THE VAN COLLE "REASONABLE ASSUMPTIONS"
Harold Van Colle.
PROLOGUE
I want to put forward some ideas with a view
to the ultimate construction of a MODEL to explain,
as far as possible,
human behaviour and experiences (including some "paranormal")
by
incorporating "REASONABLE ASSUMPTIONS" where
the purely scientific model is
lacking. I welcome criticisms and alternative suggestions,
hoping
that SIMPLICITY will be a feature so that the maximum
number of people will
be able to understand, both lay and professional.
Simple ideas can always
be expanded into more complex ones in the minds of
those who wish to do so.
When considering my "reasonable
assumptions" I would humbly suggest that
attempting to join them together is important to show
their
interrelationship. Also extrapolation is important
to see the relevance of an idea in
other situations. But I must emphasise that I do not
regard my ideas a
"final statements", only ideas to be "kicked
around", criticised and
improved if possible, always with the creation of
a model in mind.
These ideas have developed over many
years . I write them in as logical a sequence as I
can, but if readers feel that not only criticisms,
alterations and
alternative suggestions need to be stated, but also
some re-arrangement to
make the emergence of a model more visible, then of
course I hope the
appropriate suggestion will be stated for all to consider.
The following are my 25 "REASONABLE
ASSUMPTIONS":
1. DOMINATION. This concept is basic.
It is a relative term, and can be
applied to almost anything in Nature. In particular
it is an essential
consideration in respect of the functioning of the
brain-mind system, and
explains "selection" during stimulus and
response activity. It came to my
mind during dowsing experiments. An example in Nature
is the effect of
sunlight upon the eyes of the viewer. In daylight
it dominates the viewer's
eyes which then apply a restrictive mechanism to prevent
damage, and in so
doing prevents seeing the weaker light of the stars.
2. "UFX" (Universal Field
X) in which ALL things, brain-states, people,
natural events etc etc. exist, and which INTERACT
with UFX producing
"RESULTANTS" or, as suggested by Anne Miller,
"SIGNATURES". In dowsing
there must exist some relationship between the particular
brain-state of
the dowser and the "object" he/she seeks,
both of which exist in UFX which
also acts as the CARRIER. This idea brings MENTAL
TELEPATHY into the
picture.
3. "IMPREGNATION". Homoeopathy
is an example, also the "memory of water",
implying that all things are capable of being "impregnated"
by substances,
thoughts, events etc., leaving "records"
of the substances, thoughts,
events etc., the records not being detectable by normal
scientific means,
nevertheless having effects similar to the originals.
This gives clues in
respect of GHOSTS and other PARANORMAL EXPERIENCES,
also provides possible
explanations regarding the HOMING of birds, fish and
animals.
"IMPREGNATIONS" exist in UFX therefore will
also interact to produce
"RESULTANTS" or "SIGNATURES".
It is worth considering the fact that when
daylight ( in the "role" of UFX) impinges
upon a substance an interaction
takes place where some of the spectrum is absorbed
by the substance, and
the remainder (equivalent to "resultants")
is reflected and received by
the eyes of a viewer to be interpreted by the brain
as colour and shape.
4. THE BRAIN. An integral part of the
body (not a separate organ) which
RECORDS all EXPERIENCES (of all the senses, also thoughts
and actions) as a
storehouse for MEMORY. RECORDS have varying degrees
of "POWER", the most
powerful becoming DOMINATING (relatively speaking).
This concept would
provide explanations for habits, phobias, fears etc.
and the variations in
the ability to remember. A RECORD can be likened to
an ELECTRIC BATTERY
with a lamp attached. The greater the power of the
battery, the brighter
the light; the brighter the light the more DOMINATING
is its effect. The
battery analogy ( although of course not accurate
in true anatomical and
physiological terms) explains, as a principle, the
occurrence of a FADING
MEMORY ( like a fading battery and light) and how
it can be RECHARGED by a
repetition of the original experience to a "power"
greater than ever
before. That would explain the term REINFORCEMENT
in psychology.
