ANIMAL LESSONS
## ANIMAL LESSON NUMBER ONE ## FIRST PART:~
Let us create a model.
The model we will create will be a simple one whose function will be to illustrate a point.
Supposing we find ourselves in the jungle, in Brazil, and we are lucky to see the twig bird in action.
This is most likely to be the sequence of events.
The twig bird flies in with a very thin twig in its beak. It lands on a decaying tree trunk lying on its side, in a
clearing. It finds a little hole in which there is a worm. It prods the worm with the twig.
The worm recoils and hides deeper in the hole. The bird persists. The worm moves from the first hole to
another hole because underneath is a honeycomb of tunnels the worms have burrowed. The bird drops the
twig and flies away. Is this a failure? No.
The bird returns and lands on the same spot., with a larger, but shorter twig in its beak.
It puts its attention on the same hole as before. It picks up the thin twig in its beak. it proceeds to prod the
same worm again. The worm squirms and migrates.
The bird observes this and uses the larger twig to plug a potential exit. It prods again using the thin twig. The
worm squirms and migrates in another direction. The bird flies off again.
This time the bird has two twigs in its beak, both fat and short. The two fat twigs are laid down on the tree
trunk. The bird once again picks up the thin twig and begins to prod. The worm squirms.
The bird chooses a hole to plug and plugs it. This process of prodding and plugging is continued until the
worm is forced to come out of the only available hole that is not plugged
The bird has a very long beak, like a kingfisher. It plucks the worm and flies away with it.
Now sir, what I have explained to you above is a parallel model of what happened with the bars.
The last bar was dropped down just sufficiently to trigger the stop, this winkled out the targeted instrument in
a similar way that the worm was winkled out of the hole.
The Story of The Twig Bird Continued.....ANIMAL LESSON NUMBER ONE ~ CONTINUED
The Twig Bird, having flown away to it's nest, and fed its chicks with the worm it has just caught,
"remembers" that there are more worms to be had, as the log just does not have one hole, you see,
the log is peppered with holes. Some of these holes will be occupied by worms and others will be empty.
It is now up to the Twig Bird, who has a family to feed, to find out how many worms there are and whether
they can be got for the purpose of feeding. The purpose of feeding is different to the concept of food, this is
an important point to grab. Food is incidental, whereas feeding is systematic.
The bird is very clever because it able to remember the route it has to take also so as not to fly into danger.
In a jungle not every creature is inoffensive. There are some very nasty ones about with evil intentions,
some through laziness, others through greed, others through hope; others are poisonous and so on.
We are observers of all this, and we are impartial, and not only that, but also we are able to come and go as
we wish. All the creatures that inhabit the jungle are condemned to live there all the time and have to
compete to survive. We can go home and lock the doors, and draw the curtains, and feel safe. But I
digress.....Now the Twig Bird goes back to the log and it sees there is a Wart Hog sniffing there, the Wart
Hog is only sniffing for Mushrooms, but the Twig Bird does not feel safe in approaching. So it perches on a
branch some small distance away and observes the Wart Hog to calculate if it is safe to proceed.
The Wart Hog becomes distracted and wanders off in another direction. Now the Twig Bird spots the
opportunity to land on the tree trunk unmolested and with minimum of risk because the Twig Bird is very
astute. The Twig Bird warbles. This is to see if anyone of any consequence to its safety is around, there is
no response, although not far away there is a big snake, but it is coiled up under a tree, having a snooze.
When the Twig Bird is satisfied that it is not being watched, that what it is about to do is not understood, and
that there are no other Twig Birds about to compete, It swiftly repeats the operation of the thin twig,
the prodding, the plugging and the plucking, and flies off again as quickly as it can back to its hungry chicks
that need feeding, and so the cycle is repeated until no more worms are left. When there are no worms left
on these particular logs all the worms have been lifted. The value of the lifted worms is enhanced in terms of
the amount of effort required to find more. One could say that the Jungle Price of edible worms has gone up.
What is the significance of Animal Lesson, part 1 and part 2 ?
I have been busy with other matters anyway but I decided to wait to see what private responses were
forthcoming. I am pleased that No 1 has been of great use to several of you and of assistance in switching
on light bulbs.
All this is about heightening awareness and stimulating realisations. If the message is delivered obliquely
and if you are ready for the information, the light bulb will go on. If you are not ready it will stay off. Your own
state of readiness will choose you , and not you it.
The true nature of darksiding is such that accomplished darksiders are able to look at a situation and come
to correct conclusions in seconds having been provided only with the most basic information whereas
everyone else remains baffled or undecided or both.
