ACIM Journal

[Anderz]

I read in news articles from 2019 that Italy already has introduced a limited form of basic income. This has allowed the Italian government to collect statistics to see how a basic income works in practice, and that makes them prepared to introduce a full universal basic income. Italy has problems with unemployment, such as:

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"The high rate of unemployment encourages young citizens to leave the country. In fact, the main reason of the high numbers of young people leaving the country is the prospect of job opportunities abroad.[37]" - Wikipedia

Even without a tsunami of automation, the production of goods and services today is probably already efficient enough in many countries so that less people need to work. And then a universal basic income is one possible solution, especially for young people who's future is even higher rates of unemployment when the tsunami of automation really hits the fan.

[Anderz]

I discovered something almost funny, maybe I have already mentioned something similar. Is the map the territory? From a nondual perspective the answer is yes!  Is the menu the dinner? The answer to that too is yes. Haha. Seemingly crazy. The trick here is that nonduality means one single wholeness. Yes, there are dualities within the wholeness but dualities are actually also joined into a wholeness. So everything is the same "stuff" from a nondual perspective.

The same with concepts. Is the word "tree" the same as an actual living tree? Yes, they are nondually (if that's a word) the same. And the past is the same as the future. Cause is the same as effect. Up and down are one. And so on. This kind of logic is of course not the classical logic used in philosophy and science. It's more like the kind of logic Shunyamurti mentioned in a video. I didn't find that Leo has a video particurlarly about logic, but this video about rationality may have some of that:

 

[Anderz]

Another version of the nondual logic is to say that the map and the territory are the same difference. Reality is difference. And reality is one. There is fundamentally only one difference and reality is it.

What's the use of a seemingly nonsensical logic like that? One use I found is that it's a powerful meta perspective. It makes it easy to take a leap up and above conceptual thinking. The ego habit is to be identified with the intellect and forget that it's an identification. And even when we take a meta perspective that can easily still be to be stuck on the level of concepts. The nondual logic shows the whole picture of everything at once and as one.

[Anderz]

Leo's teaching is advanced but it's still less advanced than ACIM and the Bible. Why? Because Leo has what can be called legacy bias by which I mean he clings to the past too much and still believes (unless he has changed his mind recently) that physical death is inevitable. He also thinks very much linearly when it comes to the future. As Ray Kurzweil has pointed out most people think linearly, even experts, and they fail to recognize the exponential (accelerating) progress of evolution.

[Anderz]

What Ray Kurzweil means by accelerating progress is summed up in his article about the Law of Accelerating Returns:

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"An analysis of the history of technology shows that technological change is exponential, contrary to the common-sense “intuitive linear” view. So we won’t experience 100 years of progress in the 21st century — it will be more like 20,000 years of progress (at today’s rate). ...

We can organize these observations into what I call the law of accelerating returns as follows:

• Evolution applies positive feedback in that the more capable methods resulting from one stage of evolutionary progress are used to create the next stage. As a result, the
• rate of progress of an evolutionary process increases exponentially over time. Over time, the “order” of the information embedded in the evolutionary process (i.e., the measure of how well the information fits a purpose, which in evolution is survival) increases.
• A correlate of the above observation is that the “returns” of an evolutionary process (e.g., the speed, cost-effectiveness, or overall “power” of a process) increase exponentially over time.
• In another positive feedback loop, as a particular evolutionary process (e.g., computation) becomes more effective (e.g., cost effective), greater resources are deployed toward the further progress of that process. This results in a second level of exponential growth (i.e., the rate of exponential growth itself grows exponentially).
• Biological evolution is one such evolutionary process.
• Technological evolution is another such evolutionary process. Indeed, the emergence of the first technology creating species resulted in the new evolutionary process of technology. Therefore, technological evolution is an outgrowth of–and a continuation of–biological evolution.
• A specific paradigm (a method or approach to solving a problem, e.g., shrinking transistors on an integrated circuit as an approach to making more powerful computers) provides exponential growth until the method exhausts its potential. When this happens, a paradigm shift (i.e., a fundamental change in the approach) occurs, which enables exponential growth to continue.

