You Are Not So Smart

A Celebration of Self-Delusion

It had to happen. Someone finally announced what us netsurfers and bloggers already know - most of the time we're not looking for information on the Net, we're looking for confirmation.  We don't look for or post articles that run counter to our own ideas or values.  What we look for - and always find - are sites that promote or enhance our current point of view, much as we think that we're open to diverse ideas, much as we like to believe that our website presents a balanced viewpoint.

So imagine my delight at finding this article called Confirmation Bias by David McRaney on the You Are Not So Smart website.  Yes!  I knew it, I knew it, and now it's been confirmed!

“Thanks to Google, we can instantly seek out support for the most bizarre idea imaginable. If our initial search fails to turn up the results we want, we don’t give it a second thought, rather we just try out a different query and search again.”- Justin Owings

This post, and the others on the YANSS site, are at once fascinating and insulting.  They really poke at how we're not nearly as smart, sophisticated or savvy as we think. But it's okay, they still prove what we already know - we're all human - so we're good to go ego-wise.  Each post starts with the common "misconception" and then present the "truth", like this:

The Misconception:  Your opinions are the result of years of rational, objective analysis.

The Truth:  Your opinions are the result of years of paying attention to information which confirmed what you believed while ignoring information which challenged your preconceived notions.

Drawing from observations and studies on such diverse topics as old movies, politics, Amazon.com wish lists and conspiracy theories, the author reveals again and again how we "...tend to come up with a hypothesis and then work to prove it right instead of working to prove it wrong", and that "once satisfied, you stop searching."  He closes with this advice:

Remember, there’s always someone out there willing to sell eyeballs to advertisers by offering a guaranteed audience of people looking for validation. Ask yourself if you are in that audience.

In science, you move closer to the truth by seeking evidence to the contrary. Perhaps the same method should inform your opinions as well.

The article and the website are fun and interesting - enjoy it all HERE.

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“The human understanding when it has once adopted an opinion (either as being the received opinion or as being agreeable to itself) draws all things else to support and agree with it.” - Sir Francis Bacon
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A Very Delicate Experiment

Andrew Cohen on Enlightenment



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and the night came on, it was very calm
I wanted the night to go on and on
but she said go back
go back to the world
- Leonard Cohen
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Love Has Always Been Here

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Love was here long before we were.  It was here when this universe first exploded into existence.  It was here when atoms first began to form molecules.  It was here when those molecules first began to form cells.  It's been here every step of the way - in fact, love is so fundamentally woven into the fabric of this universe that some even posit it as the fifth elementary force in the universe - the force of self-organization through self-transcendence.

In this remarkable audio clip, Ken Wilber takes us on a journey back to the Big Bang to chart the amazing evolution of Love as both the central driving force of the Kosmos and the most important of human emotions.  Drawing on the work of Abraham Maslow and other philosophers, he describes how this force, Love or Eros, constantly moves toward higher and higher stages of complexity, unity and wholeness - reaching out to form unions and to form higher connections based not on deficiency, but on "a super-abundance of the feelings and capacity for unity, for connection and for embrace."

It is the internal driver that pushes people from the state of ignorance and un-enlightenment where everything seems to be a separate thing and event and is felt as a separate thing and event, to a state where this dis- memberment is re-membered and everything is felt as a unity, everything is felt as One Taste, everything is felt as part of the spiritual texture of the universe.  And that drive moving us from dis-membered to re-membered and from separate and fragmented and partial to total and unified and holistic - that drive is Love.

The whole talk is HERE  (27 min)

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I never lived with balance, though I've always liked the notion
I feel an endless hunger for energy and motion
Open
Open
Open
- Bruce Cockburn
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Is Equality Over-Rated?

Dominance. Submission.  Two very provocative words by themselves, more so when taken together.

In these days of political correctness, any hint of inequality is seen as outmoded and oppressive.  But those of us who work with situations where decisions need to be made may have intuited that insistence on equality doesn't always stand up in real life.  Take consensus, for instance.  In a ideal world, it could be well argued that consensus is the best decision-making model as everyone gets to have a say and everyone has to agree on the ultimate outcome.  But in practical terms, consensus can take a long time and often results in very weak decisions, especially if one person is over-cautious, in which case that one person's hesitation can result in any forward momentum becoming completely blocked.  Think of a "hung jury".

