pursuits; learning, how to improve the situation and figuring-out ways to get hold of some of those luxuries that are so abundantly available, and so shamelessly squandered, in the affluent societies.

For whom, then, are we writing? Are we writing, entirely, for those, who have the luxury of plenty of spare time, after their basic requirements have been taken care of, and, who have seen the wisdom of abandoning a senseless pursuit of unnecessary consumption? Yes, indeed, for these people I am writing, and, I believe, that their numbers will grow in the future, as more and more people wake-up to the fact, that it is futile and foolish to waste time by consuming unnecessary goods and services.

Even in the under-privileged areas, where a great deal of time has to be spent acquiring the basic necessities, and, where "spare time" is used to look for an outlet for angry resentment and justified hostility towards the egocentric and totally introvert "hot spots" of affluent consumerism, even, in these societies, the time is near, that the struggle against oppression and disparity will lead to success, and, people will have plenty of time, and, they will experience the benefits of thinking about the nature of their own existence.

In a majority of the societies that are now relatively affluent, an equalisation of living standards has been established by a variety of socially progressive reforms. At least, this equalisation has been accomplished to some extent, but, this trend has a tendency to reverse itself, again, as the processes of social reform stagnate and the forces of disparity are gaining strength.

A world-order, based on insight and justice, can only come into being, if we understand, much better than we do now, why we are so inclined to reach for the solution of armed conflict. Sometimes, it is tempting to dream about the possibilities of peace and justice, and, we come to the conclusion, that a more equitable order of existence is possible as an act of our collective and conscious Will. However, before we can harnass this elusive Collective Will to establish a more equitable world-order, we will have to know more about the mechanisms of our own mind. We will have to learn to understand and communicate, better, the basic requirements of human existence. We will have to learn to make a distinction between what we need and what we would like to have, and, we have to be able to enlarge a cultural core of agreed-upon concepts and ideas, in order to make such a structure of cultural guidelines relevant on a world-wide scale. Without such a global cultural core, we will not be able to solve the problems of living together at close quarters, in harmony and social justice, because this is, after all, the essence of a successful social organisation.

For these peoples and those times in the near future, I am writing, and, I am convinced that the time will come, that, many people will find it important to think about their awareness mechanisms, together with the other functions of the mind. Let us proceed, therefore, with a review of the structure of the human personality. We have seen, that the focus of our awarenesses seems to be, primarily, a "workshop" for our conscious, deliberate Will. Here, we evaluate, consciously, a large number of data in order to synthesise a sensible response.

We have also seen, how, nearly all our efforts and time are spent to satisfy the requirements of our existence; requirements that become, inevitably, a blend of what we need and what we want. All our experiences are categorised, and, if a particular experience does not contribute "anything new", it blends with existing categories, and, then, this specific experience does not stand-out, anymore, as a separate, recallable event.

On other occasions, we have elaborated this mental classification system more extensively, and, we have seen, how the classification systems can be divided into two large categories; similarities in existence for those items and awarenesses that are "static", or do not change significantly with time, and, similarities of "events" or happenings, where it becomes possible to "recognise" an event as familiar and predict its outcome.

The ability to recognise an event is very important for the ability to anticipate what is going to happen in the near future, and, we have discussed, on previous occasions, that the mental classification systems mirror, quite closely, an earlier, philogenetically older, "cerebral classification system", where the sense impressions of all animals with the ability of individualised and flexible adaptations, are ordened into classifications that serve as a memory-bank for the experience of "familiarity". The ability of animals to classify and categorise experiences, depends, entirely, on the association of an analogous experience with a group of existing memory-traces, where an actual experience is compared and classified, because it evokes an analogous and relevant category of remembered experiences into a focus of awareness.

The mental classification system represents a system of classifying concepts, ideas and verbalisable awarenesses that have found a conscious expression, and, which have been represented by a communicable symbol. Perhaps, it is a little confusing to make a distinction beween cerebral and mental classification systems, because all mental faculties are mediated by the central nervous system. Let us define the difference between them in the following manner; the "cerebral" classification systems of the behaviourally flexible species' take place as a physiological mechanism that has nothing to do with the ability to represent an awareness by a communicable symbol. This physiological and subconscious classification system of sense impressions was necessary, before an animal could "recognise" anything at all, and, we have discussed, before, how the development of individual behavioural adaptations required the elaboration of memory capabilities and cerebral classification systems.

We have also discussed, how the "break-through" of symbolic representations created a new and very special class of sense impressions, nl., conscious awarenesses, and, we know, now, why these conscious awarenesses required, quickly, a classification system of their own. This was the only way in which this ability of symbolic representation was going to be of any use to the members of the small group of anthropoids who were experimenting with the possibilities of voluntary memory-recall.

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Chapter 5

Content

The link between stimulus and response.
A sliding scale between positive and negative evaluations.
The ability to execute a precisely tailored behavioural response.
An organisational blue-print.
Emphasising important awarenesses.
Natural Selection, and the process of "becoming extinct".

We have mentioned, that the link between stimulus and response is primarily "automatic", as long as we are reacting to familiar surroundings or circumstances, and, we have also seen, that, numerous "physiological" adjustments of our body, and, in particular, our muscular systems, take place entirely beyond the level of our conscious awareness and our voluntary will. This reminds us of the fact, that we belong to the world of living species', and, that, nearly all the species' of life "react" to their environment, and are not engaged in conscious evaluations of their circumstances.

The primary behavioural reaction is, in essence, a discrimination between harmful and beneficial stimuli, but, this distinction has nothing to do with a conscious awareness. All living organisms, from the earliest uni-cellular examples, have to be able to distinguish between harmful and beneficial stimuli, while only a single species, so far as we know, has developed a conscious awareness, as a result of the ability to represent awarenesses or memory-traces, symbolically.

The sliding scale between positive and negative sense impressions, or beneficial and harmful stimuli, still plays a role in our own existence, because we can, indeed, orden a large number of stimuli and sense impressions on such a sliding scale of positive-negative evaluations. We see, for example, that there is a large number of categories for our sense impressions, ranging from mildly unpleasant to extremely dangerous and life-threatening conditions. These stimuli evoke varying degrees of defensive reactions; from a mildly cautious and concerned attitude, to severe anxiety and a desperate last stance, as we fight for our life.

On the other side of the positive-negative scale, we see stimuli that are mildly positive, promising, or "interesting" in nature, ranging all the way to victorious feelings of triumph, when a hunted animal has been successfully brought-down, or, a formidable enemy has been defeated. We have elaborated these ideas before, and, we are recapitulating them, here, only, because the concepts of emotions and motivations, as well as genetically outlined instinctive patterns of behaviour, have been based upon these concepts.

Before nature started to experiment with behavioual flexibility, the patterns of behaviour were encoded, completely, into genetic instructions that were locked into the chromosomes of each cell. This genetic package contained, not only, the detailed instructions for its behaviour, but, also, the entire range of instructions that regulated its development from a fertilised egg-cell into a mature organism. In addition, the genetic code regulated, and still regulates, the functions that take place within each cell, at any particular moment of its existence.

However, from an early stage in evolution, the possibility existed to excercise a measure of flexibility in the behavioural response, because, after all, animal life depended always on its ability to move towards a beneficial stimulus and away from a harmful one. The behavioural instructions of each mobile cell left, therefore, the "direction of motion or movement" to the "input" from the environment.

In behavioural flexibility, this "anlage", or potential for a flexible mode of response, has become elaborated to a remarkable extent. In the precisely instructed animal species', the only flexibility of behaviour existed in the way it solved the problem of obstacles in locomotion, but, we see in the behaviourally flexible species', that the evaluation of sense impressions becomes flexible as well.

This variability in the evaluation of sense impressions resulted in a great advantage, because a member of such a flexible species could, then, make use of many more opportunities to obtain its food and protection, compared to species', that could only make use of these opportunities after their genetic code had, finally, "recognised" them and had "instructed" the species to make use of them; or, rather, after the genetic code had modified the behavioural and organisational instructions in such a way, that the behaviour of the members of the species would begin to make use of a particular possibility or opportunity.

Let us review, here, for a moment, the fundamental ideas and concepts that lie behind natural selection, because we can only appreciate the specific qualities and risks of behavioural flexibility, if we are able to recall a concise image of the nature and mechanisms of natural selection.

The living organisation is based upon the viability, or existence possibilities, of a large number of biochemical reaction-patterns that have been arranged into a specific, spatial framework within the cellular protoplasm, and, it is clear that the coordination, ordening, development, as well as the functions of all these biochemical reactions have to be guided.

The "blue-print" for the functional unit of living existence is contained in the genetic code, which is a complex structure of nucleic acids. These are carefully shielded from damage or change by a protective casket. This "master-code" is called-upon, in part, to instruct and guide all the processes of the living unit by producing "instructor" enzymes, which then diffuse throughout the cell and do the actual regulatory work. The genetic code determines, therefore, the structure and function of a living unit, and, it is worthwhile to emphasise, here, once again, the unit of function and structure.

Function and structure are two aspects of the same, living existence, and, these aspects have been differentiated, only, for the sake of an easier conceptual grasp. In essence, however, these two aspects are inter-related to such an extent, that this separation between function and structure is an illusion. If I want to write a sentence with my fountain pen, I am only concerned with the adequate funtioning of the entire structure, the pen, but, if I analyse in detail the existence of the fountain pen, I can describe its "anatomical structure" with all its parts, and, I can described the "events" that "flow" through the pen; e.g., the flow of ink.

Natural evolution of a species is reflected by slow changes in the genetic blue-print of a living organisation, and, these changes occur on the basis of a "selective" survival of a small segment of a generation of living organisms. The entire following generation originates, then, from this most successful segment or spectrum of genetic variability. In each generation, this selection of the most favourable part of the entire genetic spectrum is repeated; at least, this happens, whenever a species is under intense, evolutionary pressures, and, these mechanisms modify, slowly, the composition of the genetic instructions.

