Question

I would be flattered by Monsieur Born's words, but I don't like the extent of my evil to be limited to the confines of one world.

How fortunate you may conjure such flattery -- soup to gruel.

And thus....another lesson for us in self-love.I think I can begin to reevaluate my self-loathing and percipience as to where I really am in the evolution of my personal spirit.Today my mirror is clearer than yesterday.

I am humbly grateful.~W~

Oh, come now! It assure you, it was only in jest! As indicated by my face. Or did you not see it? Perhaps there was some reason it wouldn't appear on your computer? Maybe you should have that looked at...

As for your lengthy philosophical lecture on truth and all perceptions of that truth (which I overlooked earlier... my apologies...), I must say that I can't quite determine if this Maser fellow is a philosopher of some sort or one of those silly inspirational speakers. Maybe it's a bit of both... At any rate... I do agree with him that truth is objective and perceptions of truth are subjective (hence, "perception"). So, if we were to nitpick, the proper question should be "is it proper to tell another person something which deviates from our own perception of truth to ensure their perception of truth is not threatened, or are we morally obligated (morality being a human construct, and thus also subjective, mind you) to tell that person our perception of truth?" But we're mere laymen, and we use terms in a manner short of proper, such as "lies" and "truth".

But how do we go about applying this philosophy to the original question? Because we are mere mortals, our perceptions of reality undoubtedly fall short of reality as it truly is, especially in matters which we are unable to measure; e.g., the mind, etcetera - incidentally, the matters in question. Therefore, should someone ever ask the question, "Am I a bad person?" there is no objective answer. And their answer may be no nearer to truth than ours. What, then, do we tell them?

As Maser would have us believe, "The accepted definitions of truth are only modifications of the definitions of perception. Truth as a human understanding resides in everyone's heart, and it is there one must search for it. Although we must each be guided by truth as we see it, no one has a right to coerce others to act according to his or her own view of truth. In the end, our "detector of truth" is our inner voice. Thus, I find no magic in the perfection of hindsight; it only points out that I did not listen to my inner voice when it spoke the first time.

"The truth of the human mind is relative and therefore but a perception of that which is True. If our perception of a truth were in fact the Truth, we would find no such thing as a half-truth."

This is where I vehemently disagree with Maser. It's also where I find his message to be contradictory. "Truth as a human understanding resides in everyone's heart, and it is there one must search for it," says Maser. And, by that, he means follow your intuition, intuition as defined by: 1. The ability to understand something immediately, without the need for conscious reasoning. 2. A thing that one knows or considers likely from instinctive feeling rather than conscious reasoning. But how often are our feelings and instincts influenced by society or emotions or biases or stereotypes or past teachings or mindsets or whatever else? For example, an ex Nam vet knows the world to be filled to the brim with hatred and suffering. When faced with a gruff looking stranger, his intuitive sense leads him to believe this stranger is a threat from which he must protect his loved ones. A pacifist and philosopher whose mind has not been corrupted/enlightened by the heinous brutality of war may intuitively see the kindness in the heart of this gentle, albeit unrefined stranger.

If, as Maser states, the Truth is found in the chambers of the human heart, then this large stranger must both be a dangerous and irredeemable criminal and a gentle giant worthy of our patient understanding, because both of these "truths" are in each of the hearts of those who witness this stranger.

Intuitive sense, or as Maser likes to phrase it, "searching your heart," is the most subjective form of the perception of truth.

Allow me, if you will, to propose an alternative. Maser purports that truth is found in the absence of knowledge. However, truth must correspond with reality. As Thomas Aquinas states, "A judgement is said to be true when it conforms to the external reality." And how do we determine what of our observations correspond most with reality? We test them, and thus gain knowledge about them. We then take that knowledge and use it for useful, or sometimes destructive, purposes.

Is it still a perception of reality, and can we still be wrong? Of course. But we're much less likely to be wrong.

So ... "Am I a bad person?" ... Still don't have an answer. Morals aren't exactly testable. In this case, to be the most fair and consistent, we observe the standards of society - laws, norms, mores, values, etcetera - and compare them with the actions of the person in question.

I'm a bit tired, so I apologize if I got off track. I'll proof read it later. Maybe...

Michael, I am tired too, long day, but I wanted to agree with you on defining those in need from those who USE ILLNESS FOR POWER AND CONTROL. And I can see why you would spot that and respond to that truth that others either choose to ignore or are too ingnorant to see.

I did take into consideration that for those who cannot feel compassion and empathy it is not always fair to condem them for something they just do not have.

