Note, this document is in a constant change. It represents some rather detached thoughts on various things and does not necessarily reflect an absolute or a practical concept. The updated version will be maintained at yohng.com

Style of writing (instead of prologue)

Hello, dear reader. I would like to start the essay with the view of my writing style.

I'm using what has been called a little bit archaic English and warm-hearted passages to complement somehow the dry intelligence that follows along the lines. There is no exclusivity in what is said, the subjects have been talked about and revealed in many various other books and pamphlets, and my effort is only to give life to my interpretation of these ideas, which some people might find more appealing to read.

Please forgive me the occasional deviations from what one may call a genuine English, as in many ways my attempt is to write in the most direct way, revealing the subject and leaving the editing work for the later time.

Some paragraphs are written in a metaphorical language, which would sometimes require a reader to imagine things to understand them. What can be said in a single metaphor otherwise would expand into several paragraphs.

In the examples, I will also try to avoid bringing up the revolutionary ideas or radical moods, since any sudden change in a character of a reader would impose a certain responsibility on my behalf.

Disagreement

Disagreement is quite a reasonable subject to speak about, since we all disagree on things during the course of our lives. To my experience, the disagreement usually comes from the will to separate own opinion from the other one, which is considered to be invalid or wrong. Though, most of disagreements come from a difference in language, every human has similarity in feelings, senses, thoughts. But the same word may respond differently for me and for you, and will cause a disagreement therefore. I will do my best to speak your language.

The difference in knowledge and separation of opinions is a good thing, since it allows a person to concentrate and develop his own ideas, as no distraction or scattering of the mind takes place. While it is also a bad thing, since a disagreeing one is prone to reinvent the wheel, and call it a different word. With almost everything, the world allows a separate thing, and there always exists a right place even for the most wicked idea, while paradoxically some ideas are right to be at their wrong place.

To disagree or agree is usually easier than to provide an alternative deeper solution, such that it would be easy to understand and apply, and which would be for the good of all parties.

Changing polarity

It often happens that the most ardent disbeliever eventually gives his devotion to the subject, while the most devoted follower being disappointed eventually becomes the ardent disbeliever. In its two polarities, this attachment only looks different, but in its essence no change happens. The entanglement with the subject is still there, which yields with the knowledge as long interest persists. The polarity may change. A young girl passionately devoted to a man rarely loses her interest when she is turned down, so her devotion may turn into the opposite thing. It also happens otherwise, when the victims fall in love with their torturers.

Such pendulum tends to swing, and it does so naturally. One possible way to master it is to see it and intuitively understand how it works. As a child has no problem of getting off the swings, there should be no problem of enjoying the ride with the pendulum and getting off at will, when there are nicer things to do around.

Some people fancy by stopping the swings and holding them still, however such action triggers another pendulum, which swings between two opposites called 'balance' and 'disbalance'. A truly experienced one has lived through many attractions, including the attraction to a renouncement, and has retained his strength and sanity, and the ability to enjoy the life.

Another example of a pendulum swing is when an individual with huge ambitions or pride suddenly becomes very soft and permissive, under the influence of another person or a teaching. There are caveats in a such sudden change. This subject certainly needs more detailed outlook, and it will be given such later on.

However, even after the pendulum is mastered and understood, it is still necessary to choose the way to go and what to be. It is like a colour of the walls in one's house – they should always be some colour and shade, they can't be colourless, whether it is blue, light-grey, or white. And until the walls are set, everything whether clean or foul is allowed to enter the house.

Resolving the opposites

It often seems such that two things in a conflict cannot resolve, yet the world allows to exist those two things in separate places without a conflict. The world does not break apart; every substance is compensated and in its essence is one with its opposite. A vinegar and a baking soda will neutralize each other, but a smart cook stores them in separate places and uses them at need to prepare the marvellous dishes. Same, when the knowledge of opposites exists as a whole, by the work of thought two opposite opinions are brought together in harmony, creating a new dimension, allowing things to exist for the good and cooperation.

Accepting the knowledge

We should remember, that each knowledge and the way we learn it – brings new colours in our life. And I suggest staying with the bright and vivid colours, rather than falling into the uncertainty and dim perspectives. In other words, hold to the goodness, respect public values, and avoid dim affairs, even if they promise miraculous wealth. Mistakes there will be, it is not necessary to rush into them.