This in itself is a problem, because non darksiders observers observe the result but cannot get to grips how
it is that someone looking at the same information can arrive at often the opposite conclusion and what is
most infuriating to them is that the mental process is invisible or when explained, does not satisfy their
preconceived frames of reference. This leads to a conditional response we shall call from now on "HP
sauce".
Darksidsers are averse to HP Sauce, when this clumsy opaque condiment appears, it further reinforces the
notion that darksiding is not for everyone, certainly for only a few, with the consequence that everybody
clams up suddenly in public, but a hive of activity develops via private messaging.
This is because the most important distinguishing ability that darksiders have is to set off their own light
bulbs at will.
This occurs because the true darksiding mind is not hampered by constraints.
Thus the more a chart is complicated by constraints the greater the inability of the observer to set off light
bulbs.
This is because the observer is led to subliminally assume or believe that the indicators are capable of
replacing intuition. Intuition is not guesswork, but the result of allowing the mind to free float without
constraints. Therefore we could liken indicators to a harness. The more indicators present, the less space
the mind is allowed to free float in. It therefore means that the use of indicators through what appears to be
the exercise of choice actually succeeds in achieving the opposite.
Another effect at the same time contains two suggestions being that on the one hand the indicator does the
work and therefore the mind is exonerated from putting its attention on what is required and the other
suggestion simply is that nothing further is needed. In terms of developing cognizance first, and intuition
second.
This is a disaster, yet all these artificial routes are promoted freely. What I find amazing is the reluctance of
99.5% of the audience to stop persisting with these artificial mechanical constraints in favour of free float
even after realisations may have landed. Perhaps not enough of them have landed.
These Animal Lessons are offered to see if they are able through the use of parables and allegories to
stimulate an improvement in awareness, to tilt towards free float and intuition and away from what is
mechanical and harnessed or constrained
The Twig Bird is an allegory to represent a very astute category of trader. Bramble pay attention.
This trader does not employ a scattergun technique and trades for the sake of trading,
because of boredom, or greed, or impatience, or other inalbilities. This one knows exactly
what he ought to be doing and does it. he does not do what he should not be doing.
He waits for a price to hit a bottom, he wants to be assured it is the the bottom.
The indicators will not tell him, but what will tell him is that the price does not fall further
and in addition bigger players have entered the market and are buying. He deduces that
they are buying because their footprint is volume. These big players keep on buying
until there is no more available stock. They have now temporarily cornered the market.
You will notice that on every subsequent buying raid, the volume diminishes. This is
because what is available is becoming more and more scarce. When it becomes so
relatively scarce that demand overcomes the supply available, there has to be an
adjustment to the price, North. The other asute players who are watching this recognise
what is going on and join in. Now there is present in this scenario in this particular theatre a core of bullish
participants.
The scarcity has not gone away, because as higher prices can now palpably be anticipated,
only those who do not understand or are mad gamblers go short. The price continues to
climb until the move is exhausted
Further Allegory Expansion
Then the "Prescott" bird ( Hasn't an original thought in its' head), saw the last foray of the twig Bird, and tells
it's pals that there is easy food at the old tree stump. A big flurry of interest ensues as they all fight to get
access to the log. The volume of noise and activity increases sharply as more "Prescotts" flock to the log.
If you had a volume meter the needle would spike up sharply.
Suddenly, it dawns upon the greedy feeders that there are no more worms. The "Prescott" bird and his pals
have expended much energy for no real gain. They fly off as suddenly as they arrived, still hungry. The
noise meter registers a sudden drop off in activity and noise.
But some hang around thinking that it will be easier to hunt now that many have flown away. They wait and
wait but are forced, due to lack of food, to eventually leave and find food elsewhere.
The Twig Bird has not forgotten the log but waits for it to be re-colonized by worms, such worms are not
likely to ignore a useful souce of habitat and food.Eventually the log becomes home to many worms, enough
to make it worthwhile for the Twig Bird to return for another series of feeds. He is cautious and does not
advertise its' presence to the "Prescott" gang.
Eventually the "Prescott", who has several homes and can transport himself by more than one means,
notices the steady coming and going of the Twig Bird and decides to get in on the action. As before, the
added attention of the Prescott gang creates a feeding frenzy sending noise levels spiking off the meter.
But Twig Bird is not worried, it knows it has eaten the last worm, and flies off to new feeding sites, putting
the present log on its' watch list to begin the cycle all over again.
Very Imporatant Lessons for All Traders, What are They ?
ANIMAL LESSON NUMBER TWO:~
The Court of the King and Queen of Hearts,
an extract from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland,
by Lewis Carroll.
I Quote: ~
When the procession came opposite to Alice, they all stopped and looked at her, and the Queen said,
severely, "Who is this?" She said it to the Knave of Hearts, who only bowed and
smiled in reply.