5. "MENTAL NOISE". This is
caused by the operation of the CRITICAL
FACULTY. It interferes with the RECORDING PROCESS
of the brain. As most
recall from schooldays how often we were told to "PAY
ATTENTION". If we
do not pay attention it could mean that an individual's
brain is focused on
other things or thoughts, and that would reduce the
brain's ability to
record other inputs via the ears, eyes, mouth etc.
So thoughts about other
matters when one should be paying attention is my
definition of "MENTAL
NOISE". HYPNOSIS is a mental state during which
MENTAL NOISE IS REDUCED
(very considerably in many cases) allowing the brain
to record what the
hypnotist is saying more powerfully. I use it briefly
at the end of a
session simply to be able to repeat some of the important
things I have
said previously in order to aid the patient's subsequent
ability to
remember. I do not regard it as a "treatment".
The problem of "mental
noise" is that it affects people who are prone
to constantly analysing
everything while in progress, and that would immediately
block off that
person's ability to gain access to any psychic power
he/she might possess.
PSYCHIC POWER is a PRIMITIVE ability provided by Nature
for SURVIVAL.
6. DOWSING (or Divining) is factual.
It is a basic instinct for SURVIVAL
both for animals and plants in respect of needing
water and food.
Animals are led, AUTOMATICALLY (I have experimented
and proved the point to
my satisfaction), to that which they need if they
are unable to know via
their normal senses. Even plants send out roots towards
water. We humans
have caught the "end of a primitive thread"
and use it for other purposes.
But would-be dowsers will lose contact with the end
of the "thread" if they
mentally analyse using their critical faculty during
the process, or
harbour other thoughts of expectation as to where
what they are seeking
might be. MASS and DISTANCE can affect dowsing, depending
upon how the
dowser's mind is organised.
7. MENTAL TELEPATHY is factual for me.
I have engaged in literally
thousands of experiments over the last three decades.
Not only does it
manifest itself in thought form (as commonly happens
between two close
people), but experimentally it can affect people PHYSICALLY
without their
being consciously aware of anything until the physical
effect takes place.
An eminent member of SMN was a subject of my experiments,
but I will not
disclose his name unless I receive his permission.
8. THOUGHTS CONTROL MOVEMENTS. To KNOW
this by EXPERIENCE is vital to
understanding almost every facet of human activity.
I cannot say too much
because I have to avoid preconditioning the mind of
the reader. I urge
everyone to explore, fully, the significance of IDEO-MOTOR
ACTIVITY. It
not only explains human activities, but also explains
the AUTOMATIC walking
of animals in, for example, a drought situation. It
is also the key to
understanding MIND-BODY RELATIONSHIPS.
9. CLAIRVOYANCE and CLAIRAUDIENCE are
"paranormal" effects resulting from
people with exceptional psychic ability receiving
"resultants" stemming
from the interaction of "impregnations"
with "UFX".
10. PSYCHIC ABILITY is usually profound
in individuals who are able to set
aside their critical faculty when seeking to connect
with the more
primitive instincts of animals, and thus become more
OPEN MINDED when
involved with psychic activities. The critical faculty
blocks off
primitive instincts. A psychologist I know did a 3-year
research on mental
telepathy in children and found that it occurred very
powerful at around
the age of 3, and slowly diminished as the children
got older. The reason
was obvious to me. As the child grew older, so his/her
critical faculty became more and more developed and
used.
11. LOVE. A difficult one !! But I am
sure it is connected with SURVIVAL.
One has only to observe, say, a lioness and her cubs,
to be aware of love
as an instinct. We humans have widened its meaning.
Let me quote from an
essay by Aldous Huxley : "... Of all the worn,
smudged, dog's-eared words
in our vocabulary, "love" is surely the
grubbiest, smelliest, slimiest.