If we apply these principles at the highest level of evolution on Earth, the first step, the creation of cells, introduced the paradigm of biology. The subsequent emergence of DNA provided a digital method to record the results of evolutionary experiments. Then, the evolution of a species who combined rational thought with an opposable appendage (i.e., the thumb) caused a fundamental paradigm shift from biology to technology. The upcoming primary paradigm shift will be from biological thinking to a hybrid combining biological and nonbiological thinking. This hybrid will include “biologically inspired” processes resulting from the reverse engineering of biological brains.

If we examine the timing of these steps, we see that the process has continuously accelerated. The evolution of life forms required billions of years for the first steps (e.g., primitive cells); later on progress accelerated. During the Cambrian explosion, major paradigm shifts took only tens of millions of years. Later on, Humanoids developed over a period of millions of years, and Homo sapiens over a period of only hundreds of thousands of years." - Ray Kurzweil

Notice that the accelerating progress includes biological evolution, which even though much slower than technological progress also is exponential. This chart shows this accelerating trend for major shifts throughout history and geological time:

Edited March 21, 2020 by Anderz

[Anderz]

I myself may have a conspiracy theory bias but I do believe that experts often underestimate the level and layers of manipulation in the world. For example Ken Wilber has lots of advanced and excellent explanations about how reality works yet he totally misses the conspiracy theory perspective in my opinion.

It's like the true information in the global ego is compartmentalized, so that experts not only often of necessity are focused on a limited perspective, they are also compartmentalized in a way that prevents the bigger picture from being presented by any individual expert alone.

What is needed therefore is I think to collect information from a broad spectrum of sources. Instead of dismissing for example Alex Jones as a conspiracy theory nut, or to believe all he says, or to believe he is only a form of controlled opposition, it's worthwhile to include even such information.

[Anderz]

If, as it seems to me, that the true information is compartmentalized and spread out all over the place, how to know what information is true? My strategy is to include information that is consistent with the whole picture. Of course, one's own concept of the whole picture may be false so one must be open to new information that leads to one's own overall picture to be modified.

Another even deeper strategy I recently discovered is to go beyond information altogether! Because information learned is always old and cannot cope with the totality of reality in a complete manner. To use past knowledge to predict the future is fine, BUT it may be a redundant strategy. So instead of ONLY relying on past knowledge, the new strategy is to be grounded in awareness and to use information as a layer on top of that foundation.

With the new strategy I can still learn new knowledge and try to predict the future and so on, but without needing it for managing my life! This is consistent with the idea that reality is already predetermined and automatic. And actually all individual doership and control is an illusion. So the new strategy which can function without information is rational and the old habit of always relying on knowledge is actually irrational.

[Anderz]

I heard something interesting about self-driving cars, that they may be more difficult to make good enough in practice than it first appeared. The reason is that there are edge cases in traffic that are hard to predict, and some are even impossible to predict. To go from 50% to 80% accuracy is easy. To go from 80% to 90% accuracy is still fairly easy. To go from 90% to 98% accuracy is more difficult. And to go from 98% to 99% accuracy is extremely difficult. And 100% accuracy is impossible.

Similarly, with AI algoritms using Big Data to predict behavior of humans, no matter how powerful computers are used and how much data they collect there will always be edge cases that neither the machines nor the powers that be can predict. As Morpheus told Neo in the Matrix movie: "I've seen an agent punch through a concrete wall; men have emptied entire clips at them and hit nothing but air; yet, their strength, and their speed, are still based in a world that is built on rules. Because of that, they will never be as strong, or as fast, as you can be."

By transcending the need for knowledge we become stronger and faster than any powers in the global ego which is based on separate control and past information. Therefore the global ego is desperate to keep us locked into a belief system based on the primacy of knowledge. Not only that, by keeping the true knowledge to themselves, and giving disinfo and misleading information to the public, those in power can keep having the upper hand, until we see through their schemes, that is.

[Anderz]

Because of the exponential progress of technology, the tsunami of automation can be upon us very soon historically speaking. Therefore something like a universal basic income (UBI) will become necessary during a transition period. To simplify the picture, in the past 100% employment was needed and in the future 0% employment is needed when automation such as artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics can replace all the jobs we humans do.