As we have discussed before, the sexual mode of reproduction allows the existence of a spectrum of genetic patterns, where the members of a living generation of a particular species, are very similar but not identical to each other. Small variations in structure and function, or capabilities, may spell the difference between life and death, and, therefore, a trait or characteristic that is advantageous for this species, will be accentuated, since the segment from which the next generation is going to come, will include the desirable feature or characteristic.

Similarly, a characteristic that is not useful, or, even, a liability, will be quickly weeded-out, because these characteristics are represented by those members that are not going to participate in the act of pro-creation, and, they do not contribute, therefore, to the genetic make-up of the following generation.

In this way, the composition of a genetic blue-print can be modified, rather slowly, by intense and sustained pressures upon the existence of a species, or a population of a species. Of course, there is a fine line between a successful adaptation and the event of extinction. If the evolutionary pressures are too intense; if they fluctuate too rapidly, or, if the genetic spectrum does not contain sufficient viable elements or characteristics for the forces of nature to make a useful selection, the entire living generation may be wiped-out.

As a rule, the process of extinction does not occur suddenly, but the number of surviving and reproducing members becomes increasingly smaller, and, eventually, the species is unable to maintain a large enough population for the processes of natural selection to do their work. Each generation becomes smaller. The territorial expanse becomes increasingly restricted, and extinction, which is the total loss of the genetic blue-print, is just around the corner.

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Chapter 6

Content

Adaptations.
Differentiations from a condition of pluri-potentiality.
The correlation between specialisation and a loss of versatility.
Yielding to a pressure-gradient by a fluid medium.
By-passing the slow, genetic method of encoding instructions.
Building-up an experience-base by behaviourally flexible organisms.
Programming the cerebral computer.
Selling a skill to obtain an income and a steady job.

What are the consequences of a period of intense evolutionary pressures? First of all, the pressures have to be sustained in order to make an impact upon the composition of the genetic blue-print. A short-lived pressure may decimate the population of a species, but, as soon as the pressures subside, the species recovers, genetically essentially unchanged.

The pressures may be very localised, geographically, and, then, only a part of the spectrum of a species is subjected to these pressures. This part will begin to change, and, frequently, the adaptative changes are so profound, that breeding with the rest of the species becomes impossible. Then, we have witnessed the emergence of a new species.

When the evolutionary changes in a population are so drastic, that genetic contact with the parent species has been lost, we have a new species on our hands, but, the gene-pool has also contracted to the population that has become, now, a species on its own. If the new species adapts, very precisely, to the new ecological conditions, it may flourish and, it may spread, again, into similar ecological niches that exist elsewhere.

A very successful adaptation is a sort of "break-through", since the new adaptations give rise to possibilities of existence that were not explored before, and, for this reason, such a momentous adaptation gives often rise to a "radiation" of many related but new species'. Nevertheless, these new species' are subject to the same criteria of viability, and, if the circumstances and conditions to which they have adapted themselves, change again, they face a similar threat of extinction, or a pressure to evolve further.

It is clear, therefore, that genetic adaptations are only possible, if a broad spectrum of genetic characteristics is available to the forces of natural selection to "work on", and, it is logical, therefore, that a new evolutionary trend always originates from a "main-stem", or, main branch of the tree of evolution; from a species that is not highly specialised and has, therefore, a much greater degree of genetic flexibility or adaptability, compared to a species, that is highly specialised and precisely adapted to its ecological niche.

The concept, that, specialisation of function is always coupled with a loss of flexibility in adaptation, is reflected in many examples we can see around us. Look e.g., at the specialisation of cells into specific organ-systems during embryogenesis, and note, how the "pluri-potentiality" of the cells has been gradually reduced, until most of them have become specialised; set in their ways; designed to function in a particular role, and unable to carry-out a different type of function.

The least specialised cells of the body retain, much better, the ability to differentiate into a variety of other cell-types, and, as a rule, we see, that the highly specialised cells of our organism have lost, not only, the ability to change their function, but, they have, also, lost the ability to reproduce themselves. This is the reason, why a neoplasm or cancer is much more likely to arise from undifferentiated cells than from cells that have become specialised, and, if a neoplasm, or "new-growth", does arise from a more specialised or differentiated group of cells, it behaves, usually, in a much more "benign" way; without the tendency to multiply rapidly and spread widely throughout the body.

Even, in the societies of man, we see the correlation between a specialisation in function and a loss of versatility, but, we have to remind ourselves, that a functional specialisation in human existence is far less pronounced, and, it is not associated with the anatomical specialisations we see in the differentiation of body-cells into organ-systems. The reasons for this difference will become clear, when we discuss the essential differences between the genetic and the cultural codes.

Let us return to a discussion of natural evolution, including the slow, adaptative changes taking place in the genetic blue-print. We have seen, that the essential limitation of a genetic adaptation lies in the slowness of this mechanism. For small, single-celled organisms, as well as many of the smaller insects, the "genetic turn-over" is high, which means, that the time-span between generations is quite short. However, with the development of larger animals, which is a significant and often used solution in the search for viability, the time-span between generations becomes much longer.

Together with a long period between generations, large species' have also a remarkably reduced population, because each large organism needs a large territory to sustain itself. Here, we see the two major draw-backs, or limitations, of the mechanisms of genetic adaptation, and, it is, therefore, not surprising, that nature sought, and explored, other methods of adaptation. Nature developed other means of instructing the living organism in order to overcome the limitations of a small population and a long time-interval between generations.

Obviously, the concepts of "searching and exploring" by the forces of natural selection, are not used, here, in the sense of a deliberate and conscious search or choice, such as we, human beings, would seek and explore, but, it is used to indicate the inevitable change in a path of development, whenever a fluid medium, yielding to a pressure-gradient, is encountering obstacles. Just as a slowly flowing river will change course and "seek" a path of least resistance, if it meets an obstacle, so is the essentially fluid search for viability by living organisms, inevitably, directed towards channels of lesser resistance, whenever an obstacle prevents a further flow into a particular direction.

In the case of the slowly growing, large animal species' with a low population density, the methods of genetic adaptation represented such an obstacle in the search for viability, because it became increasingly difficult to adapt the genetic code successfully to existing conditions. Nature went back to a potential that was present in the living organisation from the beginning; nl, the ability to learn from experiences. This is, in essence, the ability of an organism to discriminate between a harmful and a beneficial response, and, the ability to choose an appropriate "motoric response", or, a path of movements. Such a response would be towards a beneficial stimulus or away from a harmful one, depending on the prevailing conditions and circumstances of the local environment.

The ability to learn, as well as the influence of past experiences upon the behaviour of an organism, became increasingly important factors of survival in species', where viability began to rest upon an appropriate or intelligent choice of behaviour by the organism, rather than upon a detailed behavioural instruction from the genetic code. For example, the genetic code could not develop an elaborate set of instructions for the recognition of a large variety of edible foods, or, a large number of dangerous situations and circumstances, but, the genetic code could elaborate a neural or physiological structure of connections, (a biological computer, if you like), for each actualised or living member. During the life-time of actualised members of a particular species, such a computer would then be programmed by the sense impressions and experiences the individual would encounter, and, the programmed cerebral computer would assist in the construction or synthesis of a viable, behavioural response.

Of course, the newly born youngsters of such a species would be extremely vulnerable, because their cerebral computer would not have a program, as yet; at least, a program of personal experience could not exist as yet, until these experiences had occurred and had been registered. One way to compensate for this absence of an "experience base" was the introduction of a willingness to copy the behaviour of parents, on the assumption, that the behaviour of parents was, by definition, successful, since it had led to their survival as well as the ability to reproduce.

Copying parental behaviour was, therefore, a useful short-cut and safety mechanism to compensate for the vulnerability of the off-spring of behaviourally flexible species'. There is a corollary to this mechanism. The behaviour of the parents was shaped, instinctively, by genetic instructions, to display an attitude of protection and guidance towards their youngsters, until such time, that these youngsters were mature, and their cerebral computer had been programmed adequately by their experiences.

In this way, the youngsters of a behaviourally flexible species were able to survive the most dangerous period of infancy and childhood, until their faculties matured and their behaviour had been programmed or came under the influence of the type of behaviour they saw around them. We see, clearly, how important these mechanisms have become for the human species, where the period of protective guidance is measured in many years, and, where the infant and young child is nearly completely helpless and would perish without constant protection, supervision and the provision of food and other "essential services".

Slowly, over a period of fifteen to twenty years, human youngsters grow into fully developed adults. They learn, not only, to walk and run, but, they also learn to speak and communicate in various ways. They absorb, at least, the core of their cultural heritage, and, they learn about all the intricate relationships that exist between people, be it on a intuitive or subconscious level.

The child assimilates a major part of the cultural code during a prolonged period of formal schooling, and, it acquires a number of skills that are necessary for the transition towards a position of maturity and full social responsibilities. However, in the complex, affluent societies of today, the learning period may be much more narrowly geared towards acquiring a "specialised skill", which can then be "sold" to others in exchange for an "income", or a steady job.

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Chapter 7

Content

The importance of the cultural environment.
The "hardware" of the cerebral computer.
We act and react with body and mind functioning as a unit.
Inter-actions between instinctive and voluntary or deliberately chosen patterns of behaviour.
Emotions, and the factor of existential significance.
Highly developed flexible animals experience the same emotions as we do, but they can not name them.
Responses that fall somewhere in between instinctive reactions and emotionally neutral behaviour-patterns.
The "will" is a subjective experience of freedom.
The essence of an ethical choice.
The three factors that determine human existence; genetic instructions, cultural guidelines, and enviromental circumstances.

