CHAPTER ONE
THE HIDING PLACE
Long ago man formed a theory that the earth was flat because he could not conceive of it as a ball suspended in space. It became a dogma, such a fixed idea that when the first astronomer, in attempting to explain the reason why darkness came over the sun in the middle of the day, was denied an opportunity to present his findings because his discovery called into question this sacred belief. Let us imagine the first astronomer being granted an interview by the leading authorities of his time to explain the cause of a solar eclipse.
“Dear gentlemen, I have come to you to explain my findings about the shape of the earth. In order for you to understand the cause of the darkness coming over the sun, it is first necessary to understand that the earth is not flat.”
“What’s that? Did we hear you correctly? Are you trying to tell us that the earth is round which means it is floating in space?”
“That is true, and my discovery lies locked behind the door marked the earth is round.”
“This is absurd! Who are you to come here and tell us that we are wrong? We are not interested in your theory because we say the earth is flat [and since we are wiser than you, more learned than you, more educated than you, you must be wrong], so why discuss this matter further? Besides, our chief medicine man chanted the incantation that caused the darkness to vanish. Thank you very much for coming out to give us your explanation, but we are not interested in discussing this matter further because we know, beyond a shadow of doubt, that the earth is flat.”
This is the second half of the primary problem. The fact that a theory such as the belief that the earth is flat can hermetically seal knowledge that prevents our discovering the invariable laws of the solar system which, in turn, prevents the knowledge necessary to land men on the moon. Children were taught this by their parents who had received this knowledge from their parents who were instructed by the medicine man who was considered the wisest man of his time. Since there was no way the knowledge of the medicine man could be proven false because no one knew any different, and since he was considered the wisest man of his time, his conclusion that the earth was flat brooked no opposition. Consequently, when those who were judged inferior in wisdom or knowledge disagreed with the medicine man, they were rejected. When an upstart scientist came along who concluded that the earth was round after making certain observations, how was it possible to get others to agree with him when they couldn’t follow his reasoning which compelled them to compare him, not his knowledge, to the medicine man, to the professors and teachers whose wisdom and knowledge could not be impugned? To help you see how easy it is for a dogmatic theory to prevent scientific investigation let us once again return, in imagination, to the time when man knew nothing about the solar system and listen to a conversation.
“Say, Joshua; do you believe the earth is flat or do you go along with my theory that it is round?”
“Even though most of mankind agrees that it is flat, what difference does it really make what I think?” said our philosophical friend. “The shape of the earth is certainly not going to be affected or changed no matter what my opinion is, right?
“That is true enough, but if the earth is really round, isn’t it obvious that just as long as we think otherwise, we are prevented from discovering those things that depend on this knowledge for their discovery; consequently, it does make a difference. How much so we are not in the position to know just yet but thousands of years hence, perhaps in the twentieth century, there may be all kinds of scientific achievements attributed directly to knowing the true shape of the earth, such as landing men on the moon, which may never be possible without first knowing the true shape of the earth.”
You may look back and smile at the unconscious ignorance of our ancestors but pay close attention to what happened to me as I draw up a perfect comparison with which you can identify. Because my discovery was purely scientific, my attention was drawn to an article by Eric Johnston, now deceased, who was once among other things the President of the Motion Pictures Association. It appeared in the November 6, 1960 issue of This Week Magazine of The Baltimore Sun.
“If there is one word which characterizes our world in this exciting last half of the twentieth century, the word is change. Change in political life; change in economic life; change in social life; change in personal life; change in the hallmark of our times. It’s not gradual, comfortable change. It is sudden; rapid; often violent. It touches and often disrupts whole cultures and hundreds of millions of people. Behind it all lies an explosive growth in scientific knowledge and accomplishment. Some 90% of all the scientists who ever lived are living today, and the total accumulation of scientific knowledge is doubling every ten years. But this is reality. If we remember that, then we will never flinch at change. We will adjust to it, welcome it, meet it as a friend, and know it is God’s will.” Since my discovery would bring about the greatest change in all of history, it appeared that this man would be willing to let me explain my findings. By convincing him on the phone that it was now possible to put a permanent end to all war as a result of my discovery, he agreed to meet me on a Sunday afternoon in Washington, D.C. Our conversation went as follows:
“I’m really not a scientist, Mr. Lessans, and in all probability you should be talking to someone else. Your claims are absolutely fantastic, but I want you to know that even though I wrote an article about science, I am not a scientist. Besides, after you hung up I became more skeptical of claims such as yours because they not only sound impossible but somewhat ridiculous in view of man’s nature. Frankly, I don’t believe your claims are possible, but I am willing to listen if it doesn’t take too long and if I can see some truth to your explanation; I do have another engagement, but I can devote at least one hour. Would you get right on with it?” I then told him the story about the earth being flat and he smiled at this, and then told him that a theory exists regarding man’s nature that is accepted as true by 98% of mankind, and I pointed out that this theory is actually preventing the decline and fall of all evil because it has closed a door to a vast storehouse of genuine knowledge.