For any two opinions, one can develop a cumulative opinion that includes both without a conflict. Sometimes hard, but it is still possible to act for the good of each case without compromising the details. The knowledge gives the additional choice to act differently without disabling the old ways of doing things. Such knowledge is the additional knowledge, as the person makes his wilful choice.

The additional knowledge is often mixed with the replacing knowledge, which demands a person to give up his old beliefs and accept something new, which as well may be contradictory to his nature. Even though the additional knowledge and the replacing knowledge have their tendencies of being offered in different ways, one can easily become another depending on the way individual chooses to accept it, so it is very important always to have a good feeling of which is which.

It is easier to accept the knowledge blindly, especially if it comes from the authority, as well as it is easy to disagree with it. But it is much harder to build a new way of thinking from the existing experience and the newly received knowledge, without disregarding or disrespecting either of the parts.

At the time when the mind is working to create a new view, the person is having basically no experience in the area and his mind looks like a construction set. Under the pressure, he will usually cling to the old opinion or try to operate with the new yet incomplete ways of what he has learned. In either case, it is best not to distract him at this point with an obtrusive help, until the work of self-enlightenment reaches progress, when the human will be able to think consistently again. There are cases when the help is necessary, for instance, if on his way to enlightenment the person has decided to harm himself or the others. It is however not the common case. One rather cynical scholar said about voluntary saviours: “People, who strive to save everybody, probably need to be saved themselves.”

Delusions and fascinations are however good lessons of the life. But the actual fruits of knowledge only mature when the delusion is over. Do not mistake an entrance into an opposite delusion for the exit.

Knowledge that harms

Depending on various things, the new facts can be very significant or even greater than the individual's present views of the world. And so the process of accepting those facts may be stressful and demanding in matters of time and concentration. One can't teach the old dog new tricks, but he can harm the dog instead, if he persists.

It is always possible to find gradual and gentle ways for achieving the same things, and one's lack of patience is certainly no excuse for tearing things. It is the same way like the athletes use the weight to develop their muscles. A premature attempt to lift the heavy weight may lead towards a long recovery from the harm of muscles, longer than a lifetime sometimes. In the case of learning, the disproportional amount of the untimely or forced knowledge can lead to the insanity, to cure which sometimes a life might not be enough.

Logicality and Knowledge

The knowledge is not built entirely from logic. The logical process of thinking always requires the initiating source, the subject, and the direction. It is necessary to have a subject and a destination, and only then we can use logical thinking as a vehicle. Within the given initial subject, logic seeks for a valid path towards realizing the destination practically. It is possible to say, that all exact disciplines to some extent are based on logic, and they provide a great field of its own. However, in a real life, every science may have an application not entirely based on logic.

It is known, that clever lawyers can prove two opposite things, using different interpretations of the same events. But it is not necessary to interpret everything. Some things are harmed by interpretation or a judgement, such as a joke is harmed by an explanation. It is better to see things without the interpretation or opinion, the way they are.

In a chapter “Parallel and Sequential Thinking” I discuss methods of obtaining knowledge, which are complementary to logic.

Wisdom and Knowledge

In our days, the knowledge and technology is regarded more than the fruits obtained using this technology. What is regarded more than knowledge and technology? A technology how to build a technology, or a knowledge how to get the knowledge – is still a knowledge. What is more than a knowledge? A quality, that relates to the knowledge the same way, as the knowledge relates to the fruits of it, is usually called wisdom. Though no logically precise definition exists for what wisdom is, for the obvious reasons, in a way wisdom is correlated with the experience. Knowledge defines the way, and wisdom – is the ability to choose which way to go...

When the wisdom is there, one still can strive towards the fruits and the knowledge, but he is not attached to it. Even becoming blind and deaf will not stop the wise person from living and being a human.

The wise and truly skilled ones do not conceal or prevent other people from learning, for they have no interest in what they have already possessed. It is not the idea or a particular substance that is their treasure, but the the whole world is the treasure for them.

Test your thinking

One of my favourite paradoxes is the Monty Hall paradox, presented in many variations. Consider, there are three chests in front of you, and two of them are empty and the third one contains a treasure. You do not know which is which. You are offered to pick one without opening, and when you do so, independently of your choice there will be always at least one empty left from the remaining two, which is in turn opened and shown to you. Then you are presented with the choice of either to stick with the chest you have already picked, or switch the choice to the remaining unopened one. Do the chances of getting the treasure depend on the choice at this point? The intuitive answer would be that the final choice yields with a 50/50 chance and makes no difference, however if it would be so, it wouldn't be the famous paradox. To find out how this works is left to the reader.