Bawled from a million pulpits, lasciviously crooned
through hundreds of
millions of loud-speakers, it has become an outrage
to good taste and
decent feeling, an obscenity which one hesitates to
pronounce. And yet it
has to be pronounced, for, after all, Love is the
last word." If human
beings were to love one another in all the various
ways that love manifests
itself, we would have the nearest thing to Utopia.
Ego is the villain in
the piece. But no person can PROVE to another that
he/she loves the other.
12. EGO. Self-awareness ("because
I think I am") in the forms of
personal, local, national and religious. Think of
how divisive nationalism
and religious fervour are, and how many wars have
been and still are being
waged as the result. Think of what individuals do
to one another because of
threats or attacks upon egos. So EGO SURVIVAL has
become almost as
important as physical survival. In some instances
even more important.
Most animals do not have the problems arising from
self-awarenes. I doubt
whether there is any connection between, say, the
domination of one member
of a herd or group (e.g. apes) and human ego, the
former being quite
instinctive, arranged by Nature for survival. But
like consciousness,
nobody can prove self-awareness.
13. SEXUAL ACTIVITY. Obviously sexual
desire is another survival
mechanism. If sexual pleasure was not included, who
would bother ?!!!
However, science produced the ways a means of defeating
Nature's intentions
with contraception, thus making sexual pleasure an
"entertainment",
sometimes almost a drug. APPETITE FOR FOOD is on a
par with sexual
activity. Who would eat if without appetite ? Again
one of Nature's
survival mechanisms. Many people have turned it into
an entertainment.
Animals rarely do that. We could learn a lot from
the animal kingdom
14. SENSUAL FEELINGS. Very much affected
by thoughts. Appetites for food,
sex, tobacco, alcohol etc. are often CREATED AND INTENSIFIED
by thoughts.
These are excellent examples of MIND-BODY RELATIONSHIPS.
But in the same
way as the appetites can be created, they CAN ALSO
BE REMOVED by
thoughts.An amusing (I think !!) example is of a man
drinking a pint of
beer.
Halfway through he needs to go to the loo. When he
puts his glass on the
pub counter he feels someone might drink it. So he
puts a note beneath the
glass reading : "I've spat in it". When
he returns he finds that the note
also bears the words "Me too". Probably
both statements were untrue, but
if his mind believes it, he certainly wont fancy drinking
the beer.!!
15. "POSITIVE THINKING". This
cliche is misleading. It is often interpreted
as suggesting that one should be "MORE POSITIVE".
If in ordinary daily
life no person and no thing is opposing you, why does
one need to be MORE
positive? A useful example is bed-making. Assuming
a person is asked to
make a bed, but does not like making beds -- for reasons
of necessity,
conscience or even love of someone the person decides
to make the bed and
does it UNWILLINGLY; the physical result will be that
the action of, for
example, tucking the sheet in will be governed by
the message from the
brain to the arm muscles to push etc., But the other
message of "I don't
really want to be doing this" will result in
another set of arm muscles
PULLING THE ARM AWAY FROM THE BED. The results will
include stress for the
person, wasted energy, inferior bed-making, taking
longer time etc.
Another excellent example of mind-body relationships.
Just think of how
many extrapolations one can make from this simple
example. That is why the
words "try", "determination" and
"hope" should not be used in ordinary
everyday situations. The bed-making example can be
verified by experiments
in ideo-motor activity.
16. "HOMING" of animals. All
animals "impregnate" their home bases, hence
to return home they are "dowsing for themselves"
leading to "automatic"
flying, swimming or walking. Of course this would
not apply in situations
when their normal senses would guide them. There are
other alternative
natural forces which guide them, but the ultimate
destination requires
greater precision, e.g. cats and dogs travelling long
distances to return
"home".
