How to wake up your brain

Wake Up Your Brain!

I have identified "Partial Brain Turn-Off Syndrome" (PBTOS) as a central human problem. Most humans suffer from PBTOS to various degrees, preventing them from becoming fully-functioning humans who achieve the levels of success they aspire to.

About 3:40 into the Noreena Hertz video, she refers to an experiment where adults had their brains scanned as they were listening to experts speak. The independent decision-making parts of their brains switched off... "literally flatlined!" She claims that we've become "addicted to experts." About 4:20 into the video, she says: "Doctors misdiagnose about 4 times out of 10."

There's a "self-improvement industry" in the USA with reported sales of $10-12 billion per year. This industry largely fails to produce worthwhile results for its "clients" (or victims?) -- at the time of this writing (11/12/10), James Arthur Ray (a principal of the "The Secret" scam) is being prosecuted for manslaughter because of three deaths at his Sedona "sweat lodge").

Several books examine the failure of the "self-improvement industry":

• Sham: How the Self-Help Movement Made America Helpless
  by Steve Salerno
• Bright-Sided: How Positive Thinking Is Undermining America
  by Barbara Ehrenreich
• Snapping: America's Epidemic of Sudden Personality Change, 2nd Ed.
  by Flo Conway and Jim Siegelman
• The Guru Papers: Masks of Authoritarian Power
  by Joel Kramer and Diana Alstad
• Books on cults and Scientology

The failure of the "self-improvement industry" creates a huge "Opportunity Gap" as explained in the Jim Edwards video to the right. It seems quite likely that many people who buy "self-improvement" books, attend workshops, etc. fail to improve significantly because they suffer from Partial Brain Turn-Off Syndrome (PBTOS). Typically, the "self-improvement industry" does NOT provide people with the means to sufficiently turn on their brains to overcome whatever may be constraining them.

In the typical bookstore, the "self-improvement/psychology" section contains the most books... because they don't work for most buyers... so they later come back to buy more... Most people may suffer from PBTOS to a degree that makes it difficult or impossible for them to read a "self-improvement" book, benefit from it, and apply its principles or guidelines to become more successful.

Famous esoteric teacher G.I. Gurdjieff claimed that what is generally considered the human "waking state" is really a form of "half-sleep." Gurdjieff essentially identified PBTOS, devoted much of his life to helping people to wake up, and created a movement of followers. I own about 30 books by Gurdjieff and his disciples.

Consider the possibility that people take drugs to essentially solve their problem of "feeling bad"(a form of PBTOS?) so they can turn on their brains in order to "feel good." Most drug users experience "temporary highs," but end up feeling worse. For most drug users, taking drugs is a "failed solution."The demand for brain-altering drugs is an indication of the potential demand for a solution to Partial Brain Turn-Off Syndrome (PBTOS).

Timothy Leary spent much of his life attempting to get people to "turn on their brains." His famous motto: "Turn on, tune in, drop out." In his book Neuropolitics he wrote:

"Guilt, innocence, punishment, forgiveness, law and order, rehabilitation -- all constitute the mythology that masks the simple reality of badly-wired robots bumping into one another..."

"Brainwashing is happening to all of us all the time. Knowledge of brain function is our only protection against it. The solutions to our predicament are neurological. We must assume responsibility for our nervous systems. Our robothood can remain static if we endlessly repeat the imprints of infancy to adolescence, or it can be drastically altered by brainwashers without our consent, or we can take control of our nervous systems. If we don't assume this personal responsibility, somebody else will..."

I saw Joe Rogan (of Fear Factor fame) on a late-night talk show and quickly realized that Rogan had turned on his brain to an exceptional degree. In the video to the right, among other things, Rogan talks about "going into his isolation tank with mushrooms." I have spent hundreds of hours in my own isolation (sensory-deprivation) tank.

George Carlin was also someone who had turned on his brain to an exceptional degree. Tens of millions of people have watched his videos online. There may be many people in the world who have started turning on their brains and are potential customers for products and services they can use to further turn up their brains.

Timothy Leary -- (Neuropolitics):

"We have been robot-trained to believe that democracy, as practiced in this country, is something sacred. Everything we have been taught is dangerously wrong... Everything printed in our newspapers is a selective fraud. (I know that you know this, but we have to keep reminding ourselves.)"

When you turn on your brain to the degree that Carlin did, you will realize that a great deal of what you were "taught" about religion, politics, economics, and health by your parents, teachers, preachers, politicians, lawyers, bankers, doctors, generals, journalists, etc. has been a massive brainwashing operation.

