DigitalConversion

Possibly a more successful way to fulfill the promise of Promise City

2007-08-01T14:02:00.000-07:00

From watching all the reports and all the info I've gotten from everywhere on the Net, I think Jordan's strategy of establishing Promise City is at least partially hopeful but also partially doomed to failure since it carries the seed of it's own destruction in the way it fractures the social fabric of Seattle.

What Jordan is doing by trying to heal the enviroment from the pollution is important but it is only trying to find a funtional fit to the society and that's not all that is needed since it only fills one of the four quadrants.

A good description of the reasons for this fracture and why it's only a partial solution are given in the book Sex, Ecology and Spirituality by Ken Wilber in which he explains in order to integrate improvements in society you have to take into consideration all 4 Quadrants equally since they all have parts to play.

"What we will find is that a functional fit is indeed important, but it is only part of the harmony available And it is not even the most important quadrant for today's world, because before we can even attempt an ecological healing we must first reach a mutual understanding and mutual agreement as to the best way to collectively proceed.

In other words, the healing impulse comes not from championing functional fit (in the Lower Right Quadrant of the diagram above) but from mutual understanding (in the Lower Left). And that depends first and foremost on individual growth and consciousness transformation (in the Upper Left) The Left Hand path, not merely the Right Hand path must take the lead. Anything short of that, no matter what the motives, perpetuates the fracture."

At least their should be seminars, workshops or even schools set up to help educate people and foster their individual growth to help integrate all 4 quadrants to stabilize society.

In his book called "One" Richard Bach has someone named Pye tell a story with pretty much the same idea but told a lot more poetically.

“Let’s say we live in a terrible place: Threat City,” she said, touching the square. “The longer we stay there, the less we like it. There’s violence, destruction, we don’t like the people, we don’t like their choices, we don’t belong there. Threat City is not our home!” She drew a wavy line away from the square, angles and switchbacks. At the end of the line, she drew a circle.

“So one day we pack our bag and drive away, seeking the town of Peace.” She traced the difficult road she had made, followed all the twist and turns with her finger. “We choose left turns and rights, highways and shortcuts, we follow the map of our highest hopes and at last here we are, rolling into this gentle little place.”

Peace was the circle in the sand, and Pye’s finger stopped there. As she spoke, she planted tiny evergreen twigs in the sand for trees.

“We find a home in Peace, and as we get to know the people we discover that they share the same values that brought us there. Each has found her own road, has followed his map to this place where the people have chosen Love and Joy and Kindness-to each other and to the town and to the earth. We didn’t have to convince anyone in Threat City to move to Peace with us, we didn’t have to convince anyone but ourselves. Peace already exists, and anyone who wishes can move there whenever they choose.”

She looked at us, almost shy with her story.

“The people of Peace have learned that hatred is love without the facts. Why tell lies to separate and destroy ourselves when the truth is we’re one? The people of Threat City are free to choose destruction, and we’re free to choose peace.

“In time, other people in Threat City might grow tired of violence, perhaps they’ll follow their own map to Peace, make the same choice we made to leave destruction behind. If they all make that choice Threat City will become a ghost town.”

“And one day the people of Peace, remembering, curious, might visit the ruins of Threat City to find the destroyers gone, reality visible again: fresh streams instead of running poisons, new forests springing up from clearcuts and strip mines, birds singing in clean air.” Pye planted other twigs in the new town. “And the people of Peace take down the sign hanging crooked at the edge, the sign that says Threat City, and they put up a new sign: Welcome to Love. And some move back to clean the rubble, rebuild the mean streets gentle, and they promise the town will live by its name. Choices my dear ones, do you see? It’s all choices!”

That moment, in that odd place, what she said made sense.

So as long as Jordan lets the people that have grown enough to choose to move to Promise City and the goverment doesn't try to stop that choice by mutual agreement it'll mend the rips in the social fabric.

Routing around the Trouble

2007-06-24T16:38:00.000-07:00

Much like the Web routes around delays and disturbances in different servers, learning, training and communicating about how to harness abilities from Promicin seems to have to do the same thing. After the notice that the main Promicin sites are shutting down from the PTB wanting more control over want information is available.

That just means that P+ just have to spread out over smaller groups that are more numerous. That's why I've put more links to other P+ blogs on mine so that it's easier to keep in touch. I don't have to worry about who is accessing this blog since I my ability lets me have full control over the data streams in and out on the Web.

Even though the legislation is making it harder to the P+ to organize and cooperate. The more critical need seems to be to provide counseling and training for the P+ so that incidents like the one with Chris Morris just happen randomly. It was harmless and the guy no doubt deserved it, but without being part of an overall strategy to captialize of its effects it can do more damage than good

Since the odds of the legislation being changed at the present are poor, they won't get any better if incidents like this, the one with Graham Holt and Marcus Greene keeping happening. That means thoses messes have to be cleaned up by those that can handle them and the P+ have to be taught how to use their abilities effectively before enough pubilic opinion can be changed to get the legislation overturned.

Maybe that means that the P+ have to organize in underground cells that are spread out to have smaller schools to teach them how to harness their gifts, practice using them to their fullest extent and how they can use teamwork in concert with others.

Join in support for a Brighter Future

2007-06-21T16:38:00.000-07:00

From hearing about the trouble a lot of Promicin Positives have had trying to learn how to focus and control their ability is certainly sounds like a critical need for education and training has arisen.