17. "AUTOMATIC" DRAWING and
WRITING. I have found, by experiments, that
OBJECTS . are "impregnated", and if a person's
hand is placed over an
object (preferably old), and the person wants it,
the writing hand will
either draw something or write words(depending upon
the experimenter's
wish), seemingly according to the what the "impregnations"
contain. Such
experiments are best carried out by people who are
aware of strong psychic
ability, and are able to avoid the use of the critical
faculty.
"Automatic" drawing will also take place
in response to WORDS e.g. "woman"
, "fish", "countryside" etc.,
also words such as "platinum", "copper
molecule", "electrons" etc. Care must
be taken to avoid any mental picture
forming while the experiment is in progress. Words
only should be repeated.
18. BRAIN PATTERNS. I constructed what
I called a "brain apparatus" to be
able to dowse over my own brain. I made a "helmet"
from bent cane (the kind
used for basket-making) and attached 91 wires (quite
arbitrary) at
different positions to spread over the skull, each
position being numbered
and recorded on a chart. Each wire was attached at
the other end to a
nut-bolt being one of 91 nuts and bolts fixed on a
bakelite panel in a
circle, each again being numbered according to its
number on the "helmet".
In the centre of the bakelite panel I fixed a knob
with a metal pointer
going from the knob and extending over (not touching)
the circle of the
heads of the nuts of above the surface of the bakelite.
Attached to the
spindle on which the knob was fixed was a length of
wire, the end of which
became my dowsing "target". So I had a complete
connection from my head to
the end of the wire from the spindle. I then engaged
upon concentrating
on certain words (mentally repeating them) and in
so doing turned the knob
over the heads of the nuts with my left hand while
dowsing with a pendulum
with my right hand. The reactions I got for each were
different, with
several reaction points occurring for each word i.e.
a different pattern
for each word. As a guideline I would mention that
the wires from the
"helmet" were long enough to hang as a pigtail.
I found some significance
(not totally understandable) in the variations of
the patterns according to
the words chosen, and they could include e.g. man,
woman, ape, parsley,
nettles, copper, numbers and fractions, chemicals,
parts of the body etc.
etc. (Note: I see no reason why one cannot dowse over
someone else's
brain).
19. THE "UNCONSCIOUS, SUBCONSCIOUS
and CONSCIOUS". What a topic.!! Even
more difficult than Love. I will now quote from my
own book:
Imagine the UNCONSCIOUS level of the
brain-mind system to be a really dark
place, so that a person cannot know or 'see' what
is there. When the brain
is stimulated by any word, situation, smell, sound
etc., the brain's
mechanism makes contact with ALL the records associated
with the stimulus,
but only that record or those records which are sufficiently
powerful
[please refer to "reasonable assumption"
4] will cause the information to
make its way along, shall I say, a dark passage which
becomes progressively
brighter as the information's journey continues [i.e.
the information
which was stored in the record and released after
stimulation]. At a
certain point when the passage has enough illumination
to enable the
individual to catch a momentary glimpse of what the
information might be,
but is still unable to identify it, then I would say
that the information is
in the SUBCONSCIOUS. Some people would then describe
the situation as
"being on the tip of my tongue". Eventually
when the person's brain
activity is quiet, even momentarily free from "mental
noise", the
information is likely to emerge into his " mind"
or CONSCIOUS awareness.
I will leave it thus, expecting your views.
20. RECORDS. Records in the brain are,
at least of two kinds. The first
are the INHERITED records associated with survival,
enabling babies to
"know" how to suckle, and to control their
bodily functioning in all
important ways. Inherited records also contain information
governing
physical features , strengths/weaknesses, potential
abilities and controls
for the autonomous system etc. The second, ACQUIRED
records are those
formed as the result of experiences. As already explained,
records vary in
power. So for any one word or other form of stimulus
there are probably
several relative records of associated experiences,
each of those records
being of different power. Initially the information
released into the
mind following a stimulus will come from the record
of greatest power, i.e.
the most dominating one. Powerful records are formed
by (a) REPETITION
(reinforcement) , (b) GREATER ATTENTION (more important),
and (c) CHILDHOOD
EXPERIENCES (less "mental noise").
