'Awakened conscience', DOing, and achieving CRITICAL MASS

[Joe]

There's that conversation many of us have with ourselves, "what can my little contribution add really?," or "I am not quite ready yet," or "I'm not smart enough...". Whatever it is, you can be sure that there are others here who feel the same; with the important difference that they are striving to do more, however difficult it may seem at times.

So how to take the next step? I think part of the answer lies in just having and building the will to share knowledge of what you see in ways that you can stick to - without any anticipation (I know that's hard one!) And with the aim of being a kind of source of conscience for others.

Very important and timely post Ennio. Thank you. Even though it can be a slog, we need to keep the faith of "butterfly wings"

 

[WIN 52]

This morning checking out SOTT, the following pic and caption was posted under 'PICTURE OF THE DAY':

"Putin, help, they're killing us." Sign at Ferguson, Missouri protest against police brutality, 25 November 2014.

This is just stunning proof to me of a few things. The first is that on some level people word-wide, and particularly the most oppressed, are aware of the greater battle between 'good and evil', and whose side Putin is fighting on. The next thing is just how valid this recognition is considering that the people of Ferguson are not "Russia lovers" or have any other reason to evoke Putin other than in their struggle for justice and equality, and the need to feel safe and protected. And how the heck do these individuals in Ferguson see through so much of the anti-Putin propaganda they are being subjected to in the Western media?!? It seems to me that they have aligned themselves with objective truth to some degree, and are fighting tooth and nail for it.

Lastly, I think that its in some large part due to the work being done on SOTT and the sharing of our perspectives on social media that the idea of what Putin and his leadership stand for, along with the fact that the US is in the throws of Psychopathic power, are being recognized for what they are. This recognition is just huge - and could not be accomplished without giving strength to these facts, through the work that is being done here.

You have to wonder just how far this can go if we all keep pushing in this direction, and sharing other large truths as well.

You know there is an effect when you see and hear people doing and talking about things that they had no idea about the last time you saw or talked to them. Now bacon is getting much more popular and loosing the stigma of being a cause of heart disease. The other big one is that saturated fat is good, not bad for people. I have seen this on a small scale within my circle of influence and this gives me motivation to continue talking to people every chance I can.

 

[Ennio]

Very interesting video that talks about a lot of stuff that we touched in this topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vajSK1jV56A

"On April 11, 2012 Howard Rheingold joined Mamie Rheingold in a conversation about his latest book, Net Smart: How to Thrive Online.

Like it or not, knowing how to make use of online tools without being overloaded with too much information is an essential ingredient to personal success in the twenty-first century. But how can we use digital media so that they make us empowered participants rather than passive receivers, grounded, well-rounded people rather than multitasking basket cases? In Net Smart, cyberculture expert Howard Rheingold shows us how to use social media intelligently, humanely, and, above all, mindfully."

I'm about halfway through this, and its a great discussion so far. What's impressive to me is Rheingold's focus on awareness and meta-cognition - or thinking about how you think - when engaging in any kind of on-line activity - which is exactly what we're going for here. Meta-cognition has been a topic of study on the forum, but very interesting to think about in the context of using the tools of the net to communicate. Further, he goes into developing a critical distance; or a point from which you are observing what you're doing that can afford you a greater idea of how to be purposeful when using the internet-based tools available to us. It helps one sift through a lot of BS/spam-like info and get to the essence of matters you are interested in learning about and sharing. I think for those of us with resistance to using some of the social networking sites out there it is very useful. We may be turned off by how the vast majority of people use these sites, but bringing awareness of what we want to use them for changes things completely. Looking forward to watching the rest of the video which is only 54 minutes in total.

 

[Ennio]

You know there is an effect when you see and hear people doing and talking about things that they had no idea about the last time you saw or talked to them. Now bacon is getting much more popular and loosing the stigma of being a cause of heart disease. The other big one is that saturated fat is good, not bad for people. I have seen this on a small scale within my circle of influence and this gives me motivation to continue talking to people every chance I can.

And on another level, I think that the great numbers of articles and discussions on psychopathy and ponerology that have been posted here and to SOTT over the years has made a big difference too. There are SOOO many more articles or references to psychopathy these days from bloggers and independent journalists then there were just a few years ago it seems.