"Idiot" said the Queen, tossing her head impatiently; and, turning to Alice, she went on:"What is your name,
child?"
"My name is Alice, so please your Majesty," said Alice very politely; but she added to herself,
"Why, they are only a pack of cards, after all. I needn't be afraid of them!"
"And who are these?" said the Queen, pointing to the three gardeners who were lying around
the rose - tree; for you see, as they were lying on their faces, and the pattern on their backs was the same
as the rest of the pack, she could not tell whether they were gardeners, or soldiers, or courtiers, or three of
her own children.
"how should I know?" said Alice, surprised at her own courage. "it is no business of mine".
The Queen turned crimson with fury, and, after glaring at her for a moment like a wild beast, began
screaming, "Off with her Head!". "Off "Nonsense!" said Alice, very loudly and decidedly, and the Queen was silent.
The King laid his hand upon her arm, and timidly said, "Consider, my dear, she is only a child!".
The Queen turned angrily away from him, and said to the Knave "Turn them over!".
The Knave did so, very carefully with one foot.
"Get up!" said the Queen in a shrill, loud voice, and the three gardeners instantly jumped up , and began
bowing to the King, the Queen, the royal children, and everybody else.
"Leave off that!" screamed the Queen. "You make me giddy". And then, turning to the rose-tree,
she went on, "What have you been doing here?"
"May it please your Majesty", said Two, in a very humble tone, going down on one knee as he spoke, "we
were trying ---"
"I see! “said the Queen, who had meanwhile been examining the roses. "off with their heads!" and the
procession moved on, three of the soldiers remaining behind to execute the unfortunate gardeners, who ran
to Alice for protection.
"You shan't be beheaded!" said Alice, and she put them into a large flower-pot that stood near. The three
soldiers wandered about for a minute or two, looking for them, and then quietly marched off after the others.
"Are their heads off?" shouted the Queen.
"Their heads are gone, if it please your Majesty!" the soldiers shouted in reply.
"That's right!" shouted the Queen. "Can you play croquet?"
The soldiers were silent, and looked at Alice, as the question was evidently meant for her.
"Yes!" shouted Alice.
"Come on then!" roared the Queen, and Alice joined the procession, wondering very much what would
happen next. "Its--- its a very fine day!" said a timid voice at her side.
She was walking by the White Rabbit, who was peeping anxiously into her face.
"Very!" said Alice, "Where's the Duchess?"
"Hush! Hush!" said the Rabbit in a low, hurried tone.
He looked anxiously over his shoulder as he spoke, and then raised himself upon tiptoe,
put his mouth close to her ear and whispered, "She is under sentence of execution."
"What for?"
"She boxed the Queen's ears---" the Rabbit began. Alice gave a little scream of laughter. "Oh Hush!" The
Rabbit whispered in a frightened tone. "The Queen will hear you! You see, she came rather late, and the
Queen said---"
"Go to your places!" shouted the Queen in a voice of thunder, and people began running about in all
directions, tumbling up against each other; however, they got settled down in a minute or two, and the game
began.
Alice thought she had never seen such a curious croquet-ground in her life; it was all ridges and furrows; the
croquet balls were live hedgehogs, and the mallets live flamingos, and the
soldiers had to double themselves up and stand on their hands and feet, to make the arches.
The chief difficulty Alice found at first was in managing her flamingo; she succeeded in getting its body
tucked away, comfortably enough, under her arm, with its legs hanging down, but generally, just as she had
got its neck nicely straightened out, and was going to give the hedgehog a blow with its head, it would twist
itself round and look up in her face, with such a
puzzled expression that she could not help bursting out laughing; and, when she had got its head down, and
was going to begin again, it was very provoking to find that the hedgehog had unrolled itself , and was in the
act of crawling away; besides all this, there was generally a ridge or a furrow in the way wherever she
wanted to send the hedgehog to, and, as the doubled -up soldiers were always getting up and walking off to
other parts of the ground, Alice soon came to the conclusion that it was a very difficult game indeed.
The players all played at once, without waiting for turns, quarrelling all the while, and fighting for the
hedgehogs; and, in a very short time the Queen was in a furious passion, and went stamping about, and
shouting, "Off with his head!" or "Off with her head!" about once a minute.
Alice began to feel very uneasy: to be sure, she had not as yet had any dispute with the Queen,
but she knew that it might happen any minute, "and then", thought she, "what would become of me?"
They are dreadfully fond of beheading people here: the great wonder is that there is anyone left alive!"
The explanation relating to Alice in Wonderland
I consider it a shame that wonderful allegories such as The Adventures that Alice experienced in
Wonderland which Lewis Carroll wrote for young chlildren is ignored by older children, much older children
and much much older children who would derive great benefit from reading them as they deliver very
valuable models, which when examined from the point of view of traders and aspiring traders are apt to yield
for the imaginative and alert, very valuable realisations.
