October 23, 2024
February 21, 2012 at 10:11 pm · Filed under Education
Dr. Anatoly Ulianov: One of the most important characteristics of a game is its competitive aspect.
There is a book titled How to Become the Parent You Never Had: A Treatment for Extremes of Fear, Anger and Guilt. This book starts out by saying that we are all winners because 500 million sperm cells competed, and the winner was…
Dr. Michael Laitman: Me.
Dr. Ulianov: Yes, I won. Since this competitive element was enrooted in us by Nature itself, how can we use it correctly?
Dr. Laitman: Let’s not talk about chance or about how this is programmed in Nature. In this particular competition the winner is the strongest one, the one who has special qualities.
A person who participates in the life of society or the environment on a multifaceted plane might be better than others in one way and worse than others in another way. But if every person finds the best way to apply his fortes and abilities, then the flaws of one person are “covered” by the merits of another. A happy person is one who has found the optimal way to fulfill himself, and this is something he has to discern within. If he can be fast, alert, and steadfast, if he can overcome adversity and win over others, then his victory will benefit him and the people around him.
I would particularly like to underline that the victory will be virtuous if its aim is to use one’s abilities to provide maximal help to the environment, to society. Then it will be expressed in the common human system and will remain impressed there, and will be recorded in his account.
But if a person realizes himself incorrectly, then despite having wonderful talents, he will have the opposite result. We have to bring every child’s abilities to light and encourage their development.
When I was starting out in college, it was very fashionable to major in science and technical fields, and these departments tried to lure everyone in. I remember how agitated the students were and how great the disappointment was afterwards.
I understand and respectfully recall several of my classmates who left the studies not because they weren’t successful. They saw that technical studies did not have the romance they had dreamed of. Working with impulses and calculating parameters? They became convinced that this was absolutely not the profession they wanted. They left without much hesitation, and they were right to do so because they found their calling elsewhere.
In our system of upbringing we are trying to recognize a child’s inclinations early on so he won’t make mistakes. He has to see and become familiar with all the areas of human activity, and find himself during the period of his upbringing in our system. The search for the appropriate profession is very important and takes up a lot of time in our life. It’s a joy when a person finds himself in a certain profession.
Dr. Ulianov: So there is nothing dangerous about expressing special talents, and we shouldn’t try to even children out?
Dr. Laitman: No. On the contrary, we have to bring out their talents during the teenage period. We are preparing children so that by age 13 or 14 they will start studying a university level curriculum.
Before that they have to clearly discern what is right for them. Our task is to push them to make the choice that fits their inclinations instead of being dependent on opportunities to rise on the corporate ladder or the size of their future salary.
Dr. Ulianov: But is their contribution to the common good always evaluated?
Dr. Laitman: Of course. Otherwise one’s inner parameters will not correspond to the chosen profession, he won’t benefit anyone, and he won’t be happy with himself either. The right solution to this problem is good both for the individual and the society.
I remember how back in my time everyone across the board entered technical departments because this was in high demand by the government and the times required it. Everyone else were looked down on. Pedagogical and humanitarian departments became empty since everyone went into science and engineering.
As a result, I think the true value of this generation was never revealed. It quickly became exhausted, leaving behind a hollow-hearted environment.
Dr. Laitman: Yes, there is even a term, “the technical intelligentsia,” which was in many ways not occupied by technical matters, but the liberal arts.
Dr. Ulianov: When I wrote my dissertation at Russia’s Institute of Philosophy, I found many former “techies” there. But once people received a technical education, they left and learned some other profession because in their youth they were lured to the wrong place, so later they still changed their profession.
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).
February 20, 2012 at 10:13 pm · Filed under Education
Excursions facilitate a multifaceted perception of the world. A child sees what adults are occupied with and imagines how in the future he will also take part in productive, mental, moral, physical, and social processes by participating in them.
A child should be placed in situations that will pose questions before him: Does this suit me or not? How would I act in this case? Do I like this profession or not? What is special about it? What is its purpose and what benefit does it bring to society and to myself? Does it contradict what we are talking about? We have to discuss all of this.
In this regard it is necessary to keep track not just of a child’s reaction, but also the phases of his maturation, as well as how he sees himself in this process. How much does he research the actual production and its importance for humanity, and accordingly, does he decide that “I choose this activity because people need this work,” or “I choose it because it’s interesting to me”?
Excursions have to be discussed from all sides. I would say that they aren’t just excursions, but the attainment of the world, which gives a child the opportunity to see himself in the future, and to ask the question, “Who will I be when I grow up?” Children have to imagine themselves in each role they have seen. This is very important because any place they visit provides an enormous collection of feelings and sensations which are so vital for a child.
There are children who carry a mouse or a frog in their pocket, while others cannot stand to look at these creatures. Some are drawn to technology or music, while others can work physically from dawn to dusk, and others still are able only to think while sitting down. After all, we understand how diverse people are.
Every child has to try out everything in order to form himself and to find his own place in life. Excursions provide a constant and maximally wide familiarity with all forms of human activity.
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).
February 19, 2012 at 10:30 pm · Filed under Education
Dr. Anatoly Ulianov: Some parents prohibit children from playing specific types of games. Is there such a thing as a harmful game, and if so, what is it?
Dr. Michael Laitman: A game is an imitation of a future state. By imitating adults or independently inventing scenes and situations, a child imagines that he is in those future states. It seems to him that he is actually doing it.
Of course, he doesn’t understand why these urges exist in him or how they control him. They are instilled in us by Nature so that we may develop and prepare for future states by acting out the most diverse situations and our behavior in them ahead of time. Whether a game is correct or incorrect, useful or harmful, depends on the kind of child we wish to end up with.
