> Some people stop here, never acquiring the self-discipline to master
> Level 2. Level-1 people lack foresight, self-discipline and integrity.
> They tend to live chaotic lives, unable to hold a job or keep a
> relationship going. While they may enjoy the moments of life even more
> than people in Level 2, they do not live powerfully.
Is that a educated way of saying "ignorance is bliss"? Reminds me of a
limerick, (from memory and subject to error) :-
See the happy moron
Doesn't give a damn
I wish I was a moron
My God! Maybe I am!
> People who get stuck in Level 2 feel like they're in a rut, burned out,
> or that their lives lack meaning.
> ....
> If you're just doing what you've always done without thinking much about
> what you want out of life, you're in Level 2 or 1.
This sounds a lot like a lecture I got from a guy trying to get me to
join the Amway zombie movement. He said "ambitious" people joined Amway
but people who have resigned themselves to 9 to 5 job "enslavement"
didn't. There was no "people who think Amway distributors suck" option.
I think the disdain Mr. Brodie has for less-than Level-3 thinkers is
unfortunate or his language is unfortunate. The statements quoted create
an automatic guilt complex for people who do not consider themselves
Level-3 material. It plays on the fear of the intellectual who is
constantly wondering if he is really smart - which strictly speaking is
a stupid thing to do - thereby creating a self-defeating cyclic dilemma.
Strictly speaking, it's difficult to reconcile evolution theory and
wanting anything out of life since we're born first and then we're told
to find a reason for existing. Any human being is either a dead end of
some family tree if he/she chooses not to procreate or a mere link to
some other generation if he/she chooses to have children. What we do
between our birth and death is fill up the time. The religious use this
time getting ready for Phase II in heaven while the atheists grope for
the elusive Level-3 mind. Regardless of the choice of occupation, it's
all a diversion to pass the time.
> In Level 3, you pick a purpose for your life and hold it
> as your highest priority.
> ....
> After time, you'll find yourself becoming more and more effective
> at living your purpose.
Every so often I would glance through on of those Robbins motivational
books at the bookstore to see if I could identify a single concrete
piece of wisdom that are suppose to be the "secrets of success" but I've
never found one so I've never bought any of his books. In fact the
dribble he writes seems to fall under the category of what I've come to
know as "common sense". No offense Mr. Brodie, but the above statement
seem pretty obvious to me and I would venture that if someone needs to
be "taught" this then no amount of readin' and schoolin' is going to
bring them around.
I'm very much aware that my statements may seem pessimistic to some but
I like to think of Virus as the "speak your mind/meme" board. So here
goes : the Universe starts to exist for every individual when they
become "conscious" probably at age 3 or so. The Universe consequently
seizes to exist for every individual when their consciousness dies
(usually when their body dies but we can allow for lobotomies). What we
do during our lifetime will have absolutely no effect on the Universe as
a whole, only on a finite space around us which will include people and
the environment. While we are waiting to die we may choose to try and be
"happy".
Happiness is an absolute state and should not be qualified as Level-X
happiness. The illiterate farmer is happy in his field as is the Ph.D.
is his field. The generation-x Metallica fan is happy as is the hacker
at his keyboard (anyone who qualifies as both is truly happy). The party
animal who craves company is happy as is the monk who meditates silently
in isolation.
We have as much choice in moving through the "Levels" as we do in
choosing our degree of intelligence or our state of self-awareness.
We're all existentialists at heart but some of us question "the system"
more that others (the opposite would be some of us accept it more than
others) and this may be the closest parallel to the three "Levels". The
ones who resist blind acceptance of memes the most and who require some
rational explanation before signing up are probably Level-3 candidates.
My observation of my fellow human beings is that the majority fall in
line with whatever is presented to them. In a former post Brodie stated
:-
> The majority of Americans are classified as "sensate" rather
> than "intuitive" (S vs. N) in the Myers-Briggs scheme.
with respect to holding abstract memes, but I take it this also governs
their ability to question their memes and hence limit their ability to
transcend the Levels at will.
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* Hakeeb A. Nandalal *
* nanco@trinidad.net *
* *
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