21. HEALING. I regard healing as an
extremely important topic. First one must recognise
that, ultimately, the living body
heals itself. Only when the body's own systems fail
to cope with damage,
infections, etc. does it become necessary for survival
to bring in
assistance. I think of doctors as being "firemen"
in emergencies. If
possible, in normal circumstances, to remain alive
should not require
"firemen" to be at one's side all the time.
There are, of course, many exceptional
circumstances when assistance in the
form of medicines, surgery, physio- chemo-radio-therapy
might be essential.
However, one of the commonest causes of the body's
immune system and
other systems to malfunction is STRESS resulting from
mental conflict--
NEGATIVE THOUGHTS OPPOSING POSITIVE ONES-- both of
which give rise to
physical forces acting in opposition. Stress in humans
is somewhat like the
"FIGHT OR FLIGHT" mechanism in animals,
the main difference being that the
stress in most animals only arises during the actual
period of danger,
after which the animal returns to normal. In humans,
any experience of
threat, whether to life or possessions or ego, will
not only give rise to
stress at the time, but because the threat is recorded
in the brain,
subsequent thoughts about the threat will cause a
reoccurrence of stress
unless the individual concerned has found a way of
ensuring his ability to
overcome a reoccurrence of the actual threat.
So apart from resorting to the usual
medical treatments when necessary, the
medicines being equivalent to dealing with e.g. invading
bacteria which are
not being dealt with by the body's own immune system,
it becomes important
for a healer (or psychotherapist) to help a person
suffering from mental
conflict to remove negative thoughts which might be
opposing a person's
will, or to help a person to recognise when something
is beyond his/her
control and accept the fact. To refuse to do so would
mean "fighting the
unfightable". Result -- permanent stress. FAITH
has to be part of one's
thinking, recognising that we are all at risk, nobody
having been given any
guarantee. Faith can be in anything from God to a
rabbit's paw, so long as
it is genuine. FAITH IMPLIES THE ABSENCE OF NEGATIVE.
When considering
the activities of HEALERS, the greater the faith of
the healer in
himself/herself and his/her activities, so the greater
will be the effect
of the forces being channelled, even more so when
the patient has faith in
the healer.
22. REASON. In order to reach a conclusion
for the purpose of creating a
basis for understanding and, frequently, decision-making,
one is involving
the network of information of all kinds, all experiences,
stored as records
in the brain. Depending upon what has given rise to
that mental activity,
what motivation, or purpose, so the brain gets busy
making connections with
all relevant records, especially those concerned with
the experiences
associated with "cause and effect".
Depending upon the extent of an individual's
ability to use LOGIC and
EXTRAPOLATION, giving rise to analytical thinking
(often at a subconscious
or even unconscious level), so conclusions are reached
on occasions.
Sometimes the conclusions have to be unscientific
(unproven in strictly
scientific terms), because an individual's reasoning
might be based on
experiences which are personal, and not necessarily
experiences of the
majority. Frequently, communication concerning such
personal experiences
will become meaningful only to those having had similar
experiences,
leaving others SCEPTICAL . Thus the world is filled
with people all with
their own range of personal experiences, all recorded
in their brains, but
making communication difficult on many occasions-----
the INADEQUACY OF
LANGUAGE and REASON becoming apparent.
And not all reasoning is based, necessarily,
upon the experiences recorded
in the brain. It is sometimes based upon, or influenced
by, INSTINCT or
INTUITION, both really unscientific in their nature,
but nevertheless
playing an extremely important role in a person's
everyday life, making it
meaningful.
In my efforts to reach "REASONABLE
ASSUMPTIONS" for the purpose of creating
a model to help make an individual's life more meaningful,
the assumptions
being necessary to fill the gaps in the model because
of the limitations of
the scientific method, I suppose I am using experiences,
instincts, and
intuitions, plus one BELIEF only (for me, others might
have several) namely
GOD. I have been told by Christian de Quincey that,
in terms of logic, my
belief in God cannot be regarded as a reasonable assumption.
