Dr. Anatoly Ulianov: My generation was raised to believe that if you don’t like something or can’t do something, you have to try harder and eventually you will achieve. But what you’re describing sounds quite different. So do I have to make efforts or should I stop and look around to see where I am and what I should do next?

Dr. Michael Laitman: Most of our actions lead to opposite results, so we shouldn’t keep trying, thus causing more damage. First, we must discern whether or not we are in harmony with Nature. That is, to what extent does Nature support our plans and actions? Then we have to ask ourselves: “What is required of us?”

We develop under the influence of the inner drives that Nature instills in us, which we just realize. Wouldn’t it be better to first discover what plans are inherent in our natural development, and then build ourselves according to them?

Nature can develop us mercifully or harshly, depending on how we position ourselves. This favorable positioning is our first task.

Dr. Ulianov: In many of the games we know, besides the players there is an objective character, a referee. If we are talking about integral, global games, is there a referee there, someone who acts more objectively than us?

Dr. Laitman: It would be nice if this was an assembly of researchers, serious scientists, sociologists, political scientists, and economists who would work together. That’s because we constitute one, single system in which everything is interconnected. We understand that decisions cannot be made by force. I think that today it is clear to everyone. Notions of power structures that can single-handedly decide, govern, and execute, are falling apart. Therefore, there has to be a referee, a serious research group that offers its decisions and solutions after observing what is happening, and which can truly compare society with Nature, discern the mistakes, and provide evaluations, making our subsequent actions more correct.

The above points were taken from the book The Psychology of the Integral Society by Dr. Michael Laitman and Dr. Anatoly Ulianov. Also available as eBook (PDF, Kindle & ePub formats).

Dr. Anatoly Ulianov: Rules are very important in any game. Can you describe the rules of this global, integral game?

Dr. Michael Laitman: In technology there is a concept of an “integral, analog” system, where the entrance and exit are connected through the whole system and all of its parts are completely interconnected like cogwheels in a closed mechanism.

As we develop, the bond between us is becoming more and more rigid. In the past we were able to “slip through holes” in some way and attach our little wheels to one another only slightly. But today we are moving into a state where every person is necessarily spinning in a rigid clutch with others, thus determining whether humanity will move in a favorable or unfavorable direction.

Therefore, if we map out our lives less according to our egoism and in a more integrated manner, we would reach a common conclusion that it is necessary to create a joint system of governance, a world government that will unite all of our operations into a single system. That way we would achieve greater understanding of this integral system and would prevent many catastrophes.

We see the tremendous shifts occurring in the world today, such as the revolutions in the Near and Middle Eastern countries, and not only there. That is how a world government gradually forms. Life is forcing us toward it. But it would be better if everything happened in a more humane way and the approach toward that government would be more orderly.

Dr. Ulianov: If we suppose that man plays and acts by the laws of Nature, then who will be opposite to him?

Dr. Laitman: A corrected person is opposite to an egoist. First of all, it is necessary to act less egoistically.

Today any game of protectionism leads to horrible consequences. It’s as if you’re spinning the cogwheels in the opposite direction. This is first of all detrimental to yourself. That is why it is necessary to somehow stop this isolated, egoistic movement of every person in his own direction. The world has to be convinced that cooperation is necessary. And today we can do that.

What does this cooperation mean? We have to bring the whole world to follow the global decisions. But first let’s start by getting closer! Let’s imagine that there is no South America with its dictators, no Eastern rulers, no USA or Russia, no Europe, and no China with its exploding population, but we are all in one global, integral country. Today we have the power to do that because we depend on each other economically, politically, and especially for provision of raw materials. We can reach that state of cooperation, and then involve the game element.

The above points were taken from the book The Psychology of the Integral Society by Dr. Michael Laitman and Dr. Anatoly Ulianov. Also available as eBook (PDF, Kindle & ePub formats).

Dr. Anatoly Ulianov: If we take a regular, traditional game, immediately a stereotype arises, the idea that it is a competition, and in the end one side will win and the other will lose.

When you talk about “winning” the global, integral game, what do you mean? What is the objective and result of the game?