Throughout the story the important fact to grab is that Alice is a little girl who does not lose
sight of the fact that she is a little girl, albeit in an unfamiliar environment, in which she
may be often puzzled, but retains the ability to reason and to challenge, and ultimately
to remain calm and to act according to her reason. These are key points you should not
ignore.
The world she encounters is a topsy turvy world, in which nothing is as it seems and nothing seems as it is.
This is very much like the world that you encounter when you enter the domain of trading. If you enter this
world as a playing card or a white rabbit it would appear to be a normal one, but to a little girl in full control of
her faculties it is very far from being normal.
But this world has a structure all of its own, with its own rules and customs, pecking order,
power structure and so on. The world of trading is not unlike in it some respects, and if it were not so
serious, it would be funny.
But it cannot be funny when ordinary people enter a domain with which they are not only not familiar, but
they do not consider it merits the gravity of attention that it does, and think that this is a game anyone can
play, of course.
Here we have a scenario in which everything is baffling. The Croquet Ground is uneven, the Cards make up
the hoops, the Hedgehogs are the balls and the Flamingos the mallets.
Everyone plays at once, no one bothers to take turns. The Cards move about and swap places.
The Flamingos cannot be relied upon to cooperate. The Hedgehogs unroll themselves at will and perversely
wander off. Everybody fights over whose turn it is and over the Hedgehogs.
The Queen gets more and more into a furious passion, stamping about and shrieking.
Here are the parallels: ~
The markets are not there for your benefit.
They have their own rules of lay and engagement that you are prevented from understanding.
Your own human inabilities ensure that even when everything is explained very clearly,
you still do not grab it.
Therefore all the outcomes appear random, perverse, contrary, unexpected.
From time to time the rules are suddenly changed without warning.
And often the field is given sudden tilt away from the level.
And in addition, the goal posts keep being changed all the time.
And the boundary lines of the field itself are also moved about.
No wonder indicators do not work, or other excuses to exonerate you from grafting.
For you to have realisations you have to do more than change the way you think, you have to change
yourselves, and ultimately the way you are.
When you have changed yourselves you can never be the same again, ever.
This is why darksiders are in the absolute minority.
If you enter this domain of darksiding you need not look to find a challenge,
the challenge will find you instead. That is the lesson.
Animal lesson No 3.
#################
From The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland, By Lewis Carroll.
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Here Alice is in conversation with the Gryphon and the Mock Turtle ~ we continue......
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Gryphon says, "Yes, we went to school by the sea, though you may not believe it-----"
I"I never said I didn't !" interrupted Alice.
"You did!" said the Mock Turtle.
"Hold your tongue !" added the Gryphon, before Alice could speak again. The Mock Turtle went on.
"We had the best of educations---in fact , we went to school every day---"
"I've been to a day-school, too", said Alice, "you needn't be so proud as all that."
"With Extras?" asked the Mock Turtle, a little anxiously.
"Yes", said Alice: "We learned French and Music."
"And washing?", said the Mock Turtle.
"Certainly not!" said Alice indignantly.
"Ah! Then yours wasn't a really good school," , said the Mock Turtle in a tone of great relief. "Now at ours,
they had, at the end of the bill, "French, Music, and Washing---extra.”
"You couldn't have wanted it much," said Alice, "living at the bottom of the sea."
"I couldn't afford to learn it," said the Mock Turtle with a sigh, "I only took the regular course."
"What was that ?" inquired Alice.
"Reeling and writhing, of course to begin with," the Mock Turtle replied, "and then the different branches of
Arithmetic -- Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision"
"I never heard of 'Uglification'", Alice ventured to say, "What is it?"
The Gryphon lifted up both its paws in surprise. "Never heard of Uglifying?" it exclaimed. "You do know what
to beautify is, I suppose ?"
"Yes", said Alice doubtfully, "it means ---to---make anything---prettier."
"Well then" the Gryphon went on, "if you don't know what to uglify is, you are a simpleton."
Alice did not feel encouraged to ask any more questions about it and turned to the Mock Turtle, and said:
"What else had you to learn?"
"Well, there was Mystery," the Mock Turtle replied, counting off the subjects on his flappers,--"Mystery, ancient and modern, with Seography: then Drawling, --- the Drawling Master was an old conger
eel, that used to come once a week: he taught us Drawling, Stretching, and Fainting in Coils."
"What was that like?" said Alice.
"Well, I can't show it to you, myself," the Mock Turtle said, "I'm too stiff. And the Gryphon never learnt it."
"Hadn't time," said the Gryphon: "I went to the Classical Master, though. He was an old Crab, he was."
