Specific Knowledge

Do you ever notice how in your dreams, no matter how weird things are, they seem to make perfect sense?

I was taking a nap earlier and woke up in mid-sentence from a dream I was having. I had started out  saying " As long as we keep attacking these one point buildings..." and then I woke up. I know that I was suggesting a strategy and that I was leading a team. But, whether or not we were playing a game or fighting for our lives, I could not honestly say.

The point is, I was directing the group with perfect clarity. Our clothing, specific location and individual attitudes all made sense. I knew the people that I was working with and that I could count on them.

But, if I had just woken up in the body of  this person that was doing the leading, I think it would have been a completely different story. Because right now, in the full light of consciousness, I have no idea what was going on. The circumstances, overall choice of dress and even the demeanor of my team seem to clash with one another.

My current point of view contains no real frame of reference for what was going on.

It reminds me of how people who have no idea what is going on often like to tell the experts in a field how wrong they are about the solution to a given problem. Most of the people living in my home do or have done technical support at some point in the past.

And we all have "horror" stories about customers that call up and tell us what is wrong and what we need to do to fix it. They are aware of the symptom that they are having, and due to either their own scant experience or the word of friends and family members they make up their own mind about what is wrong and latch on to whatever they think the fix is as being what we need to do. Ninety-five times out of a hundred, the customer is actually not correct about what the problem actually is, hence their solution is wrong also.

They do not understand computers or how they work and most of what they say and think about them is wrong. You can't just tell them that though or they get angry and ask to talk to someone who actually knows about computers, thus dragging the process on even longer without getting any results.

And the sad part is its the same in pretty much every field, not just computer tech support. People act the same way towards experts everywhere, telling them that they don't know what they are talking about when the truth is in fact the exact opposite.

It just does not make sense to me. When you have an illness you go to a doctor. The doctor does some tests, tells you what is wrong, and sends you home with a prescription to solve what ails you. Only an idiot tells the doctor that he is wrong and ignores his advice. When and if you argue with the doctor, you look like an idiot to him and everyone else that sees what is going on. You may know more about your body, but who knows more about medicine? If you knew what he knew you wouldn't need to go see him. You would write your own prescription fill it and go on about your business.

Well, an auto mechanic is a car doctor. A computer technician is a computer doctor. The account rep that you call when there is a problem with your cell phone is a cell phone doctor. Each one of them knows more about their specialty than you do. When you call them, you aren't telling them what the problem is. In almost every case, you do not have the knowledge or experience to make an informed decision about what the problem actually is.You are telling them what the symptoms are. They then use their much larger pool of knowledge about that particular thing to determine what the actual problem is and what needs to be done about it.

Realize that reason the other person is there, on the other end of the phone, is to diagnose, troubleshoot and fix whatever it is that you are calling in about. Also realize that you telling them what is wrong and what they need to do to fix it, just gets in the way and makes the problem take longer to resolve. The best thing you can do when calling for support is to admit, to yourself at the very least, that if you could fix the problem you wouldn't need to be calling for support. Then do your best to follow the directions of the technician so that things can be resolved as quickly and sanely as possible.

Everything is true from a certain point of view

"...you're going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view."
 Obi Wan to Luke in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.

We go through our lives deciding what is true and what isn't and then live and make choices based on what we have decided. What we think about a thing does not change whether or not it is true. But, information given to us in a specific way or order can convince us otherwise.

From the point of view that this pepperoni pizza has all of the four basic food groups in it, we could say that it is a well balanced meal and is therefore good for us. Or if you compare it with eating something like raw sewage, it is actually good for you.

We all know that terrorists are bad evil people attempting to destroy many of the things that are good about this world. But they do not see things this way. They feel that they are doing the best thing they can to make the world the way they think would be good.

So the next time you go to condemn a person for acting vastly differently than you think they should, spend some time getting into their shoes. Find out why they think their way of being is the right way. Perhaps, once you understand you can see the flaw in their thinking and set things straight. Or perhaps you will see the flaw in yours. If they are doing what they are doing for a perfectly logical reason, hatred or anger towards them is just likely to cement their belief that you are in the wrong.

In a previous post, I shared proof that the world is full of retards. I also have one that proves that women are evil which I will share with you now. It is of course not what I truly believe, just an example that if you look hard enough you can find a way to prove anything you want to be true.

