This is page 7 of 26 of an article series on: "Rivalry, Competition and Egotism Between all Group types. How group members beliefs, ideas, ideals & loyalties are managed by hidden subtle means preventing open evaluations & engagement of different conceptual frameworks, ideas & possibilities while limiting openness, change, freewill & diversity. Includes Self Exploration, Inner Awareness Exercises & Examples."
Just have a scan through the below and see how many of those you are ‘attracted’ to or would consider spending say a year or more being seriously involved with:
Just imagine for a moment that you are a researcher wanting to understand things or reality more deeply or comprehensively. Which of the above ‘as a researcher’ would you investigate by directly engaging or involving yourself with or of even actually (where possible) living ‘it’ for a while . . . ?
How many from the above list have you reading this ‘actually’ spent a year or more, using, studying or otherwise serious involved in or ‘openly’ investigating?
I’ve a list on this page HERE of different things I involved myself with for varying times. As I’ve already made clear elsewhere I spent a year or more directly living, using, studying about half of the above. I spent a year or more involved with over 20 quite different and diverse idea and concept knowledge systems. The one I spent the most time engaging with, investigating and STUDYING was science.
If you were going to ‘properly’ investigate something and particularly ‘something’ operating to a different set of ‘basic assumptions’ to any that you’re currently super glued to then how are you going to do this? How would you do this to achieve maximum understanding of that modalities’ ideas, concepts or knowledge?
If you did ‘actually’ accept, adopt and live the basic assumptions of a number of different ‘whatever’s’ for the ‘convince’ of properly and seriously investigating them. Then how many ‘something’s’ do you think you might have to investigate before it sinks in that bizarrely you always seem to be proceeding on the ‘assumption’ that;
Or are correct or are even facts . . . and that this is particularly so of seemingly everyone with regards their own favorite set of assumptions.
Even more bizarre is that all of those involved in ANY group all seem to suffer from the same sort of inbred basic assumption blindness . . . that even though some of these ‘groups’ are presenting say reality investigating or even ‘research’ conclusions . . . they don’t seem to quite remember that these ‘conclusions’ or ‘wisdom bites’ or ‘truths’ or ‘facts’ are actually only ‘so’ with respect to the basic assumptions that have given rise to them.
Have you noticed that some groups call their ‘basic’ assumptions beliefs, and some groups call their own beliefs ‘assumptions’ while some even more bizarrely call other groups basic assumptions ‘beliefs’ . . . while not seemingly noticing that these terms describe the same thing.
It’s quite a common affliction. Let’s see if you are . . . or are not . . . so afflicted.
Here are some basic assumptions;
Have you noticed this?
That (for example) even so-called scientific style thinking becomes somewhat short circuited when you become aware of the basic beliefs that science operates on.
That even more bizarre those purporting to be serious investigators seem to be as protective and irrationally attached to their own basic beliefs as everyone from every other group is too theirs.
YES . . . really . . . we are VERY serious about investigating reality BUT we haven’t quite got round to thinking about why we’re glued to and irrationally protective of the basic assumptions we operate by or why we hold to them as if they are ‘words of God’ . . .
Isn’t it a bit odd that every different ‘way’ that holds to a different sets of assumptions (even those that would start wars at the drop of a hat to defend even against others holding to just a slightly different assumption set) are dead set on imagining that their own set of assumptions are magically correct and therefore (in many cases) this logically makes everyone else s assumptions wrong or irrational or delusional or lies or non-factual . . . or are an affront to ‘God’ or ‘rationality’ or ‘whatever’ . . .
Having seriously engaged with quite a few different groups or ‘ways’ each holding to different assumption/belief sets then I eventually managed to figure out AND make an effort to keep reminding myself that the very best most basic of basic assumptions that’s very VERY likely to ALWAYS be correct is that you can somewhat guarantee that your basic belief/assumptions are very likely probably NOT.
