FUTURLOGICS a system of prospective thinking:
by james n. hall COPYRIGHT © 1983 BY JAMES NORMAN HALL ---------------------------------------------------------------------- No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatever without express written permission of the publisher ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Printed in the United States of America SELF TEACHING PUBLICATIONS WEST JORDAN, UTAH 84084 USA Previous Next Table of Contents of FUTURLOGICS
Chapter V NATURAL FUTURE |
NATURAL FUTURE AS SEEN THROUGH THE OBSERVATIONAL MODE No one is as blind as the person who thinks he sees everything with his eyes. We sense such a small part of what is real that it is doubtful that it represents even a sample of the total extent of existence. Dismissing the existence of anything because it is not observable emphasizes this form of blindness. There are other ways of learning and coming to know of things. Mental blindness is by far the most serious form, one for which there is often no cure. If, for some reason, we insist that everything be observable, then we lay ourselves open to a special form of blindness. We previously explained a cycle by stating that a person tends to think about what he sees, and tends to see what he thinks about. Observation of things about us can cause this same cycle, in that we think about what we observe and observe what we think about. If our observational powers only put us in touch with a small portion of reality, then we only think about them to a commensurate extent. We are forced to use only that portion of the mind that promotes further observation. If we attempt to learn about the world (and in the special case we are interested in the future) only through the powers of sense observation, we then find a limited and perhaps distorted view of things that the mode generates. Using the cycle of observation to learn about the future, we find the modal effects are also present. When we realize how little we actually perceive through our senses, we can then appreciate the process of DMP and the Futurlogics system. How much of the mind do we ignore? Scientist themselves state that the brain is capable of much more than is ever used. For them the last criteria of proof is that phenomena must be observable, and they set for themselves a limitation that cannot be overcome. One of the "phenomena" they will never observe is the operation of their own mind, and that is not observable except by the most private introspection. THE CONCEPT OF SELF IN THE OBSERVATIONAL MODE One of the requirements of science is that all assertions must be either demonstrable or observable by more than one person. When ever anything is proven, it is shown to all. Objectivity is stressed as personal input tends to invalidate the proof. Great care is taken to show that the finding is real and part of the environment, and not just the assertion of someone who wishes it to be real. Science studies nature, or it studies the nature of a particular thing. The natural future, or the natural mode is that future seen through the eyes of those who depend solely upon the senses. Science sees the future through the observational mode, therefore the future seen, if other faculties of the mind are not used, is the Natural Future. Science cannot study emotions or mental processes, since these are seen introspectively. Therefore, what kind of "self" does the observational mode see in the future? What is the concept of the "self"--if any--in the natural future? In discussing the absolute mode, we came across the problem of seeing the self in the concept of the future viewed through the retrospective cycles. Our answer here is that the only parts of the self in the natural future are the parts that are observable through the five senses. The self in this future sees himself as the reflection of his body in a mirror. Volition, decision, thought, or any introspectively known aspect of the self will not exist; they are not within the scope of the observational cycle. What is not seen does not exist in the pure application of this form of learning. The person seen through this mode is in mental suspension, not thinking, but only observing some external event. The strictest use of this mode, then, makes the self without consciousness, unless it is the consciousness of observing. THE PRESENT CAUSE THE FUTURE What we now observe was once the future of yesterday. Everything we see is the result of yesterday and is seen as a logical end of the causes we attribute to the happenings of the past. There seems to be a logical chain of events stretching from the past to the present and extending into the future. We need to know where present things are going to predict the future. Simplistically, this is true: the present "causes" the future. The sense organs put us into contact with nature. If we ignored other ways of dealing with reality and rely solely upon the senses which form the channels of observation, we operate in the cycle which is the basis for this mode. One of the rules of unbiased observation is the careful elimination of mental and emotional inputs into the process of observing Observation is a form of non-thinking behavior--a mere data gathering activity in its best practiced form. Personal input of any kind is usually disdained as contaminating the report that a pure witness of events should produce. In order for the personal type of biasing to be canceled, two of the requirements are that there be an alternate witness and also that the phenomena is seen simultaneously by the second observer. It must be observable to all or the data is not reliable. Observation can take place only in the present. We can see nothing of the past or the future with the physical organs of perceptions. Our view is restricted to the narrow band of time which is the present. We see only the beginning, or the middle, or the end, but we can never see them all at the same time. Ongoing things are described in terms of cause, effect, and conditions. The observational mode must use this breakdown of events into parts in order to use the logic that is correlative. The cycle between seeing and thinking produces