 

[lainey]

I have made a rule for myself recently which is 1 post, 1 share a day. So I make a point of finding an article that I enjoyed on SOTT and share it on facebook with a line or two about how I feel about it. Then I will go on the forum and have a catch up on the things I'm interested in and post something. That way it doesn't feel like an effort to post or share, at least 1 of each a day is easy and fun and I learn something in the process. That being said it is easy to get side tracked and spend ages following threads here and there.
For those who have doubts about their posts being "worth" something, think about a time where something seemingly insignificant or even an after thought comment has made a big impact on you. Even the smallest musing could be an Aha! moment for someone else. I don't think my thoughts are worth much because they are old news to me, I already know my opinions so I have used the energy of the new information already, however sharing them with someone else could trigger a whole new line of thought for someone else. All opinions are helpful!
Share share! Flap flap!

 

[Ennio]

That's pretty much the idea, lainey. And I think that the more you do this the easier it will get to do more. But no reason to think about doing the 'more' right now. Just stick to what's working and see how it goes. :)

 

[liam1310]

excellent thread and replys much to think about its been 5 months now since I opened a fb account was doing a course in college people
were asking about my diet so decided to open an account on fb to share sott articles
on health never got much of a response from people just one or two likes but better than none
I find health articles get the most attention not a lot but some anything else i post from sott
gets ignored gonna take the advice given here and change my approach maybe open
a twitter account aswell only have 25 friends on facebook its lonely over there glad this forum is here
dont know what id do without it id like to contribute more to the forum I get this mental block
and cant put my thoughts into writing i guess i just have to keep posting a bit at a time
see were it leads me can only get better i suppose.

 

[lainey]

excellent thread and replys much to think about its been 5 months now since I opened a fb account was doing a course in college people
were asking about my diet so decided to open an account on fb to share sott articles
on health never got much of a response from people just one or two likes but better than none
I find health articles get the most attention not a lot but some anything else i post from sott
gets ignored gonna take the advice given here and change my approach maybe open
a twitter account aswell only have 25 friends on facebook its lonely over there glad this forum is here
dont know what id do without it id like to contribute more to the forum I get this mental block
and cant put my thoughts into writing i guess i just have to keep posting a bit at a time
see were it leads me can only get better i suppose.

It does get easier with time. The act of posting made me more confident and the blocks I had at first slowly broke up/are breaking up. I found it was most helpful to express what I feet about a subject rather than trying to engage in a scientific conversation. It's just not my forte.
The first time someone quoted what I wrote or agreed with something I said was a huge confidence boost. I really felt like other members actually read what I wrote and found some value in it. It feels good to interact with like minded people and that is what keeps me going. The sense of community here is worth the initial effort IMO.

 

[liam1310]

cheers lainey appreciate the response

 

[Stefan]

It is a very interesting thread indeed. Here is my input, I'd like to keep it simple when it comes to 'waking up' people. I live in Los Angeles, it is a territory where practically nobody cares about pretty much anything (subjectively speaking, there are always people who care). The same goes with any big metropolitan area in this country. So I have a task to do. How to awaken my friends and people around me? It is the most difficult thing for me to do since I quit enjoying activities I used to enjoy. I quit playing with dolls and lorries. I am trying to build my own playground. I want to invite people to play with me, not on my own terms, but on terms of their own awakened conscience.

But the distracted mind works miracles. Even though there are people who are aware of what is going on, they simply refuse to go any further to learn more they feel like they need to know. When you are asleep, it is hard to get up out of bed and go to work. The mind thinks it belongs to the future, or the past, but it is never in the present.

My strategy is to point out to people the immediate reality around them. Every person is unique, with unique characteristics and personality. Who they interact with, obstacles, reasons, questions they might have, integrity, secrets, fears, subconsciousness, etc, all out on the table.

So when I see someone complaining, whining or just venting about on social media, I counter-attack with rationality and offer possible solutions to the problems presented for everyone to see. People seek support system as a medium to vector out and amplify the emotional distress their having about certain issues because their entire foundation of personal belief system sits on a grand illusion. My job is to shake up the foundation a little using facts and evidence to the contrary of what they believe. It is then people's choice should they want to believe in the illusions, or should they just let be controlled by their delusional mind. I do not go silent with these people. I go as far as they have to eventually block me from their social contacts. Good. Many people still follow me, that gives me hope. They know I am a nut job and a thought criminal anyway. However, they are very curious.