Today's society is more complex and nuanced than the simplistic example of going from 100% to 0% employment, but in principle that's what will happen. And due to the accelerating progress it's not a gradual and steady change. Instead it's an accelerating trend. And those in power may be aware of statistics showing that the trend towards automation already has reached a critical point.

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"You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it's an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before." - Rahm Emanuel

Changing the economic model of today's society without a major crisis will take many years if not decades. That kind of slow change is insufficient. The kind of economy we have today is still very much like in the early days of the industrial revolution. Not much has changed and having a job is still considered basically the only way to survive today.

I don't know much about economics, however we are in an unprecedented situation so the old school types of economics from the Austrian School of economics, to Keynesian economics and to Marxism, those are all old models built on I guess only jobs as a foundation. A UBI however has been promoted in the past, from the whole spectrum of economic experts all the way from the left to the right.

As far as I know no country has yet introduced a full UBI. With the coronavirus crisis the introduction and implementation of a UBI becomes possible in probably basically all nations and with political consensus reached quickly due to the crisis. And perhaps even without having to modify the existing monetary systems in the world.

Edited March 22, 2020 by Anderz

[Anderz]

Will the coronavirus crisis be used for introducing a global currency? I doubt it, but then again I don't know much about how the economy works. It may be that today's fiat currencies cause huge amounts of unnecessary friction in the economy. One possibility is the introduction of a digital global currency, and that's similar to the conspiracy theory of the New World Order and what is called the second beast in the Book of Revelation:

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"The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. 16 It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, 17 so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name." - Revelation 13:15-17

If the first beast is the global ego, then the second beast can represent a digital control system including a digital currency requiring a "mark" an ID code for each individual. The second beast has the authority of the first beast:

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"It exercised all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed." - Revelation 13:12

 

[Anderz]

I bought toilet paper and soap and things.  Only a a little but it's still ego fear-based survival behavior probably. Not very ACIM-like. I can imagine people who are deeper in ego consciousness than me, they must be going nuts! In the U.S. the situation is getting even worse. Some people are comparing the lock down to martial law, such as:

 

Edited March 22, 2020 by Anderz

[Anderz]

I found this presentation by what seems to be an expert with lots of knowledge about big financial and economic issues. He said that the governments and central banks will have to do something unorthodox because the coronacrisis is something we haven't seen before. He also said that some countries in Asia have started with universal basic income. He also called it helicopter money, like how central banks rise above and spread out money, lol.

He said about handing out money, that's something that will be difficult for governments to reverse. I have been thinking that too, that once some new policy is introduced it tends to get stuck. And he said that there could be problems long term with handing out money like that. That made me think that maybe some global financial solution is needed to make a universal basic income around the world a stable solution.

 

[Anderz]

Here is a presentation by the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, and she talks about a global level playing field and also about a digital single market in the EU.

She also talked about climate change and the increase of automation. So yes, it seems that the top politicians are concerned about automation increasingly replacing jobs. This likely means a move towards universal basic income. And the single digital market with a level playing field may be something that I guess could become global and not just something for the EU.

[Anderz]

I got an idea why so many people on the right are conspiracy theorists. And it could be that that there are even more people on the political right than the on the left who believe in conspiracy theories. Especially libertarians. Because in the first tier of Spiral Dynamics people think non-integral in black or white terms. So neither Spiral Dynamics vMeme Green nor Orange can take a both/and integral position.

So for example, to exaggerate the picture, either the government is good which people in Green think or the government is bad which people in Orange think. And therefore people in Green need to trust the government more than people in Orange. And since people in Green believe that the government is good they believe that it tells the truth and can be trusted.

People in Orange on the other hand believe that the government can lie to them and therefore are more open to conspiracy theories. My own perspective is above both perspectives! I don't think that's an arrogant position and believe it's the more correct perspective. The coronavirus is I believe both something deliberately planned and staged and also something good.

