Get Happy, Be Happy, Stay Happy

I’m always thinking about the human condition, life on Earth and where we’re headed. Many believe we’re in a global crisis, with the health of the entire planet hanging in the balance. This may be true. I don’t know.

We now hear the call, from many quarters, for a great shift in human consciousness. Some groups are more than willing to lead this great shift, and they offer up a stellar slate of so-called leading-edge visionaries to serve as the pioneers. I do understand that a shift or change of consciousness is not possible without a new vision, leaders and participants. But I find myself resisting these group efforts.

For starters, some of the “visionaries” are highly questionable. I don’t get why people will simply believe what an author claims is true. You know, like having a conversation with God. Or that “Jesus” beamed a revelation into a psychiatrist’s brain for transcription. And while we’re on the subject of credible sources, it’s beyond my comprehension how people can believe that beings from other dimensions or universes are contacting Earthlings with important messages. Anyway…

I just don’t trust subjective experiences as truth. I want to know the facts, as much as we can know and understand them. I want stuff to be objectively proven. Or at least seem reasonable based on what we know. So I’m drawn to understanding the human condition through scientific study and research. Here’s a comment I wrote under Neuroanatomist Finds Nirvana, which prompted today’s post:

If you’re interested in human development and understanding the context for the varying levels of human thought and behavior (especially those we have now), I highly recommend studying Spiral Dynamics.

http://spiraldynamics.org

If you’re interested in learning about a fairly new, systematic approach to understanding and solving psychological problems, check out the Human Givens approach.

http://www.hgi.org.uk

Both of these are grounded in scientific study and research. I’ve found these systems and approaches extremely helpful for getting my arms around some of the biggest issues of our time. Not that I understand everything, of course, but now I have a basic framework for hanging the millions of pieces of the puzzle (to me).

People often find my blog through google searches. Today two people came across my blog using the search terms “Course in Miracles + President 2008.” I was curious about what they might be looking for, so I checked out other search results for the query. Well, what an adventure it’s been!

For instance, on a message board at IsraelForum.com, I learned that beginning January 1, Oprah’s satellite radio program “Oprah & Friends” will offer year-long lessons from the Course in Miracles Workbook. Read the message board post, which presents former New-Ager and ACIM follower Warren Smith’s article, “Oprah and Friends To Teach Course on New Age Christ.” The article is also available here.

As a former Christian, I can understand Smith’s dismay over the Course’s infiltration into Christian churches. The teachings are, as he says, “the truth of the Bible turned upside down.” Even when I was a believer I couldn’t understand why so many Christians played fast and loose with their sacred scriptures. Apparently a la carte Christianity is an easier sell.

But aside from debating whether Christians should embrace the Course, what about the teachings themselves? On a practical level, are they helpful, or harmful? Do they present the truth about the nature of reality and consciousness? Is the Course’s guidance a key to changing the world, as Marianne Williamson claims? Is it the New Age Peace Plan that’s going to transform humanity? I guess it remains to be seen. (But I’m not holding my breath.)

I believe that human consciousness is at a crucial point in its development. We may indeed be ready to make a leap in order to deal with our current existential problems, as psychology professor Clare W. Graves theorized. Graves’ work serves as the foundation for Spiral Dynamics, a way for viewing human nature and how it changes.

Learn about Spiral Dynamics here.

Read chapter 1 of Spiral Dynamics by Don Beck and Chris Cowen.

Learn about Dr. Graves here and here.

“The psychology of the mature human being is an unfolding, emergent, oscillating, spiraling process marked by progressive subordination of older, lower-order behavior systems to newer, higher-order systems as man’s existential problems change.” –Dr. Clare W. Graves

I get very excited and filled with hope when I contemplate an evolving human consciousness. But then I start reading discussions like this one, A Report On Nazism in the New Age Movement, on IsraelForum and my hopes get dashed. It seems we have a long way to go.

If you decide to visit this forum, you might want to take some Dramamine before jumping on the dizzying ride.

Oh great Spiral Dynamics, please save us.

It’s not all sweetness and light in the New Age community. Whether harm is intentional or not, it happens. Common themes are blaming the victim and withholding compassion.

Psychotherapist Julia Ingram writes:

I call them New Age Bullies — those who, sometimes with the best of intentions, repeat spiritual movement shibboleths, with little understanding of how hurtful their advice can be. Some of their favorite cliches are:

It happened for a reason.

Nobody can hurt you without your consent.

It’s just your karma.

There are no accidents.

There are no victims.

There are no mistakes.

I wonder why you created this illness (or experience).

A variant of this behavior is found in the self-bullying people who blame themselves for being victims of a crime, accident, or illness and interpret such misfortunes as evidence of their personal defects or spiritual deficiencies.

I first used the term New Age Bully after attending a lecture in the early ’90s. The speaker, a popular leader in the spiritual movement, recited a New Age nostrum: “We create our own reality.” A woman in the audience responded by recounting how she had taught this “fact” to her seven-year-old daughter. The child had fallen off her new bicycle and skinned her knee. When she ran crying into the house, the mother told her to sit down and think about how she had created that accident. To my shock, the speaker then led the audience in a round of applause for this woman. The message was reinforced: Even children need to learn how everything that happens to them is their own creation.

I jumped up and said, “I think the little girl needed a kiss and a band aid.” When I tried to elaborate, the lecturer cut me off. “Are you a beginner?” he asked and then told me how wrong I was. I sat down, embarrassed and confused. Only later, could I answer that question for myself: I am not a beginner, but a seven-year-old child is. And this self-appointed guru was teaching a belief, not a fact. He had bullied me that evening, and he encouraged others to do the same.

