178 A Programmer’s Guide to the Mind
Paradoxically, it is so-called modern man who is capable of becoming
the complete savage devoid of any common sense. This is because the
artificial world of civilization separates man from nature. The pioneer on
the frontier had to plow, plant seed, weed crops, harvest grain, grind flour
and bake bread in order to get food. In contrast, we need only drive down
to the local supermarket and pick up a loaf of bread from the shelf. If the
pioneer wanted a home, he had to cut down trees, saw the logs into timber,
build a structure from the lumber and probably even make most of the
furniture that went into the house. When we need a dwelling, we simply
call up the local real estate agent, look around a little, and then move in.
Similarly, if the frontier dweller wanted entertainment, he had to form an
operetta company and put on his own production of Gilbert and Sullivan.
We reach for the remote control and turn on the tube. In area after area,
modern man lives without ever encountering natural law or needing
common sense.
The result is that for the first time in
history, it is possible to put Perceiver
thought completely to sleep with the
reasonable assurance that nothing will
wake it up from its dreamy slumber of
hypnosis. Anything we want can be had by
asking the right person. There is no need
for common sense.
As long as we all retain a veneer of
common sense, then everything appears
normal. However, suppose that the
trappings of modern civilization are
combined with the icons of traditional culture. Generally speaking, this
step does not add the common sense of the past to the rational thinking of
the present. Instead, the hypnotism of traditionalism completes the
mesmerism of consumerism. The Perceiver observer thus becomes doubly
asleep, almost impossible to wake.
For instance, what happens when the modern North American „Native
Indian‟ tries to rediscover his culture? His ancestors had common sense;
they required it in order to survive in nature. He has no need for any of this,
especially if he can live on government handouts. Moreover, the
technology which he enjoys is the product of Western scientific thought—a
way of thinking which is not part of his history. Therefore, when he goes
back to what he thinks is his ancestral culture, chances are that he will
choose the worst of the white man‟s world, and combine it with the worst
of his own—he adds the childishness of native magic to the idiocy of the
Western consumer society.
Add the intensity of religious feelings and the power of modern
weapons to this mixture and the outcome can only be described as
explosive. For example, suppose that a religious expert tells a modern