Mindset

Some Random Thoughts

"Only changes in mindsets can extend the frontiers of the possible." ~ Winston Churchill

The mindset of a people may improve a country or, if it's too negative, harm it. The political elites are always trying to modify the mindsets of the people so as to advantage themselves. We have the recent use of a pandemic to shift mindsets toward one of wanting powerful centralized control. Remember the constant refrain of “stay safe?” If you hear it please respond with “stay free,” or maybe “stay brave, stay free.”

If you wanted to change a countries mindset, you might go the route of the third rule of propaganda:

The rule of transfusion - manipulating the consensus values of the target audience for one's own ends.

Schools are a good way to effect such a change, if you can control them, since you will be modifying the world view of people when they are too young to know better. You just have to be ready to charge concerned parents with terrorism. The mainstream news media is of course famous as acting as a subtle mindset changer, as is Hollywood.

If the mindset is shifting due to the rule of transfusion, it may be followed up be rules four and five:

The rule of unanimity - presenting one's viewpoint as if it were unanimous opinion of all right-thinking people: draining the doubting individual into agreement by the appeal of star-performers, by social pressure , and by 'psychological contagion'.

The rule of orchestration - endlessly repeating the same messages in different variations and combinations.

For more on propaganda, see this link:

https://drp314.substack.com/p/propaganda-thoughts

Mindsets vary a lot around the world. People will say something like, well, people are about the same everywhere, which is true on some fundamental level, but their mindsets differ considerably from culture to culture. What's normal behavior in one country may be unacceptable in another, or maybe just thought weird.

People make much of religious wars and some maintain that peace would descend if we just got rid of religion, but I think that religious wars are wars between different cultures, peoples with different mindsets, with a lot of money and power politics thrown in. (Incidentally, the major killers of the twentieth century were the atheistic Communist countries, with the weirdly pseudo ancient Germanic pagans of the NAZIs coming in behind them. But maybe the NAZIs just ran out of time.)

There is a famous science fiction trilogy written by Isaac Asimov entitled The Foundation Trilogy. The thesis is that there is a galaxy wide civilization of humans, no intelligent alien species in the story, and the civilization is beginning to crumble. There is an advanced mathematical science that treats society as a collection of individuals that's so large that a sort of statistical mechanics similar to that used in thermodynamics can be applied, allowing one to predict major trends. Scientists see the signs of the beginning of the collapse but, not being taken seriously by the government, manage to set up a start to a new civilization designed to expand as the old one collapses, thereby shortening the length of the post civilization dark age. They do it by allowing the powerful, who don't want them around preaching doom, to get rid of them by setting up a “foundation” in the far away soon to crumble area, a sort of “don't throw me into that briar patch” thing. Since my teenage years I've wondered if such a science could work, and my thoughts now are that the mindsets would differ considerably on the various planets and regions, and that would gum up the works.

How often during the recent pandemic festivities have you been told “stay safe”? How often has someone replied “stay free” or “stay brave”, or even better, “stay brave, stay free?” Why not? People were quite fearful at the time, so it would seem to be vital to remind others as well as oneself of the importance of not succumbing to fear. I encourage all to respond to “ stay safe” with “ stay brave, stay free”.

"Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage." ~ Dale Carnegie

What makes it so important? Acting and speaking as though you are not afraid will actually make you less so, and saying “stay brave, stay free” may help the other person retain his courage. The words themselves remind us that being fearful is part of the road to serfdom. Also, a fearful people may not speak the truth when confronted with the lies of the powerful. The point here is that there were elements of a mindset change operation going on, either planned or just what the powerful naturally tend to do.

https://drp314.substack.com/p/stay-safe-or-stay-free

Watching ones thoughts is important since they are the foundation of mindset. It is possible, by taking thought and taking action, to slowly change ones own mindset.

https://drp314.substack.com/p/the-rudder-of-destiny

It's hard to change yourself, and it sometimes happens inadvertently and quickly due to traumatic situations. Since those are not really under your control what I'm considering is what you can do to intentionally change yourself. That is usually a slow process, and basically consists of acting and thinking in the way you want to become. The idea that we become what we do applies both to what we physically do as well as what we think about and what our wants and desires lie. For any skill you wish to acquire the skill itself must be practiced, and the repetitive nature of the practice will change you.

"Achievers are resolute in their goals and driven by determination. Discouragement is temporary, obstacles are overcome, and doubt is defeated, yielding to personal victory. You need to overcome the tug of people against you as you reach for high goals. Accept the challenges, so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory." ~ George S. Patton

Stay Brave, Stay Free