If we stop and think for a moment to what extent we have been influenced by our social and cultural environments, we come to the conclusion, that this influence is gigantic, indeed. Not only, do we speak the language of our society, believe most of the concepts we have been taught, dress, eat and behave in a way that reflects our cultural contacts, but, we also come to the conclusion, that we can not even think or imagine, in the privacy of our thoughts and aspirations, without making use of this cultural heritage.

As a matter of fact, we can not imagine an existence without this all-important cultural input of concepts, ideas, language-symbols and guidelines for inter-personal relationships. We do not even know, what it would be like to exist without the ability to think in words, which makes, inevitably, use of the cultural currency of our up-bringing or the society we live in.

We see, then, how important the cultural code or cultural input has become for our human way of life. While the genetic code determines our physical existence and our physiological functions, our thoughts and awarenesses are filled by the cultural code of the social environment. Yet, the anatomical basis for our awarenesses, as well as the ability to think depend on the structure and function of the brain, and, there is no question that the neurological substrate, the "hardware" of the cerebral computer, so to speak, has come into being under the influence of the genetic code.

Genetically, we have been given the potential to carry-out all the functions of the cultural code, but, the contents of this cultural code, as well as the extent to which our potentials have been developed, are, in essence, beyond the scope of our genetic blue-print.

We are an intricate mixture of genetic, cultural and environmental influences, and, our behaviour shows the confluence of these same three elements. On theoretical grounds, there seems to be little advantage to separate these influences from each other, but, as a preliminary excercise to understanding ourselves and our behaviour, it is a useful tool to grasp the essence of our existence.

Let us, first, consider, what the genetic factors contribute to our behaviour. We recall, that we "behave" by acting and reacting with our body and mind, and, we have seen, that our body, as well as the nervous system and the brain, have been formed under the instructions of the genetic blue-print. Yet, even, here, it pays to keep in mind, that, all three factors played a role in the development of our body and the physical happenings of "coming into being".

While the genetic code organised the construction of the embryonic cells as they grew in the womb, the materials used came from the outside, or "the environment", and, the fact, that, we, as a newly born organism, came into the world and survived until adulthood, depended, to a large extent, on "cultural influences". It depended, primarily, on the behaviour of our parents, as well as other people in the social environment.

We act and react with our body and mind, and, here, we see the many limitations, as well the possibilities and potentials that have been given in outline by the genetic code. But, there is another important aspect. If we look at the more primitive life-forms, where behaviour is completely or nearly completely regulated by genetic instructions, we see "stereotyped" behaviour-patterns. These are rather fixed, recurring patterns, which can roughly be described as "aggressive", (or the movement towards a positive stimulus), or "defensive"; the movement away from, or resisting, a negative or harmful stimulus, together with a complex of behaviour-patterns that center around the needs of reproduction. Even in human behaviour, we can still recognise the same three poles of existential concerns around which much of our behaviour revolves. It is interesting to note, that our behaviour also becomes quite stereotyped, as it comes closer to any one of the three existential poles.

In spite of the fact, that we are entirely different personalities, we see, that, in extreme anxiety, extreme aggressiveness, or the extreme forms of sexual excitation, our behaviour becomes very much the same. Therefore, there are good reasons to believe, that, during strongly instinctive behaviour, we exhibit behaviour-patterns that are biologically determined, or, genetically encoded. However, most often, this instinctive pattern of behaviour is muted, or tempered, by forces of moderation and rationality, which are the product of a learned or cultural input. We have learned, intuitively, a long time ago, that these instinctive behaviour-patterns need to be "controled and refined", before they can be useful and appropriate.

Before we go into the details of this inter-action between instinctive behaviour-patterns and the more voluntary modes of our behaviour, we like to define the concepts of "emotion" and "motivation". A motivation is a drive. It is a force that elicits a sustained but somewhat instinctive response. Motivations may also become verbalised as a large variety of goal-patterns, which become a guiding principle, or a "beacon", for the organisation of our behaviour. An emotion is a subjective experience that is associated with an "existentially significant" pattern of behaviour. In a way, we may define an emotion as the subjective feeling or experience we notice in ourselves, whenever our behaviour is, at least in part, under the influence of an instinctive or genetically pre-programmed type of behaviour.

This definition shows us, clearly, that we can recognise in our behaviour-patterns, periods, when we are not motivated or "moved", strongly, by emotions. We say, then, that we are "emotionally more or less neutral", realising, that there are no sharp boundaries between a mental state of emotionality and emotional neutrality.

It is quite useful to use our conscious awarenesses as a tool to examine the field of observations about our own reactions. We see, then, how we may remain "calm, cool and collected", as long as we are not subjected to stimuli that arouse our instinctive behaviour-patterns. Such stimuli are "existentially significant", because they carry a great deal of meaning. Many stimuli are non-significant, or, they show a mixture of mildly positive and negative elements. In particular, the reception of sense impressions with a mixed or vaguely delineated meaning require a "careful analysis", as well as a "manual" or deliberate response by our conscious awarenesses.

In studying the human being, we have learned to grasp these mechanisms in words and ideas, and, therefore, we can call them by name, and, we can talk about these experiences and awarenesses with each other, or, we can write them down in an effort to sharpen the conceptual precision of these mechanisms. But, we should not forget, that these mechanisms are also "experienced" by animals that do not have the ability to name them, especially, if these animals have a great deal of behavioural flexibility and a wide range of memory-traces.

Let us return to the specifically human form of verbalisable awarenesses, and, we will first sketch the various levels of awareness we can be aware of, and, later, we will discuss more specific and exceptional states of the human mind. Fortunately, our understanding has progressed to the point, that we are able to sketch, in a brief review, the various influences that play a role in the faculty of "conscious awareness".

We have seen, that our behaviour slides between an "emotionally aroused" state and an emotionally more or less neutral state. From a centrum that is emotionally more or less neutral, we can slide towards the negative or the positive pole of our instinctive patterns of behaviour, or, we can be moved towards the somewhat separate but essentially positive pole of sexual arousal. The closer we come to one of the instinctive poles or pillars of our personality, the more our behaviour is determined by the pre-programmed, biologically inherited and genetically encoded instructions. The closer we come to the center of emotional neutrality, the more important cultural influences and rational awarenesses are in shaping our behaviour.

We do not want to give the impression, that there is no overlap, because there is, indeed, a marked overlap of cultural and biological influences upon our behaviour, especially, in this large and variable zone that lies in between instinctive and rational or emotionally neutral types of behaviour. Most of us exist, somewhere, in between the extremes of instinctive and emotionally neutral behaviour, and, therefore, most of us exhibit a continuously varying mixture of genetic and cultural influences in our behaviour-patterns.

The "will" is a subjective experience of freedom, where we experience the need to make a deliberate choice between one type of behaviour or another. Sometimes, the choice is difficult, because we feel that the choice is rather arbitrary. There is, then, no particular reason to choose one way or the other. Sometimes, the choice is, not only, difficult, but "agonising", which means, that there is a great deal at stake about the outcome of our choice. However, the contradictory forces, influences or impulses may be so well-balanced, that we do not know, which way to choose.

Often, there is a trade-off; e.g. a choice between long-term gains with temporary hardships and the need for self-discipline, and, the lure of immediate gratification and the half-realised knowledge, that the long-term consequences may be disastrous. Sometimes, the trade-off is between a benefit for me, at the expense of others, and, a choice, that benefits the people around me. This is the essence of an ethical choice, which is often difficult and complex.

Most of the time, however, the choice is not that difficult, because the balance of forces is more clearly weighted in favour of one choice or the other. Yet, in spite of the fact, that the basic choice may be clear, many details present themselves as problems that require thought, clarification, study, as well as a careful analysis of all the factors involved.

We are then back to our original discussion, where we saw, that the main purpose and usefulness of behavioural flexibility, as well as the faculty of conscious awareness, was, indeed, this ability to make a careful analysis of the present circumstances. This careful analysis requires a small but detailed field of observations in order to come, eventually, to the most appropriate adaptative response possible. Here, the genetic instructions are limited to the provision of the possibility to carry-out such an analysis. Personal experiences, goals and beliefs, or learned techniques and applications, will decide the actual behavioural choices.

However, it is important to remind ourselves, that, even, in this center of rationality and emotional neutrality, the three factors of genetic instructions, cultural influences and environmental circumstances, all play a role. The "evaluating computer", so to speak, has been built by the genetic code, with the help of suitable environmental circumstances, and, this computer is programmed by our experiences, and, in particular, the belief structures and guidelines which we have absorbed from our social environment, and, the input-data that have to be analysed, are primarily those of the circumstances of the environment, as they happen to exist at a particular time and place.

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Chapter 8

Content

A remarkable unity of existence.
Qualities and names.
Qualities, or attributes, are "conventions of agreement".
The more physiological the sensation, the more uniform the experience, and, the sharper its symbolic representation.
The quality of "time".
An on-going process of recognition and anticipation.
The past, the present and the future.
Hopeful expectations about the powers of prediction.

There is a remarkable unity in our existence, because our conscious awarenesses and the faculties of a behavioural choice are guided by the same cerebral computer. We should pay attention, here, to the specifically human faculty of conscious awareness and speech. This is the ability to form concepts and ideas; to communicate them with each other, with the help of verbal symbols, and, to construct various levels of abstract thought.

Indeed, if we talk about being consciously aware of something, we mean, that we are aware of something we can name or describe fairly precisely. We imply in the concept of conscious awareness, the ability to verbalise, and, even, discuss a particular awareness, but, we have discussed, before, how the field of conscious awarenesses merges gradually with areas of awareness that are only accessible by association, and, we have seen, how these areas merge with a field of generalised experiences, where the individual experiences have lost their separate identity. This is the sphere of the sub-conscious.

