TAGR: Faith and Autosuggestion

FAITH — Belief in the capacity to attain the desire.

In the Hero’s journey this is faith in one of three things: Self, Companions, or a higher power. I would say the “higher power” has to do with the game board, the “ethical structure of the universe”, the sense of whether actions have predictable results, not every time, but over a series of trials. When a farmer sows seeds, he has NO idea which ones will grow. But experience says that if the soil is prepared X, and you have weather and conditions Y and plant Z number of viable seeds, you will get a crop.

Your body knows the meaning of life. Try to hold your breath until you pass out. Can’t do it. The only people who agonize about meaninglessness are those trapped in their heads. Even the heart knows love and fear, which motivate powerfully. I think this ennui, as well as some conditions like obesity and even ADHD, are the result of the fact that technology has made the world so kind that we can literally earn all the food you need with an hour of sitting on your butt. Watch shows like “Alone” where people are dropped into the wilderness. With modern tools, they still have to work all day to earn enough food to eat. It’s a scramble.

WITHOUT modern tools, especially iron, watching them struggle to use stone and bone gives a SERIOUS appreciation for what our ancestors went through. Why individual human beings can barely survive. Why family units are the foundation of the human race, and tribes allow enough distribution of labor to allow periods of play and…