You will become much more capable of recognizing religious, political, military, business, media, education, health, and self-help scams. You will become more capable of distinguishing between scams and worthwhile paths to pursue. Fortunately, the Internet makes this easier because you can Google: "religious scams," "political scams," "self-help scams," etc.

(You may even discover that the "Better Business Bureau" is at least a partial scam in that it reportedly shakes down companies to pay for "A" listings. If companies don't pay up, they get a "C" listing.)

Reboot Your Brain and Improve Your Whole Life!

Earlier in his life, John Reese had been on a path that led him to a stage where he was over $108,000 in debt. He felt depressed and suicidal. Then he stumbled on a "procedure" that enabled him to change direction to a new path that made success possible. He turned his life around,became a well-known and respected millionaire Internet marketer. He has since, over a period of about 15 years, refined the initial procedure into a "comprehensive method" you can literally use to "reboot your brain!"

You can use the reboot-your-brain method to pinpoint your most important tasks, to become more productive and effective, to earn more money, and to improve any area of your life.

There may be "hundreds of thoughts stuck in your brain." These "stuck thoughts" cause stress and anxiety, and reduce your ability to make good decisions. Generally, you're unaware of many of the "stuck thoughts" -- rebooting your brain brings them to awareness and enables you to "dump" them.

The more action you take, doing things, the more results (failures and successes) you produce. All your results are assets because you can learn from them (both failures and successes) .

You can achieve an ongoing progression of incremental improvement.

The biggest improvements come from getting your mind right at a deep level -- which happens automatically if you persist.

Reboot your brain at least once a month!

John Milton Fogg's identification of "your old outdated operating system" is most important. Many people try to live their lives with "brain operating systems" that are not only hopelessly out of date, but that are full of destructive crap that condemn them to mediocrity and failure. Typically, the "self-improvement industry" does not provide their "clients" (victims?) with the means to significantly "upgrade their brain operating systems." (This may be because the brain operating systems of most "self-improvement gurus" -- even though somewhat upgraded -- are still full of crap!)

So part of the Opportunity Gap is to provide people with "better brain operating systems" and the means to implement them.

Regarding the supposed "law of attraction," see Basic Success Technique #41: Get the "Law of Attraction" Working for You!

It may be possible to create technologies people by the millions can use easily to turn on their brains and start moving out of the PBTOS trap and other failure traps. I emphasize that I don't recommend drugs as a means to turn on your brain -- "too unpredictable and dangerous!" I do recommend"brain entrainment" and I have some plans in this respect.

A big challenge is to persuade people to embark on a "journey of self-development," to enable them to achieve some quick benefits, and to persuade them to follow through.

Part of the challenge may also be that part of the human brain may have an "agenda" to keep the brain in a state of PBTOS (or half asleep) -- see #34: Understand Sarno's Mindbody (TMS) Theory .

Overcoming the effects of "socialization" or "enculturation" is a major challenge. As can be seen in the "Asch Conformity Experiment," people can be persuaded to "override their own perceptions."

I was very surprised to see Jeb Bush on TV talking about how "socialization dumbs down people" -- because political power depends on "dumbed-down citizens."

I speculate that it's natural for humans to use primarily their senses to discern reality. However, part of the "socialization process" is to condition people that all kinds of things are true "because I say so," "everybody knows that, "it's written in the Bible," etc. Some psychologists refer to "socialization without reflection."

During the "socialization process," practically all humans shift to using primarily "subjective social agreement" (commonly called "social reality") to discern reality in areas such as religion and politics -- as demonstrated in the "Constructing Social Reality" and "Asch Conformity Experiment" videos.

Practically all humans to some extent lose their ability to use their senses to discern reality in areas such as religion and politics. They become so dumbed down and gullible that they believe all kinds of absurdities touted by preachers, politicians, journalists, etc.

As an example, there's a German fellow with the name Joseph Ratzinger, who lives in part of Rome called "Vatican City." He typically wears a funny hat and funny clothes and carries a shiny stick. His absurd claims include that he's "The Pope," "Representative of God," and enjoys "Papal Infallibility." Anyone who can use his or her eyes to discern reality can see that Ratzinger is an imposter and liar and his funny clothes should be scorned. Yet, the power of conformity and "subjective social agreement" are so strong that anyone who points out the "Ratzinger Reality" is likely to be regarded as "crazy" by most conformining, dumbed-down humans!

Part of the challenge is that if you're like most humans, you've been fooled in similar ways by your parents, teachers, preachers, politicians, journalists etc. practically all your life. It may be difficult to admit to yourself that in some ways you've been an idiot for most of your life.

In addition to turning on your brain, you may also need to turn on your senses! This may be a huge challenge and I hope you're up to it! By the way, have ever seen a so-called "government?"