Dr. Michael Laitman: The objective is not to act in a way that is doomed to fail because it is totally disconnected from the actions that are instilled in Nature, and which Nature will carry out anyhow.

If we act in even a slightly different direction from Nature, we will suffer to the extent of our deviation from Nature’s program. If I deviate 10 degrees from nature’s integral law of development, or if I stray 20 or 30 degrees, then there will be earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, financial catastrophes, or even wars.

If we started studying ourselves in relation to the integral governance under which we exist today, we could prevent many catastrophes and would gradually learn to feel and analyze our actions, to discern whether they are desirable or not. An old maxim says, “If you don’t know how to act, it is best if you sit and don’t act at all,” because by acting without knowing how, you stray from the right course, whereas by not acting, you just passively flow with the movement.

The above points were taken from the book The Psychology of the Integral Society by Dr. Michael Laitman and Dr. Anatoly Ulianov. Also available as eBook (PDF, Kindle & ePub formats).

Dr. Anatoly Ulianov: For some reason I just recalled a chance game that used to be popular. Where does the hope that people hang on games of chance come from?

Dr. Michael Laitman: When we cannot know exactly what the right decision is, we put ourselves in the hands of fate, hoping that there is a destiny, an unpredictable upper force that controls us, and we give ourselves over to it. Of course, in games we don’t take it seriously.

In life, however, we see that even when we plan ahead and want everything to go according to our plan, things unfold by different laws. That’s where a discrepancy between common sense, my established dogmas, and what really happens in life emerges.

How can I leave my dogmas and merge with the actions that are actually happening outside of me, under the influence of some external, higher force of Nature?

Humanity is entering a state of integral, global governance by Nature. Previously we did not notice it, but developed through the generations according to our egoism, changing ourselves, society, and the social orders.

But today we – individualists, egoists – are starting to find ourselves in a completely different format. We are included in a mechanism that operates integrally, like an analog system where all the parts are completely interconnected, mutually determining each other’s state, and no one has any free movement. A person influences the whole world with his thoughts and desires, not to mention the physical actions. This is called “the butterfly effect.”

There is a contradiction between how we were created, how we map out the world based on our nature, and how Nature actually works in reality. A discrepancy arises between the two systems. And that is when the desire to play emerges.

To play means to give yourself over to the will of the integral nature that controls us, which we cannot understand, and with which we cannot act in unison. Therefore, a person seems to give himself over to a force, a governance that comes from Nature. In a sense, he throws a dice, thinking, “The result does not depend on me. I am simply giving myself over to the whim of chance.” So what should we do?

If we tried to “team up” with Nature, we would win. Of course, we wouldn’t be thoughtlessly “throwing dice,” but we would try to penetrate the integral governance. And even though it contradicts our common sense, if we would try to come closer to this integral governance, we would see that sometimes it’s worthwhile to act in that integral manner, that the advantage of doing that is obvious.

The above points were taken from the book The Psychology of the Integral Society by Dr. Michael Laitman and Dr. Anatoly Ulianov. Also available as eBook (PDF, Kindle & ePub formats).

1. Voluntary and Free
“Voluntary and free” refers to the choice of one’s actions and deeds until the person (whether a child or an adult) becomes certain that he is acting according to his conviction, the analysis he has made, and the decision he has reached. As long as he is not certain about the next move, he doesn’t do it.

And when he acts in life, or “makes a move,” just as in a game, he clearly knows that he is doing it himself. He has reached this conclusion on his own and is acting this way on his own.

2. Make Believe
A game is always “make-believe.” A child has to know that it’s a game.

3. Spatial Zone and Time
A game has a spatial zone and a time, meaning there is a beginning and an end to the game, and certain spatial boundaries.

4. Rules
A game always comes with rules.

5. Process is primary. Result is secondary
What’s important is the process of the game, while the result of the game is secondary. … As soon as a result appears in a game, it stops being a game.

The above points were taken from the book The Psychology of the Integral Society by Dr. Michael Laitman and Dr. Anatoly Ulianov. Also available as eBook (PDF, Kindle & ePub formats).