 

[CNS]

Hi Stefan. I am glad to hear that you are actively working to help vector people's attention to the truth and objectivity. I can say from personal experience, though, that speaking to regular folks about such things can be very difficult, and when they are not willing to listen, it seems like I am wasting my energy. And that's energy I could be using on myself towards my own Work and AIM. Trying to get most people to 'see the light' as it were, is like beating my head against a wall most of the time. That is why, I think, it pays to be strategic in our advances. Most people do look at us as:

a nut job and a thought criminal

And then they just shut down. As you said, some folks will block you from your social contacts, and then what good has been done?

Are you familiar with the term 'Strategic Enclosure'? There is an excellent definition here on CassWiki.

A person learning about the Fourth Way will find that most other people are not ready to hear about it. The same goes in general for any information that would clash with the worldview of the person spoken with. For example, anything 'controversial' concerning politics or our civilization, diet or health, science or technology. While different people are open-minded about different things, for most, there are certain areas where they are simply not able to consider new information that conflicts with their beliefs. And if one would try to force them, then they would react defensively or even offensively in order to preserve their worldview.

A basic and important part of what one needs to know and apply to ward off attack is strategic silence. Many have learned of its importance the hard way: when the person(s) they speak with hear something they consider "crazy", loathsome, or otherwise concerning or offensive, the reaction can be quite detrimental. In any case, the word may also spread, with negative consequences. Suddenly, it has become "known" that you've become a "crazy conspiracy theorist"; or that you must have suffered a "breakdown"; or, when you eliminate gluten and carbs from your diet, that you have an "eating disorder"; or perhaps, if you mention being part of an online community in connection with something controversial, that you've "joined a cult".

Such reactions are actually common, and not merely theoretical examples. But it's not only safer to respect others' worldviews – it's also best for further reasons. Trying to convince someone who's not willing to listen is an attempt to dominate that person – which is quite the opposite of external considering.

External considering is taking the needs of all into account in order to make things easy both for ourselves and for others. The above makes it clear that, for people not engaged in The Work, their needs usually include the need not to have their worldview questioned. It also makes clear that, in order to remain decent, many people need to remain ignorant of what you actually think. As George Gurdjieff said, "sincerity with everyone is weakness."

An example of this might be: posting SOTT articles on Facebook and maybe adding a few thoughts of your own or a SOTT comment, or Tweeting new alternative news. When in person, asking people what they think about what's going on in the world, gauge what their level of knowledge/awareness is and give small bits of information one at a time, and then wait to give more until they start to ask questions.

I agree that the information needs to be brought to public awareness, but I think putting it out there, not with a hammer, but maybe the fig leaf, is more readily absorbable. If I put myself in their shoes, then what I see is a perfectly normal world full of governments that have our best interest at heart; sports, gadgets, and videos to keep us entertained throughout the day; and a medical industry that really cares about our health. This is all they know, all they are told. Day after day, minute by minute. And then when I come around trying to force them to believe the way I do, They are naturally going to resist. If I were still in their shoes, I would too. I know this because I did...for a long time...until I was ready.

For what it's worth. :)

 

[Stefan]

Yes, CNS, my strategy is very broad and it is not focused on one principal idea or ideology. For The Work to be implemented correctly, one must do his own homework first to get informed on variety of subjects, not just one area of interest, for instance Illuminati, the lizzies, the conspiracies, the psychopaths, OPs, the paranormal or the esoteric, etc, etc. Not to mention politics and religion. It is a vast world of science too to be explored. Our advantage over these people is always and shall be knowledge. My main idea is to reveal to people their own weakness and areas of vulnerability. Just like the same way the system controls by the invention of money and the creation of the world around it. We cannot exist without money or it will be extremely hard for us to survive. We still have to play by their rules and obey their laws.

You see, the world of system control completely dominates us already. We all want to set free to live in a free society, that is all we want. We can't do that alone. We have to work with people. We have to be smarter than the general public. We have to present them challenges, something to think about rather than shove them down throats pieces of useless info they cannot process. We have to engage some critical thinking, we have to get them involved in a positive dialog. We have to inspire them.

I even doubt it if there is a free will at all, people are like dancers on strings without self control. They are happy. They are blinded by darkness, they only see the pot of gold, that is all they want, all they want to believe in. We must do good to people, always! it is important I believe. We cannot judge people. We don't want to indoctrinate our knowledge to people. They will think we belong to a cult, you are right. Just expose to them little simple inconvenient facts of life, just facts, and then express ourselves through the prism of our wisdom and knowledge. The burden is on us. They think I am a nut job because I don't think or act like them. Some think I am on drugs or something. People criticize and judge, that is all they do, that is all they see, hear and learn from everybody, and then they call names.

