Cool commentary on current human peccadilloes MACROSCOPIC TOPICS Toe-holds on the slopes of the MATTERHORN of Human Maturation. It is a struggle for each human to make the long climb from infancy through adulthood to the final quietus. These topics do not pretend to tell any one human how to live their life; they only try to encourage thinking on the various phases. EXX-RAYS FROM THE AGING CAGE Visions from the good and productive side of growing older. The purpose in these visions is to throw some light on the need for a positive attitude. Exercise for the brain keeps major negatives outside the cage. Together with appropriate physical initiatives that make sure the mental walls are free from sealed cage doors. COSMIC CYBERTREKS Explorations in the mega void of the universe . . . a challenge. Time is eternal, and space is infinite in the cosmos. In terms of measuring events in the universe, where occurrences are matured over many millions of years, using Earth's rules as a guide for establishing cosmic laws is an invisible drop of spit in the seas. The trek experiences are fascinating and challenge accepted dogma for so many concepts of what is logical out in the void.

THREE WAYS TO VIEW THE WORLD

Way Outside the Rigid Box of Ordinary Thinking about Our Human Strivings on Earth Today and EvermoreBy WILLIAM SALO

Balboa Press

Copyright © 2012 William Salo
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4525-5730-4

Contents

1. Mankind's Ego Need: The Mighty Muscle of Motivation..........................................12. Cosmic Allusions Attracted by Subconscious Cybernetic Symbiosis..............................53. The First Five Seconds: Capricious Key to Instant Rapport....................................114. Total Commitment: Do or Die in the Valley of Death...........................................155. Wisdom: Like Good Wine Over Time.............................................................216. Modern Roaring Woman: Butting Away at the Stone Walls of Male Tradition......................257. Aphoristic Mind Benders: Trite and Tricky....................................................298. Fate and Destiny: Two Forces Handling Human History..........................................329. The Big Me: Frozen Philosophy in a Frenetic World............................................3710. Ego-Theism: Adoration of These Feet of Clay.................................................4211. Tortoise Travails: Trampled to Death in Hare's Race to the Top..............................4512. Galactic Revelations: Data Bytes from the Great Beyond......................................4913. Nationhood: Tic-Tac-Toeing on the Battered Belly of a Pregnant World........................5214. Honesty: Ragged Doll on the Cosmic Stages of Power..........................................5715. Parental Paradox: Sowing Cosmic Seeds of Wisdom upon Fertile Soil...........................6216. Reflection Time: Tangling with Some Low Points..............................................6917. Cynicism: Huge Pebbles in the Smooth-Flowing Rivers of Time.................................7118. Progressive Planning: Tuning Out the Fiddlers Stroking Down Trend News......................7519. Micromanagement: Ego Power Trips under Phony Cloaks of Efficiency...........................8020. (A) Renaissance Man: Sculpture of or Sculpted by the Iron Fists of Fate.....................85(B) Rhythm and Symmetry: Two-Part Harmony in Verbal Intercourse.................................85(C) Personality: Hot Wax and Honey on the Muffins of Communications.............................8521. Poetic Interlude: Take a break from Prose...................................................9222. The Magi in Imagination: The Thaumaturgic Carpet in the Human Mind..........................9523. Pure Logic: Bedrock under Life's Realities..................................................10024. Feelings and Attitudes: Prime Keystones in the Arches of Life...............................10425. Mental Energizers: Prospecting in the Mind..................................................10926. Equilibrium: Impossible Balance of Forces...................................................11127. Conscience: Nature's Punching Bag in the Human Comfort Zone.................................11728. Humor: Champagne Bubbles in the Lager of Life...............................................12029. Infidelity: Mainlining the Life Sport Locomotive............................................12330. Time and Space Realities: Some Rules on Planet Earth........................................12831. Taps: The Last Post in the Macroscopic Series...............................................132

Chapter One

Macroscopic Topics (No. 1)

Mankind's Ego Need: The Mighty Muscle of Motivation

All true motivation in the macro book is deeply rooted in the visceral egos of all humankind on Earth. The ego, a demanding, schizophrenic bitch, is centered on two main characteristics; pride and vanity. To most humans, these are often thought to be the same. Not true.