We are also aware of a large number of concepts and ideas that can be named and described quite accurately, and, yet, they seem to lack a "tangible" existence in the reality of our sense impressions. At least, they are not labels on categories of sense impressions, like the names of objects or happenings. For example, a large category of "qualities" such as colours, texture, degrees of firmness and softness, or consistency, are attributes of specific items or tangible objects of existence, but they are themselves not separately existing entities. A stone may have a colour, a texture, a particular consistency, but, a solid stone may crumble easily and can, then, be described as brittle, etc.

We see, here, that our mind has grouped-together a large variety of commonly occurring qualities of objects into groupings of similarities. For example, the colour that gives a definite impression as "red", has been given a specific label. It is very difficult to "prove" the existence of these qualities. How can you convince someone else of the fact, that an object is green or red? We rely, here, entirely, upon a shared biological heritage. Because we share, quite precisely, the same physiological mechanisms, we can say to a youngster who is learning to speak; "this is green, and, that is red", and, we point to objects that typify a particular colour. Because the child sees colours as we do, it can later point to an object and name its colour, and, the confirmation of the correctness of the label "proves" to the child, as well as the teacher, that the process of learning is progressing satisfactorily.

All qualities are, therefore, "conventions of agreement", based upon a shared program of physiological sensations and experiences. For example, if I burn my fingers on a hot object, I will give a yell and drop it quickly, and, I will exhibit a sensation of "pain". Anyone else will behave in essentially the same manner, and, we can, therefore, agree amongst ourselves about a large variety of such "subjective experiences", as seeing colours, experiencing pain, or joy, grief, or anger, etc.

We agree, that some things are soft or firm, rough or smooth, hot or cold, far-away or nearby, to the left or the right, up or down, etc., etc. We agree amongst ourselves, that some experiences are taking place now, or did take place yesterday, the day before yesterday, or much further in the past. We may, even, agree and communicate with each other the expectation that some things may happen, or should happen, later today, tomorrow, or, at some time in the future.

All these items of agreement are ideas and concepts that have been abstracted as commonly recurring qualities or phenomena, associated with the happenings and objects we have been exposed to. Yet, in the field of emotions and feelings, we see, that the abstraction of concepts becomes much more vague, especially, if we try to define the more complex emotions of joy and grief, anger and frustration, etc., etc.

The more physiological or physical the sensations are, the sharper the definition of these concepts, because we experience these primary sensations in a very similar manner. However, the complex behaviour-patterns, such as the large variety of emotions and motivations, are much more difficult to abstract precisely, because we differ, quite significantly, in their experience and interpretation.

Time is also a "quality". The concept of time is based on the common perception that some of the events we can remember and talk about, happened "just now", a short while ago, or, a long time ago, and, the anticipation of events in the immediate or remote future is also based on the common experience of all human beings, that their reality perceptions allow them to anticipate, at least, to some extent, what is going to happen.

We should not think, here, about the mystery and excitement associated with someone's claims to "predict the future", but, we have to realise, that, nearly everything we do at this particular moment, takes into account, what we expect to happen in the next moment. If we are trying to catch a ball that has been thrown at us, we automatically anticipate with our posture and movements, where, and at what particular moment, we may be able to catch this ball. If we sit-back and look at our daily, routine activities, we see, that our behaviour, "now", is strongly based upon what we expect to happen in the next few moments.

What we do, depends on the ability to compare the incoming sensations or sense impressions of the present moment against relevant memory-traces of past experiences. Without this constant play-back against our memory, we would not be ble to recognise anything, and, we have discussed, how the processes of recognition and anticipation are going-on, constantly, during all our waking hours. (Perhaps, these mechanisms of recognition and anticipation are also playing some sort of a role in our dreams, but, we know, that, on many occasions, these "checks against reality" fail. Often, after waking up, we experience the fact, that we had accepted as perfectly normal and logical, circumstances and events which we reject, immediately, as impossible, as soon as we are awake.)

We have discussed many of these aspects extensively before, and we only want to remind ourselves, here, that our conscious awarenesses and our behavioural actions of the moment are "played-out" with a constant check against our memory and classifying mechanisms, as well as against our anticipations of the immediate future. The "possibilities of development" are foreseen in our minds, primarily intuitively, and these images of an anticipated reality influence, to a large extent, what we are doing at the present time. It is, therefore, not surprising, that we all have a strongly developed sense of time, which is an appreciation of the differences between the past, the present and the future.

We all have experienced the enormous advantage and power associated with the ability to predict, accurately, what is going to happen, and, it is logical, that people have always sought to extend their powers of prediction beyond that which is physiologically given to us. Throughout the history of mankind, we see numerous and persistent efforts to increase these powers of prediction with magical manipulations, and, there are tenacious and hopeful expectations, even, amongst serious scientists, about the ability to "prove", that some people have powers of prediction and awareness which are denied to others.

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Chapter 9

Content

Irrealistic expectations about the possibility of a "break-through" in a few, exceptional members of mankind.
An evolutionary argument against the likelyhood of extra-sensory perception.
A long time-period of anticipation is a specifically human feature.
The projection of "unity"; examples.
Relying upon mental images.
Rejecting doubts with an emotional vehemence.
Scientific and religious structures of belief.
The ability of an awareness to "fit-in", nicely.
A discussion of extra-sensory perception.

Anyone, who is able to think along evolutionary and physiological lines, will see, that it is utterly irrealistic to expect such a powerful trait or break-through as the ability to predict the future, to be present in only a few, exceptional members. If, indeed, this trait to predict the future would have been present in our genetic spectrum, the existential advantages would have been so gigantic, that, in a very short period of time, this powerful trait would have manifested itself in all the members of a generation.

Look at the break-through of speech, and, see, how quickly, all the living members of the human species developed or acquired the ability to speak. Those, who were deficient in this aspect, had such an existential handicap, that the relentless pressures of competitive strife were not long in weeding-out such "retarded" specimens of mankind. There is good evidence to believe that speech is the latest and, perhaps, one of the most ruthlessly engraved genetic traits to emerge in the spectrum of human possibilities of existence. Because the process of symbolic representation, together with rudimentary thought processes, had already developed, before the final break-through of speech took place, it is justifiable to consider the "speech-bearing segment" of humanity to have displaced all the non-speaking forms of human existence.

We have no evidence, at the present time, to assume, that, any of the non-speaking forms of mankind were able to survive, but, then, this is, perhaps, to some extent a matter of definition. Some of the most isolated and primitive tribes, still in existence, or, existing until fairly recently, may well have had such a primitive language, that it was hardly a language at all. At least, their language can not be compared to this sophisticated instrument of thought and communication, which evolved during the fermentation processes that took place in the pressure-cooker of competitive strife.

However, we are deviating somewhat from our line of thought. We have sketched the physiological and widely represented capabilities of prediction or anticipation, and, we have given an evolutionary reason, why the existence of a true "extra-sensory perception" capability is very unlikely. We will not repeat the many arguments we have advanced before, why it is nearly impossible to prove on the basis of statistical correlations, whether or not such a faculty exists. The main idea we want to emphasise, here, is the fact, that our existence in the moment of the present, is, in essence, a blend of past experiences, the moment of the present, as well as a complex of anticipations about the immediate and inter-mediate future.

If we look at our behaviour in terms of "outlook" and long-term goals, it becomes clear that the human being has developed a remarkably extended time-span of expectations and anticipations, stretching over many years. This very long period of anticipation into the future seems to be a feature that is specifically human and is not shared by any other species, so far as we know. However, in a way, this is not surprising, because these long-term expectations and anticipations are dependent upon specifically human beliefs and conscious awarenesses.

Time, therefore, is just one of the many common denominators of experience that have been abstracted into an independently existing awareness, and, because so many abstractions live a more or less independent existence in the minds of people, we get the impression, that they are "realities", just like the "tangible realities" of our sense impressions, until we remind ourselves about the differences between the concept of an abstraction and a specific item or event of existence. However, if we look at this dinstinction a little more closely, we see, that "named", but specific objects and events are, as a rule, already a class of similar objects. Look at our names for a stone, a chair, a pen or a book; they all indicate a class of similar but not identical objects, and, for this reason, we have to specify which object or event we are talking about.

However, there is an even more important "abstraction", or rather, "composition", which the human mind carries-out. This is the projection of a "unity", which is imposed on a specific constellation of noticeable or tangible sense-impresions, and, because of this act of "composing a unit of existence", it becomes a familiar or recognisable entity. We mean this; if I look at a chair or pick-up a cup, I have the impression, that the reality has been "grasped" by calling this object by its name. The individual components of the object are visible, but of less importance to me, because the object functions as a unit; as a cup, a chair or a pen, and, a detailed analysis of the components or its construction makes only sense, if I want to make a repair, or, if there is another specific reason to do so.

However, our modern, scientific ways of looking at reality, gives us the possibility to describe this unit into a large number of minute details; down to its composition in terms of molecules and atoms. We notice, that such a "microscopic" look at the unit of a cup, a chair or a pen shows us a reality that bears no resemblance to the mental imagery of this familiar object of daily use.

What does this mean? It means, that, in essence, the reality of a cup, a chair, but, also, the reality of a molecule or a crystal, is nothing more than a mental composition or concept; a mental synthesis into a useful and convenient unitary image of a number of sense impressions, and, we can, then, inter-act, smoothly and appropriately, with the realities around us.

By analysing the way we perceive reality, we see, that the reality of such tangible items as a utensil, or any other familiar object, is much less certain and much less absolute than we thought. If we pursue this line of thought further, we come to the conclusion, that, our "sense of reality", or, the feeling that a particular reality is an unquestionable and absolute truth, depends, entirely, on the degree of reliance and trust we give to the mental imagery representing these "external conditions of existence".