“I will be as brief as possible, Mr. Johnston, but in order for me to reveal my discovery it is absolutely necessary that I first show you its hiding place because they are related to each other.”
“What is this theory?” he asked.
“You see, Mr. Johnston, most people believe consciously or unconsciously that man’s will is free.”
“What’s that? Did I hear you correctly? Are you trying to tell me that man’s will is not free?”
“That is absolutely right, Mr. Johnston. I don’t believe it; I know this for a mathematical fact. My discovery lies locked behind the door marked ‘Man’s Will is Not Free,’ just like the invariable laws of the solar system were concealed behind the door marked ‘The Earth is Round’ — until some upstart scientist opened it for a thorough investigation.”
“I have always believed it to be free, but what difference does it make what I think; the will of man is certainly not going to be affected by my opinion, right?”
“That part is true enough (do you recall the comparison), but if the will of man is definitely not free isn’t it obvious that just as long as we think otherwise, we will be prevented from discovering those things that depend on this knowledge for their discovery; consequently, it does make a difference. The opinion of our ancestors that the earth was flat could never change its actual shape, but just as long as the door marked ‘The Earth Is Round’ was never opened thoroughly for an investigation by scientists capable of perceiving the undeniable but involved relations hidden there, how were we ever to discover the laws that allow us now to land men on the moon?”
“Your door was opened many times through the years by some of the most profound thinkers and never did they come up with any discoveries to change the world.”
“It is true that determinism was investigated by people who were presumed profound thinkers, but in spite of their profoundness, none of them had the capacity to perceive the law that was hidden there. Most people do not even know it is a theory since it is preached by religion, government, even education as if it is an absolute fact.”
“Mr. Lessans, I don’t know what it is you think you have discovered but whatever it is, as far as I personally am concerned, it cannot be valid because I am convinced that man’s will is free. Thank you very much for coming out but I’m not interested in discussing this matter any further.” And he would not let me continue.
Now stop to think about this for one moment. A discovery has been made that will go down in history as that which will change the entire world of human relations for the better, yet because it challenges a theory which is held by many world religions there is a hostile reaction when it is questioned. This is a perfect example of how this preemptive authority of false knowledge which is passed along from generation to generation by theology, by government, and by various other sources does not even allow a person to open his mind to hear the explanation. The theologians I contacted, though they admit they pray to God for deliverance from evil also believe it is impossible for man to accomplish this apparent miracle. In a sense they are right because the law that was discovered is equivalent to the law that inheres in the solar system, over which we have no control. Any system of established dogma that is based on a false belief needs to be exposed so that the truth can be revealed. This is much easier said than done because the knowledge of what it means that man’s will is not free was buried deeper than atomic energy and presents problems that are almost insurmountable. Convincing a few people of this truth is one thing; convincing the entire world is something else. Supposing the very people whose understanding it is necessary to reach refuse to examine the facts on the grounds that the discovery could not be valid because it starts out with the premise that man’s will is not free. To show you how confused are those who have been guiding us, a rabbi was told that the author of the book “Decline and Fall of All Evil” has the permanent solution to every problem of human relation, and he replied, “How do we know that God wants us to remove all evil?” Now you tell me, if he is doubtful of this why do all theologians ask God in the Lord’s Prayer to deliver us from evil? Another rabbi criticized me for not attending the synagogue to which I replied, “Isn’t the reason you go to the Temple due to your faith in God, your belief that one day He will reveal Himself to all mankind?” “That is true,” he answered. “Well you see, Rabbi, the reason I don’t go to the synagogue is because I know for a fact that God is real. I don’t have faith or believe this; I know that 2+2=4; I don’t have faith or believe that this is true.” Still hoping that I could convince a member of the clergy to hear what I had to say, I phoned a Catholic priest for an appointment and our conversation went as follows:
“What do you want to see me about?”
“Father, when you utter the words of the Lord’s Prayer, I take for granted that you are sincere and would like to see us delivered from evil, isn’t that true?”
“Certainly, what kind of question is that?”
“Well the reason I had to ask is because I have just made a scientific discovery that will bring about the actual fulfillment of this prayer, this deliverance from evil.”
“What’s that you say? Deliver mankind from evil? Absolutely impossible; it cannot be done.”
“But how can you know without first finding out what it is I have discovered? Isn’t this your fervent wish, that God perform such a miracle?”
“It is.”
“Well then, why don’t you let me come out and show you exactly how all evil must decline and fall as a direct consequence?”
“It’s impossible, that’s why I’m not interested. The only time such a world will become a reality is on Judgment Day.”
“But that’s just the point; this Judgment Day when interpreted properly has actually arrived because it conforms to the basic principle.”
