Every day marks the start of a new year. Every hour, minute and every second… a new year starts.
Make a wish.
Make it come true.
Category Philosophy
The very wide field of philosophy
Get to the bottom of it!
The insistence on finding the WHY is pervasive. Psychoanalysis. Dianetics and Scientology. ITIL and Root Cause Analysis. The belief that one has to get to the bottom of a problem can be blinding. Because it is far from the only way to solve problems. Sometimes it is better to evade the problem, to find another path or to stop creating the problem altogether.
If you face a difficult situation or problem in life, do you need to find the cause of the problem to solve it? Perhaps. Or perhaps not. It depends. There is no ultimate answer to such a question. Maybe you need what you ultimately think you need in order to solve it.
If your car breaks down, smoke and fire erupting from the engine, do you need to find out why the engine broke down? Not if it is an old wreck of a car. It would be cheaper to buy a new one. And not if it is cheaper to replace the engine than spend much time investigating the source of the engine trouble. It all depends. On the business case. Maybe it was an omen that you should start get in shape by riding your bike more often.
The insistence that one must get to the bottom of it can create tunnel vision and lead to endless hours of therapy or auditing or figure-figure why it is this way or that way. At least sometimes it’s better to just give a fuck.
It’s the feeling
In my talk at HP Norway, I covered my history as a calculator enthusiast. I got my first calculator (a TI-57) when I was 13 and my first HP calculator (HP-41CX) a few years later. I started collecting as an adult, and in 2008 eighty-nine of my ninety calculators got toasted when the building where we had our offices burned to the ground.
A couple of months before the fire, the Norwegian national TV interviewed me and showed my collection. Lots of people saw it. Shortly after the fire, the TV host Petter Skjerven came back to do a “part 2” where he asked me how I felt after the fire. We were standing in the ruins when I told him I felt great.
A couple of weeks before the fire, I had a dream where I had all HP-calculators ever made in mint condition. That saddened me – because the game was over. You see, the point about collecting the calculators, apart from actually using them, is to COLLECT – not to HAVE. So, I had 8 years of fun behind me when the fire struck. And then I had at least 8 years of fun ahead. It felt great. After that second show, people started sending me their old calculators. And now I am almost beck where I was. Except my HP-01 is hard to replace. And my HP-37E had the lowest serial number recorded. Priceless. Oh well. I started to rebuild my collection, and I have calcs now that I never had before – like the gifts I got from HP after my talk; an HP-70, an HP-25C and an HP-10. All rare items.
One important personal point I touched upon in my talk was how I am driven by feelings. The feeling for the unknown, the feeling of learning something new, of discovery, of the vast sea of interesting knowledge, the thrill of learning Einstein’s theory of relativity before I got my first calculator, the excitement of making a self-modifying program on a TI-59 that I borrowed from a friend of mine. The joy of synthetic programming on an HP-41. And the nerve wrecking feeling of reading aloud when I was in high school. The thrill of girls, of the first job, of travelling abroad, of meeting with interesting and amazing people. The emotions, the fun. This is what drives me. And collecting old calculators rejuvenates many tingling, captivating and entrancing rushes. I love it.
This a big reason why I make music, artwork, meet and talk to new people, travel, read, play, point my telescope to the stars and live life as I do. I am a feeling-junky. This is also why I blog.
Like!
One of my current quests has born fruits. A couple of years ago, I got the idea that it should be possible to like anything. Yes, anything. But while it may perhaps be a distant, even unreachable goal, it has shown to be a worthwhile pursuit.
I started out with the small, everyday things. Liking the noise from the neighbor. Liking my own irritation on a bad day. Liking others’ criticism of me. Liking nasty people. The cold. The failure on a job. Unpleasant food. The pain at the dentist’s. Practice makes perfect. Or at least approaching perfect. Because it seems an everlasting quest for liking anything. And the rewards are great 🙂
Life is brighter, more fun and there is a higher harmony. The alternative is less pleasing.
Just thing about it, is there any benefit in NOT liking stuff? You might as well like it, even enjoy it – and life will be brighter from it. Enjoy. Like!
Logical Fallacies
A really nice overview:
Click the image for full resolution
Miscavige, Hubbard, Jesus and The Golden Age of Tech
While the world of Scientology is buzzing with excitement over the new monumentalt milestone releases that is bound to shake the very foundations of this universe, the outside world runs its course unaffected.
Photo by Anette
Most people will never know about “Super Power” or “The Golden Age of Tech, phase II”. But some are negatively excited and are abuzz with carping criticism of Miscavige and his church. And I managed to muster some interest resulting in a few reflections.
Photo by Mike Rinder
Most have long since discovered that Scientology is far from the world’s fastest growing religion, perhaps it’s even the fastest shrinking religion. If you still believe that Scientology truly is the Only Hope of Mankind, then the only logical target for why the world is not embracing the subject is its leader, David Miscavige. True believers would never question Hubbard or Scientology itself, and instead focus almost exclusively on Miscavige as the True Culprit. He must be a power-hungry, greedy and evil psychopath to be able to halt the obvious expansion and Scientology’s natural take-over as the world’s One True Philosophy. If you don’t believe that Scientology is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, then there is less reason to blame only him. Perhaps he is just faced with an impossible task of making a flawed philosophy right by any and all means.
