6 A Programmer’s Guide to the Mind
As I have already mentioned, this
book contains original research.
While most new discoveries are
fairly minor and add only small
fragments to the body of knowledge,
my brother and I have had the
fortune of stumbling across the
motherlode. Talk about being
„cursed‟ with success. Each step we
took revealed another vein of rich
ore begging to be refined into the gold of integrated understanding. This
„mining‟ and „refining‟ was so exciting that we ignored the task of „selling‟
our nuggets to the world. We did occasionally try to publish our findings,
but the mine which we had discovered was so rich that the inevitable
frustration of getting new material accepted simply drove us away from the
town of established science back to the hills to dig for more gold.
Because so much of this book contains new material, you, the reader,
are going to have to put on your thinking cap. You have to test the theory
to see whether it is true gold, or only the „gold‟ of fools. This is a
Programmer’s Guide to the Mind. One of the first steps in mental
programming is to take information from others and to evaluate it for
yourself. Testing ideas in this book will give you practice.
To do this effectively, you will need some tools. Let me suggest the
techniques which I used. Whenever I came up with a new aspect of theory,
I had to decide whether to accept it or to throw it away. I have found that
certain guidelines are effective for separating ore from gold—fact from
fantasy:
First, observe. This book talks about the mind. You have one. Your
family, children, partner, neighbors, even the people in magazines and on
television, also have minds. Observe their behavior. See if this theory
describes how they think, act and react.
Second, use logic. If you discover a contradiction, then something is
wrong. Check this book for logical errors, and mistakes in facts. See if the
ideas make sense.
Third, look for patterns. Expect to find similar principles popping up in
different areas. When patterns emerge, then that is the sign of a good
theory.
Fourth, compare. Other people also study aspects of the mind. Since
the subject of research is similar, the ideas should also be comparable.
However, do not get side-tracked by opinions or preconceptions. Rather,
stick with the facts and see if they are consistent.
Finally, try it out. This book is a Programmer’s Guide to the Mind.
Apply principles and see if they work. However, be sure that you are
willing to pay the price in time and effort. There are no instant answers,