“This still doesn’t convince me that I should devote my precious time to what sounds ridiculous.”
“Sounds can be deceiving, Father. Who believed the first astronomer when he predicted an eclipse, or Einstein when he revealed the potential of atomic energy? If I told you without adequate proof that this discovery will bring about the inception of the Golden Age your skepticism would not be an unwarranted reaction, but the actual proof is explicit and undeniable. It is only natural for you to be skeptical, Father, but this is never a sufficient reason to exclude the possibility of a scientific miracle.”
“I’m afraid that I will have to end this conversation. My advice is to take what you have to one of the secular universities. I’m sorry I couldn’t be more helpful but thanks for calling anyway.”
Later on, I tried to engage a pastor in a discussion about free will and he responded to me by asking, “If man’s will is not free, then you can’t blame or punish anything he does, is that correct?” And when I answered, “Right,” he actually got up and walked out of the room. You see, this learned ignorance presents quite a problem, and only by getting the world to understand what it means that man’s will is not free can I hope to break through this barrier. This law of our nature is not a premise, not an assumption, not a theory, but when 98% of the world believes otherwise, they might just close the windows of their mind to any scientific investigation that requires rejecting a theory that has dogmatically controlled man’s thinking since time immemorial. How is it possible to explain the solution when nobody wishes to listen because they think they know there isn’t any? Where is there one iota of difference between this attitude and that of our ancestors regarding the shape of the earth? To show how confused is the thinking of the average person who is not accustomed to perceiving mathematical relations of this nature, when I told someone that his answer was incorrect, he replied with a tone of resentment, “That’s your opinion, but I believe it is possible,” as if the answer could be one or the other. The earth cannot be round and flat, it has to be one or the other and your opinion can never change what is. Remember, I am going to bring about an unprecedented change in human conduct, but I can only do this if you understand what I am about to reveal. If you can’t follow my reasoning as to why the earth is round, you will be compelled to believe that it is flat for it gives you satisfaction not to be wrong. In other words, if I were going to offer an opinion as to why man’s will is not free then your educational rank, your scholarly background could assert itself as a condition more valid to deny my claim, but when I declare that I am not going to reveal a theory but will give a scientific, undeniable, demonstration, then regardless of who you are you must wait to see the proof before rejecting the claim. Therefore, it is imperative that you know, well in advance, that my reasoning will be completely mathematical, scientific and undeniable, so if you find yourself in disagreement you had better reread that which you disagree, otherwise, your stubborn resistance, your inability to perceive these relations will only delay the very life you want for yourself. Many philosophers consider the discussion of whether man’s will is or is not free equivalent to the discussion as to what came first, the chicken or the egg. To them, what difference does it really make? But if this knowledge can put an end to all war, crime, and evil in general, it makes a very big difference and it is imperative that the world listen so that this evil in our lives can come to a permanent end.
It is time to draw an infallible line of demarcation between what is true and what is false, and you are going to be amazed at how much of what is false passed for what is true. However, everything was necessary. As we begin to understand the knowledge of our true nature what is revealed is something amazing to behold, for it not only gives ample proof that evil is no accident, but that it was part of the harmonious operation called the mankind system and was compelled to come into existence by the very nature of life itself as part of our development. Once certain facts are understood it will also be no accident that every form of evil will be compelled to take leave of this earth. Humanity has been gravitating at a mathematical rate, and in an unconscious manner, toward this Golden Age when the seeds of hatred and the domination of man over man become relics of our collective past. It never dawned on the theologians and philosophers that man’s choice of what he considered better for himself, even though it may have been evil when judged by others, came about in direct obedience to his nature or the will of God who had reasons we were not supposed to understand until now. Many prophets foresaw the coming of this new world but didn’t know the exact time frame or from which direction peace would finally make its appearance. However, they were confident that when it arrived, it would change our world as we know it. Now the prophesies, conjectures, and philosophies are no longer necessary, for this long-awaited Golden Age that we have been looking forward to with prayers, hope, and great anticipation has arrived at last. This discovery I will soon make known to you reveals the infinite wisdom guiding this universe which is not only that long sought standard and touchstone of truth and reality, but also that elixir of alchemy, for with it the baser metals of human nature are going to be magically transmuted into the pure gold of genuine happiness for every individual on this planet, and for all generations to come. Please be perfectly honest, who can object to relinquishing the belief in free will when the key to the decline and fall of all misery and unhappiness lies behind the door of determinism?
For instance, I understand that what feels like free will is simply the experience of going through a decision-making process when presented with options. In my view, if true free will existed, we would be the makers of all options, with the ability to discard all options or have infinite options available at any moment. You know, to act purely as we wish rather than being driven by what we must (for lack of a better way to phrase it). Take the example of adjusting your arm's position, whether you consciously decide to move it or not, a choice is still being made, even if that choice is to do nothing.