We do not want to explore these ideas any further at this point, because we have elaborated them extensively on previous occasions. We just want to recapitulate the concepts that show us, how our sense of reality, or, rather, the sense that we possess an "absolute truth", depends, entirely, upon what we believe to be true. What we believe to be true, depends, in part, on the fact, that our personal experiences seem to confirm, time and again, the reality or truthfulness of a certain imagery, view-point or explanation, but, it also depends on our beliefs, as well as the images and ideas we have taken-over from our social environment and accept as absolute and unquestionable truths.

If, during our most impressionable years, we have been taught by highly convincing and authoritative people about the truth of certain religious, social or scientific beliefs, we tend to accept these ideas, nearly entirely, "on authority". If we "live by these truths", we lavish a great deal of effort, sacrifice, faith or emotional reliance upon these images, and, they become increasingly an unquestioned and unquestionable truth. The more we rely upon these images for the sake of our mental and physical security, the less likely we are to doubt them. Any doubt about them, or, any evidence that these images may be erroneous or incomplete, would cause a severe reaction of anxiety, and, we are, therefore, inclined to reject such doubts with a strongly emotional vehemence.

It does not matter, whether our belief structures have become predominantly religious or secular in nature, because we all have accepted by far the majority of these beliefs on the authority of someone else. Do you think, that there is one scientist, who has verified for himself all the scientific images he believes in? Of course not, and, this is not the purpose of scientific thought and teaching. The purpose is to develop the ability to evaluate, critically, all statements one encounters, and, to develop the ability to check "roughly" the accuracy, or plausibility, of a statement by the ability to correlate it with other statements or items of knowledge, supporting a particular explanation or point of view.

However, most of the time, we "verify" a statement not in such a formal way; where we remember a number of authoritative statements and re-capitulate, more or less accurately, what these authorities have said. Our usual "verification" takes place by translating a statement into a mental image and, then, we try to fit this mental image into a coherent whole. If it seems to "fit nicely", we are much more likely to believe its validity, compared to the situation, where we have great difficulties fitting a statement into a coherent whole.

For example, if someone makes a statement to the effect, that a deceased person is, somehow, able to communicate with a living member of mankind, this statement will be relatively easy to accept, if we believe that an immortal soul exists after death, and, that such an immortal soul "is around", in one way or another. However, if we believe, that all mental functions, all forms of awareness and consciousness, as well as all forms of communication are dependent upon an intact, living, human organism, then, such a statement will be very difficult to believe, because it would contradict one of the most fundamental assumptions of our reality perceptions.

In the same way, it is difficult to accept the concept of "extra-sensory perception", because it implies an ability to perceive, which falls, in essence, outside the mechanisms of any of the known mechanisms of perception. If we try to demonstrate an entirely different and unknown form of perception by all sorts of elaborate experimental techniques and statistical correlations, we find it difficult to, even, acknowledge, that it would be possible to conclude from such methods, that we are, indeed, dealing with an entirely unknown, or, "extra-sensory", form of perception.

The problem is this; even, if we would accept a statistical correlation as significant, and, even if we agree that some form of perception did take place, how can we be sure, that such an apparent form of perception or communication falls outside the "normal range" of perceptions? If we are not sure, that we understand and grasp, fully, the "normal" or physiological range of perceptions, how, then, can we conclude, that an apparent function of perception represents an "extra-sensory" form of perception?

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Chapter 10

Content

Developing an ability to discuss "off the cuff".
A large majority of our responses falls in between emotional neutrality and instinctive behaviour-patterns.
Varying levels of abstraction.
The art of conveying a story.
A network of complex, but understandable and analysable relationships.
Awareness and alertness.
It takes some time for a structure of beliefs to evolve and establish itself.
A great deal of anxiety and anger is generated, whenever fundamental truths are questioned or challenged.

The main point we want to make, here, is the fact, that it is very useful to cultivate the habit to fit every statement or bit of information we hear and are asked to believe, into an overall perception of reality. By practicing this ability faithfully and persistently, we sharpen, not only, this important structure of coherent reality perceptions, but, we will also be able to discuss "off the cuff", why we find it difficult to accept one or other statement or observation that has been made in good faith, and is fully believed-in by the person who makes this statement.

We are talking, here, in essence, about the ability to think logically and behave rationally. Rational behaviour is based upon, and guided by, logical thought, and, logical thinking is a tightly controled sequence of observations, evaluations and arguments, which is centered around an attempt to construct and maintain a coherent perception of reality. This type of behaviour is only possible, if we are not "distracted" by strong emotional impulses or instinctive drives, and, we can conclude, therefore, that rational thought and behaviour find their clearest expression in the zone of emotional near-neutrality.

There is a large area of behaviour that lies in between the zones of emotional neutrality and the instinctive patterns of behaviour. Behaviour in this zone is guided by, and associated with, emotions, and, it is, therefore, a blend between the rational, consciously constructed behavioural response and the patterns of instinctive behaviour. The instinctive "input" is modified, in varying degrees, by the forces of rational evaluation and the contribution of our voluntary will.

Let us review the zone of emotional neutrality in more detail, and, we will come to the conclusion, that our awarenesses, conscious beliefs and concepts are "behavioural tools", designed to help us construct an appropriate, finely-tuned, behavioural response, in accordance with the prevailing circumstances of the moment and the immediate future. We have seen, how conscious awarenesses contain various layers of abstraction and synthesis. We have discussed, that, even the name of a specific object is, nearly always, the designation of a category, where a specific member of this category has to be indicated by additional specifications. We have seen, how qualities are independently existing concepts, which are, in the world of observations, always attached to, or part of, tangible items of existence.

We have also seen, how the process of generalisation or abstraction may repeat itself; for example, the words "red" or "green" are a first-level abstraction of a quality that is a specific, but, generally shared function of the visual system. The word "colour" is a further abstraction, where all the qualities that denote colour are grouped-together. Qualities of a different nature, such as colours, consistency and texture, etc. are again generalised into the concept of a "quality".

In this way, we can analyse our language, ideas and concepts, and, we see, how we work, continuously, with varying levels of abstraction. At the same time, we may also need to make a distinction between observations that are commonly grouped-together. For example, if we describe, in general terms, a beach, a lake or a forest, we are able to convey a general picture of a beach, a lake or a forest into the minds of our audience, but, if we want to say something special or specific about this beach or forest, we launch into a more detailed description, where we try to evoke, as precisely as possible, the impressions and sensation we felt when we were there.

Perhaps, we may want to convey a story, and, we use a sequence of words in a sentence, and a sequence of sentences in a paragraph or a chapter, in order to give an accurate and detailed account of the happenings that took place. We make our description as detailed as is necessary for the audience to understand, why we thought it important to tell this story.

Our awarenesses, concepts, ideas, experiences and memories, our ability to speak and think, read and write, are, primarily, tools with which we try to understand our environment, construct a behavioural synthesis and communicate with each other. We will not elaborate the many aspects that are touched-upon, here, because we have discussed, elsewhere, how an adequate or appropriate behavioural response needs an "input" from other people. The need to communicate and construct a behavioural response, as well as the drive to understand or grasp our environment and the circumstances in which we find ourselves, are inter-woven and form a network of complex, but understandable and analysable, relationships.

Behavioural flexibility arose as an evolutionary experiment, where the genetic instructions for a precise behavioural response were loosened in order to provide the possibility for an input from, either, personal experiences, or, an example of parental behaviour. We have seen, how this need to evaluate deliberately a variety of sense impressions in order to synthesise the behavioural response, gives rise to a state of "alertness", as we see in the behaviour of all flexible animals.

Alertness is the objective appearance of "being in tune" with the environment, and, of "following" what is happening. The fact, that an animal registers what is going-on, gives us the impression, that it is "aware" of its surroundings, just as we are aware of what is going-on, when we are alert and in tune with our environment. Only, when the state of awareness led to the ability to recall, frequently and voluntarily, a large number of mental images, with the help of a representative symbol, only, then, can we speak of a "conscious awareness", which can be discussed and communicated with other people.

We see, therefore, varying levels of awareness, where the simplest form of awareness represents a state of alertness in a behaviourally flexible animal, without the ability to manipulate memory-traces voluntarily. The next stage represents the earliest forms of symbolic representation, where we visualise, how our early ancestors manipulated their memory-traces via the techniques of mimicry, gesticulations, vocalisations and dance-like pantomimes. These behaviour-patterns could trigger, somewhat haphazardly, a wave of recognition in the other members of the small community.

Then, we reach a stage, where the number of symbolically represented awarenesses became so large, that they had to be grouped according to common denominators. These common denominators emerged, slowly, as "concepts" or abstractions, and, they functioned as classifying principles for the various categories of mental classification. This process repeated itself several, or, even, many times, as we have discussed. Eventually, the regulating or classifying principles that guided the incoming sense impressions into a "recognised category", became so complex, that they began to form a "structure of coherent relationships" or "beliefs".

Our contempory level of awareness is, indeed, characterised by the existence of a belief structure. We react to our environment on the basis of what we believe to be true. Nearly constantly, our experiences are interpreted in such a way, that they confirm our beliefs. If this would not be the case, the belief structure would be undermined so quickly, that it would not have a chance to establish itself.

It takes some time, therefore, for a belief to evolve and establish itself, because the concepts and ideas of a belief structure have to gain "credibility", but, once they have been accepted as a belief, they assume a great deal of authority, and, the tendency to question or debate these "fundamental and absolute truths", will be frowned-upon. Any questioning of fundamental truths will be felt as a disloyalty to the community, and, it is perceived as a threat, because it is often very difficult to substantiate these fundamental truths with proofs and logical arguments.

Besides, leaders and prominent citizens in society feel threatened and insulted, if they are questioned, or, if their testimony is doubted. Therefore, a great deal of anxiety and anger is generated, whenever fundamental truths are questioned. Once an absolute or fundamental structure of beliefs has established itself, there is a strong tendency by all the members of the social grouping, to classify their experiences in accordance with these officially sanctioned and generally accepted beliefs.