Some might argue that democracy is a better, fairer system.  While it it is certainly more resource-efficient than the consensus model, the downside of democracy is that at any given time 49 per cent of the people can be very unhappy about decisions made by the other 51 per cent.  And that's not even taking into account minority governments and political patronage.

But I digress.  I want to share with you another of Steve Pavlina's blogposts - this one called Domination-Submission and Personal Growth, where Steve again takes lessons learned in the business world and applies them to the realm of personal growth and relationships.

One thing I really like about Steve is that he dares to thumb his nose at politically correct stances, dares to pose the question: what if the opposite were true? In this case, what if a consensual dominant/submissive relationship were more desirable for both parties than a relationship of equality? He first applies this query to an entrepreneurial situation:

So would you agree that all else being equal, you’d be more likely to succeed as an entrepreneur if you could start your business with either a free slave or a free manager, assuming they’re competent? And if you can see in advance that you’re likely to succeed, wouldn’t you be more willing to dive in and try it? Wouldn’t you also be willing to stretch and take more risks in your business?

Now consider this. Would these businesses also be good experiences for the slave and the manager? Could you fathom that they might also benefit tremendously from it? For example, what if the slave is, in real life, someone just starting out on their career path, and even though they work for free, they gain tremendously valuable experience. This “slave” is essentially an intern. Similarly, the manager could be thought of as a mentor or board member.

Then the story gets personal, as he and his partner experiment with the joy and freedom of a D/s style of mutual play.  (PC Warning: the following blog section may be offensive to some readers - getting over yourself is strongly advised.)  He talks about how, as the "master", he can see potentials in his partner that she may not see for herself, which he can encourage her to explore and express.  And she, as the "slave", can give him feedback that draws out new behaviours in himself as she playfully responds to his "commands".

With unconditional acceptance on both sides, each partner gains the freedom to relax and let loose, knowing they don’t have to worry about rejection or judgment. Isn’t it wonderful to be able to explore such things whilst knowing that your partner is completely loyal to you and fully accepting of you no matter what?

Steve concludes:

Perhaps an even more important point is to be careful not to dismiss a potential new growth experience out of hand. Be cautious about judging what you’ve never experienced or what you’ve experienced only in a limited way. If you’ve never experienced a particular dynamic firsthand, it’s safe to say you don’t have a clue what it’s really like. If you cast judgment from the outside looking in, all you’re doing is limiting yourself.

I think it’s better to keep an open mind about that which you’ve never tried. Don’t buy into the social conditioning that encourages you to pre-condemn with prejudice. Our society cannot progress much until we drop such limiting thoughts.

Read more HERE...

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and the dealer wants you thinking
that's it's either black or white
thank God it's not that simple
in my secret life
- Leonard Cohen
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Remain Open When Disgusted

from Chapter 19 of Blue Truth by David Deida

You can try not to judge others, but even that is based on a judgment - "People who are non-judgmental are better than people who judge."  The fact is, feeling good or bad in response to others is natural and inevitable.  The trouble starts when you allow your emotional response and mental judgments to result in heart-closure and separation.  When you clench your belly, close your heart, and pull away from others, then you are actively creating unlove and suffering.  It's one thing to be disgusted by some jerk; it's another thing to close your heart and add separation.

When you look into the eyes of those who most disturb you, practice feeling the openness behind the face of their fear and distress.  Whether they are on TV or standing in front of you, no matter how closed or twisted they may be acting, feel through their pained expressions into their yearning heart.  Their moment is open as yours, though they may be closing, unwilling to open as love, and therefore they are suffering their denial of love's openness.

When someone disgusts you, and in every moment, practice to relax as the moment blooms open as every body.  Allow openness the opportunity to live through you and your relationships by practicing to feel and breathe the deep openness that in everyone yearns to flower as love.

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some will lie behind, but we needn't be unkind
keep it open, keep it open
and help me keep mine open too
- Bruce Cockburn
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Intelligence, Not Enlightenment

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The Case For Building a Stronger Ego
from Steve Pavlina's Blog
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Checking out from life and trying to pursue ego-less enlightenment may be popular in certain spiritual circles, but it’s not a path I recommend, especially after witnessing the long-term results of many of the practitioners, not to mention the behind-the-scenes inconsistencies of certain proponents. It’s a path that can feel comforting at first because it gives you permission to avoid many of your fears instead of facing them. You can shrink away from life instead of boldly pushing yourself. You don’t have to stand out much. You can simply sit still and quiet your mind. There are many benefits to meditation of course, but don’t let the practice turn into escapism.

