must be maintained volitionally; he retains the power to betray it. In each new issue he encounters, he still must
choose to think.
Conversely, the more a man maintains a policy of focusing as little as possible, and of evading any facts he finds
painful to consider—the more he sabotages himself psychologically and the more difficult the task of thinking
becomes for him. The inevitable consequences of his policy of non-thinking are feelings of helplessness, of
inefficacy, or anxiety—the sense of living in an unknowable and inimical universe. These feelings undercut his
confidence in his ability to think, in the usefulness of thinking—and he tends to feel overwhelmed by the enormity
of the mental chaos in himself which he has to untangle. Further, the countless fears to which his policy of evasion
inevitably condemns him puts the weight of his emotions on the side of additional evasions, of growing self-
deception, of an increasingly frantic flight from reality.
No, this does not mean that his evasion and irrationality become automatic; they remain volitional; but he has
"programmed" himself to find rationality harder and harder, and the temptation to evasion stronger and stronger.
That is the psychological punishment which his nature imposes on him for his default.
But he retains the power to change his course. This side of psychosis, and assuming no interfering structural or
chemical disorders, every man retains that power, regardless of his previous mental practices. Volition pertains
exclusively to one issue: Is awareness the goal of one's consciousness—or not? What repeated evasion and
irrationality can affect is not the ability to choose to focus, but the efficiency, speed, and productiveness of a given
thinking process. Since the habitual evader has spent his time, not on improving the efficacy of his mind, but on
sabotaging it, he suffers the consequences in terms of mental strain, slowness, internal chaos, when he does decide
to think. If he perseveres, he can redeem and raise the efficacy of his thinking. But the mental effort he refused to
exert formerly must now be exerted tenfold.
In a given moment, a man may be so overcome by a violent emotion—particularly fear—that he may find it
difficult or impossible to think clearly. But he has the power to know that he is in this state—and, unless instant
action is required, to defer acting or