Give people challenges. We are supposed to be the leaders. It is up to people if they want to follow. Otherwise I see no point of sitting, meditating, dieting or breathing only to serve our own needs. But we have to take care of ourselves first to take care of others. There must be a balance. That is The Work all about.

 

[Ennio]

So when I see someone complaining, whining or just venting about on social media, I counter-attack with rationality and offer possible solutions to the problems presented for everyone to see. People seek support system as a medium to vector out and amplify the emotional distress their having about certain issues because their entire foundation of personal belief system sits on a grand illusion. My job is to shake up the foundation a little using facts and evidence to the contrary of what they believe. It is then people's choice should they want to believe in the illusions, or should they just let be controlled by their delusional mind. I do not go silent with these people. I go as far as they have to eventually block me from their social contacts. Good. Many people still follow me, that gives me hope. They know I am a nut job and a thought criminal anyway. However, they are very curious.

Your descriptions reminded me of a recent exchange I had with someone on one of these social networks. An individual had responded to an article I had posted a link to - with a link to another article with information that "contradicted" what I had posted. And he commented condescendingly along with his link. When I responded by pointing out a couple of things, he became downright insulting - since I dared to say something he didn't know, and didn't want to know. We went back and forth a bit and I noticed that his goal was to be "right," and he would do or say anything to help himself to feel "right". Looking at some other of his posts, I noticed that he took a highly misinformed position on nearly EVERYTHING that he posted about (from my point of view anyway) and, really, if he wasn't actually a troll on the payroll of some agency, he might as well have been. He was also a bully and given to ad hominem attacks in his exchanges with many folks.

Anyway, something I realized (or re-realized) was that, paid troll or not, this guy (and others like him) are living in a very different reality from my own, and are fighting hard to keep it intact. His comments were, in any context, an unmistakable attack, and were experienced that way by me; designed to shut me down. But even more than that it seemed that his 'purpose' was to undercut the sharing of the real state of things. So, just something to remember as we're 'out there' doing our thing. These types of people are out there and some of them are real nasty. That, and we are giving voice to people who have no voice, or are being drowned out in the monolithic body of lies that the rest of the world is being told on a daily basis. That said, I, too, hope that the information being shared is, in some way, helping. This is a HELLUVA time to be alive but we are here. We have some time and some resources on our hands to make some kind of positive difference with those who are open. We can just never predict how or to whom that'll come about.

 

[Stefan]

Thank you, Ennio. For me it is all about engaging in constructive dialog and discussion of issues with people. Otherwise how are we are supposed to learn something, why are here anyway? It isn't about proving myself or yourself 'right' or 'wrong', that is just labeling. We cannot do that. it is about search for Truth or staying on the right track.

We are here to help people who ask for knowledge. We are here to learn from one another and how to interact with other people so they can learn from us and we can learn from them too. They have their stories and view points, we don't know what they know. It is a two way street in my opinion. Any productive discussion is an exchange of information that is supposed to be directed in a way to be useful for everybody, and not for my own needs so next time I shout out, 'hey, lookie me, I told you, I was right!' ~ so what.

I am aware too that this forum is an arena for all kinds of destructive manners and behaviors, trolls, big egos, etc, so caution is always required. I acknowledge that. I am here to learn.

 

[Stefan]

Yes and one more thing to add. Ennio, and these type of people you describe are the ones who hit the 'block' button and the unfortunate thing is they are on a mission to spread false knowledge. Many people believe them because it matches with their reality, serving the common cause to destroy the Truth in search of some imaginary happiness that sits somewhere in the future that they cannot reach in their life time just because people like us are in the way. They always blame someone else for their misfortunes. They want to feel 'right' because they want to believe in the bright future that is to come to them.

Just shows a lack of self-esteem. Well. But they say ignorance is a bliss. For many is. So be it. They made their choice. This is so much we can do. There are still people and I believe the majority of people are actively seeking knowledge but they have the lack of discipline, patience, time and focus on these things. Way too many distractions, priorities, families, kids, businesses, jobs, responsibilities, the daily routines, etc. It is not an easy work by all means. Once they make a choice, it's almost a full time commitment work and they know that, and yet they would love to know thinking one day they will sit down to think about it. It is a wishful thinking but this is how the human mind operates.

The first step outside is always the hardest.