[Anderz]

If the coronavirus crisis is a deliberately planned and staged psyop, as I believe, then how can I claim that it is good? My theory is that there are huge problems in the world that the governments simply cannot tell their citizens about. Being too transparent about those global problems would cause massive disruptions and chaos in society. And also, to ignore the problems will also be catastrophic. So something needs to be done to deal with the situation, and the coronavirus crisis is the most benign and most efficient approach.

[Anderz]

Bentinho Massaro said in this video that he believes that the coronavirus is real and he is even very cautious about people around him sneezing and things like that. But he also said that he believes that the crisis is a ruse, a military term meaning a tactic used to deceive the enemy. AND he also said that he feels that it's something good! So even though a bit different perspective than mine it's also very similar. Great. Benthino is very much into spirituality and New Age and love and harmony, so it's good to have somebody like him agreeing with the fundamentals.

 

Edited March 23, 2020 by Anderz

[Anderz]

Trump a bit over a year ago used the military within U.S. borders, something usually prohibited by the Posse Comitatus Act.

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"For almost three months, thousands of active duty U.S. military personnel—not the national guardsmen used in prior border deployments—have taken up temporary residence on the southern border. At times operating in full battledress, they have provided Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel with a diverse array of assistance, ranging from transportation and medical services to the deployment of concertina wire. Premised on the purported threat posed by large caravans of Central American migrants attempting to enter the United States, the deployment of these personnel was recently extended through September 2019. Until then, these troops will continue to operate at the intersection of military operations and civilian law enforcement efforts—two domains that the U.S. legal system has traditionally tried to keep separate." - Lawfare, Jan 22, 2019

I haven't figured out yet if the military will be used again within the U.S., this time to help with the coronavirus crisis. There are however indications that this is about to happen. In that case the coronavirus crisis is similar to The Storm in the Q movement:

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"The Storm" is an anticipated event in which thousands of people, members of the cabal, will be arrested, possibly sent to Guantanamo Bay prison or face military tribunals, and the U.S. military will brutally take over the country.[16] The result will be salvation and a utopia on earth.[24]" - Wikipedia

A massive lock down of the whole nation plus military troops on the streets, that would indeed allow for mass arrests. I do NOT think however that the military will take over the power in the U.S. And I doubt that mass arrests will happen, but there might be the use of the military within the U.S. for some reason other than to just help with the coronavirus crisis.

[Anderz]

One interesting although nasty practical thing I discovered is that I'm frustrated about not knowing for how long the coronavirus crisis will last. That's ego consciousness! That's my ego wanting to have control. It's good to have control in certain areas. The tricky part is to know what ego control is valid and what is invalid control. What is ego control? To me ego control is the ability to predict the future based on personal knowledge. So even with separate control ultimately being an illusion, there is the sense of "seeing" the possible future with ego control. With the coronavirus I can't predict when it will end. That's frustrating. And it must be the same for everybody in the same situation.

So what to do? One strategy I have is to recognize my frustration actually being a part of the global ego. Frustration is a form of suffering and to me that indicates that there is some false perception I have. It's a partial perception that separates reality that's the problem. And the problem will never be solved on the ego level. Even if I learn when the coronavirus will end, the same kind of problem will pop up again when another situation out of my control appears again, and there are lots of those. The solution must then be moving into a higher state of consciousness. And to me that means moving towards inner peace.

[Anderz]

How to find inner peace? Mainstream media is dominated by ego control. That's fine!  Because as individuals we can go beyond that. Ego control can be transcended and included. That's the integral approach. In ego consciousness we are totally identified with ego control. With the integral approach we instead find our foundation and identity in inner peace. And on top of the inner peace ego control can be added.

In practice this means that we are grounded in inner peace and we can allow ego control as an extra layer on top of our new foundation. The difference is that now we can also allow lack of ego control. That was impossible in ego consciousness since it is based on separate control. Our new state of being exists on its own and ego control is just a surface layer, that can be interesting while also being discardable.

[Anderz]

Wait a minute! Just a speculation, but could the coronavirus crisis be the global ego turning into a cocoon? The global ego is like a caterpillar, and in order to develop into a butterfly it has to turn itself into a cocoon. Here is again a video where Bruce Lipton compares the world to a caterpillar:

 

Edited March 24, 2020 by Anderz