The only
answer I will give against his view is that I have
not defined God, and
have no intention of doing so. I have no wish to say
anything that will
precondition a person to accept my belief, nor do
I wish to argue in any
way to attempt to destroy anyone's beliefs. We are
all entitled to hold
beliefs and views of a personal nature, none of which
can be proved nor
disproved by argument or science. Perhaps because,
even with all the
scientific miracles, life and living is for most people
such a puzzle, we
can only carry on by having what could be called some
"reasonable beliefs"
as well as "reasonable assumptions".
23. THE INFLUENCE OF "NAMES".
When considering the methodology of SCIENCE,
because most ultimate scientific statements are reasonably
true FACTS,
based upon measurement and experiments which can be
REPLICATED by ANYONE
knowing all the work, thinking, reasoning etc which
led to reaching the
ultimate FACT, one can conclude that such facts can
rarely become subjects
for debate, only, perhaps, for expansion. Perhaps
in theoretical physics,
for example, debate will of course continue. My "reasonable
assumptions" do not come into the same category
as scientific facts. They
are simply the matters which the scientific method
cannot get to grips
with, but are nevertheless often much more important
to life and living
than the scientific facts, making life more meaningful,
influencing
decision-making.
When a particluar person becomes acclaimed
as being an EXPERT in his field
(other than science), for example in difficult areas
such as
"consciousness", "mind", "spirit",
"soul", "love", "faith"
and, perhaps
more importantly, areas of INTANGIBLE matters where
one is EXPERIMENTING
and EXPERIENCING, e.g. "paranormal", if
the experimenter or investigator
has no opinions of his own and bases his understanding
solely upon what
he/she reads or hears on the matter emanating from
someone who he/she
considers to be an expert (a "NAME"), then
the result will be that
according to the degree of faith that person has in
the particular expert,
so the POWER OF THE BRAIN RECORDINGS of what the expert
says will be
affected. The more a person is regarded by any individual
as being an
EXPERT, the more attention will he/she pay to his
statements, leading to
more powerful brain records, those in turn becoming
more DOMINATING and
influencing that individual's ability to think for
himself, and probably
influencing the logic he/she brings to bear on subsequent
matters.
I feel that this assumption calls for,
a great deal of consideration and
discussion, especially when giving thought to some
current methods of
education. Some methods do not encourage students
to THINK, but rather to MEMORISE and
to CROSS-REFERENCE (bibliography) almost every idea
or fact with what
someone else (a "name") has written on the
matter. What I say here
is NOT (and I can only ask that you believe me, I
cannot prove it !!!)
intended to be boastful in any way. It is merely a
statement of fact, and
I believe its significance is very important. The
fact is that, during my
whole life (except perhaps when I studied pharmacy,
calling for little more
than memorising anyway at that time, over 60 years
ago), I read very few
books. I learnt nearly everything by becoming involved
and having
EXPERIENCES, and learning by a process of making mistakes
and analysing
them. I am well aware that that last statement will
give rise to a lot of
eyebrow raising, and I will be the first one to agree
that I should not
like to be operated upon by anyone whose sole basis
for learning was the
method I have stated !! I will say the same for many
other professions
and skills which could affect the lives and limbs
of human beings. So I
hope I shall not become embroiled in arguments with
outraged readers on
that score !!!!! The "model" I am striving
to create is NOT a collection
of "facts", but rather a series of STIMULATIONS
, causing, I hope, the
reader to THINK for him/herself and to engage in discussion
and argument,
so that the ultimate model will be based on a COLLECTIVE
EFFORT, rather
than coming just from me.