To be well rounded, egotistically speaking, is not merely necessary but is mandatory for all motivated individuals in Earth's highly competitive, widely varied personal environments. However, the weasel in the woodpile that sits in judgment calls for each human to find equitable balance between pride and vanity, bringing balance to the decisions that all must make on our highways of destiny, so that the fates and fortunes in our lives can be positive and productive. The challenges are several and hold us fully responsible for what we do and become in our individual lives.

Maintaining a sense of pride is a tough and often lonely mindset, and requires self-instilled discipline. Mostly, the only reward is a measure of self-satisfaction that must be covert if it is to avoid a segue into vanity. Pride is experienced and sustained from a nucleus of successful conquests over challenges that have great importance to human existence. There is pleasure in such accomplishments and, hence, marked pride settles within the soul.

The gales of vanity take little effort to weather. One can enjoy the accolades by being openly receptive to the wash of popularity, real or devised, that can come sweeping through one's cognizance and into willing acceptance. Performances in events of real or imagined interest to idol worshippers begets a sense of self-worth that is overwhelming and addictive. If it is not harshly vetted to separate fact from fiction, common sense goes down the drain, and a very illusory feeling of regal importance takes over. Once bitten by the asp of vanity, a return to real values is only found in the cathartic scrutiny of criticism. Decamping from the pedestal of fame is never a life-forgiving exercise. The payoff is often depression, alcoholic nightmares, and a serious mental fall from grace. Now, one might think that vanity has no redeeming graces. That would be too harsh a criticism. For instance, all great performers on public stages need the feelings of importance that are intrinsic in the florid atmosphere of artists, politicians, and authors. They often must evince emotions that are not their own. If one is to reach the deepest wells of emotional talent, supporting credibility in a world of creative incredibility, then vanity is the plinth on which success can support a productive role.

To affect a meaningful role in business or artistic worlds, regular, personal evaluation of the balance between pride and vanity is mandatory. If crossover does occur, when the wrong virtue dominates unsuitable milieus, the price that is paid is a killer in due course. Many examples have laced the history of personal downfalls from such exercises. The human ego is a tough taskmaster when it comes to behavioral choices. If the choice between a private role of pride and the public role of vanity is wisely utilized, the end product of success in careers, and life itself, is well endowed. The alternative is what is called mega ego (ME). It evolves when its possessor craves godlike adulation from all and sundry. Most ME types immolate themselves or else lose their sanity.

Pride or vanity? To be or not to be, that is the question. It bears some cosmic thinking at a deeper level in the human mind. This contemplative task cannot be foisted on outsiders. It stays at home. And that is the rub. It is easier to revel in the praise, fair or phony, of vanity than to irk beneath the rasp of pride. It depends on how one sees the face in the mirror of one's own reality.

Macroscopic Topics (No. 2)

Cosmic Allusions Attracted by Subconscious Cybernetic Symbiosis

In the workaday world, where most of human laypersons dwell, the use and even the understanding of upper-crusty words are rarely experienced and, hence, are often resented. However, in those milieus where their use is daily dialogue, they are very special and succinct in what they do express.

In these scientific and philosophical labs, cybernetics has various connotations. In the field of abstract ideation, they swirl mostly around the definition of sensations and how these may relate to one another in the human mind. The application of principles and a way to communicate and control is at the heart of the defining word. Denotations of feelings, as opposed to facts, are at the core.

Symbiosis, as it is understood in erudite circles, defines the way in which two organic or inorganic entities relate and communicate with each other. This does not suggest that electronic systems, chemical components, human beings, and flora and fauna of all types do not have methods of reaching and coordinating with each other.

Humans are conditioned, animistic creatures, but being mainly pragmatic, the general feeling is that, if it is possible to see, hear, smell, touch, or taste, these components limn the human vision of reality. While fiduciary acceptance of possible life forces beyond the human mind and body might exist in the all-pervasive energy of the universe, it calls for masses of philosophical mental energy to believe outright that cosmic forces play a role in everyday human life.

But many must, as insight is gained into the apparent pathways of human destinies, be forced to realize just how intricate and complex the electronic system of the mind must be. In certain states of behavior, the mental processes seem able to be in contact with the cosmic energy that flows through the human systems every second of existence on Earth. Humans recognize that their minds have two separate but co-ordinated roles:

? The obvious condition is the conscious one that is known as the command center for all the functions that are required 24/7 over a lifetime. This role sets thoughts into focus, orders muscles into action, and monitors both pain and pleasure to the extent that all are led to believe these actions are the basis of all human-recognized reality.