We start off with a partial biblical quote "...money is the root of all evil". Or in math terms.  $=√evil.

Now success with women involves an investment of money over a period of time, which can be expressed mathematically as W=$*T. 

It has also been said and proven repeatedly that time is money. So, T=$

And if T=$ then $*T=$².

This gives us W=$²

Now let's go back and look at the start of our proof  $=√evil.  Now what happens when you do something to one side of an equation in math? That's right you have to do the same thing to the other.
So, if we start off by squaring one side of the equation we have to square the other right? Let's go ahead and do that.

$²=√evil² or $²=evil

We already said W=$². So when we replace $² with W we get W=evil.

And there you have it, women are evil. Should we kill them all and prevent future human life on this planet from existing? Of course not. We should look at circumstances and people on an individual basis and not automatically judge based on a person falling within a specific stereotype. The stereotype exists because it is true for a certain percentage of a given population, not because it is always true.

What's the story with history?

If all of the people on one side of a war are killed, the whole story can no longer be told. That is where the statement that "history is often written by the victor" comes from. With the unbalance left by only one side being properly represented, it should become obvious that history is not overburdened with facts. If you are old enough to read and understand these words, then surely you know that there are many different ways to describe any given set of events.

A factual accounting of things rarely if ever truly happens. Why is this? Well, first of all, because in just about every case, it is just super boring to only relate exactly what happened, just the way it happened. Also, most of the time what becomes "history" is what society remembers of a given incident. A great deal of history is verbal not written. Most of the time what is written and what society "knows" to be true about an event are vastly different.

There are those who were physically present for a given event. Then there are those that were not. Often those who were there tell the tale for those who were not. But, when those who were not there relate it to others something is lost because they did not have the experience themselves. The best they can ever hope to do, without repeating the story verbatim, is to relate their understanding of what happened.

What a person thinks about a given thing tends to color what he or she says about it to another person. More and different emotion gets added to the story with each new telling. Each person gives just a little of their own color to the story until at last someone who was actually present for the events being described may not even recognize the story as their own.

Most people aren't even aware though that the real tainting of a story happens before they share it with anyone else. Our own memory of a given event is often colored by how we think of ourselves, whether as hero or villain, empowered or victimized. Then when we share our story with others, we tend to put a spin on the story that makes us look the way we perceive ourselves to be. Sometimes we are embarrassed at our role in a given scene and may slightly alter the telling to make ourselves look more dashing or less foolish.

Other times we refuse to admit to ourselves that certain things took place. We may be afraid of what others will think if the whole and exact truth comes to light. Or we want to make some other person's role seem more villainous than it actually was. So when we share the tale, we omit certain details or tell things out of order.

All of this leads to our history being filled with falsehood.

There isn't really anything that one can do to change this since you do not have the power to control what others do and say. You can however decide at any point to have the courage to be completely honest, first with yourself and then others. Choose for yourself to remember things as they actually happened, not the way you wished they had. Memorize the boring old details and separate how you felt from what actually happened. When asked what happened, tell it just the way it was.

When your boss asks why you were forty minutes late, tell the truth. You woke up late, hence you got to work late.

Feel free to make up a dashing, daring tale, full of villains and fair maidens, dragons and knights. Imagine. Embellish. Create. Blame. Exonerate. But save the big beautiful lie, the faerie tale, for story time.

Are you a visionary or a dreamer?

Imagination.

It is an awesome powerful tool that has been used for countless things by billions of people for the last few thousand years.

Imagination has kept us entertained through the creation of literally millions of plays,books,movies songs and works of fine art. Nearly every great invention throughout history has been the direct result of imagination.

Without imagination nothing new could ever be created, well not intentionally anyways. A person first must conceive the seed of a new idea and then continue to use their imagination to cause that seed to begin to grow into the thing which they see within their mind's eye, so that their vision of the thing can become real.

It is the tool that is used the most by people who want to change their lives for the better and by those that want to make the world a better place. But there are really two main types of imagination and it is important to know the difference between them.

There are visions and there are dreams. Vision includes plans of action, goal setting, seeing an end result and working towards it. Vision is about your mind disagreeing with the world around it, about the way things are as opposed to the way it should be and deciding that you are going to do whatever it takes to bring about what you see in your  mind. It is a powerful force that bears with it the seeds of change.