Specifism and Generalism

Beyond the common sense there are two usual things that tend to capture the mind, which actually is the same thing in its two qualities. Specifism – is being too particular about something and failing to recognize, that a wider choice is also acceptable. Accomplished artists and creative people are familiar with the remarks of beginner critics, who merely judge everything against a narrow view, which they learned somewhere.

It is also common that people tend to associate superiority or happiness with particular qualities of a person. The common sense says that we cannot possibly foresee all the implications, as a human being wise enough may have a wider angle of looking at things and therefore act differently from what we may expect. Racism and other attempts to judge can be also called to be specifisms, though not necessarily.

The opposite side of specifism is a forceful generalization of things, that naturally do not belong to the same circle. For instance, the view that all people have equal capabilities would be a generalistic view.

Quite often specifism is caused by the hyperactivity of the specific part of mind, namely – linear sequential thinking, while generalism – by the avoidance of it. In the further course of the text, we will give more attention to various ways of thinking.

Despite all said, it is however never possible to ultimately point out which attitude is right in which situation. Provided that there is enough knowledge, with almost any attitude it is possible to reach the goal, though my preference goes towards thoughtful actions, staying on the positive side and avoid judgement. In a game of pool, where to pocket a ball, the cue should strike the other one, the experienced players may choose quite non-obvious balls to strike to do the wonders on the table, and it is the same natural and easy for them, as striking the ball directly. We should however never try to imitate virtuosi, if our unskilled actions can cause some harm.

Logicality and Specifism are related, because the discrete logic can only operate when everything is very particular.

Positive and Critical reading

If somebody brought us a controversial book, which gives questionable or impractical information, of a multitude of ways to read this book, there are specific ones. The first way is trying find out why the author of the book is right, and the second way is trying to find out why the author is wrong. Which way is the right way? And if we are not interested to prove anything, then how is it possible to keep the attention to read? Many scholars have denoted the great way of observing things without an opinion, without the criticism, like the baby looks out in the new world. Maybe that's the secret why the babies learn so fast?

Precision, Field of View and the Capacity

The eyes have a finite precision because of finite amount of retina cells. There is a threshold of how tiny a thing can be so that we still see it. Yet, we can zoom in and see it better. Zoom even more, and see the smaller details within it. There are microscopes, binoculars and lately – all the sophisticated optical mechanisms which allow us to see deep down and discover the tiniest parts.

Zooming the small details however sacrifices the sight of a whole object. Even though the precision of zoom can be incredible, it is then only a small hole that is visible at a time, and the greater things get enlarged, the smaller is the observation spot. There is an old Indian tale about six blind men and the elephant, where they concluded they were touching a snake, a spear, a tree, a wall, a fan and a rope, but failed to recognize the elephant in it.

No matter how precise the zooming machines are, the limit of sophistication that is still possible to observe lies somewhere else. That is, in the capacity of the observer.

In some way, the mind has greater capacity than the eye, which allows us to combine things and see them as a whole. But though in a different way, mind also has the same relationship of precision and field of attention, which defines the capacity. We can compare our mind with a bag, which is filled with rice, strawberries or one big cabbage. Information that comes from all sides – only fits when the mind is capable enough to hold it together.

By explaining things more precisely, getting further into the details – we split the information into smaller chunks, but the overall amount of the essence is not reduced. If we compare this with food, it may be easier to swallow little chunks and for the stomach to digest them, but there still is a limit how much one can eat.

Described earlier concept of specifism – is being very precise and zooming into the smaller mental details, preferring to chop everything in the smallest possible particles. Members of the scientific society easily tend to fall into this state. There are however things that lose all meaning when they are split into partials, especially everything that concerns creativity and art.

The concept of generalism is otherwise – zooming out to see the whole globe or the whole universe, without paying attention to the details. No matter which level of magnification is selected, there is always a limit of essence, of the capacity perceived. Development starts with escaping this relation and growing in the direction of the increasing ability to zoom freely to any level and understand things more deeply, no matter whether they are general or specific.