"I never went to him," the Mock Turtle said with a sigh.
"He taught Laughing and Grief, they used to say."----------"so he did, so he did," said the Gryphon, sighing, in his turn; --- and both creatures hid their
faces in their paws.
"And how many hours a day did you do lessons?" said Alice, now in a hurry to change the subject.
"Ten hours the first day," said the Mock Turtle: "nine the next, and so on."
"What a curious plan!" exclaimed Alice.
"That 's the reason they are called lessons," the Gryphon remarked: "because they lessen from day to
day."
This was quite a new idea to Alice, and she thought it over a little before she made her next remark.
"Then the eleventh day must be a holiday?"
"Of course it was," said the Mock Turtle.
"And how did you manage on the twelfth?" Alice went on eagerly.
"Thats enough about lessons, " the Gryphon interrupted in a very decided tone
"Tell her something about the games now."
What is being given here is a lesson that only the most patient and the determined will learn.
Animal Lesson No 3 - a summary
Alice talks to two fantastic creatures, The Mock Turtle and the Gryphon, that tell her about their learning
experiences at school. They went to a good school offering choice with extras on the bill (washing, music
and French) but it seems that Alice did not - although she is still willing to learn.
The mock turtle couldn’t afford a course with extras but took all the basic ones such as: Reeling, writhing
and arithmetic (ambition, distraction, uglification and derision), Mystery - ancient & modern, Seography.
In addition, the school taught Drawling, Stretching and Fainting in Coils. The teacher was an old conger eel.
Alice asked the Mock Turtle to show her how the fainting in coils was done but he was too stiff to do so. The
Gryphon didn’t, unfortunately, ever manage to learn how to it as he hadn’t time. He (Gryphon) preferred to
spend time on Laughing & Grief (which he was taught by an old crab).
Alice asked how many hours a day their lessons went on and was amazed to find that they decreased in
length as time went on with a heavy load at first and gradually got less with a holiday after the shortest one.
Animal Lesson No 3 Alice's conversation with the Gryphon and The Mock Turtle:~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now being prepared and so to follow shortly.
The main drift of the story is that these creatures are really sea creatures, not land creatures.
Therefore from the point of view of Alice, and indeed all of us who read this, they did in fact receive an
education, but a useless one. This concept of education having a feature of uselessness is mirrored in our
society. But in our society the feature of uselessness is
not so blatant as to be obvious. It is more subtle, hence more difficult to pin it, is it not ?
If you want to become traders nothing of what you are taught at School, in the Poly, at College or University
is of any use whatsoever when you come face to face first of all with the markets and secondly with yourself.
That is, with yourself if you dare to dare.
In consequence of this there should be but there isn't a choice of curriculums available
for those who do not wish to become civil servants, dentists, scientists, doctors, lawyers,
accountants, or road sweepers( oops, sorrry, sorry, Refuse Engineers, I beg your pardon).
There should be available courses of study on alternative curriculums covering such
topics as:
The art and practice of Speculation.
The principles of risk quantification.
The development of Persona.
The development of Persona Detached.
The principles of Mind Development.
The protocols of self management and self responsibilty.
Techniques for handling tactical decisions dependent upon conditions of uncertainty.
Alternative Economics.
Alternative Political Theory.
Alternative Mathematics.
Transmutaion.
Transposition.
Transalteration.
Tanking.
Verinegation.
Time Studies.
Biomind Facultiy Development, just to give you a flavour of what is missing......
But of course there are not. In consequence when an individual decides to ignore the conventional route to
follow, that which is not signposted, result :~ Catastrophe !
The tragedy is that the individual is prevented from progressing without him consciously
realising it. I mean to say this is really a wicked plot against people whos only desire,
is not to interfere with anybody but to become independent, free and well off.
Is that too much to ask ? Yes, it is (everything) !
Let us continue, because Alice, as a consequence of her naivety in pursuing a conversation
with individuals whose values are so different as to be remote, now stumbles on a gem.
The gem is an idea. Everything has to start with an idea, because thoughts are magical.
When thought is correctly applied in a structured manner wonderful things can be allowed
to happen. If these thoughts are not structured and they are allowed to run riot in the mind
without structure, they can cause either a lot of mischief or what is worse, the loss of an
opportunity.
Alice, after giving the matter a little reflection, suggests that if the lessons diminish by one
hour every day the twelfth day will be a holiday.
This concept is immediately brushed aside, the attention now diverted to The Games.
This is exactly like in my observation the majority of society, who are not interested in
mastering the lessons by changing themselves first, then being open minded, then learning
the lessons, then making mistakes and not repeating the mistakes.
No ! The Games are the goal, and in seeking the Games prematurely, the whole whole
plot is lost.