Robert Pirsig: -- (Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance): "Little children were trained not to do "just what they liked," but... but what?... Of course! What others liked. And which others? Parents, teachers, supervisors, policemen, judges, officials, kings, dictators. All authorities. When you are trained to despise "just what you like" then, of course, they become a much more obedient servant of others -- a good slave. When you learn not to do "just what you like," then the system loves you."

Krishnamurti: "Your parents are frightened, your educators are frightened, the governments and religions are frightened of your becoming a total individual, because they all want you to remain safely within the prison of environmental and cultural influences."

A General Success Formula

The "General Success Formula" (GSF) can be regarded as a variation or extension of The Ultimate Success Formula.

GSF1: You ---> Obstacle(s) ---> Action ---> Result

If you want to produce a Result, you take the appropriate Action that produces the Result you want... and then you get the Result.

There could be one or more Obstacles between You and the Action that prevent you from taking the Action. There are basically three kinds of Obstacles:

1. The nature of the physical universe. I have the potential to Identify appropriate Results and Calculate appropriate Actions to produce the Results. If I take the Action of waving my arms in order to produce the Result of flying, I will fail. Given how the physical universe works, waving my arms in order to fly is Unreal. "UNREALITY" is an Obstacle in my brain.
2. The behavior patterns of other people. I have the potential ability to COOPERATE with others on a voluntary and mutually-agreed basis. If I take the Action of stealing in order to produce the Result of acquiring what I need, people with guns may retaliate and harm or kill me. This makes stealing an "Unreal Action."
3. Factors within me. I have the potential to REMOVE NEGATIVES and ADD POSITIVES in order to OPERATE MORE EFFECTIVELY, EFFICIENTLY, and PRODUCTIVELY. I may have limiting beliefs, epitomized by "I CAN'T" -- often a major Obstacle -- see Activate Your Why-Can-Do Booster . I may not know (unable to Calculate) what Action to take -- IGNORANCE. My brain may not work well enough for me to CALCULATE or LEARN what Action to take -- alsoIGNORANCE. I may not FEEL like taking the Action. "FEELING BAD" is often a major Obstacle -- see How to Feel Good All the Time FEAR may prevent me from taking the Action. Fear is a FEELING. I may be restrained by a LACK OF ENERGY. I may be prevented by POOR OR DECLINING HEALTH from taking the Action.

Some internal factors may be "Make-or-Break Issues" (MBIs) --things you need to handle first. If you want to run, but your leg is broken, then you need to fix your leg before you can run. Trying to improve other things so you can run better will make no difference... until you fix your broken leg.

GSF2: You ---> Booster(s) ---> Action ---> Result

If you want to produce a Result, you take the appropriate Action that produces the Result you want... and then you get the Result.

There are always potential Boosters you can apply to make your Action more effective and more likely to produce the Result. There are basically six kinds of Boosters:

1. Brainpower. I have the potential to make more effective use of my BRAIN, particularly byREPLACING BAD SOFTWARE WITH GOOD SOFTWARE -- I can always IMPROVE MY INTERNAL PROGRAMMING. See Become a 10X Performing Person! 
2. PowerSwitchWords (PSWs). As described by James T. Mangan in his book The Secret of Perfect Living, in my subconscious mind there are "hidden factories or machines" that can help me produce the Results I want. I can use PSWs to activate my "hidden factories or machines."
3. Energy. I can increase my energy so I can take more actions to produce the Results I want -- see Raise Your Energy Level .
4. Knowledge, skills, resources, tools, technologies, etc. I can take appropriate Actions to acquire and/or Learn KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, RESOURCES, TOOLS, TECHNOLOGIES, etc. When appropriate, I use a trial-and-error Learning process.
5. Other people. I have the potential to get other PEOPLE TO COOPERATE with me.
6. Leverage. I have the potential to find ways to INCREASE LEVERAGE so any particular Action produces Magnified Results.

http://www.igottatellyou.com/blog/

Gurdjieff's Mission

The Teachings of Gurdjieff - Part 1

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The Teachings of Gurdjieff - Part 2

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The Teachings of Gurdjieff - Part 3

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The Teachings of Gurdjieff - Part 4

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The Teachings of Gurdjieff - Part 5

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Double Attention Exercise

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Timothy Leary:
How to Operate Your Brain

Joe Rogan talks about DMT

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George Carlin: The American Dream

George Carlin:
"Who Really Controls America"

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George Carlin ~ War and Government

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George Carlin Doesn't Vote

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John Reese ~ Reboot Your Brain

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Asch Conformity Experiment