On the contrary, dreaming has no power behind it. There is no drive to change the way things are. Dreaming includes hoping,wishing,wanting,desiring. On its own it is essentially a waste of time and even though the dream may be a beautiful one, it really only causes us pain if there is no intention of putting in the effort to make any change. Don't get me wrong a dream can turn into a vision, but until it does it is useless.

Men of vision would be people like Gandhi, the Wright brothers, Thomas Edison or Alexander the Great. And although he is famous for saying "I have a dream" Dr Martin Luther King was a visionary. He saw the world as a very different place than the one he was living in and set out to make his vision match reality.

Visionaries make the world into their image. Dreamers pine over the fact that the world is not how they envision it. People who have vision, while not satisfied with the way things are, are generally happier than people who spend their time dreaming. This is because even if it takes a long time to succeed they are making their dreams come true rather than waiting for someone else to come along and do it for them. Being a visionary empowers you. Being a dreamer disempowers you.

Which are you? Which would you rather be? How different would your world be if your dreams became visions, if you actually spent the time and energy to make your dreams come true?

Time flies when you are having fun

That's what they say at least. I know it's true for me. Whenever I find myself doing something I enjoy, the hours seem to speed by. Often when playing a game, spending time with my son or reading a book, I need to be reminded how much time has passed and what I am "supposed" to have already gotten done for the day.

How does that happen? Well, in actuality, the clock does not really move any faster. But, when we are doing something that we really like, our focus is entirely on what it is that we are doing and none is spared for clock watching or wondering how much time has passed. We are more interested in what we are doing presently than anything else that we could be doing at that moment.

Now what happens when you get to work? If you are like most people, you start off by dreading getting up, then you force yourself to get dressed, maybe have some breakfast and then head off to the job. By the time you get there you are ready to go. But, no, you have hours of waiting and clock watching until you get to go back home. You either don't like what you do, you don't like who you do it for, or you don't like the conditions that you do it under. Or some combination of all three. And the time just drags by, every minute seeming to get longer and longer, especially if it is not all that busy.

Some days at work are better than others, but none of them go by as quickly as when you are doing something you want to do. It doesn't seem fair does it? Our days aren't all filled with things that we enjoy doing. There is only so much time to parcel out to each thing. And the things that we like seem to whiz by in an instant.

But, what can you do about it? Well there's a couple of things. The first is to truly live in the moment whenever you are doing something you enjoy or spending time with someone you love. Be fully present in body and mind. Intentionally shut out distractions and really get the utmost out of every second, knowing that the time is fleeting and will be over much sooner than you want it to be.

And second, when working or starting out to do anything that you are not really fond of, find a way to flip the script, so to speak. Find some part of whatever it is that you are doing that you can make into something that is enjoyable. The idea is to literally make time fly for the things that you don't like, so that you can get back to the things that you do.

If you do a repetitive task, challenge yourself to find ways to make it more efficient, to cut corners without cutting quality. If you have downtime at work don't spend the time idly staring at the clock. Come up with new ways of doing whatever it is that you do. Figure out why your company does things exactly the way they do them and see if you can find a better way. This will serve to assist in alleviating your boredom and will show your employer that you have an interest in seeing the company do well. Find some way to make what you do a game, one that you can have fun with and of course win.

One of two things is likely to happen. Either, time will go by faster while you do the things you are not so fond of. Or many of the things you didn't used to like will become things you don't mind so much. Either way is a win-win for you.

Social Unification Through Widespread Dissemination of Information pt2

We are about 2/3 done forming a household of like minded people. While it may be a good idea, this gradual growing of a physical community limits the amount, speed and ways in which our tribe can grow.

With the advent of the internet, people of like minds need not live in the same communities, or in fact, even the same countries as one another, in order to share their ideas and thoughts. We need to no longer be limited to physical location, like the Indians were.While most of the tribe may be centered in one area, seeds of growth can pop up all over the world.

 That subject line should have deciphered itself by now.

 If we want to change the world, why not do it on a global as well as a small scale? We can focus our attention primarily at home, but share our philosophies and ideas with other people around the world that want to see the same kind of change that we do. Those that disagree with the ideas can just choose to ignore what we have to say and those that agree can speak up and join the tribe.