Does it not occur to you that there are very significant and valuable lessons to be derived
from this in order not to fall into self set ambushes and other perils?
Animal Lesson Number 4:~ The Rhino & The Farmer
Somewhere in Africa a farmer had his farm invaded by a Rhino. This brute went about crashing into things,
trampling on other things, snorting and threatening the other animals.
Fortunately Rhinos are not carnivorous, but their sheer size and bulk pose a threat to the tranquillity and
order of agriculture. That is why they are kept in special game reserves under the control of rangers.
The farmer was beside himself as this beast is a protected species you see, do you get my drift ?
(rather like their human counterparts in society that are nuisances but are also protected species and some
of them are really grave nuisances and the tragedy is that it is not possible to cull them, although they breed
and reproduce themselves and proliferate and there are rangers to look after them in specially designated
enclaves ) but I digress, because the farmer was really at his wits end.
He decided to make a quick visit to the headman in the village, so he gets into his Land Rover and roars off.
The headman receives him very politely in his hut, and listens very carefully to his story, without interrupting.
When the farmer finishes his tale of woe, the headman nods at his four sons and dispatches them to
accompany the distraught farmer back to his farm.
By this time the Rhino had crashed his way into a barn and was playing havoc wth the bales of hay in there,
charging at them and tossing them in the air, and trampling on them, anyway, mayhem ! Can you imagine
such a scene, fortunately no one had been hurt and no really serious damage had been done to the property
or vehicle or any of the animals.
The farmer and the four tribesmen arrive in the yard and get out of the Land Rover. It is only now that the
farmer realises that the tribesmen are not carrying their spears. This to the farmer is very unusual, since
wherever they go these tribesmen carry a shield, a spear and a knobkerrie, which is a club, (lethal it is). But
on this occasion the four tribesmen are unarmed.
The farmer is puzzled as to what is going to happen next you see, because this is not a joke.
In his mind's eye he has visions of one or all these tribesmen who are only youngsters, getting killed or
maimed. The consequences of this happenening carries dire implications. Therefore the farmer is very
worried. But the four tribesmen appear not to be worried at all .....Do you find this interesting so far? Yes,
good, I will continue.
Now the farmer does not know what to do. He thinks that to allow the four young tribesmen near this wild
beast constitutes a great risk, but of course one must add that the farmer had never been near a Rhino, his
experience had been limited to viewing them through binoculars, which is a very different proposition to
getting up close to such an animal.
So now he asks the boys how it is that they are going to go about it. To his utter astonishment they ask
for what no one would expect. What is it ? "Three blankets Bwana please"....."You're joking ! You mean you
are going to trap an angry Rhino with 3 blankets ! ? ". "yes Bwana, 3 blankets please Bwana".
"We know how to handle beasts (nudge) give us the blankets" So the farmer goes off muttering and
comes back with the 3 blankets. By this time the Rhino has taken an interest in a hand cart , but seeing
that the hand cart does not respond either now turns round to look for something else to have a go at,
you see, because now the Rhino is bored. Boredom is a terrible afflilction(nudge), like ignorance.
The boys approach the Rhino from three sides with the blankets outstretched. The Rhino snorts and
paws the dirt, but does not charge. They close in and the Rhino is enclosed in a rectangular space
created by the blankets. The Rhino suddenly calms down. The boys can now do as they please with
him.
Think of this story and see what realisations it can trigger in your thinking
It is all about perception.
Every player in this drama is limited by their own perception.
This is a lesson in the misapplication of perception.
I will be expanding further on this later, because there is much to learn from this.
IMPORTANT LESSON - PERCEPTION
The action of the boys with the blanket has succeeded in ALTERING
the perception of the Rhino.
The Rhino believes the blankets to be solid walls that now enclose him.
Because he BELIEVES them to be solid, to him THEY ARE.
In consequence of this the Rhino can now be manipulated according to what
the Farmer, the boys, the headman RECOGNISE has to be done, according to
their perception , which is the correct perception to have on the matter.
By another token the Rhino can be likened to the herd, thrashing around in all directions with no clear
purpose and ever increasing frustration at smashing things up and not achieving anything. The tribesmen
are the pros, they know how to control this beast. They keep it quietly standing still until they have prepared
a target tree they wish it to attack, then they fool it into moving in the direction of the tree where it attacks,
shaking fruit from the tree which the tribesman gather up leaving the Rhino to keep flailing at the tree
(fruitlessly!!) while they retreat to their campfires to enjoy the fruits of their manipulation.
How what appears is not what is.
How what will happen next is known in advance.
These are exercises in Perception and Futurology.
Animal lesson No 5 being prepared.......here goes:~
The incident of the Crow and the Gannet.
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Dear darksiders all,
I like to get my business done early if possible, that is if market conditions allow, because
then I have free time to do as I please.
