The Illusive Center

2000-9-10 11:25:00

Many thanks to the profound comments made on the pendulum by Peter, Lee, Benjamin, Rick, Larry, Samu, Paul, Adrian and perhaps others. I do not have time to do justice to your comments so I will make a few observations and members can use their souls to sort out the truth.

Point of clarification: I have stated that friction slows the pendulum and is not the force that propels it.

First, I maintain that the Pendulum is an accurate correspondence to the swinging moods of humanity as it goes from error to error passing over truth. This analogy is arrived at, not by taking the pendulum and comparing it to humanity, but by observing humanity and seeing the elements of a pendulum. When a symbol is seen in the actions of a group, you have the beginning of an analogy that can reveal much truth of the situation.

So what do we see when we watch humanity?

Answer:
We see that they swing back and forth in time between the liberal and conservative point of view in, not only politics, but all elements of human living. Most above average people can easily discern that both extremes are full of error and the most correct course of action lies somewhere in the middle.

Thus we see by observation that there is a literal swinging back and forth of the populace and that the most common sense approach is in the middle somewhere. This obviously corresponds to the three prime ingredients in the pendulum.

The Question:
Question: What is the difference in the vision of the group when the direction is changed (the far left and right extremes) and the vision of the group when the pendulum comes to rest?

Answer:
The direction is changed after the error of one extreme becomes obvious to the whole. The emphasis of the thought of the group when the error is seen is to head the other direction. Because an error was discovered on the left, the group then supposes that the truth lies in the opposite direction of the right. Instead of pausing at the point of truth; however, the group heads past the truth to the other extreme.

After being wrong time and time again at both extremes, the group finally sees the truth in the middle. When it does it views those of past ages as primitives, thinking that they themselves would have never been so deceived, but the truth is that they are currently deceived through the motion of a new pendulum of which they are a part.

Question:
During the swing of the pendulum why is the midway point of truth never in the middle? Why does this create illusion? How is the illusion dispelled?

If the swing of the pendulum was stopped at the far right or the far left then the truth would be exactly in the middle, but the fact is that the exact point of extreme left or right is at a point of zero time and space and therefore we are never exactly there. Instead the consciousness of humanity or a group is always at some point between the two extremes.

Now people like to think in black and white terms instead of shades of gray and if you tell them the truth is in the middle they want it to be exactly in the middle, but unfortunately following this formula also produces error.

Let us say the total swing of the pendulum is 10 feet, five feet to the right and five to the left. Let us say that the pendulum is currently swinging at a point three feet to the left of center.

When the pendulum is at this point and you tell the average person that the truth is in the middle of the two extremes he will calculate the swing of the pendulum from the current point of three feet from center instead of five feet from center. He thus sees the midway point as half of eight instead of half of ten and will see the midway pointy as being a foot away from the real center.

As the pendulum swings back and forth the distance between the individual and the two extremes are in a constant state of change making the calculation of the midway point also in a constant state of change.

Question:
How could it be that he who stands at the midway point can be seen, not as a moderate, but an extremist by many?

"Joy settles within the heart
But has winged its way from the secret place within the head.
I am that bird of joy,
Therefore, with joy I serve." DK