? The second role is that of the subconscious. Its functions are programmed into a newborn's mind at birth. All the basic factors that are needed for human survival to create, use, and sustain the energies of life are automatically included. The nuances and essential tools of more subtle events are there to give emotional texture to living, thinking, creating, and remembering. The possibility is that this side of the mind does not act unilaterally but explores the inventories of the Universe for ideas and solutions from time to time. The scope of human imagination is extensive and dynamic and can visualize the effect that direct contact with this cosmic energy might have on one's daily existence. Perhaps it is without human awareness or critical control over related events.

To possess some logic demands deep, or "out of the box," thinking. From the perspective of a professional in the field or other interested seekers, experience with unexplained mental events at critical moments encourages some examination. These can occur when mulling over an intransigent refusal of the conscious mind to supply a solution to a sticky problem or issue. After some frustrated effort, with deep focus to define the crux, and a wish for a probable solution, the event is put aside to rest in mental limbo. In due course, much to the surprise and delight of the proposer, the answer pops up in the conscious mind, unrequested. Though unaware of the process, this is a typical example of cosmic allusion. In fact, the contact of the sub-conscious mind with the electromagnetic inventory of knowledge in the magna vault of the Universe through cybernetic symbiosis, created the desired response, complete with the solution.

Energy of all types, once created, can never be destroyed. It must be utilized in alternate forms or returned to the cosmic inventory of the Universe in one form or another. Humans, when they arrive as infants, absorb an amount of this energy to support the rigors of survival and will continue to develop new energy as they progress on their treks of destiny as adults. This energy must then return to the Universe when the human body expires. This is thought to be in the form of electromagnetic particles that are used and reused, ad infinitum, by the cosmic processes. This concept can be controversial because of alternative, long-term beliefs.

It would seem that the human brain cannot demand cosmic allusion. It works independently from human commands but is covertly supplied through the subconscious network only when the need is focused and its fulfillment is left up to the cosmos to effect. Any doubting Thomas will not be able to reach this pool of energy. The autocrat will miss the boat. To gain entry to the inventory in the magna vault of the Universe, calls for intense focus on the issue or problem but not on the proposed solution. That part will be exercised in cosmic space that, as yet, is not a free, open door to fulfill humans' commands.

It can be speculated that the huge fund of growing knowledge in the Universe will become more freely available to humankind when Homo sapiens start to believe in the possibility, learn the methods of knowledge retrieval, and mature sufficiently to honor the principles of sharing cosmic experience with all. Greed and inconsideration will not find the key to the cosmic energy vault. The Cloud system of storing digital information in space, a very new form of electronic wizardry, may be a first strike in the building of the needed bridge.

Cosmic allusion has been known to act as a guardian of human life in situations of dire peril. Evaluation of risk and a warning of consequences at decisive, critical moments have been experienced as an undeniable urge transmitted to the conscious mind to trigger immediate corrective action. This is one of the unknown forces of the Universe protecting the viability of the human species on planet Earth, a blessed boon. It is, too often, an unrecognized benefit given to unappreciative sentient creatures in mysterious, temporal time and space. Humans, it is believed, have yet much to learn about the mysteries of the universe.

Macroscopic Topics (No. 3)

The First Five Seconds: Capricious Key to Instant Rapport

The showtime is set. The houselights in the Old Casino Theatre in Toronto have gone down, and the orchestra hits it from the top. In a minute, from behind the right side curtain at the back of the stage, a nondescript man starts to amble from right to left, back of stage to front, with an ego leer on his face as he eyes the house, a matinee afternoon audience. Without slowing a whit, he tumbles ass over teakettle off the front of the stage, deep into the orchestra pit.

His audience is transfixed with deep concern. They watch as he picks himself up, clambers back on the stage, limps sedately up to the microphone, and says, "Who in 'ell tripped me back there?" The audience roars with delight at having been totally snookered, and from that moment on, the stand-up comic (and that was what he was) had them all in the palm of his hand. The first five-second ploy gained him instant rapport, and it served his purposes, to create a warm, receptive audience ASAP. Too drastic for others, but the idea is effective.

