- The stupid makes the same mistake, over and over, expecting different results.
- The normal person eventually learns from his mistakes, but he first has to make them, a few times…
- The wise person learns from other people’s mistakes.
Did you notice that we are not talking here about IQ? About ability?
No, the behavior ascribed to the stupid and the behavior of the wise can and often come from the same IQ.
The ability to do things differently can’t be accessed without a modicum of humility. Modicum means: a little bit.
Humility is a capacity, an attitude, a behavior, a world view.
If you are a fatalist or determinist, ((religious?)) you probably have no humility.
If you find the juice in life in being a victim: you probably want no humility.
Thought experiments are the wise person’s main tool… Thought experiments require a linguistic aptitude, and humility. ((Occasionally you can do the thought experiment in an illustrated form, like a mind map, or in the case of military: on the war map. You need less intelligence to do it in an illustrated fashion, and the accuracy of the thought experiment is very much in question… You can be seduced by the physical activity…))
Just because you saw it (the water for the fish, the outcome of an action), you don’t have to do anything about it. ((Another capacity to be able to follow the actions to their conclusion, in your head, is called The Sight, the ability to see the consequences of your actions. But like any capacity: unless you use it you lose it.))
Thinking, that because you said it or saw it, you now have to do it… is denying that you have the power to say or not say… do or not do.
But getting out of a groove (another word for a groove is ditch!), even for a moment, takes energy and flexibility (the willingness to flip the picture in your head).
- One kind of groove I see is “it’s all about me”, specifically your dominant belief about yourself.
Worthless, loser, stupid, not free… they are deep groves, that unless you get out of them, NOTHING WILL EVER CHANGE YOUR LIFE.
It is not about getting out of the forever… it’s a process, that begins with getting out of the groove for a second, for a glimpse, like a fish jumping out of water… and then falling back again. But just like the fish cannot unsee what it saw in that glimpse of a moment… you can change direction.
- The other groove I see is somewhat the reverse of the first: “I should be able to just jump to it, and not ‘waste time’ thinking it through” ADD/ADHD type of groove.
They are equally distributed among my students. Some of them, unfortunately have both. I have the second type.
The first type delays even the understanding of the principle, or distinction… the view is blocked by the dominant belief.
The second type gets the distinction, but they are in a hurry.
But unless you get yourself unstuck, at least occasionally, you’ll end up where the groove takes you: not the good life, that can be guaranteed.
Most of you that have never done any thinking: this will be the most painful thing you’ve ever done, and you can say: “I need to toughen up, be able to take more pain…” and then do it, a little at a time.
Thinking, real thinking is hard work. And this is when your IQ comes in.
We could say that one measure of the IQ is how many disparate, distinct pieces of information can you play with at one time, in your head.
For the kind of work Einstein did, you need to be able to hold 30 pieces of information in movement… in your head.
For the kind of work I do: 14.
For the type of thought experiments you need to do so your life can move towards the good life: four.
It takes time to build up to four pieces of information held, moved around, and seen clearly in your head… especially if you have never done it.
Some of you, depending on your occupation, depending on your environment, have been able to hold two pieces of information.
The more visual your work, the more pieces you can hold in your head.
But no matter where you are, unless you increase your ability to think your way out of the groove and see where your actions might lead you, without actually having to go first, is going to be the key to two things:
- how much difference the 67 step program can make for you. It’s all thought experiments. All the steps. If you have been nodding only… no benefits. The benefit comes from the thought experiments.
- how far your life can go towards the good life.
Now, why would I suddenly talk about the good life?
Interestingly, the good life is at the same “place”, in the same direction, as causing the evolution of the human species, the activating the dormant intangible capacities that allow for civilization to work without suppression.
When you don’t know better, when you are powerless, no will power, no intelligence, the only thing that can keep you in check is force.
We live in the age of forced suppression. No freedoms, small cage, neurosis, anxiety, diminishing playground for the individual is the hallmark of this age.
The direction of the “good life” and activating dormant capacities are in the direction of the possible “Age of intelligence“.
The current humanity is not intelligent. The number of intangible capacities is 5-7 capacities a person.
The current humanity is so not intelligent, the genes are not even able to stay on… force, suppression, and the groove has been winning every time.
My work is to find a combination of practices and to turn certain capacities on, so you start moving in the right direction.
The thought experiment I have done shows: it can be done. And that the 67-step coaching is the way to go.
Please don’t prove me wrong… lol.
Read the original article: Thought experiments: the wise’s way to learn, the wise’s way to win in life