We have to watch very carefully what games a child plays and what children he associates with, what he sees there, what he realizes and understands, and what influences him. Do these games take place in mixed groups of boys and girls, or do boys and girls play separately? Are the children the same age? Are there children from different social circles? Everything must be considered.
If we want to achieve an integral society and we realize that this goal has been placed before us by Nature, and if we know that to achieve it we have to rise above our egoism and establish the right connection among us, we have to check whether all of the child’s games lead to that state?
Only the games that teach how to attain this sublime goal can be considered useful.
Dr. Ulianov: The most widespread prohibition applied by parents is on “adventure” games. These are games played individually or in groups, and the player or players must overcome various obstacles to advance from one level to the next. Parents think that this is a harmful game and prohibit playing it. Is it really harmful? And if yes, what is harmful about it?
Dr. Laitman: I see that children are very attracted to this kind of game. In life they are also constantly crawling, jumping, overcoming something, and climbing on top of something. This is useful for their physical development. If they wish to see the same thing in a virtual game and to try themselves there, I think it is useful.
The whole problem lies in what exactly is the child overcoming? Is he hitting and destroying someone, or does he overcome obstacles together with his peers, learning about integration with others in the process?
I don’t think we should entirely take away this kind of interaction and the need to overcome difficulties. On the contrary, let them get confused and look for a way out, because this is natural for a person. Our entire life is a search for the best possibility out of several, and a continuous process of overcoming obstacles.
Let’s not turn a child into a passive observer. It’s very useful to interact with what is happening, so this kind of game is necessary. The whole problem is the meaning of these games, their content, where they lead a child, and what a child gets out of the game in the end.
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).
February 18, 2012 at 10:18 pm · Filed under Education
Dr. Anatoly Ulianov: A few days ago I met a young man who spent all of his time in virtual space. As a result, he lost his job and was evicted from his apartment. The question is: If this virtual space is so attractive and corresponds to the laws of Nature, then where is the correlation between the virtual space and the physical one? Should I still devote time and attention to earning money so I won’t be evicted from my apartment?
Dr. Michael Laitman: This is an important problem: How do we realize ourselves in the integral community in our day-to-day lives? Me, my family, my job, society, and the world—how does our unity on the internet impact our world and our lives, and accordingly, how do we gradually transform our families, our relationships with our relatives and with the people close to us, the government, our country, and the world? How do our social and economic relations change according to this, as well as industry and government? This is an important topic that requires considerable attention.
Today humanity is beginning to feel Nature’s challenge—that something unknown and menacing is rising before us. This call of Nature is quickly becoming real, and our problem is only how to partake in this realization in order to feel ourselves swimming along with the flow rather than paddling against it, thus suffering unexpected cataclysms and crises.
Dr. Ulianov: And what if I haphazardly give myself over to this virtual, integral game?
Dr. Laitman: But you have to participate in it intelligently, understand it, and make independent moves. It requires your live participation. You cannot say, “I’ll jump in and let the current take me wherever it goes.” The current won’t take anyone anywhere because Nature requires that we participate consciously, ascend to a level where we feel the whole world and participate in the process together with everyone. You press on your linkage with the whole world! And this is exactly what Nature requires of us.
Currently, it is leading us on the harsh path, showing us that if we don’t press on our linkage with everyone else in order to act congruously, it will hit us. This is the reason for today’s crises, which will force us to achieve collaboration.
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).
February 16, 2012 at 10:28 pm · Filed under Education
Dr. Anatoly Ulianov: The Internet has been in existence for several decades by now. In Europe and America, an entire generation has already been raised on it who are now 40 years old. As a psychologist, I encounter these people and I know that they have lost the elementary skills of natural physical communication. Therefore, I feel cautious and am wondering whether man will lose these skills if he becomes immersed in our virtual game system?
Dr. Michael Laitman: Development does not depend on us. In the best case scenario, we are observers, if we are even able to observe and properly assess what is happening, because it depends entirely on the development of our nature.
We have created the internet because our development from within pushed us to do this. We did not create it 100 or 1,000 years ago because our inner, egoistic consciousness and desire did not yet push us to it.
The time has come, so the necessary technological conditions have been created. The need for this kind of communication arose and that’s why it emerged and came about. There is no point going back or trying to go against this flow. On the contrary, I would look ahead. After all, through this system humanity is discovering itself as more connected, and not in the physical sense. Besides, what does a connection through our bodies give us?
Today we are not using this connection to the full extent, except to fulfill our petty egoism, to make a profit or manipulate people.
What if we started using the internet as a good, virtual community, which will then elevate us from the virtual connection to the integral, spiritual one? Then, with people’s spirit and proper communication, they will acquire a completely different sensation of togetherness and of each other. This is impossible without the internet, so I look at all of this as positive.
In general, I don’t see anything negative in humanity or its progress. Of course, this progress could have been much more productive and merciful, but that depends on humanity’s behavior in this process, the extent to which we do not resist it, understand it, and participate in it to the best of our ability.
In my opinion, the exit from the physical contact to the virtual, egoistic contact, followed by the transformation of the egoistic, virtual contact to the altruistic, integral one, will bring us to a completely different state. Gradually, we really will lose the sensation of the still, vegetative, and animate world, and will cross over to a state where everything is determined by energy, information, and our thoughts and desires, instead of the comfort of our animate bodies.
This is the next phase of human development. This is where Nature is pushing us. The phases we have gone through clearly show that humanity has to climb to the level of thoughts, desires, and information where we are all interconnected. This, strictly speaking, is what defines a community as human. The human community is not our bodies, but precisely the inner filling.
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).
« Previous entries ·
Next entries »