Another aspect is that without communicating with the rest of the world, there is a limit of what one man can achieve. And it is wonderful when the parts of the whole work together in unison. When it's about working in a collective, it directly relates to being able to resolve opposites and to understand, despite agreement or disagreement.

Do you talk to yourself in your head?

I had this conversation with my friend about inner voice, that speaks our native language (or sometimes the other one) and keeps talking and talking in the head, making opinions and assumptions. He was convinced, that everybody has it. How can one think without words? Let me tell my story.

I was once looking in a book with the pictures of plants. I turned the page, and for the moment I was amazed with the beauty of the flower on the picture. It could only last a moment, after which something inside me tapped me on the shoulder and said “eh, that's a flower, it is very little value in it; and you are not a botanic, so what's the use for you”, and I couldn't perceive the beauty any more. No matter how hard I tried to shut this thing off, it only irritated and distracted me more. My aim was simple – just to sit and enjoy the beauty without this inner opinion and assumptions. So instead of shutting down the voice, I decided to give it a workout. I composed a task for myself to think about thinking about thinking. Once some thought appeared in my mind, I forced another one after it which was “I just thought this and this”, pointing to the last thought. Then “I just thought that I just thought this and this”, and so further. Of course, such nesting cannot be eternal, as eventually some other thought appears like “hey, I'm going in circles”, or “how silly, why am I doing this?” - so I just didn't give up and plugged this thought into the chain and think next “I just thought how silly and why am I doing this”. One week every day I was doing this for one hour, eventually I gave up.

Just as some passing idea, I have decided to resume this after a break of one week. To my surprise, I couldn't. My mind was clean and the inner voice was silent. I could just sit and watch and absorb anything I liked without any of inner things tapping on the shoulder and commenting.

Neurally, this happens because people used to perceive everything through ears and words. So even when they see something, they tell to themselves what they see in their mind – and percept it basically through the imaginary 'ears'. Especially for creative people, it is terrible inefficient. The brain zone responsible for this process is called the Brok centre. It is responsible for decoding the language and words, but for non-verbal impressions it is rather redundant and works just as a part of habit.

My friend proposes another method for getting together with self without having the inner speaker in-between, via a visualisation. Imagine the one who talks, and imagine the one who listens. They have some cloud or fog between them, just dissolve this fog and let realize, that it is the same one, who speaks and who listens, he doesn't need to speak to himself. For some people this might be a long road, since visualisation is a whole craft on its own, and requires patience most of all.

It is interesting for me to watch the people, who cannot enjoy life, because their inner critic always points them out imperfections and expresses opinions of everything they look at. If something like this happens to me again, I know – I have overworked or overstressed and need to take a rest. Even now, when I write these lines, the words seemingly come out of nowhere, from the vague subtle feelings, that is often called an intuition... This is how I live, and ever since I stopped this business of talking to myself and convincing myself, I feel much happier.

For those, who temporary went astray

It is hard to describe, what does it mean to go astray. This word is used frequently in a religious context, but it actually does not imply any belief or affiliation. When the person goes astray, he usually knows that something is not right with him. There are primary things, such as life, goodness, respect, love, happiness, friendship; also less primary – such as clarity, politeness, ethics, social norms. When a person starts to doubt any of those things in a favour of some passion, benefit, desire or idea – it is most probable that he went astray.

As we proceed in life, we gain more experience and become wiser. It feels like the boundaries of one's consciousness, of one's head expand, and thinking is clear and free of disturbance. However, in the world, there are lots of undeveloped people, and associating with them we can lose our clarity temporarily, for they can drag us down. This is not what we should be afraid of, because we are a part of the world and by being dragged down we are encouraged to start climbing again, helping the people we have associated with also to reach the level of realization what we had. One should not rush into any affairs, because when the temptation and ego is strong, it will dictate the actions, which can lead away from clarity even further. The most important is patience and goodness.

Sometimes I was feeling like I have a stone in my head, and in my head I talked to myself again, and had all the foolish thoughts and doubts I had once before becoming more human. My friend calls this 'the absence of intuition', a state when a man can question even the most sacred things, such as life, family, respect, goodness, love, what to say about ethereal almost imperceptible things. It is sometimes that we feel dimmed after talking to such people.