I think you’ll find it much more beneficial to relate to life on the basis of ego development as opposed to ego destruction.

Ego destruction is slow suicide. It’s yet another version of giving your power away. As long as “become ego-less” remains on your spiritual to-do list, you can use it to distract yourself from facing the real life challenges that scare you… like stretching yourself to go out and make a real difference in the world instead of escaping into the land of make-believe enlightenment.

Having a strong ego is not in conflict with inner peace. Inner peace doesn’t mean being passive. You can be quite active and engaged with life and still feel very peaceful and centered on your path.

Part of the reason ego-less living has so many people pushing it is that it’s a control strategy. People with strong egos are harder to control. If a religious leader wants to be surrounded by a bunch of loyal followers, it’s much easier to do that while encouraging all the followers to shed their egos. Then standing up to the leader can be called out as an act of ego and therefore something that the culture itself will repress, thereby keeping the leader in charge. However, this structure stunts the leader’s growth as well if the leader must pretend to be upholding the same ego-less standard that’s being preached to the followers.
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I have nothing to add to that except to say that if the above excerpt piqued your interest, gladdened your heart or totally pissed you off, I highly recommend reading the whole article from Steve Pavlina, appropriately entitled How To Build A Stronger Ego.  He presents a very compelling case for developing our ego as a vehicle through which we can offer our unique gifts to the world (oh look, turns out I did have something to add after all).

And if you have something to add, a reaction or argument - for or against - comments would be most welcome.

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the rifleman's stalking the sick and the lame
preacherman seeks the same
who'll get there first is uncertain
- Bob Dylan
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You are Already Free

from Always Already:

And so, as you rest in the pure Witness, you won't see anything particular—whatever you see is fine. Rather, as you rest in the radical subject or Witness, as you stop identifying with objects, you will simply begin to notice a sense of vast Freedom. This Freedom is not something you will see; it is something you are. When you are the Witness of thoughts, you are not bound by thoughts. When you are the Witness of feelings, you are not bound by feelings. In place of your contracted self there is simply a vast sense of Openness and Release.  As an object, you are bound; as the Witness, you are Free.

We will not see this Freedom, we will rest in it. A vast ocean of infinite ease.
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this post is a follow-up to:
Always Already:
The Brilliant Clarity of Ever-Present Awareness
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Pray That The Road is Long

Ithaca

When you set out on your journey to Ithaca,
pray that the road is long,
full of adventure, full of knowledge.
The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,
the angry Poseidon -- do not fear them:
You will never find such as these on your path
if your thoughts remain lofty, if a fine
emotion touches your spirit and your body.
The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,
the fierce Poseidon you will never encounter
if you do not carry them within your soul,
if your soul does not set them up before you.

Pray that the road is long.
That the summer mornings are many when
with such pleasure, with such joy
you will enter ports seen for the first time;
stop at Phoenician markets
and purchase fine merchandise,
mother-of-pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
and sensual perfumes of all kinds,
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
visit many Egyptian cities
to learn and learn from scholars.

Always keep Ithaca in your mind.
To arrive there is your ultimate goal.
But do not hurry the voyage at all.
It is better to let it last for many years;
and to anchor at the island when you are old,
rich with all you have gained on the way,
not expecting that Ithaca will offer you riches.

Ithaca has given you the beautiful voyage.
Without her you would have never set out on the road.
She has nothing more to give you.

And if you find her poor, Ithaca has not deceived you.
Wise as you have become, with so much experience,
you must already have understood what Ithacas mean.

Constantine P. Cavafy (1911)
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Always Already:

The Brilliant Clarity of Ever-Present Awareness
by Ken Wilber

This excerpt from The Eye of Spirit is described in the introduction as one of the most powerful - and beautiful - pieces of spiritual writing Ken Wilber has ever produced, and I sincerely agree.  With astonishing simplicity and depth he peels away layer after layer of concepts surrounding spiritual seeking and traditional non-dual practices, pushing through and beyond experience to find the experiencer - what he calls the Seer or the ever-present Witness. 