It is my habit to have my breakfast at about 10 AM.
As the weather down here on the South Coast has its own micro climate which is superb,
in consequence of this, it is often sunny here when even in London it may be pouring.
During the summer months I like to have my breakfast al fresco, depending on the
breeze, depending which lawn is chosen as a knowledge of Meteorology is also very
useful. But I digress. My favourite breakfast is Smoked Salmon and Scrambled Eggs, with
Orange Juice, Tea and Toast.
Invariably the Toast is is a short French Roll, sliced down the middle lengthwise.
I am telling you all these details to put you fully in the picture, you understand.
On this particular morning I had 4 guests for breakfast, naturally we all had the same.
When we finished, there was one peice of toast left, and I felt guily as I am averse to
wasting food. So I thought the good deed for the day, would be to throw it onto the Garage
roof, for some hungry bird to enjoy.
Now my next door neighbour lives in the prettiest Bungalow, with a sharply tilting roof,
that has a chimney that is open, because down here many of us use logs in our fireplaces in the winter, are
you following this so far ? And are you getting the drift? Good !
Late in the afternoon, I went out to post a letter and I looked up and saw the following:~
Sitting on top of the edge of my neighbour's open chimney, was a huge Crow who had
managed to fly there with the discarded peice of Toast in its beak. This Crow was balancing
itself on the rim of the chimney pot and facing inwards. On the apex of the roof and facing it
expectantly was a Gannet. The Crow looked very self conscious because the Gannet was
observing it, and giving it absolutely its undivided attention.
But the Crow was not only aware of the Gannet's interest, it was also aware of the tricky
situation it found itself in. You see the Crow was facing the Gannet, and the Crow was aware
that it was dangling its lunch over the top of the open chimney pot. The Crow assumed it
would be safer to find a safer perch. So it hopped. And it intended to hop from one side of
rim of the chimney pot to the other. And it did.
On landing on the other side of the rim, the jerk caused by its landing, succeeeded in freeing
the Toast from its beak.
The crow is the bumbling 95% of the market who feed the 5% through their incapacity and unsuitedness.
The Gannet dared to dare and came away with the the spoils of war. He saw an opportunity, that being the
exploitation of an animal of the same specie but of less ability, he acted and he came away the ultimate
victor. And why did the crow lose his grub, because he made a mistake, he was not sure of what he was
doing and not suited to the task, and as a result he paid the price in the dog eat dog world of the animal
kingdom.
Not only that, the crow at the end of it was left incapacitated, frozen, not realising what had just happened,
when infact he should be looking for another opportunity to snag some grub. This is what I do, I make a
trade, I make a pigs ear of it and I freeze, I feel utterly incapacitated and not knowing what to do next. I
slump in my chair twiddling my thumbs at what just happened before my eyes.
The toast fell in the crease between the Chimney and the Apex of the roof. The Gannet,
immediately slid down the slope between the Apex and the Crease with its webbed feet
facing forward, and went bumpety bump bump on the roof tiles to its target, which it
scooped up with a loud shriek, and flew away with it, leaving the Crow still sitting on
the chimney Pot looking decidedly crestfallen, and I believe, embarrassed, because I
also beilieve that animals are capable of being embarrassed when they recognise
they have committed a blunder.
All animals should feel embarrassed when they commit blunders. The human variety are capable of
apologising if their awareness is sufficiently developed,
and if they have been taught proper manners as to how to behave in civilised society,
whereas animals do not speak directly but are capable of indicating their
feelings in other ways that to the enlightened are also obvious.
LESSON LEARNT - The Gannet was alert and had a Strategy.
The Crow did not ~ he believed that just by shifting his posture he would be able
to keep his lunch ~ without considering anything else.
Animal Lesson No 6
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The story of the Sultan's Carpet:~
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Let me put you in the picture so that you can not only enjoy this story but also so that you can actually
imagine yourself at the scene.
My family is spread all over the world, in different countries, that have different cultures and different
customs and different languages, and as a matter of traditional policy we are all able to speak each
others language and we are in communication all the time. The internet has made all this much
easier and travel is faster and more efficient, but a few years ago a family reunion was truly an event.
These family reunions occurred at weddings mostly. There used to be an established branch in Tangiers
because I had an uncle who was the Director of a French Shipping Line, La Compagnie Paquet, that
operated Cruise Liners, between Marseille, Oran, Tangiers, Senegal and Cote Ivoire.
On one of these occasions when one of my girl cousins got married, my parents and I went to Tangiers
for the wedding. Of course to a little boy a trip like this was like some story out of 1001 nights.