 It might take decades using the mindset of the one household at a time type expansion, from our tribe's current center to affect places like Africa, Europe or Asia. But, through the sharing of our thoughts and ideas over the internet, other people can take it upon themselves, right now, to form a local branch of our tribe within their own community.

 I do not currently do a lot (very little ever) of social media type stuff. But some other members of my tribe do. And I plan to start doing more. A major change for me is that I will probably start putting this blog on my Facebook page, so others who know me and have no other way of contacting me can see where my mind and heart are at and so those who do not know me personally can get to know me and my tribe.

We are about empowerment, positivity and personal growth. We have a vision statement that describes what we stand for as individuals and as a community.It is as follows

[We the people of  "Grok the Planet " are committed to changing the world, one soul at a time. Our goals are to constantly continue to grow and improve ourselves emotionally, mentally, spiritually, financially as well as physically and to encourage others to do the same. We will achieve these goals by each one of us being a leader, living in excellence, being impeccable with our word, making no assumptions, taking nothing personally and striving to do our best in all things]

 The idea is to perform positive personal change and to encourage and support others in doing this as well. If these goals and ideals match yours, please join our tribe. I am co-creator, general idea guy, and somewhat spiritual leader for the tribe. To find out more about the ideas and philosophies of Grok the Planet, please, read the rest of my blog. It is chock full of the beliefs and examples of our way of being.

Decide for yourself, if you want to be part of a group that changes the history of the world, by changing the way people interact with one another. If this is your cup of tea, shoot an email over to darkg0d@hotmail.com . Interested parties only please. Flames will be ignored.

See you tomorrow.

Social Unification Through Widespread Dissemination of Information pt1

That sounds like quite a mouthful but what does it mean? You'll see as we get further along. If you've been following for awhile, you probably know that I have a vision of a very different world than the one we now live on the surface of. Oh, make no mistake, it will still be the same planet you live on, with the seven continents and oceans and all that.

There will still likely be politics, wars and ambitious people striving for power. But what will change is social interaction. People will stop poisoning the air around them with their contagious negative attitudes. We will accept one another as brothers and not as strangers to be feared and mistrusted. Just as Dr Martin Luther King died before his dream was fully realized, I do not expect to be alive when the work is through. That is not because I expect to die anytime soon, but instead because of just how much there is to do.

Now, there are many different kinds of social groupings with many different monikers. After a long and thorough series of thoughtful hours upon the matter I have decided that group, organization, mob, army, family, club, community, society and company, for various different reasons, all do not really work to describe the intended type of mindset and plans that I have. All of them have elements of what is desired, just not the whole package. Family and community were very close though.

And as it happens, I was listening to a network marketing presentation recently. The speaker mentioned the word tribe and started to describe all of the meanings and ramifications of the word. At that moment, all the thoughts I had been having about the social grouping that I am creating, screamed out at me "that is the word. There is no better description"

See, the native American Indians called their communities tribes. It is a word that implies togetherness, community and family. Not everyone in a tribe is an immediate blood relative but they are all still family. They follow the same philosophies and live their lives by the same rules. An outsider cannot attack one member of the tribe without incurring the wrath of the whole society. They protect their own.

While the Native Americans were hunter gatherers, they still mostly stayed in one area and only met with members of neighboring tribes when they happened to cross paths. Sometimes their area of influence would increase through inter-tribal marriage or war. But for the most part it was static. The area they could affect with their philosophies and ideas was limited quite literally to where they lived.

My original idea was to start with myself, to spend time and energy forming myself into the kind of person that I thought people should be like. Then to form a household of like minded people and then to gradually grow a larger and larger community, first by getting a bigger house and then maybe getting another house close by or an apartment building or two. With the idea being to continue expanding until the growth in one area became explosive.

For the most part, I am the way I feel people should be. I am still not perfect. The journey is never-ending, but the corrections and adjustments to my way of being are smaller. For me, now it is more about fine tuning than massive change. Simply because it has come up several times before, I want to make it clear that I do not think people should be clones of me or do exactly what I say and do. But it is natural that people using the same general lines of logic will come to the same conclusions and take many of the same actions.