What I am referring to are the subtleties
of life, even though, for me, it
included, in addition, my wandering into all kinds
of activities including
chiropody, pharmacy, commerce, shipping, manufacturing,
banking,
collecting, auctions, music, art, archaeology and
three years EXPERIMENTAL
research into "paranormal" phenomena followed
by 30 years of psychotherapy
practice , still continuing. I certainly had no leaning
towards
mathematics. It all started with an unexpected experience
with a twig.
During the first couple of days of experiments after
the "twig"
experience (dowsing) I quickly discovered that by
reading any book on
dowsing, I was getting results that were mostly misleading,
and giving rise
to false results. That was because my brain was absorbing
the "facts" from
the books which recorded in my brain, and led to EXPECTATIONS
based upon
those recorded "facts". So I immediately
abandoned all reading so as to be
able to proceed with an OPEN MIND, not pre-conditioned.
(Most fears and
phobias, and their physical symptoms, are produced
by expectations caused
by the recording of previous experiences).
So as a conclusion I would recommend
that, whenever appropriate, and in
respect of the frequently intangible areas under discussion,
if one does
read or hear matters expressed by so-called experts,
don't just accept
without question. Don't doubt that some of your own
views might be more
worthy than the ones you heard or read. Think things
out for yourself, and
don't be afraid to challenge simply because you are
afraid that someone
might think you foolish !!!!!!!! If someone does think
you foolish, SO
WHAT ?
24. MAKING MISTAKES. This has occupied
my mind for many years, and has
come to the forefront because of one recent event,
namely the unthinkably
cruel, wicked and horrible deaths of the three innocent
children in
Northern Ireland. I have a definition of a FOOL: "not
one who makes a
mistake, but one who does not learn from it.."
So mistakes are really
teachers. Does not a baby learn to walk by falling
over ?
Nature has provided survival mechanisms
in various forms, one of which is
the sending of SIGNALS when something concerning the
wellbeing of an animal
or human being is threatened. Those signals are usually
in the form of
PAIN, the pain manifesting itself PHYSICALLY, MENTALLY
or EMOTIONALLY, or
any combination of those. In reaching this "assumption"
I reflect upon,
in particular, all the horror that mankind has inflicted
upon itself in the
form of wars, crimes against humanity in the form
of "ethnic cleansing",
the holocaust, murder etc etc etc. The list seems
almost endless, and it
seems, too, that mankind is not a particularly fast
learner. Considering
the very short time (historically speaking) that "man"
has lived upon this
planet compared with creatures of the animal kingdom,
think what a mess
"man" has made of the planet, the environment,
and especially his own life
(in terms of contentment and happiness, not simply
physical wellbeing).
Animals, some species living on the planet for millions
of years, did not
wreak such havoc. Perhaps animals should be our object
lessons. Unhappily
mankind is messing things up for them too. Unfortunately
the blessing of
the critical faculty in "man" is certainly
a double-edged sword.
So, on reflection, it seems to me that
all the horrors mankind has caused
do, to some extent (but not enough) cause MENTAL PAIN
(CONSCIENCE) in
people whose brain-mind systems are not dominated
by other ideas which
block-off conscience. About the recent barbaric act
in Northern Ireland, I
have to think that the lives of the three innocent
children were sacrificed
in order, it is hoped, that the minds of those involved
(including those
who condoned the events which led to the murders)
will suffer via their
consciences, and that the consequence will be that
the lives, and more
importantly, the quality of the lives of those still
here, and future
generations, will improve. That quality will not depend
upon material
benefits only, but perhaps upon the quality of the
mental processes of
people generally. Hence my wish to see the establishment
of some sort of
model which will aid the mental processes of the mass
of humanity, not
simply an elite few, something which will improve
the capacity of an
individual to THINK FOR HIMSELF, and not completed
dominated by the words
of others.
Let us hope that the formation of the
European Union is a sign that the
last two World Wars have taught some folk something
that the sacrifice of
millions of people was not in vain. That matters can
be settled via reason
instead of physical brutality. To make sure that progress
in that direction
can be maintained, and even accelerated, consideration
must be given to the
question of "POWERBROKERS" (a word supplied
-- thank you --by a
correspondent, Michael Brown), that whoever has power
shall not use it
other than, in the main, for the benefit of mankind.