If someone had been there to be able to counsel Graham Holt when he discovered his ability that whole fiasco could've been avoided, since a lot of us went through the same thing in high school and not many could've dealt with that kind of temptation without getting carried away by it either.

A teenager isn't expected to have the kind of experience yet that would help to stand up to it. That's why some specialized training, guidance and discipline is needed for the P+ to be able to harness their abilities wisely.

For P+ to be able to use their abilities most effectively they would have to develope teamwork and practice similar skills as the X-Men did in the Danger Room. To learn to rely on each other, how to complement each others strengths and support each others weaknesses so that they handle more situations.

Adding to those skills would be the training such as Luke recieved from Yoda to provide balance and self-discipline. Since he so wisely taught “Named must your fear be before banish it you can... Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering... But beware. Anger, fear, aggression. The dark side are they. Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny.”

Plus the fact that "With great power, there must also come great responsibility!" so Jordan Collier could take care of those who would abuse their abilities if he wasn't so busy being a fugitive. That way pyschotics like Marcus Greene could be put in institutions where they couldn't do any harm. Jordan would make an even better head of the School for Gifted P+ since he would be able to away any ability of a P+ that got out of hand and he has experience already from running the classes at the 4400 Center.

P+ aren't the only ones that have the potential for abuse, if those at Virginia Tech had gotten him the therapy he needed, the rampage he was involved in could've been stopped also.

I'm sure that no one wants it to get as far as it did with Yoda having to fight the Emperor for control of the society. We can do something before all out tryanny.

There has been talk of Promicin Positives planning to March on DC which could a good thing for change because it would show that P+ and people that agreed with them were a significant percentage of the population who voices could sway votes.

It was also suggested that I present a petition to overturn the legislation Banning Promicin Abilities and a presentation to shed light on the benefits to society than our abilities can provide with training and certification. Sort of like Al Gore does in the movie An Inconvenient Truth it would probably be some effective PR if I could pull it off.

A chance for great leaps in Human Evolution

2007-06-15T00:46:00.000-07:00

The passage of the legislation banning Promicin and the abilities of the Promicin Positives adds to the divisions started by the widening gap between income levels. That makes the odds are increase for another revolution like what happened in France.

As Mel Brooks showed "It's good to be the King" or even one of the Corporate CEO's but it's pretty bad to be one of the exploited and harrassed.

With the spread of Promicin to the general public it gives the opportunity for a more level playing field since those with abilities are a lot harder to exploit than the huddled masses of 18th century France.

But is it just going to be a Darwinian struggle of Survival of the Fittest that tears apart the society in the process? Or a chance for a more conscious evolution in human development that leads to a more advanced civilization?

As Neo discovered he was The One with the insight to save his society, the Promicin Positives also has the choice to lead the fight for higher development instead of just repeating the cycle with different people at the top.

Some of the principles for avoiding the same old domination methods with only a different set of leaders in control have been proposed by Ken Wilber in his Integral Politics-A Summary of Its Essential Ingredients it shows some ideas evolving to a more stable, inclusive and advanced society so more of the population enjoys the benefits of civilization.

The Promicing Positives have an opportunity to use their abilities to work towards these goals in a way never before possible which will ensure that the forseen Catastrophe doesn't come to pass.

As several people have said, it very similar to the debate about Gun Control, in the same way that Guns don't kill people, It's the people that abuse the guns that kill people.

The difference is what Ken Wilber is calling "The Exteriorists" that see something outside of themselves as the problem and want to solve it that, they think Promicin abilities are inherently evil in of themselves and want to get of them all together.

On the other hand "The Interiorists" see the problem as inside themselves and think that those with abilities should learn self-discipline to harness them without harm to others.

More than just a Frankenstein

2007-06-09T16:42:00.000-07:00

It's the nature of the beast to fear the unknown and the different, there is a long history of it fabled in song and story.

But the moral of that story is that brutes like Frankenstein's Monster are more misunderstood by fear and only a threat when provoked. The analogy also works with Promicin Positives since it's just a self-fulling prophecy when you declared a whole group just because of a worst case senario of what they "might" do.

Also to try and turn every new advancement into a weapon as the military industrial complex has been doing for decades is a recipe for inviting disaster. Dr. Angelo's research was showing great promise in overcoming Job's genetic damage and his enviromental disadvantages to further his evolutionary development. It was only through governmental interference that the experiment was perverted into the worst case senario that could've been a positive breakthrough if left unimpeded. Job wasn't givine the chance to learn self discipline to be able to harness his gifts effectively.

Mostly what it comes down to is control and as Pink Floyd so aptly put it "With, without. And who'll deny it's what the fighting's all about?" since it's easier to conquer if you divide everyone into "Us and Them" then callously order "Forward he cried from the rear and the front rank died. And the general sat and the lines on the map moved from side to side." Even easier if you declare Promicin Positives as not human and strip of them of the most basic rights. Are we not men? and as Shylock proclaimed If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?

That's the self-fulfilling prophecy that fear breeds and it will only lead to the kind of situations that the NSA says they want to protect against but will give them the excuse to exert the kind of control they crave and grab the power they seek.

My wife was initially was against my taking Promicin because of the high 50/50 risk but eventually she came around because the stakes of doing nothing and getting caught in the crossfire were just as great. It's a cliche but still just as true as when it was first illustrated that "With great power, there must also come great responsibility!" so that with all the power that having an ability to defend yourself with gives you, it also entails using enough self discipline to harness it effectively.