But it is nothing, but temporary. A light food, lots of liquid and fresh air, peaceful meditation will restore things as they were. And we would apologize and wish the goodness for the one who dragged us there and then for ourselves. The person with whom we have associated has his own nature and probably brought us into the dark without knowing so, since some people live in the obscurity and prefer being numb over sensitive, and obscure over understanding. They have their reasons for this, and with the time they will see these reasons, experience other ways of being, and then take a wilful choice.

A study and exercise of a Mind Flow

I am quite fascinated about the language and mentality of the wisdom writers of the past centuries, their humility and kindness towards the reader, so that I have tried to imbed some of this character, where appropriate, to my own writings.

Hence I start a paragraph on a flow of a mind essence through the minds of people. As one proceeds with life, his mind is impregnated with variety of different matters, like certain flow of my recent study weaves through this text, which should be obvious for an observant reader. As you might have noticed, it is such that when speaking to an uneducated, one tends to pronounce words simply and develop a tongue, which is best fit for such communication. And thus, it can be considered to be a flow of a certain substance through the communication between humans, changing one to suit the rigid and less penetrable substance of the other. When a teaching or an idea flows through the validity of a book or authority and penetrates the reader, it changes the way the reader talks and represents oneself. Give a good attention to these flows and ride upon a stream that brings a true divinity of crystal clear knowledge, carefully choose when to close the reservoir of your mind and when to keep it wide open. It is equally faulty to have it open absolutely as to have it shut indefinitely. If you did not get in time to close the reservoir and somebody has offended you, do not reply with the offence, keep yourself from conveying such ether interchange, communicate goodness instead. On the other hand, when you are not open sufficiently, study carefully and return back to the unlearned matters. As I communicate these words to you through the ancient flow of the bygone ages, I hope they change you to let you see things deeply, and yet though the word might seem without a use for you at the moment, as merely an exercise or an imperfect imitation of a different time and habits, it might have some validity even long in the future.

Parallel and Sequential Thinking

There are two ways of thinking, conscious (logical and sequential) and subconscious (parallel). Our civilization owes a lot to recognizing the benefits of a logical (sequential) thinking and accepting it as the basis of science. The world has yet to discover and recognize the benefits of a parallel thinking – obtaining the knowledge immediately without the long reasoning process, being guided by a pure abstraction.

This is called intuition. When all components of the idea are ready, the brain only takes one step to whack them together and form the idea. The logic is very secondary to this process.

Scientists found, that the number of conscious sequential moments in the brain is limited per time. Likewise, the clock is ticking only once every second, the brain is also ticking with a certain period. Conscious reasoning in some particular direction always depends on previous steps made, whereas the number of parallel things working together in the brain can be incredibly large. It is notable, that the most powerful computers in the world today are based on a parallel approach.

An experience can be as well gained without a single logical step. Example is a baby learning to speak a language. Just being in the environment, babies remember undefined words and phrases that linger in their brain. Babies do not yet understand what they hear, they just memorize 'with the ears wide open'. But after some time a baby suddenly begins to speak without knowing how he does so. Compare this wonderful process to a tedious learning of a foreign language in the school, remembering all the grammar rules and a vocabulary. How many of us can claim that we did this better than the babies do? (It is apparent that babies are also susceptible to being mislead due to the fact that they implicitly trust everything they hear. How to utilize such learning without being misguided we will discuss in further chapters.)

Nothing is more harmful for the intuition than a definition or a judgement. The brain stops processing further in that direction and no longer gains the experience. Joke once explained is no longer funny, and to many aspects of life people lose interest by labelling them as useless or impossible.

A definition or an explanation can be constructed as a helpful 'peg' to take a logical step forward when it is necessary. Unless demanded however, it is better just to memorize things as they are, rather than their definition or a judgement. One wise person said “Remember the matter the way it is, and not your present opinion of it, for the opinions change faster than matters.” This correlates with my chapter “Do you talk to yourself in your head?”, which promotes the idea of 'thinking a matter' rather than 'thinking about a matter'.

The person who believes that he is fully logical may be unable to perceive the delicate matters and can cause lots of trouble, when given power. It often happens to young people between 18 and 24 years old, it also happens to adults in some marginal religious organizations and political movements.

Despite my advocacy of intuition, I think that the person who believes logic to be redundant, probably should study it in a better detail. In a daily life one can use a skilled intuition and direct feeling for discovering matters, but the work isn't complete until the matter is developed and backed up with a heavy logic.