Transferring sensation of any kind between speakers and listeners can be a tremulous affair fraught with insecurity and fear of failure. If a successful result is mandatory, the pressures on the provider can be devastating. Hence, the first five seconds takes on a starring role in turning opportunity into success.

In considering the component parts of verbal intercourse, it can be realized that a vast difference exists between idle conversation and true communications. Conversation, once contact has been effected, flows at rates and levels compatible with the comfort of both parties. The intellects involved usually set the limits, finding mutually interesting thoughts to share. The first five seconds need not contain much more than the presentation of a stress-free situation, a realistic face-off, with a point of interest to both parties, that will serve to engage the attention and interest of the recipient in a positive way. This reception will then proceed positively or negatively, depending on the eventual disclosure of the purpose for the contact. The personalities merge into compatibility if the right mood prevails.

In a communicative versus a conversational situation, the first five seconds gains a patina of surreal importance. Concepts of approach and follow-through require some preparation at the subconscious cosmic levels. This is endorsed by the fact that the instigator of the event has a mission to convince the recipient to engage in some debate and to make a decision to buy what is being sold. Reaching a willing ear to listen to the opening dialogue becomes the primary issue that is meant to arouse compliance for the engagement. Regarding the first five seconds, whether it is to sell an idea, a product, an agreement to affect a change, or any other transaction that might take place between two strangers, the initial contact will establish the early mood for the success or failure of the venture.

Recognizing that the recipient may likely react negatively to a new submission, the proposer should then make the initial contact with emotional tools. The much-overused mantra is, "And how are you today?" It is a negative-arousing tactic, creating immediate hostility if the recipient recognizes the vacuity of the comment. Some pre-research on the personal interests of the target subject is vital so the opening gambit expresses a real interest that defines the person and his or her accomplishments rather than his or her status of existence. An example might be, "I hear you are an expert in the field of ..." or "I see from your office treasures that you are an expert in ..." The emphasis should be placed, right from the get-go, on a meaningful comment that draws the target into a positive net, pleased to be thus recognized. If asked to be an expert, the prospect opens up. It is five-second magic.

Most people appreciate being recognized for their talents. The importance of recognizing this characteristic is as dramatic as the act of tumbling off a stage into an orchestra pit.

Macroscopic Topics (No. 4)

Total Commitment: Do or Die in the Valley of Death

Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
"Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns!" he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

"Forward, the Light Brigade!"
Was there a man dismayed?
Not tho' the soldiers knew
Someone had blundered,
Theirs was not to make reply,
Theirs was not to reason why,
Theirs was but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

Cannon to the right of them,
Cannon to the left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volleyed and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell,
Rode the six hundred.

Flashed all their sabres bare,
Flashed as they turned in air,
Sab'ring the gunners there,
Charging an army, while
All the world wondered:
Plunging in the battery smoke,
Right through the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reeled from the sabre-stroke
Shattered and sundered.
Then they rode back, but not—
Not the six hundred.

Cannon to the right of them,
Cannon to the left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volleyed and thundered;
Stormed at with shot and shell,
While horse and hero fell,
They that fought so well,
Came thro' the jaws of Death,
Back from the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of the six hundred.

When can their glory fade?
Oh, the wild charge they made!
All the world wondered.
Honor the charge they made!
Honor the Light Brigade,
Noble Six Hundred!
(Courtesy of Alfred Lord Tennyson, 1870)

The incredibly emotional words of Lord Tennyson speak descriptively of the fears and courage of humankind and shoot hard cannonballs square into the target of total commitment to succeed.

Whether that commitment is personal or professional makes no difference. To grasp and hold on to the brass ring of successful achievement calls for a dedicated commitment to carry through all assignments, whatever their scope and challenge may be. Such a commitment involves a serious look into one's personal depths of courage to find that unlimited, subconscious, cosmic strength and energy to carry difficult decisions to the ultimate goal of success. To put it succinctly, "Once mirrored as a giant in the introspective eyeballs of oneself, a human cannot fail his or her strategic objectives regardless of all impediments he or she may encounter."

(Continues...)

Excerpted from THREE WAYS TO VIEW THE WORLDby WILLIAM SALO Copyright © 2012 by William Salo. Excerpted by permission of Balboa Press. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.