If you manage to reach this point then you can find yourself becoming freer and freer even to look for never mind to seriously look AT and to embrace contradictions and annoying anomalies. This often turns out to be rather a better idea than of either studiously ignoring them or of using irrational means to avoid trying to understand them properly such as labeling others as delusional or even as liars. Which I’d imagine are classic symptoms of those suffering from irrational defense of basic assumptions syndrome.
Anything that even suggests that ANY of your basic assumptions might be unfit for purpose should be taken as an opportunity to change your basic assumptions . . . after all they are simply NOTHING MORE . . .
On the other hand it’s amazing how many members of different ‘groups’ have no problem at all soldering on expertly and enthusiastically hammering round pegs into square holes while sweeping under the rug any shapes (ideas, concepts or knowledge) that are just to ‘unbelievable’ even to take seriously because they fail that groups ‘basic’ square peg hole ‘belief’ test . . .
It’s been noted that even when the rug bulge of some groups gets to be about the size of Everest they are still unable to think well enough to appreciate that perhaps they are actually BEING MADE TO IGNORE IT . . .
So, what Everest size bulges are you being kept from really engaging with and thinking about?
When was the last time your own little ‘groups’ base of assumptions radically changed?
To be honest I find it SERIOUSLY odd that the groups supposedly deeply interested in ‘investigating’ reality don’t seem to be able to understand that their basic beliefs or assumptions are lets say nothing more than best guesses which should never ever be treated as ‘words of God’. They should never proceed on the assumption that their basic assumptions are true and you’d imagine that ‘groups’ orientated toward seriously investigating reality would be more aware of this than other groups AND you’d also imagine they’d have less problem than other groups of ‘updating’ or of even completely changing their basic assumptions (rather than what is derived from them) on a regular basis . . . as far as I can tell such groups are no less super glued to their basic assumptions compared to any others AND are no more aware of the oddities of them being like this than any of the others either . . .
What beliefs, best guesses, basic assumptions are you perhaps being;
My own basic assumptions have been changing about every 9 months for the last 6 years . . . which is why I’m only trying to present the ‘simple’ stuff here . . . I also don’t feel any need to ‘really’ defend them either as they are very likely to change again in a few more months anyway . . .
If you’re at all confused by this I’d download the SelfHealingHandBook and read some of this (just the first chapter or two should be enough). This shows what I was seriously involved in during one ‘investigating’ phase such that I published a book of my experiences and involvement and what I’d gained from that phase that might help others gain from it too. Some of you might be perplexed that someone whom worked as a scientist doing medical research (published papers are here) or whom managed a central resources research laboratory could write what I did . . .
On the other hand there are other people equally perplexed after reading that book whom are then confronted with what I’m writing here now as for them it’s as far away from what I wrote in that book as the book is from science . . . for some bizarre reason people seriously SERIOUSLY ‘changing’ their perspectives and understandings never mind their assumptions really ISN’T the expected thing . . . apparently it’s expected that you’ll stay pretty much glued to ‘something’ and that your basic assumptions / basic ‘beliefs’ will always be set in concrete . . . gosh . . . how dreadfully confining that sounds to me now . . .
How insecure are you feeling right now?
You aren’t having any irrational urges to leap in and defend your own little set of basic assumptions, beliefs or best guesses are you?
Don’t tell me . . . your group’s brainwashing is just SO AMAZINGLY EFFECTIVE it’s not FEEDING you thoughts or trying to have you present strong reactions . . .
What . . . because there’s ‘someone’ NOT actually super glued to ANY assumptions but particularly NOT your own little set of favorite basic assumptions?
You’re not being made to be convinced . . .
. . . that anyone with such mental agility and conceptual freedom must be unhinged or unstable or psychologically erratic or perhaps a tea-cup short of a full dinner set?
So, what you’re saying is that because I’m not permanently in a mental straight jacket or conceptually stuck in a cul-de-sac because I’m NOT glued to any ‘set in concrete’ basic assumptions, beliefs or best guesses . . . that this isn’t right?
While still perhaps remaining completely convinced that your own ‘basic assumption’ driven thinking is amazingly fantastic and completely correct and logical and that you couldn’t ever EVER be even slightly managed to have you think any of the above . . . ?