I know it sounds
idealistic ( I do not usually indulge in idealism),
but I am sure that what
I am saying represents the DIRECTION in which mankind
must travel if living
on this planet is to be, at the very least, reasonably
tolerable.
25. CONSCIOUSNESS. The subject of "consciousness"
seems to be attracting more attention than practically
any other feature of living things, especially among
scientists
and philosophers, and seminars on the topic are taking
place worldwide. I
have tried to extract, from some of those involved,
logical reasons for
such inverstigation, asking ( when conclusions have
been reached and some
understanding achieved about human consciousness,
if ever) whether mankind
will benefit in the living of ordinary everyday life,
and what the benefit
will be. To date I have not received any logical answers.
I have the
feeling that the feature of "curiosity"
dominates the minds of many people
to the extent that it blocks off awareness of WHY
they are so involved. So
my "reasonable assumption" regarding "consciousness"
is definitely going to
be simplified with the intention of making it as meaningful
as possible for
Mr. & Mrs. Everyman. I have always considered
"consciousness" as something
unique, therefore not allowing for the use of the
common tactic of
explanation by analogy. For that reason I thought
I would depart from the
usual practice of expressing my personal assumption
to begin with, and
refer to an old dictionary of psychology to see what
it has to say. It
reads :"CONSCIOUSNESS. A character belonging
to certain processes or
events in the living organism, which must be regarded
as unique, and
therefore indefinable in terms of anything else, but
which can perhaps be
best described as a view of these processes or events,
as it were, from the
inside --- the individual is, as it were, inside what
is happening; the
adjective 'conscious', is ordinarily employed as a
synonym for 'aware' ,
but this is a popular rather than scientific usage."
Quite obviously, while some aspects
of "awareness" could be considered as
consciousness for humans, it must be remembered that
both plants and
animals possess that ability, stemming from one of
the "inherited records"
mentioned earlier, and giving rise to instincts for
the purpose of
survival. So it is that plants, for example, have
awareness of water,
light, temperature etc., and animals have awareness
of danger, water and
food. They have additional awareness of role, rank
and function. Animals of
the higher order display recognisable love etc. One
essential difference I
feel between animals and humans is SELF-AWARENESS,
although, perhaps, some
animals which seem to have more "intelligence"
than others, might have a
degree of self-awareness. Some humans have the ability
to be consciously
aware of more things than others, the reason being
directly linked to the
critical faculty.
So, where humans are concerned, if a
person is consciously aware of some
particular thing externally, or is mentally preoccupied
with something in
his mind, depending upon the extent of that mental
attention, so will other
events or objects be involved to a lesser extent in
his mind. In my view,
so far as human consciousness is concerned, his awareness
of himself and
the world around, the universe, love, other people,
even his own bodily
functioning, etc.etc is solely dependent upon the
operation of his critical
faculty or the extent of its non- or lesser activity.
So it has been
observed that there are several states of consciousness
in "man", and those
states are linked, I feel sure, with the extent of
the activity of the
critical faculty. In an "altered state of consciousness"
-- as
illustrated by hypnosis -- the critical faculty is
very diminished,
possibly non-existent in some cases, which means that
the hypnotised person
has little or no mental preoccupation and is paying
more attention, and
therefore the route is open to creating more powerful
records (more
dominating) in the brain. There are other methods
of achieving altered
states of consciousness e.g.transcendental meditation,
chanting etc., in
which case the brain- mind system of the person will
be in a position of
greater awareness and receptiveness.
________
These all lead to the Model that Harold Van Colle
has established. Please click on:
The
Van Colle Simple Model : A Summation of Reasonable
Assumptions
Contact "Harold
Van Colle" at hvc@dircon.co.uk