One thing that I have read is that those who lack the capacity to actually feel empathy, make up for it by being more intelligent. The intelligence is often (not always) used to learn that those with a lot of empathy can be easily tricked and manipulated. So basically the interactions that take place are mostly for trickery and personal gain, by the one lacking empathy.

The most intelligent option of all would be to use the intelligence to assist those with empathy that have issues that could be resolved by the increased intelligence of the one lacking in empathy. The gain could be more substancial and keep one safe from a lifetime behind lock and key.

LOL, now I am well aware that this is one of the operative skills of many politicians.
However greed often disrupts this process and social solutions from reaching a true fruition.

It is something I ponder about. Cant add any more at the moment, time to get some zzzz's

Open Eyes

The Indian spiritual leader, Mahatma Gandhi, said that, "A votary of truth [a person fervently devoted to truth] is often obliged to grope in the dark." Our challenge therefore lies in our blind spots, not in our vision. Unlike correcting a blind spot in the rear view of an automobile, which can be rectified simply by adding a different kind or a supplemental mirror, we cannot correct our personal blind spots so easily. To correct them, we must grow in our perception and in our acceptance of what is. "Perceive" means to "seize wholly," to "see all the way through." Perception, therefore, is the act of seeing in the mind, of understanding.

Yes, I agree.

Open Eyes

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/...h-or-happiness

You mean utilizing my hyper-logical cognitive process to assist those who are burdened by empathy or other strong emotions which hinder their ability to reason? I've tried that on occasion. Only certain types of individuals are even open to the idea. And doing this causes a bit of a problem for me. You see, I have to be very cautious in how I discuss certain things, especially in situations which naturally invoke a lot of emotion. Should I, in those situations, have a logical response void of those pesky emotions which cloud our ability to reason, people become very nervous and even disdainful of me. "Heartless" ... "Monster" ... and, my favourite, "Pathetic excuse for a human being," have been thrown around on more than a few occasions.

So, for me, manipulation is not only a useful and sometimes enjoyable skill; it's a necessity.

I love how you use the works of others to illustrate your own thoughts...

So what are your thoughts on my critique of Maser's opinions of [T]ruth?

Is it a bird, is it a plane? NO - it's Professor Chaos!!

If I'm reaching out to offer what I may have to help you, Open Eyes, I don't care what johnny-come-lately's opinion of me and my helping you might be; I'm talking to you and not anyone else. One can only communicate/talk to a single person at a time, I can only hear you when you talk and, hopefully, you will read and think of me, when I talk. Johnny/Jenny-come-lately is not my concern and I have no trouble ignoring a person not discussing the problem at hand.

I do read them and think about what they have to say to/about me in case there's something there I want to learn. Criticism is always the other person's opinion of you, it is not the facts about you! Only you know yourself well enough to have a "true" knowledge of yourself and what is best for you.

I am fairly straight-forward. I say what I mean and I back up what I say 100%. I don't delete my posts, I deliberately made a decision not to on another forum like this about 20 years ago and to support myself and what I write. I can not understand a problem correctly and say things that end up not being what the poster I'm responding to was asking about. When I understand that to be true, I apologize and explain what I was thinking and how I made my mistake.

If I respond to a poster and they feel I am "mean" or "not supportive" that's their perception. I have been on this board and others like it since the mid-1990's when they started and have learned an enormous amount about myself and others that I have, over the years, put into practice. I'm not responsible for how others view me! I'm not responsible for others misperceptions. Because the other person perceives me as "mean" or "not supportive" does not mean I am or that they understand my point of view or, what I am saying. It does not mean that I said what I had to say in the "best" way possible, just in the way I decided to say it. Hearing something we don't want to hear is often quite painful and I'm fine with another deciding what I have said is wrong, hurtful, poorly worded, harmful, whatever way they perceive it.

I am comfortable with myself, in all my guises. I have no trouble apologizing if I think I made a mistake; one cannot learn except through mistakes because getting things "right" means you "know" whatever it is whereas getting it wrong shows you what you need to learn. I don't take it "personally" because I know who I am and what I want and someone else isn't easily going to come along and shake that?

Yes Perna, but as you say, you have 20 years of practice, I should think after all that time you would be imune to some extent. Oh, my, you have so much invested,
my experience with this type of communication is since this year, mid March. A mere six months under not the best of circumstances unfortunately. I don't think I will have the time for the exposure you have had to this.

No, my experience has been in real life experiences. I actually thought that I handled a lot of things well. Unfortunately my brain did not fair as well as I had thought. No, I have been so busy I have the original cell phone, my computer skills are basic, if that and I have never had time to facebook, twitter, or any of the other new tech available.