We were in Tangiers for about a week, and during that time, my uncle had a chauffeur called H'med who
took me out with him in the car on his rounds and as a consequence I was able to see all the local sights
from the safety of the front seat. Not that there was any danger as, in those days Tangier wasan
International Zone under the aegis of the French Government. This is just before the uprisings in
neighbouring Algeria when France pulled out of its North African Territories leaving a huge powervacuum
that took years to heal, and lots of Europeans left and settled back in France including my family. But in
those days it was safe, so my parents allowed me to go out under the protection of a trusted servant.
One day, one of my uncle's ships had a special cargo on board. It was a huge carpet consigned to
the Palace of the Sultan. The carpet was so huge it needed cranes to get it ashore, now the problem
was how to transport it........... Bramble are you paying attention ?
So it was devised that the carpet should be rolled up like a huge cigar and pulled by donkeys.
The idea was for this huge rolled monstrosity to be slung between donkeys. I happened to arrive
at a time when the carpet was already slung and the column of donkeys,( a total of 80, because I
counted them),began to make its way from the harbour, up the hill .......
It occured to me that I ought to do something to cheer them up. So in all innocense
I made a braying noise.This started one donkey off. In no time at all, another donkey joined in. And soon all
the donkeys were braying together. The racket was unbelievable, just imagine ! The porters were frantic,the
more they tried to silence the donkeys the louder it got.
All the donkeys were busy braying and not cooperating.The porters were by now very irate. They turned
their wrath on me waving their sticks and yelling in arabic.
The chauffer, who had sloped off somewhere, now reappeared, snatched me, pushed me into the
car and drove off with a roar and a cloud of dust, admonishing me all the time but I suspect inwardly
extremely amused by the incident as he went round, I was told, for weeks recounting the incident,
to anyone who would listen. I was never allowed near any donkeys ever again.
The reason why the drivers became irate is because if a donkey is braying it is not
engaged in what it should be engaged in, which in tems of "donkey capability" is "donkey work". That is, if a
donkey is braying it is not pulling. If all the donkeys are braying together, all at the same time, the job in
hand is not being done, is it ?
The drivers were hot, dusty, thirsty, tired and looking forward to going home to a tall glass of iced mint tea in
the cool of the evening. Now all of this is ruined by this interfering and very
naughty boy who has upset the schedule which up till his arrival was going smoothly.
Now he alone has been able to upset the apple cart.
The donkeys are not cooperating.
They are taking time off to have a sing song, and, at a time like this, when at this time of
the day there is the most dust flying about and the heavy carpet is halfway up the hill.
It means that the whole operation which started so well is now interrupted at a critical point.
It would not be practical to unload the carpet and give the donkeys the rest of the day off.
It would serve no purpose to shout at the donkeys or beat them.
The donkeys, "according to a donkey perspective" are not doing anything destructive. They are just
stopping, for as long as is necessary, to have a sing song.
It is the contrast between the donkeys' perspective and that of the drivers that creates an
impasse.
As this occurs at the wrong time in the wrong place it creates Tension and
Frustration on the part of the drivers who find themselves Helpless.
This serves to stimulate the drivers( who have not developed the proper mindset to deal with stress or
potential stress and /or other situations dependent upon conditions of uncertainty) to be easily stimulated
into ANGER, which is an EMOTION, that disempowers the drivers from being IMPARTIAL and causes them
to be OUT OF CONTROL both of THE DONKEYS and of THEMSELVES, which is MUCH WORSE as they
are supposed to be IN CHARGE and in reality are not since the circumstances are IN CHARGE OF THEM.
This is the most important aspect of the story of the Sultan's Carpet, that we as darksiders
can use to illustrate an intangible concept in order to understand the mechanism WE MUST NOT ALLOW to
take hold of our reasoning faculties at any time we are in front of a screen.
This is alright for (with respect above all else) for Donkey Drivers to behave like this, but
this kind of behaviour as a response to a problem that suddenly occurs is not acceptable
for traders, especially darksiders, if I may say so, who are distinguished by their ability to spot to what to us
is obvious but arcane, irrelevant, childish, rubbish, and so on to others
not turbo fitted.
Clear as mud once more is it not?
If it were not so important it would be trivial
Ah ! And by the way the method of returning the chaotic scene with the drivers and the donkeys
to normality is quite simple. I forgot to tell you. Actually at the time I was prevented by the chauffeur from
carrying it out. His priority was to get me away quickly.
It involves getting a big basket containing 80 apples, all of these to be fed to the braying donkeys all at the
same time, so if the donkeys had their mouths filled each with an apple they would very soon think of
munching and not braying. Thus the scene could be returned to normality in an instant and the Sultans
Carpet delivered on time with minimum effort. I mean to say, its obvious, and this is also what I mean when I
say that everyone overlooks the significance of the obvious.