2006-8-20 05:45:00
[Editor's Note: The text of the original article was edited by JJ Dewey and re-published below.]
Understanding the Pendulum Principle is a powerful key to aid in the discovery of truth. It can basically be stated as follows:
Average humanity swings back and forth in their beliefs from one extreme to the other. The reason for this is an extreme belief requires little thought or judgment. One can be lazy and not use the mind, but rely completely on feeling which swings to the extreme without check. In other words, everything is viewed through a black and white mode. All is good or evil, right or wrong with no shades of gray.
The reason this principle is important is that in most cases the extreme position is filled with error. If the seeker understands that some widely accepted beliefs are really an extreme position taken by the lazy in thought, then he can look at the middle, use judgment and discover much truth.
Let's go through some popular beliefs and see how this plays out.
It is most likely the truth is between these two popular extremes. Good judgment can find it.
The most likely truth is that we will successfully adapt to any warming or cooling that may come just has man has done in the past.
On the other hand, we cannot just take it for granted that we are not creating a problem for the future and should work toward a reasonable understanding of our possible effect on nature.
Again, the truth is somewhere in the middle. Obviously, not all disasters are caused by government conspiracies, but then we know from history that sometimes there are true conspiracies. However, these often involve assassinations rather than some very complex plot that would involve thousands of people.
On a side note, here is part of a humorous spoof I made about Bush shortly after the Tsunami in Indonesia:
Bush -- The Conspirator
I could go on and on about the genius of this mastermind conspirator who has been behind conspiracy after conspiracy with impunity.
The most famous of them all was 911. Again he (Bush) was the mastermind who arranged for the planes to fly into the buildings and the cover-up. Since conspiracy buffs know about this I will not go into details. Instead I will tell you about Bush's latest exploit of which Michael Moore is not even aware.
Too much attention has been placed on the problems in Iraq lately and Bush needed a diversion. He thought he would kill a few Islamic terrorists in Indonesia at the same time as creating diversion so he dropped a 100 megaton atomic bomb in the Indian Ocean on a fault line. This created the largest earthquake in recent memory causing the giant Tsunami which killed over 150,000 Moslems and left millions homeless. This sent an underground message to the terrorists to not mess with Texas.
I found it amusing that a few days after I made this attempt at humor that conspiracy theories started to arise that a nuclear bomb on a fault line had indeed caused the disaster.
This was predictable because of the permeation of the extreme beliefs held by general humanity.
Truth: Oil needs are increasing so we will need new domestic oil production, but if we are wise we can switch to alternative fuels within the next 30-50 years. Then we will need very little oil.
Truth: Bush is a man with flaws just as were the past presidents. He should be judged as a brother doing his best, not as a Hitler or a saint.
We could go on and on but the sad truth is that many of the popular beliefs and positions of average humanity are extreme and lacking judgment. Some of these extremes are accepted as being moderate if popularized by the mainstream media. The true seeker will see where the true extremes lie and avoid taking a blind unthinking position on that extreme as he would a plague.
"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a little better; whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is the meaning of success."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Copyright © 2006 by J.J. Dewey, All Rights Reserved