Now my biggest issue is my own brain. Maybe with your experience you probably noticed that. Did you notice when I first came how I was like a locomotion in my posts? I was so riddled with anxiety that this is all I could do. And I read line by line and posted one thought at a time to slow me down. Oh I am a super poster and I have made Poohbah, I haven't been counting, I have just been using one part of my brain to overcome the parts that have been hard to control.

I was struggling with something I thought I could just overcome like everything else.
Then I was handed a page from a workbook about grounding methods to help me overcome this brain issue. I read that page and saw all the grounding methods I had used since the age of two.

Byz, you just put up a link about truth and happiness and two pills. Well, one of those pills was shoved down my throat and I fell into a hole of a truth I never knew existed. Suddenly I cannot do anything, because everthing I did was connected to a trauma that presented flashbacks with an array of emotions that is well beyond a startle from an unexpected scare.

To be honest I feel like I have been sent to the twilight zone. All my life I NEVER thought I was intelligent, EVER! I was strapped to a child that was condemned and so I too was condemned. Everyone said he was stupid so therefore, I must be his stupid sister.

I just always thought of myself as very resourseful, but not intelligent. I spent most of my life trying to deal with some kind of issue that someone else had that I had to survive and accept and even forgive. And I never had any desire to cheat, hurt, abuse, or even be grander than any other person.

Well, then something happened and I broke. And I didn't realize how bad. Then I saw that word in my psychward records, extremely intelligent. And then I see it again in some more records and then I start hearing it from each person that is in the field of psychiatry and psycology that I come in contact with. And then my husband tells me I am just too smart and that I have always been just too smart. And then when I am talking to therapists they are telling me about their issues like I can solve them or because they want my view. And then I talk about how I have worked with students and my own philosophies and I am asked if I read this book and that book, and I have never heard of the books or the authors.

I have not gotten over that workbook and I am very afraid to open any book right now. I have been told that I should be a therapist at least five times in the last year. I had been having difficulty finding a therapist and so I just used PC until I could find someone who specialized in PTSD treatment. I had thought I found one that presented the workbook but he was a recovering herion addict, admitted habitual lier, and admitted he had narcissistic tendencies. And for some reason I learn things I should not really know, but often my sessions are more about intellectual exchange rather than therapy and so I hear things I shouldn't. But it can come in handy in the elimination process.

Now you think that I would be flattered by being told how smart I am. I am not, and I even find it creepy. And I talked to a specialist that my husband, through connections, found for me to talk to because I have been really struggling. And this person specializes in trauma treatment and by the end of our conversation she told me that what I have been doing with PC and working my frontal part of my brain has been a wise choice for me and that my efforts of the work I have done on my own have been really good. And she also told me that I was very smart and had a good understanding of psychology. This specialist travels all around to different trama facilities and teatment centers to work with different programs and therapists.

And my biggest issue is that I need the support of my family who are all used to me being the fixer and in control and they just don't get my issue. My own therapist is helping me with that. And he is also helping me with how I was overlooked intellectually and how that can happen in the atmosphere I grew up in.

I am in the twilight zone, I am not sure what to think about all of this. I have to be honest. But I havent been taking it very well, I am trying. And I may have some degree of capicity intellectually, but if I was all that smart I would not be dealing with this issue. Or I would have at least not let it get to me like this.

Micheal, I appreciate your honest responses, you lack empathy and I am sure I have too much of it is interesting. It is my resoursefulness that looks at your intelligence and ponders.
And I have seen you post some very good points. I just hate to see intelligence wasted on deception. But I can understand how you may find the emotional issues that arise from empathy
a waste of energy. I know all too well the energy emotions can take from the body now.

Michael, I think I can answer your question to the Byz. He is so much like my father, both extremely systemic individuals and extremely intelligent and well read. Perhaps when something has already been said the best way something can be said, it is often the best example of an opinion to put forth. I was the only one in my family that could really talk to my father and you have to ask the right questions to get to the spot where a true dialouge comes out. Most people don't know what my father is thinking and always assume it is because he doesn't like them when he doesn't engage. It is not that he doesn't like someone, he doesn't think one way or the other. And there are professions where time is of the essance and short, and to the point is best and can become a habit.

I like the way the Byz presents information alot, it is one way I can read and gently think about different issues. It has been good therapy for me to ponder something else besides my own issues.

Sorry, didn't mean to get off topic here. But I enjoyed the conversation. Nice to know you better Perna, you too Michael. And TheByz already knows I appreciate his input.
Open Eyes