Brave, indeed, is the individual who dares to admit, even, if it is just to himself, that some of his observations and experiences do not seem to fit well within the belief structures of his social environment.

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Chapter 11

Content

Is there an awareness that goes "beyond" absolute beliefs?
A "feeling" or intuitive appreciation for the usefulness and truthfulness of a relativistic perception of reality.
Problems with behavioural flexibility.
When the genetic framework of instructions "leaves a blank".
An algebraic summation of positive and negative influences.
The concept of a "free will".
Destination and Pre-destination.
Consequences, when accepting the possibility of a pre-destined future.
The need to synthesise a behavioural choice voluntarily, deliberately and intelligently.
A look at the completely arbitrary choice.

You may ask me, whether there exists another form of awareness that goes "beyond" the level guided by absolute beliefs, or, rather, by the belief in an absolute truth? Yes, there is, but, I agree with you, that a relativistic interpretation of reality is still far from widely accepted. However, I think that a feeling for the usefulness and truthfulness of a relativistic reality perception, is gaining ground. We see a lot of intense questioning, as well as an impatience with fundamentalistic beliefs, but, in times of crises and turmoil, these absolute certainties have a tendency to re-establish themselves.

Let us discuss, first, the problems that are associated with behavioural flexibility. We should look, in particular, at the difficulties that may arise during the synthesis of a satisfactory behavioural response in the emotionally neutral zone. As a corollary, we should discuss the difficulties associated with a reality perception that is based upon emotionally neutral sense impressions or observations. We will, then, describe a relativistic way of interpreting reality, and, we will weigh, carefully, the advantages and disadvantages associated with this type of awareness.

Behavioural fine-tuning in the zone of emotional near-neutrality is based, nearly exclusively, on a "deliberate", voluntary or "manual" synthesis of the behavioural response, depending upon the analysis and classification of the incoming sense impressions against the memory background of the individual. The judgements of various anticipated effects and results are also taken into account, and, the behavioural choices are only slightly influenced by emotional or pre-programmed behaviour-patterns.

This type of behaviour is designed to be a "fine tuning" to the locally existing and, often, quite variable circumstances. Here, we see the essence of behavioural flexibility, and, we have discussed, before, how, indeed, behavioural flexibility was "developed", or, given a chance to prove its worth, as a result of the need to adjust an individual's response far more finely in tune with rapidly varying local circumstances and situations. This is something that genetically encoded instructions can not do. The genetic framework leaves, here, a "blank", so to speak, to be filled-in by prevailing conditions, but, because there is a blank, the organism has to make the behavioural choice as a result of its own judgements.

The human species has learned to "abstract" these experiences and mechanisms in a series of verbalisable concepts and ideas, but, we have good reasons to believe, that flexible species', without the ability of symbolic representation and concept formation, also undergo the experience, that they have to be alert, and, that they have to make a deliberate and voluntary choice in order to formulate an appropriate response.

The human being, with his vastly enlarged powers of observation, is often able to predict, quite accurately, what such a "voluntary" or synthesised response is going to be, when observing an animal that has to evaluate the sense impressions according to past experiences, and, which has, also, a rudimentary ability to anticipate the probable consequences of a particular response.

Because of the ability to predict the more primitive and artificially simplified behavioural responses, especially, when they take place in a controled environment such as a laboratory, the existence of a "free will" for human behaviour has been denied, or, at least, questioned. However, as we have discussed, on several occasions, the tendency to deny the existence of a "free will" in human behaviour is also influenced by a number of religious concepts and beliefs, where all future happenings have, apparently, already been "foreseen" and ordained by a Divine Will. Under these conditions, it does not really matter what we want or do; our future has been pre-destined, and, some of us will, eventually, make it into Heaven, while the rest are presumed to have been condemned, from the beginning, to an eternity in Hell.

Even for those, who do not adhere to these ideas of pre-destination, there is a strong tendency to believe, that the future is already "destined" or determined, in a one way or another. Many people find a strange fascination in the persistent claims of some individuals, that they know, at least, in broad and mysterious outlines, what the future holds, and, even, if we laugh at such notions and ridicule the diviners as charlatans who deceive gullible people and cheat them out of their money, we all recognise, intuitively, that the knowledge, or, even, a glimpse of this fascinating and often fearful future, would give us an enormous advantage in coping with the problems at hand.

Rarely do we think, logically and clearly, about these matters, and, rarely, do we realise, how fundamentally contradictory it is to believe, that the future has been determined and can be glimpsed. We do not realise, that, any knowledge of what is going to happen, (assuming, now, for a moment that such a knowledge would be possible), would inevitably influence the future course of events. My actions at the present are going to determine, at least, to some extent, where I will be in this future, and, what sort of happenings and events I will be exposed to. Because I have, at least, some powers to make a voluntary decision about what I do or do not do, the future must be altered by "knowing" what this future is going to be.

For example, if I would be told by such a "clair-voyant" person, that this or that would happen to me, and, if this person would give, at least, a few indications, when, and where, a specific event is going to take place, I can take "evasive" actions. There is no power on earth that could prevent me from changing a course of events at any moment of my existence, by simply deciding to go somewhere, or, to stay home.

Therefore, the techniques of "sooth-saying", or, the claims of "divining the future", are purely psychological manipulations, whereby we try to find some sort of boost in morale or confidence, or, a justification for our cautious and anxious moods. The clever sooth-sayers know this, and, this is the reason, why they sense, quite accurately and intelligently, what we want to hear, and, they will, therefore, satisfy our mostly subconscious wants and needs, so that we are happy and willing to pay them their fees.

Let us come back to the question of the "free will". Careful observation of human behaviour has also increased, to a remarkable extent, our predictive capabilities about what someone's "free choice" is going to be, and, this has led many scientifically schooled people to lose interest in the concept of the "free will". However, we should not try to deny, what is obviously a strong, subjective experience; the need to synthesise a behavioural choice voluntarily, deliberately and intelligently. We should keep in mind, that, we are, after all, nature's most elaborate experiment with behavioural fine-tuning, and, we are the species, par excellence, that is able to adapt to all sorts of local variations and circumstances. We have argued, why we have been so successful in this field, and, how we have gone on the "offensive" and have learned to manipulate and regulate our environment, rather than simply adapt to it.

If we are able to predict a "voluntary choice" by a human being, it means, only, that we can evaluate, quite accurately, the sense impressions and judgements of someone else. Since the mechanisms of coming to a behavioural choice are consistent and similar, it makes sense, that we can often predict, what is going to be someone's choice. If there is, e.g., a clear-cut advantage to make a certain choice, we "know", of course, what direction the voluntary mechanisms of the free will are going to take.

However, if we look at a completely arbitrary choice, like picking or choosing an object out of a number of scrupulously identical objects, we see, that the choices are going to be random and can not be predicted, except by the methods of statistical analysis. We have learned to grasp the behaviour of random events with the help of statistical concepts, and mathematical descriptions of regularly recurring patterns of events. As a result, we may come to the erroneous conclusion that we can "predict" these random events. The only thing we can predict, is the fact, that random events show certain regularities and characteristics, regardless of the type of random event that is taking place.

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Chapter 12

Content

The confusion associated with a mixture of positive and negative stimuli.
Analysing sense impressions into categories of "good and evil".
The lure of quick, decisive decisions, and an increased likelyhood of conflict.
The behaviour of combatants.
The meaning of the concept of "accuracy".
Sense-enlarging instruments.
The evolution of reality perceptions and interpretations.
Difficulties with developing a "feel" for a reality perception that is so different from our own.

We have considered, elsewhere, the apparent absence of the voluntary choice under a variety of circumstances. Here, we want to branch-out into a different line of thought, which will reveal some of the difficulties and limitations that are inherent in the mechanisms of behavioural fine-tuning in the zone of emotional neutrality. Let us imagine a situation with a confusing, but balanced input of positive and negative sense impressions. Let us also assume, that there is a great existential significance attached to making the correct choice. The need to make a correct choice creates a great deal of tension and anxiety, and forces the individual out of the zone of emotional neutrality. Yet, the confusing and contradictory aspects of a particular problem or situation require a very careful analysis and cautious approach, which are tasks best carried-out in the emotionally neutral zone.

It becomes important, in such a difficult and tense situation, to be able to classify the incoming sense impressions, quickly, into clear-cut categories of good and bad, or, right and wrong. In particular, when we want to create clarity in a complex and confusing situation, we want to have reliable guidance-patterns to classify the many sense impressions we have to deal with. If we do not know, how to judge these contradictory trends, our confusion and anxiety will mount, and, our ability to come to a sensible and believed-in decision, will be undermined, or, even, paralysed.

Therefore, if the existential pressures mount quickly and our anxieties are awakened, we always tend to "short-cut" the process of analysis and evaluation. We come to "quick decisions", where we judge the situation in crude shades of black and white, good and bad, right and wrong, God and Evil. If we have already a belief structure that consists of such "unquestioned certainties", we tend to rely on it, but, it is not surprising, that such judgements, based on absolute certainties, lead to polarisations and conflict-situations. It is a road towards strife, conflict and war, and, these conflicts can, then, only be solved by an all-out battle, where the loser is eliminated.

However, as a spectator to such a scene of bloody conflict and ruthless strife, we are horrified by the consequences. The effects of such an all-out conflict are so devastating, that more and more people are beginning to realise, that we have to find better ways to settle situations of conflict. In other words, we are increasingly falling-short of the required behavioural fine tuning, which is, after all, the ultimate purpose of the ability of rational behaviour in a zone of emotional neutrality.

As an outsider, we can afford to remain emotionally neutral, because we are not drawn into a particular situation of conflict, and, we can often see a much more rational, compromise-solution for those, who have become locked into intransigeant positions. Combatants are behaving emotionally and display only crude, genetically programmed and stereotyped patterns of behaviour, in spite of their rethoric and the unshakable conviction that they are completely rational.