I think we’ll see more of this type of bullying as so-called New Age and Eastern philosophies enter the mainstream without the balance of compassion and wisdom.

Read the entire article.

This morning I received the latest issue of eSkeptic, the electronic newsletter of the Skeptics Society, of which I’m a member. I read the review of George Levine’s Darwin Loves You: Natural Selection and the Re-enchantment of the World. The review closes with the following, which led me to spend half my morning at Wikipedia.

By his own declaration, Levine is engaged in a kind of theodicy for atheists, an attempt to reconcile us to the pain, horror, and pointless randomness of the world on the basis of his postulate that “human consciousness” can “transform mere matter into the sublime and the beautiful.” I suspect that, like all theodicies, this one is ultimately self-defeating. If one is not in need of such consolation, Levine’s formulation appears cloying and sentimental, as well as superfluous. If, on the other hand, one thirsts for some such comfort, this version is, in the end, likely to prove inadequate. Like theodicy in general, it courts the risk of reminding readers just how cruel and arbitrary the world is, after all, and how little power these ruminations have to soften the blows.

Darwin Loves You sets out to hunt us up a genial Snark who will accommodate our soft-hearted instincts by removing the fangs from a remorseless naturalism that has evolutionary thought at its core. Alas, when one examines it closely, one sees that Levine, in spite of himself, may have conjured up yet another Boojum.

First, I read the Wikipedia entry for theodicy, which prompted me to think about where The Secret teachings about good and evil might fit in. Then I looked up Boojum, which I learned is a dangerous type of Snark (I’m not familiar with Lewis Carroll’s poem, “The Hunting of the Snark”). That entry refers to Martin Gardner, a name I recognized because I had read his “Notes of a Fringe Watcher” column in Skeptical Inquirer.

Even though Gardner is a founding member of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal and an outspoken critic of pseudoscience, surprising to many, he believes in God. According to the Wikipedia entry, he describes his own belief as philosophical theism.

While critical of organized religions, Gardner believes in God, claiming that this belief cannot be confirmed or disconfirmed by reason. At the same time, he is skeptical of claims that God has communicated with human beings through spoken or telepathic revelation or through miracles in the natural world.

Gardner’s philosophy may be summarized as follows: There is nothing supernatural, and nothing in human reason or visible in the world to compel people to believe in God. The mystery of existence is enchanting, but a belief in The Old One comes from faith without evidence. However, with faith and prayer people can find greater happiness than without. If there is an afterlife, the loving Old One is real. “[To an atheist] the universe is the most exquisite masterpiece ever constructed by nobody,” from G. K. Chesterton, is one of Martin’s favorite quotes.

Interesting philosophy. Leaves a lot of wiggle room.

Then, reminded about the controversies surrounding pseudoscience and religion, I looked up the Wikipedia entry for New Age. As I read through the list of New Age beliefs, I noted which ones I outright reject, which is the majority. However, there are a few areas that I continue to explore, especially those concerning health and healing.

Readers of my blog know that I promote energy psychology, for instance, but with the caveat that I don’t know if the techniques have anything to do with “energy.” I also like homeopathy — but, again, I’m not sure why some remedies work (yes, I’m aware of the placebo effect). Based on personal experiences, I think there could be “something to” some of what is considered pseudoscience. As a “skeptic,” I try to remain neutral when there’s no scientific evidence, but I don’t always succeed. (I realize that I’m not a “pure” skeptic; I believe that such skeptics are rare.)

It can get mighty tiring always sifting and sorting my way through the areas I explore. I’m after the truth. I’ll keep going after something that seems to have merit even when mainstream science says it can’t be proven or has been, by their standards, debunked. You do know that not all scientific findings and interpretations are without error or bias, right? There’s that wiggle room again

I find it intriguing that I’m drawn to the healing arts that use “magical” potions and methods, and that I’m almost positive my stuffed animals and Bouncing Snowman are conscious. Really. I can’t bear to put those guys face down in a box for storage. And you should have seen me the day I had to return my leased car, which was “my baby” for five years.

To explain this magical bent, I have an interesting theory that my ancestors were Druids. Of course, I only know for certain that I’m of Scottish and Irish heritage, but according to this guy’s calculation, I have a 40-100 percent chance of having a Druid ancestor.

There are 600 Million Europeans today. There were only 30 million Europeans during the Black Plague of 13th century. Probably only seven million in 1 AD in Europe during the Roman Empire (which is why a single legion of 10,000 was so HUGE a problem for the Celts). Let’s assume that two million of those were Celtic religious practioners (France, Switzerland, North Italy, Spain, Dalmatia, Turkey, Britain, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Belgium, Denmark/West Germany), with about 20,000 Druids/Intelligentsia (1%) okay?

There are plenty of legends with Druids having offspring. Assume 1.2 kids per Druid (probably three is normal, but child mortality, plagues and war reduce it, plus overlapping descendents) and a 20 year inter-generational period with 100 generations since 1 A.D..

So, you’ve got 20,000 ancient druids (1.3 to the 100th power which is 8,2817,974.5) producing a whopping grand sum of about 165,6359,490,440.3 currently living Druid descendents at a minimum. And it’s a possible 2,535,301,200,456,458,802,993,406,410,7520,000 people, if we use 2.0 kids for calculations; but there are only 8,021,020,016 people on earth now). So with Europe and America and Australia’s combined estimated Celtic-descendent population of about 400,000,000 people, you have at least at 40-100% chance of having a Druid ancestor, depending on your calculations, without knowing any more than that your great grandmother was a McWhatzername.

I suspect a Druid ancestry for additional reasons, but I’ll save that story for another day!