Sympathy/Empathy

Comparing sympathy to empathy is like comparing a candle flame to the light of a 1,000 watt bulb. The first just takes a match. The second requires real power.

Rationalizing vs. Rationale

Logic can be used to make what sounds like a good argument to justify opinions or actions. This is rationalization. An argument that sticks to proven facts and real evidence is more likely true. This is rationale.

"Be Here Now" equals denial.

Just as the act of denial acknowledges that what is denied exists, the"now" in the admonishment Be Here Now acknowledges that the past exists. The "past" once did exist, but does not now. The way to emphasize this is to say that living in the moment, which is concerned with now, is not the same as Be Here Now, which actually addresses the past by first, acknowledging it, then trying to correct it. The past is gone--it  can't be corrected. What can be corrected is the mistakes, or errors, that were committed in the past, which can only be done now. Errors made in the past created their own future: corrections made now have their own future, too. Live it.

Website reference.

 The associated website is spiritwill.info. Access it from any browser.

It separates Willed action from thoughtful (Mind) action.

Complex physical/mental attributes.

The human being is overwhelmed by the complexity of the physical body and overestimates his/her grasp of the complexity of the mental body. No one is as smart as they think they are.  

Illness = Mental Illness?

Does it surprise you that someone who is habitually angry, habitually anxious, or some other habitual negative emotion may eventually, because of that mental condition, suffer a physical one?

Environmental triggers.

 Robert M. Sapolsky said (I believe) that the human DNA contains susceptibility to various ailments. However, an environmental trigger may not turn on one of those susceptibilities. Many possible ailments stay dormant because they weren't triggered! 

Large unconscious effect.

 Which spatial body has the most personal effect? The sun, the moon, the planet: Venus, Mars. Jupiter, Saturn, etc. I guess they all do, but the planet that has the most effect is the one we're on. What is its effect?

Capitalism/Socialism/Communism

Socialism is wide socially oriented rule.
Communism is narrow dictatorial rule.
Socialism is NOT communism.

After spending years examining complex issues, their reduction is accomplished by observing results.
Beyond obfuscating blather are these summarizing descriptions.

Capitalism creates problems,
Socialism solves them.

Wall Street parasites

Saying Wall Street and its machinations are the economy is saying the parasite is the host.

parasite noun 1. An organism that feeds on or in a different organism while contributing nothing to the survival of its host.   2. One who habitually takes advantage of the generosity of others.

Solve problems or retire issues.

Seeing a concern as a real problem suggests that there is a real solution Seeing a concern as an issue pretends that resolving the issue is the same as solving the problem that caused it. Too often, the issue is made to go away with expedient action while the problem remains. As long as the problem remains the issue  returns, sometimes with a different symptom and different appearance.

Communication

To some, communication is transmitting. To others it is receiving. Communication is not only transmitting and not only receiving. It is a two-way shared process of sending and receiving words, moods, thoughts, expressions, etc.—whatever a medium can carry.

Denial: When helpful & not helpful

Denial of truth implies approval of mistaken thinking, which is not helpful.
Denial of mistaken thinking implies approval of truth, which is helpful.

When truth is "known" and insight shows it wrong, the "truth" was based on mistaken thinking.
Mistaken thinking is due to an error. Errors manifest as mistaken behavior.

Some say there are many truths, and that one might be truer than another. This implies one most true, which means ultimate truth exists, truer than all "beneath" it. But a "most true" implies that lesser truths are at least partially false. Partially false can exist—can partially true also exist? I think not. Ultimate truth is absolute—no conditions exist that undermine it with the falsity of mistaken thinking—it's just true.

This is the kind of truth referred to in the first two sentences above.

Developing proof

When thinking things out, the mind wants proof. Proof is developed from its opposite—being able to see the error nurtures the ability to see the truth. Below is the procedure that develops proof from error.

The mistake of generalizing, (your path is the same as everyone's) sometimes applies solutions irrelevant to the problem, encouraging Superstitious thinking. To correct this, try to see true relationships.

Seeing true relationships means that a problem needs to be ENCODEd correctly.

Personalizing means that everyone else's path is the same as yours. Because everyone has a different experience, this is not true. Thinking that everyone is the same leads to Naive thinking.

To prefer meaning avoids naive thinking. INFER.relevance by preferring meaning.

False constructs build convincing cases that should be viewed with suspicion. Building on false constructs leads to Esoteric (Exclusive) thinking, where special (though limited) knowledge claims to know THE answer.

Building structure depends on true MAPping.

Making invalid connections—with bad comparisons, wrong connections, and invalid contexts to possible results encourage Reactive thinking. To react accurately, APPLY validation.

Reasoning emotionally, giving false credit, and outright denial all have the effect of giving false credit to elements with little relationship to resolving the concern. Thinking a certain way is called Categorical thinking. To avoid categorical thinking, PROVE: Give credit where credit is due.

Blind acceptance of a recommendation or principle, jumping to a (wrong) conclusion, and prejudice all are the same: Emotional thinking. Emotional thinking causes a jump to conclusions that may have nothing to do with reality. The goal remains resolve, or SOLVE the situation, or problem. Choosing the correct result assumes that one Chooses wisely.

Summarizing the proof process:

Encode: See relationship.

Infer: Prefer meaning.

Map: Build structure.

Apply: Validate.

Prove: Give credit

Solve: Choose wisely.

For detail on how to open the door to a review of a habit, got to www.spiritwill.info

Into the Refrigerator - Poem

Ev’ry time I open the refrigerator door,
it must be to see the light.
Why else do I stand in contemplation
wondering why I opened it again.
I delve within, find a morsel,
gulp it down—for a moment satisfied.
Ten minutes later, my hungry soul
is back again, bathing in the cool light,
the empty promise of food for the body,
but not the soul.

Congress over-reacting!

Only two (2) (that's tight, only two) of 22,000 deaths in Toyotas last year were vehicle malfunctions: the rest were driver malfunctions. Why is congress wasting time on recalls (which demonstrates conscientiousness) with important things to do--FOR THE PEOPLE (which is real conscientiousness).

Also, a tear stained lady said her Lexus involuntarily went 100 miles per hour, she was so scared, and: "why is Toyota so greedy?" Couldn't someone who drives an expensive Lexus also be called greedy?

Down the Tube - Poem

The afternoons, we watch TV,

our eyes glued to Another World,

pretending it’s reality.

We spend The Days Of Our Lives

stuck in quiet desperation,

hoping for, in The Guiding Light,

glimpses of a real relation.

As the World Turns beneath us,

rolling heedlessly on and on,

and All My Children are neglected,

hypnotized, automatons.

So we sit and stare, letting

mind and blood congeal,

aptly forgetting:

if there is One Life To Live,

make it real.

*****

Substance

Actions are taken “in the spirit of the thing.” Spirit is considered insubstantial, sometimes even ghostly, yet spirit as a feeling or an attitude is real. 

Which is more important: appearance or behavior? Which is more real and substantial, the physical body or the spirit that controls the shape, position, actions, appearance, health, and communications of the physical body? Which proves more meaningful?

It is:the spirit in which actions are taken (or not taken).