strict rules of logic prevalent in the observational methods of learning that typifies this approach. The study of science might be used as an example of the language and terms that the observational mode might be forced to use if it is to be successfully applied to the future. Concepts in this style of thinking cannot be true and untrue at the same time. When we look at things with other means such as DMP, which looks at the temporal environment all at once, a seeming contradiction can take place; a thing can be true and not true but at different times. Since the mind can hold the past, present, and future all at once, truth and untruth may be experienced simultaneously. When we deal with the future and the time continuum of the environment with all the modes we run contrary to the need to stress the requirement that things happen at the same time. Logic, therefore, is the bridge between past and future that gives need for memorizing cause and effect relationships. Further, logic ties all the moments of observation together so that they offer continuity to the flow of time. The observational mode fails without logic because this method considers only material environment of the present. NATURAL FUTURE IS A PROJECTION OF THE STATUS QUO Children first learn through the things that they observe. What we see then is what we learn to expect. Explain to a child that the temporary absence of his mother need not be a cause for concern! The inexperienced mind of the child sees only that his mother is not present. The natural extension of his thought convinces the child that the absence is permanent--he predicts only from what he sees--and he will not be convinced that she is soon to return and that there is no reason to cry. Simple observation tells the child that she is not there and there is no reason to believe she is soon to come back unless there has been ample previous experience that the mother does return. If the child is trusting, the fear, subsides and the expectation of the mother's return supplants his fear, and soon he is playing with a toy. By studying the future, the observational mode is put in its proper place, enhancing the future as one of those real things just beyond sense observation. Therefore, if one realized that the future exists, and is extensive, other means are sought. DMP is contrasted against this type of learning and it is a good approach to provide comparison. PREDICTION BY GAUGING PERMANENCE We know the stars assemble the atoms and the particles that make up the material environment. Everything in nature centers around the atom. There are a hundred different atoms (in actually there are more but their stability is in such short half-lives that we do not yet see their role in nature). In most cases, decay rates and conditions which accelerate decay are known. These regularities and rates of permanence allow us to project that such things will be found in the future. Gold will always be gold, no matter where or when it is found. Though it is burnt, formed, blended, pounded, scattered, mined or recycled, it will always remain gold. It was there in the past and it will be there in the future. Likewise, the sun will always be a star and will follow the course of all stars as to birth, life and extinguishment. knowing the conditions in which things happen and how long they exist is the basis of prediction found in the scientific method. This is an excellent way of predicting and we do not detract at all from these techniques, but only stress that there are other ways which apply to the things that science and observation cannot deal. Touching the future by simple observation is good only in cases where a particular phenomena will endure a known time under given conditions, or is a direct result of cause and effect relationships. Knowing the permanence of matter in given conditions and possible potential events typifies scientific predictions. The natural mode is as good as our ability to observe and predict by logical process, and useful as long as we are aware of its limitations. WE IMAGINE WE ARE SEEING THE FUTURE "The Scenario" In the observational mode a point in time must be imagined to be the present so we can "visualize" the future. This is a device we use to avoid the limitations of the senses. We are utilizing the minds eye to "see" the future. All of this is nothing more than the power of imagination. By imaginary means we allow ourselves to believe we are seeing and observing as if we were actually present and perceiving the future through our senses. We did this in the absolute mode by imagining the future has (already) happened and we are looking back to it. Such tricks of the imagination compensate for the limitations of certain cycles used to predict the future. A curious feature of the observational mode is found when we attempt to answer the question, "What happens to the period of time between the actual present and the imagined present?" The answer is that we cannot be conscious of that period of time if we are using the purely observational mode. All things become an expanded present, so the time between the actual now and the imagined now cannot be realized unless we jump into the use of another mode. Thus, it is impossible to consider the continuum of time (i.e., the temporal environment) when using the observational mode. It is characteristic of the observational mode that awareness is lost for the duration of time and its continuum. The consciousness of the actual past and future is lost also because these things are beyond the senses. We are left with an expanded present--or a continuum of present only. The problem with the observational mode is it destroys our awareness of the flow of time from the past into the present and on toward the future. Using the observational mode excessively expands the present. This over emphasis is the reason it can not be used solely to approach the future. The imagination is used in all the modes. Indeed, if there were no imaginary content, thinking would be impossible. As we become more familiar with the imaginary mode, we realize how we subconsciously compensate for the inherent limitations of the modes.