Things that are seen come and go, are happy or sad, pleasant or painful—but the Seer is none of those things, and it does not come and go. The Witness does not waver, does not wobble, does not enter that stream of time. The Witness is not an object, not a thing seen, but the ever-present Seer of all things, the simple Witness that is the I of Spirit, the center of the cyclone, the opening that is God, the clearing that is pure Emptiness.
 
Every time I recognize or acknowledge the ever-present Witness, I have broken the Great Search and undone the separate self. And that is the ultimate, secret, nondual practice, the practice of no-practice, the practice of simple acknowledgment, the practice of remembrance and recognition, founded timelessly and eternally on the fact that there is only Spirit, a Spirit that is not hard to find but impossible to avoid.

Here are some lines from Wilber's exquisite description of the freedom that comes from resting in that ever-present, pure and simple witness:

I am no longer caught up in the search for experiences, whether of the flesh or of the mind or of the spirit. Experiences simply come and go like endless waves on the ocean of what I am. As I rest in the pure and simple Witness, I am no longer moved to follow the bliss and the torture of experiential displays. Experiences float across my Original Face like clouds floating across the clear autumn sky, and there is room in me for all.

When I rest in the pure and simple Witness, I will even begin to notice that the Witness itself is not a separate thing or entity, set apart from what it witnesses. All things arise within the Witness, so much so that the Witness itself disappears into all things.
 
And thus, resting in simple, clear, ever-present awareness, I notice that there is no inside and no outside. There is no subject and no object. Things and events are still fully present and clearly arising—the clouds float by, the birds still sing, the cool breeze still blows—but there is no separate self recoiling from them. Events simply arise as they are, without the constant and agitated reference to a contracted self or subject. Events arise as they are, and they arise in the great freedom of not being defined by a little I looking at them. They arise with Spirit, as Spirit, in the opening or clearing that I am; they do not arise to be seen and perceptually tortured by an ego.

I am simply an opening or clearing in which all things arise. I notice that all things arise in me, arise in this opening or clearing that I am. The clouds are floating by in this vast opening that I am. The sun is shining in this vast opening that I am. The sky exists in this vast opening that I am; the sky is in me. I can taste the sky, it's closer to me than my own skin. The clouds are on the inside of me; I am seeing them from within. When all things arise in me, I am simply all things. The universe is One Taste, and I am That.

But how can we, resting as ever-present awareness, interact with the things and events which are still, as he puts it, fully present and clearly arising? How can we fulfill our yearning to offer our unique gifts to the world?

It is simply that, as embodied being, you also arise in the world of form that is your own manifestation. And the intrinsic potentials of the enlightened mind - such as equanimity, discriminating wisdom, mirror-like wisdom, ground consciousness, and all-accomplishing awareness - combine with the native dispositions and particular talents of your own individual bodymind.  And thus, when the separate self dies into the vast expanse of its own ever-present awareness, you will arise animated by any or all of those various enlightened potentials. You are then motivated, not by the Great Search, but by the Great Compassion of these potentials, some of which are gentle, some of which are truly wrathful, but all of which are simply the possibilities of your own ever-present state.
   
And whatever the form of your own resurrection, you will arise driven not by the Great Search, but by your own Great Duty, your limitless Dharma, the manifestation of your own highest potentials, and the world will begin to change, because of you.

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That is just a tiny sampling of Wilber's amazing offering to us - a re-membering of our own ever-present awareness - this free and empty Seer, this spacious opening and clearing in which all things arise.  Please take the time to read the whole piece - and if you think it worthwhile, please share it with others.
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If you liked what you read here, a related post at  Signs of the Times  is well worth a click.  David invites us in with a quote from John Sherman:

"To look at yourself just once, and then again, and then again... is to move from the endless work of self-definition to the endless adventure of self-discovery."

and adds, "In spending our lives learning to tell our story, mostly to ourselves, we really only meet ourselves in terms of either reflections of our bodies in a mirror or in comparing concepts we have of our “self” with what we imagine other “selves” are or think, etc.  Self-definition  …  hard and frustrating work, that nobody really has to do.  Who cares?  John is talking about looking directly at our experience of being alive, of existing … without regard for what we find or not."  The post, with links to some of John Sherman's work, is HERE.

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when the current of thoughts is self-liberated
and the essence of dharma is known
everything is understood
and apparent phenomena are all the books one needs
- Sadhana of Mahamudra
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