As we have discussed before, the only way combat can be prevented or halted, and impose a settlement, is to have the power and the authority to make the combatants stop the fight and make them accept a fair compromise or a judicial settlement. The zone of emotional neutrality and rational behaviour is, therefore, fragile and easily destroyed by existential anxieties, and, a polarisation of attitudes into hostile, antagonistic camps, occurs quickly and easily.

Is it possible to develop a framework of rational certainties and believable truths for making quick decisions, whenever existential concerns are high and the attitudes of emotional neutrality are coming under stress? This is, indeed, a difficult project, but, it is possible to create a coherent structure of beliefs based, entirely, upon observations made in the emotionally neutral zone of behaviour. We are referring, of course, to the fields of scientific inquiry, because the crucial criterium for scientific reality perceptions is the fact, that these beliefs and interpretations have to be based on observations that are accurate and free from an emotional bias. By "accurate", we mean, that it must be possible for a number of scientific observers to come to a consensus, or agreement, about the wording and interpretation of a certain observation, regardless of the different cultural backgrounds or varying existential interests of these scientists. This implies, primarily, that an observation has to be verifiable.

In previous discussions about the phenomena of scientific endeavour, we have mentioned the fact, that, our modern, scientific era, starting several hundred years ago, is characterised by a remarkable enlargement of the fields of observation. This was made possible by the construction of a large number of technical devices that brought many new and unexpected fields of existence into a focus of attention. These fields are, in essence, outside the normal physiological range of our sense impressions, and, they were, therefore, completely unkown, until the technical and manipulative capabilities of the human mind had progressed far enough to make the conceptual and technological development of these special "sense enlarging" instruments possible. We are thinking, here, about such inventions as the telescope and the microscope, made possible by the development of the lens, as well as a variety of other, measuring and sensing instruments.

Modern transducers and monitoring devices let us now construct a reality image on a microsopic, molecular, and, even, a sub-atomic level. These images represent the fruits and insights of modern science. Yet, the enormous proliferation of "artificial" sensory data, made possible by these transducers and measuring instruments, made it also much more difficult to fit all the pieces of awareness and observation into a coherent whole. (A transducer is an instrument that translates a phenomenon or a happening in nature that is beyond the range of our senses, into a form, a read-out, a display, or an indication of some sort, which is detectable by our senses.)

The number of observations became quickly so large, that, no single individual could oversee all the details of scientific study and interpretation, and, therefore, the sciences developed into separate "species`" or specialties, which tended to evolve in their own separate ways. This gigantic explosion of awarenesses and "facts" has put a severe pressure upon the classifying and categorising abilities of scientific thinkers, as well as anyone else, who was seriously interested in making sense out of this chaotic profusion of data.

This imagery reminds us of the break-through of the processes of symbolic representations and language communications, and, we have discussed, before, how the need for a mental system of classifications and the development of belief structures, was precipitated by the proliferation of symbolically representable awarenesses. We have also seen, that the "primitive religions", represented, in essence, man's earlier attempts to construct a coherent and logical structure of the forces of nature. Because these early images are now so far removed from what we call "acceptable reality images", we tend to dismiss them as superstitions of ignorant generations of the past, but, we would totally miss their significance, if we failed to recognise the fact, that, each viable religious belief structure represented the best possible efforts of a community or social environment to come to a more or less coherent view about the forces of nature and the experiences of human beings.

True, there was rarely a sharp distinction between a belief "on authority", and, a reality perception based on emotionally neutral observations, and, we should, indeed, not forget, that we have only recently developed a remarkable virtuosity of insight and explanation about internal psychological mechanisms and the influences that play a role in the perception of our realities. These insights bear little resemblance to the insights of our ancestors.

Yet, let us not forget, that the primary experiences and sense impressions of human beings, are very similar, and, that many of these "superstitions", or religious beliefs, are still quite acceptable and logical to those, who have not been extensively exposed to the concepts and ideas of modern science. In the more isolated areas of sophisticated and conglomerate societies, people still live and react "more primitively"; more under the influence of their primary sense impressions, and, people are still, nearly completely oblivious to the insights and concepts of modern science and technology. This is the reason, why it should not surprise us to see, that some people still believe, wholeheartedly, in a reality perception that strikes many of us as archaic and medieval.

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Chapter 13

Content

Science, and the problem of "teaching on the basis of authority".
A "school" and a "culture".
The confusing influence of undigested concepts and ideas from the sciences.
The tendency to accept unquestionable truths.
We all want and need certainty.
Striving for a "solid core of basic knowledge".
Certainty reflects a measure of agreement.
An intriguing parallel between a living organism, and the life-cycle of a concept or idea.
Existential pressures upon reality perceptions.
Is it important to make a distinction between an unknowable, external reality, and a widely agreed-upon grasp of mental images?
Relativity of thought adds a new level of awareness.
Abandoning the idea that "God is on our side".

Indeed, the enormous profusion of scientific images has caused, not only, a marked and a disturbing level of specialisation in expertise and fragmentation of knowledge, but, the emphasis on a "teaching by authority", rather than by the persuasiveness of a verifying experiment or personal experience, has put the scientific imagery into the same category as the religious structures of belief. Both are now taught, and accepted, on the basis of authority, or, the belief in, and unquestioned acceptance of, images that are handed-down by the authoritative channels and institutions of society.

Because of these developments, many people, who have been schooled as scientists or scientific workers, are not able to see the overall picture of the sciences. They have lost, or, they never acquired, the insight, that scientific concepts develop as a result of our ability to make a large number of verifiable observations in an emotionally more or less neutral manner. Most of us grow-up in a particular scientific and technological "school", and, the teachings and belief structures form a sort of "culture". However, in most cases, the teachings remain a pragmatic structure of knowledge and expertise, which becomes then a tool for our role as a specialist in society. The scientific beliefs have, therefore, very little influence on the "religious questions", such as the problems of existence, destiny or suffering.

We see, therefore, a curiously undigested form of scientific knowledge as a result of training or schooling within a narrow framework of specialised expertise. The philosophical insights of the sciences are nearly totally ignored, and, they remain completely un-understood. Knowledge is exclusively an existential tool to make a living, and, we do not want to elaborate, here, how dangerous, ignorant and uneducated experts can be. This is, indeed, a dangerous situation for any social environment, because we still lend these people an aura of respectability and authority, and, we still tend to rely on their judgement and advise. We, the ordinary lay-people in society are rarely given a chance, and, we are, often, too shy, to probe, extensively, the personalities, beliefs and attitudes of those, who occupy a position of narrow specialisation in society.

Yet, even, for the more broadly thinking scientists, the scientific imagery becomes easily an absolute and unquestioned body of knowledge and truth, where the need for certainty is easily and willingly translated into the hope, and belief, that, finally, the sciences reveal us the truth "as it really exists". Those, who have been strongly influenced by a school of scientific concepts and techniques, have generally been disappointed by the inconsistencies and unanswered questions of the religious beliefs. It is logical, then, that these people begin to believe, that the "truth" has finally been found and formulated by modern scientific insights and concepts. In an age of remarkable scientific and technical achievements, these people are confident, that the scientific reality perception will triumph, and, they are, at the same time, somewhat contemptuous of those, who still believe in an old-fashioned and unfounded structure of religious beliefs and interpretations.

Certainly, we all want and need certainty, but, are we indeed justified to interpret the results and consequences of scientific observations in such a way, that we consider these images to represent an accurate reflection of the ultimate and absolute reality, or truth? Not really, but, before we discuss this question more in detail, let us go back to our sensory mechanisms.

Because we are all very similar in our physiological functions and the way genetic instructions have shaped our bodies, it will be relatively easy to agree amongst ourselves, that we see colours, feel pain, get hungry or tired, etc., in essentially the same manner. As long as our observations and experiences remain in the sphere of primary biological reactions and sensations, it is not difficult to agree amongst ourselves, that we share, roughly, the same awarenesses, be it in varying combinations and to differing degrees.

However, if we want to "explain" a certain phenomenon or awareness, we are going to give it a place in the overall structure of our beliefs, and, this belief-structure depends, very much, on the schooling we have had, or, the cultural environment we have grown-up in. If we are discussing a "problem", or an observation, with someone, who has a similar schooling, training or cultural background, it is much more likely that we will agree with each other, compared to a sitution, where we try to discuss something with someone, who has a fundamentally different set of beliefs and reality perceptions.

If we are dealing with a scientific discipline, where, all over the world, the fundamental observations and correlations have been agreed-upon, we are dealing with a "solid core of basic knowledge", and, we get a feeling of truthfulness and reliability. We also possess, then, a tangible body of basic facts, which can be taught coherently, if somewhat dogmatically. However, if a scientific discipline is still fragmented over a number of "schools" of interpretation, then, there is no such basic core of agreed-upon knowledge, and, the reality, as well as the certainty of the imagery, is far less convincing.

If we review, therefore, the background of our "certainty" in scientific concepts and ideas, we come to the conclusion, that this certainty depends upon the measure of agreement that exists between the people involved. If our sphere of contact is small, we may begin to accept the beliefs and attitudes of this small group as "the norm", and we fail to realise, that, in the overall picture of society, or the whole of mankind, our particular world of reality may be insignificant, or, even, the exception.

Certainly, the scientific method of coming to a conclusion has the great advantage, that it can rely upon experimentation, a repetition of demonstrable phenomena, or, a process of verification and logical arguments, but, we should not come to the conclusion, that we are, therefore, glimpsing an absolute and unchanging reality.

