Words of wisdom and miscellaneous facts by Dr. Wysong and others.
This is an accumulation over several decades and the accuracy cannot be attested to.
2. POSSIBILITY THINKING
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1/9/2020
We naturally fear what an honest, open-minded investigation of our 'sure' beliefs will reveal. It might mean admitting error or ignorance (a most dreaded thing to have to do), or changing how we behave (even more dreaded). It might mean leaving behind a sense of certainty that made us feel safe and then starting over at the beginning. We would be faced with the vulnerability and powerlessness that attends a new journey of unknown destination.
But such hesitations and fears are of no matter since we all must eventually face truth. The universe is truth, and that truth, not our beliefs, is what we are intrinsically a part of and must eventually be reconciled to. Why not sooner than later? Besides, the old uncritically accepted beliefs that pervade our society have not served us well. They lead to only one terminus, a continuing future of error and ignorance. We have the technological tools to create utopia. The last two centuries of ratiocination in some fields of human thought and industry prove our capabilities. But why does it seem that reason must wear a veil when it ventures out into the arena of public policy? To endure our lot of human misery in favor of a raft of beliefs, makes no sense. A new approach is obviously needed. To begin, we could stop just reacting to crises. We could also set aside ego, selfish desire, greed, immediate pleasure, fear, nescience, and the flawed and confusing speculative philosophies used to justify them. Leaning on obscurantic institutions (commercial, academic, scientific, religious) as crutches and substitutes for our own minds hasn't worked either. Such convenient and shortsighted approaches to life mire us individually and as a society in the same old human woes—war, poverty, environmental degradation, disease, and meaninglessness. But it is hard work to gather and ponder facts, deliberate, reason, and be patient for long-term results. So we kick the can along the street of life like this: Hungry? Grab a candy bar. Want more money? Log a virgin forest. Unhappy? Take a drug. Too fat? Look for a pill. Need votes? Lie to voters. Disagree? Blow something up. We go to school and learn A, B, C, and arithmetic. Parents teach us manners, the church instructs us about sin, college prepares us for a career, and a job creates money. If we mismanage our lives we expect government to step in and save us. Instead of addressing whys, we learn a lot about whats, subscribe to dogma imposed upon us by others, and are swallowed up by the programmed and numbing motion of life. We hear but don't listen; look but don't see; smell but don't sense; speak without saying; and think without realizing. With no fundamental understanding we are adrift, simply following the lazy current of society… and current always runs downhill. The mindless knee-jerk reaction to life is fine for an animal in the woods where instinct rules and the laws of nature create balance. Although we remain in the woods (from a biological perspective), different rules must apply in our complex society. We are packed together with machines capable of destroying our environmental support, and weaponry that can vaporize all life on the planet. Intelligence got us into this precarious, machine-driven predicament; intelligence can get us out. It's such a simple thought: thought is the answer. A remedy can't come soon enough. This generation has seen World Wars, the Cold War, environmental and population crises, more wars, terrorism, starvation, and genocide. There is terrible disease, cruelty, untimely death, and social injustice. Even the best-planned life invariably includes great difficulties and tragedies we seem not psychologically equipped to deal with. So much of the misery we visit upon ourselves is because the tendrils of unreason creep into every nook and cranny of the world and our lives. To start anew will require breaking from a deeply ingrained mold formed over thousands of years. Not only do we continually look for surrogate moms and dads to lean on, but institutions have always been on the ready to fill the bill. They give us subjugation; we give them obeisance. Like Orwellian glassy-eyed believers, we march to a cadence set by power mongers who have only their self-interests at heart. It serves neither the institutions' needs, nor our desire to be dependent, for us to break from the line, think independently, and take responsibility for ourselves. So most of us don't.
​Think of what would be possible if the world would put thought first and gain certainty and agreement on how to behave, just like we do about the sum of two plus two. We would not need to spend trillions of dollars in response to terrorism, on medical care that is not improving health, and on weaponry to kill and maim one another. If we rationally spent our resources on improving the human condition, there would be no pollution or famine, clean energy would be unlimited, we could manage resources sustainably, rescue the helpless and victimized, and exonerate innocent prisoners. No child would be without a loving caretaker, everyone could have decent opportunities for food, shelter, and self-improvement, we would eliminate unfair discrimination, and could improve the health of all rather than just masking symptoms. It's enough to make one weep when the lost opportunities and waste are contemplated.
As this book examines various topics of life, I hope you will notice that the best of all worlds is not a dream, it is within our grasp. Only our fear of breaking from the ranks and thinking as if it matters stands in the way.
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1/9/2020
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Introduction
1. We Can Agree 2. Possibility Thinking 3. The Solver Principles 4. Our Owner's Manual 5. We Live in A Unique Time 6. Being Health Smart 7. The Illusion of Youth Health 8. The Good Old Days 9. Timing Life 10. Exercise 11. Hormones and Steroids - A Two-Edged Sword 12. The Female Hormone Problem 13. Growing Older 14. Squaring the Curve 15. Healthy Dos and Don'ts 16. The Medical Profession 17. The Greatest Threat to Health 18. Don't Surrender to Medical Care 19. But We Live Longer Today 20. Dollars Don't Make Health 21. Disease Does Not Strike Us 22. Germs Don't Cause Disease We Do 23. From Where Does Healing Come 24. The Best Food 25. Food Ethics 26. Healthy Weight 27. Healthy Eating Ideas 28. First Things First 29. Hopelessness 30. Depression 31. Memories 32. Addiction 33. Blaming the Parents 34. Surviving Tragedy 35. Touch 36. Music as Healer 37. Humor 38. Pets as Life Savers 39. Pet Keeping - A Serious Responsibility 40. The Myth of 100 Complete Pet Foods 41. Feeding Pets as Nature Intended 42. Industry vs. Earth 43. Population 44. Modernity's Deception 45. Animal Rights 46. Biophilia 47. Respect for All Life 48. Doing Good With Business 49. The Global Economy 50. The Power of Money 51. Financial Affairs 52. Work as Friend 53. Government 54. The End of Civilization 55. Freedom Is Not Equality 56. Sex 57. Being in Love 58. Marriage - The Union of Opposites 59. Divorce 60. The Family Nest 61. Having Babies 62. Children 63. The Empty Nest 64. Experience 65. Education 66. Life Is Uncertain 67. Things Mound Up 68. Murphy's Law 69. Life's Predictability 70. Finding Home 71. Learn From History 72. Shaping the Future 73. The Other Line Always Moves Faster 74. Little Things Add Up 75. Growing Up 76. Alone 77. Hope 78. Paying the Success Price 79. Change A Wonderful Thing 80. Being the Best You Can Be 81. Do Something, Something Happens 82. Change the World 83. Growing Good People 84. Words 85. Genius 86. Listen and Learn 87. Mind Over Matter 88. Looking Good 89. Protecting Yourself 90. Self Sufficiency 91. Life Is Math 92. Ethics 93. Conscience 94. The Long View 95. Being Real 96. Change 97. End and Beginning |