Earlier, I reflected on the creative genius of David Miscavige. I also said I think he is a true believer. I see him being on a relentless quest of making Scientology right. He turns every stone, tries fixing every minor crease and splits every possible hair in order to ensure that Scientology may eventually deliver what Hubbard promised. But what if it never can? I don’t think Miscavige would ever openly utter such a doubt. But I think that his quest does reflect such an inner doubt in himself. Just like I think Hubbard devised Scientology to fix himself, I think Miscavige is working hard to fix his own deeper doubt. Just like Jesus may have tried to sell the world on concepts that he himself finally admitted he doubted at the end.
Maybe most peddlers of philosophy try their best to fix themselves and often attempts to convince others in order to fix their own doubts. Maybe. And the followers are eager buyers as they would want their doubts handled as well. Most people like certainty and are willing takers of anything that can fix their fear, uncertainty or doubt.
It seems ironic that Scientologists outside of the church spend time and effort to justify or make Hubbard’s philosophy right, all the while they criticize Miscavige so harshly – a man that are even more adamant in trying his best to fix the subject. But because he is more intensely active and has set himself up as the sole power, the dictator of Scientology, his mistakes are far better scrutinized.
Regardless of the transient buzz and hoopla – when the dust settles and the lack of OT powers and expansion is again starting to show, I think Miscavige is out of stuff to fix – and the naked emperor will be clearly on display. And then the implosion will become a spectacle to behold. And some will regret they didn’t get busy making a better bridge. But fear not, the evolution of Mankind will find increasingly more effective answers to whatever. As long as we help nudge it ever so slightly in the right direction.
Artwork by me
A method for helping another
I have gotten many requests to post more about what I do when I help people as a coach and mental trainer.
The toolbox is large and contains a vast array of methods to help others depending on what they want to achieve. But above all, I hold the attitude that the other person’s interest, desires and goals are more important than any tool or method. I practice winging it more than anything else.
But there is one tool that I often use to help a person get back on his feet. It is a method I have found very effective when dealing with everything from a person coping or struggling to those who consider taking their own lives. This has nothing to do with introspection or therapy – I leave that to others. It has everything to do with getting shit done.
Here’s the simple way you can help another (or yourself):
- Tell the person to write a list of everything he hasn’t completed. Everything that nags him, that he thinks he should have done or should do. Every bad conscience. Everything. If it takes a stack of papers, it takes a stack of papers. If the list is short, so be it. But ensure you have exhausted his bad conscience. You are not interested in why the actions wasn’t done or any explanation for them. Forget prioritizations or categorizations at this point. The list can be all messy or upside-down. Doesn’t matter. Just get everything down on paper.
- Tell the person to remove everything he no longer has the opportunity or ability to do. This could be items like “Be a firefighter before I become 25 years old” (he is now 35) or “Be the next great goal keeper on Barcelona Football Club” (he is 35 and has a bad left knee). Strike out anything that he can no longer do. Make sure he also removes it from his mind.
- Tell the person to remove everything he no longer wants to do. No matter what the reason is, anything that he really doesn’t want to do is removed from the list. Make sure he also removes it from his mind. He now has a list of actions that he can, will and should complete.
- Prioritize. In the order of what is really bothering him. The worst shit goes on the top, and all the way down to the more insignificant itches.
- Make him do the one thing that bothers him the most. Help him. Complete the action together with him, or sit there while he completes it. Then make him do the second biggest source of worry. Then the third, the fourth and so on. Until you are confident he can do more actions on the list as home work. Follow it through until the person himself is confident he can do anything on such a list all by himself.
You do this, and you will have a friend for life. And your friend will have a different life. This happens to be the tool I use that has the most profound effect on a person who is struggling in life.
Try it. Let me know how it goes.
My Scientology book release (September 18th)
The date is set. The venue is booked. Noise will be made.
Yes, the book is in Norwegian (for now).
English translation of the title: “Nineteen eightyfour. My way into Scientology’s inner secrets – and out again.”
If you are in Oslo on the 18th of September, you are welcome to join the party (including OSA – The Church of Scientology’s intelligence and dirty tricks arm).
Links:
The book release facebook event
The event at Litteraturhuset
My book at the publisher’s page
(Use Google translate as needed)
A successful day
You either learn something new or complete something old. That is the hallmark of a successful day.
An amazing person that stands out as one of the most energetic, creative and bold people I’ve ever met. David Melchior is an IT manager at the Norwegian Meteorological Institute. He was the original inspiration for the article “Processes, Automation and Human Potential“. The above quote was but one of the gems that popped up during our meeting today. But that alone made it a successful day, as I learned something new.
THIS is what it’s all about
Nuff said:
Geir Isene - uncut 