A brief look at the evolution of scientific thought shows us, clearly, that, indeed, the consensus of scientific insight is an evolutionary process, and, it shows, therefore, continuous changes. The rate of change is sometimes very slow, and, on occasion, the ideas of a scientific reality may be changing quickly, in particular, if there is a great deal of thought and experimental activity going-on in a particular field, where people are trying to fit the concepts and data within a framework of a large number of seemingly incoherent or confusing observations.

We see, here, a remarkable and intriguing parallel between the evolution of an organism, and, the life-cycle of a living, scientific idea. If we consider the scientific concept as a living entity, and, if we consider the various observations and arguments as the "environment", or "conceptual niche" in which this entity "has to live", we see, that, indeed, the concept or scientific explanation has to live with, or adapt to, the environment of evidence and observation. If there is a poor "fit" between the scientific concepts and the available evidence, the ideas will evolve quickly and generate a great deal of experimental activity, in order to bridge this gap between observation and interpretation, but, if there is a good fit between theory and observation; if there is a satisfactory agreement between the scientific beliefs and our observations, the scientific ideas become static and assume a comforting feeling of reality, reliability and truthfulness.

It is, then, tempting to assume, that, indeed, we have grasped the reality "as it really exists", but, as we have discussed before, the reality "as it really exists", is only a human interpretation of reality. We always deal with concepts, ideas, abstractions and mental images, and, we have, therefore, no idea at all, what a reality "looks like", when it does not depend upon a human mind, a human brain, and the various human abilities to sense stimuli from the environment. If we have no idea, what this external, non-human reality looks like, how then, can we form a judgement about the degree of congruence between our concepts and this "external reality"?

Let us rephrase the question; what is the importance of making a distinction between an un-knowable, external reality, on the one hand, and, the agreed-upon, highly reliable grasp of mental images we have of this reality, on the other hand? We are only concerned with a reality "as it presents itself to us", you may argue, and, it seems rather artificial to keep emphasising the fact, that we are still dealing with a human reality, and, not, with a reality "as it really exists".

Exactly, this distinction appears to us trivial, a nuisance and irrelevant, because we like to forget any nagging questions about the reality of our truths. We want to be able to rely, completely, upon this imagery, in order to come to swift and convincing decisions, whenever we have to analyse difficult and complex circumstances.

The answer to the question, why it is important to keep this distinction in mind, lies in the fact, that we add an entire dimension, or level of awareness, when we do not rely, blindly, upon our beliefs and certainties. If we learn to analyse, and understand, at least, to some extent, how we came to believe what we believe to be true, and, why we are so inclined to rely, wholeheartedly, upon a feeling that we possess the absolute truth, then, we gain an important tool to extend the grasp over our own behaviour, as well as the conflict-situations we find ourselves in.

Nowhere is it more clear, how disastrous and illusionary such absolute attitudes and dogmatic beliefs are, than in a conflict-situation, where each side is swept-up in belligerent emotions and convinces itself, that "there is no choice", but to do battle for the sake of justice, righteousness, the glory of God, and the honour of the State. Both sides pray for help in their "just struggle", and, it is not difficult for an outsider to shake his head in disbelief over the narrow and primitive patterns of behaviour that are being displayed, in spite of an apparent rationality and technical sophistication of the belligerents.

Relativity of thought adds a new level of awareness, where we learn to interpret our behaviour and beliefs in the light of evolutionary images. It gives us a much better opportunity to understand ourselves, as well as our adversaries, compared to the religious or strict scientific images that imply an absolute validity and certainty of a particular imagery. By abandoning the ideas and attitudes of an absolute truth, we can gain a world of insight, as well as a new dimension, into the possibilities of just and peaceful co-existence.

To abandon the idea that there exists a knowable and unchanging, absolute truth, and, that we are, or can be, on the side of "Our Lord" or "Absolute Justice", is the essence of a relativistic approach to the perception and interpretation of reality. In the third essay of this "trilogy", we will discuss, in detail, the relevance of a relativistic reality perception, as well as the methods to make such a relativistic reality perception, understandable, interesting and significant. However, before we go to the last phase of this discussion, we will review, in the second part of this trilogy on "Awareness", a variety of specific and pragmatic mental states. We can do this, because we have laid the foundation of understanding and insight in this first part of a discussion on "Levels of Awareness".

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Summary

1. A definition of awareness.
   Analysing a problem, and dissolving it into a number of manageable objectives.
   Storing the experience how a problem was solved.
   Streamlining a skill with the help of experience.
   Anxieties created by an existentially significant problem.
   Fluctuating awarenesses.
   A broad spectrum of interests.
   The qualities of familiarity and patience.
   
   
   
2. The ability to sit-back and reflect.
   The problem of death.
   Feelings of "identity".
   Sleep, and the awareness of our identity.
   We are changing, yet, we are also staying the same.
   Verbalisable and non-verbalisable awarenesses.
   Sub-conscious mechanisms of the mind.
   Willed, or deliberately chosen responses.
   The extent of a memory-reservoir, or repertoir of memory-traces.
   The existential "coloration" of an on-going experience.
   Forgotten experiences, and the problem of "cerebral clutter".
   
   
   
3. Keeping pace with incoming sense impressions.
   The ability to "know".
   The faculty of "common-sense".
   Abilities that require practice.
   A short review of the human personality.
   Symbolic representations, and the function of memory-recall.
   An "idling mind"; image-progression by loose associations.
   A core of agreed-upon meaning, and a "shell" of variable meaning.
   Routine or unquestioned experiences.
   The "red light" when there is a need evaluate a sense impression deliberately or consciously.
   Awareness, and the concept of a "field of vision".
   
   
   
4. A stream of sense impressions.
   Affluent life.
   For whom are we writing?
   A world-order, based on insight and justice.
   How to harnass the collective will.
   Problems associated with living at close quarters.
   Cerebral and mental systems of classification.
   The ability to "recognise".
   
   
   
5. The link between stimulus and response.
   A sliding scale between positive and negative evaluations.
   The ability to execute a precisely tailored behavioural response.
   An organisational blue-print.
   Emphasising important awarenesses.
   Natural Selection, and the process of "becoming extinct".
   
   
   
6. Adaptations.
   Differentiations from a condition of pluri-potentiality.
   The correlation between specialisation and a loss of versatility.
   Yielding to a pressure-gradient by a fluid medium.
   By-passing the slow, genetic method of encoding instructions.
   Building-up an experience-base by behaviourally flexible organisms.
   Programming the cerebral computer.
   Selling a skill to obtain an income and a steady job.
   
   
   
7. The importance of the cultural environment.
   The "hardware" of the cerebral computer.
   We act and react with body and mind functioning as a unit.
   Inter-actions between instinctive and voluntary or deliberately chosen patterns of behaviour.
   Emotions, and the factor of existential significance.
   Highly developed flexible animals experience the same emotions as we do, but they can not name them.
   Responses that fall somewhere in between instinctive reactions and emotionally neutral behaviour-patterns.
   The "will" is a subjective experience of freedom.
   The essence of an ethical choice.
   The three factors that determine human existence; genetic instructions, cultural guidelines, and enviromental circumstances.
   
   
   
8. A remarkable unity of existence.
   Qualities and names.
   Qualities, or attributes, are "conventions of agreement".
   The more physiological the sensation, the more uniform the experience, and, the sharper its symbolic representation.
   The quality of "time".
   An on-going process of recognition and anticipation.
   The past, the present and the future.
   Hopeful expectations about the powers of prediction.
   
   
   
9. Irrealistic expectations about the possibility of a "break-through" in a few, exceptional members of mankind.
   An evolutionary argument against the likelyhood of extra-sensory perception.
   A long time-period of anticipation is a specifically human feature.
   The projection of "unity"; examples.
   Relying upon mental images.
   Rejecting doubts with an emotional vehemence.
   Scientific and religious structures of belief.
   The ability of an awareness to "fit-in", nicely.
   A discussion of extra-sensory perception.
   
   
   
10. Developing an ability to discuss "off the cuff".
    A large majority of our responses falls in between emotional neutrality and instinctive behaviour-patterns.
    Varying levels of abstraction.
    The art of conveying a story.
    A network of complex, but understandable and analysable relationships.
    Awareness and alertness.
    It takes some time for a structure of beliefs to evolve and establish itself.
    A great deal of anxiety and anger is generated, whenever fundamental truths are questioned or challenged.
    
    
    
11. Is there an awareness that goes "beyond" absolute beliefs?
    A "feeling" or intuitive appreciation for the usefulness and truthfulness of a relativistic perception of reality.
    Problems with behavioural flexibility.
    When the genetic framework of instructions "leaves a blank".
    An algebraic summation of positive and negative influences.
    The concept of a "free will".
    Destination and Pre-destination.
    Consequences, when accepting the possibility of a pre-destined future.
    The need to synthesise a behavioural choice voluntarily, deliberately and intelligently.
    A look at the completely arbitrary choice.
    
    
    
12. The confusion associated with a mixture of positive and negative stimuli.
    Analysing sense impressions into categories of "good and evil".
    The lure of quick, decisive decisions, and an increased likelyhood of conflict.
    The behaviour of combatants.
    The meaning of the concept of "accuracy".
    Sense-enlarging instruments.
    The evolution of reality perceptions and interpretations.
    Difficulties with developing a "feel" for a reality perception that is so different from our own.
    
    
    
13. Science, and the problem of "teaching on the basis of authority".
    A "school" and a "culture".
    The confusing influence of undigested concepts and ideas from the sciences.
    The tendency to accept unquestionable truths.
    We all want and need certainty.
    Striving for a "solid core of basic knowledge".
    Certainty reflects a measure of agreement.
    An intriguing parallel between a living organism, and the life-cycle of a concept or idea.
    Existential pressures upon reality perceptions.
    Is it important to make a distinction between an unknowable, external reality, and a widely agreed-upon grasp of mental images?
    Relativity of thought adds a new level of awareness.
    Abandoning the idea that "God is on our side".

.......