10-12-2008, 12:01 AM
Within my exploration of FI , I found that applying labels is the simplest and well-known forms of it. You know , like when parents tell their children ,
'You're stupid' . or 'You're no good!' , and so on over many years. And positive labels are just as bad , as unreasonable expectations
are set up. Obviously , people seek many different methods , such as The Secret to correct these things.
There is a n NPR radio program , "This American Life with Ira Glass". They do stories on different topics every week. Today , there was a story
about a child who had some kind of Downs Syndrome. When he was enrolled in school , his mother told the school about the boy's genetic problem. BUT , when
watching the class , she saw that her son had been set apart from the other children AND their instruction. So , the following year , she vowed to never
mention the disability again , even to the boy. The label was removed and the boy grew up more or less normally , was rated with a decent IQ of about 110 ,
did well in his studies. There were cultural problems of course. Keeping such a secret was difficult for the family , and the boy did exhibit some annoying
behaviors. When teasing , in his teenage years, became a problem , he was finally told the truth. As he was now fairly mature , the parents fears were not
realized , and things only got better for him , as he could now tell his classmates what was happening. He made friends.
So , I see that , as I suspected , to treat individuals as just plain human overcomes many ills. And that so-called civilization creates the very problems it
claims , in self-importance , only it can solve. I think of Carlos Castaneda and his ridiculous task of trying to classify don Juan's knowledge according
to some pre-established form. Classification is best left to machine descriptions and clothing sizes.
'You're stupid' . or 'You're no good!' , and so on over many years. And positive labels are just as bad , as unreasonable expectations
are set up. Obviously , people seek many different methods , such as The Secret to correct these things.
There is a n NPR radio program , "This American Life with Ira Glass". They do stories on different topics every week. Today , there was a story
about a child who had some kind of Downs Syndrome. When he was enrolled in school , his mother told the school about the boy's genetic problem. BUT , when
watching the class , she saw that her son had been set apart from the other children AND their instruction. So , the following year , she vowed to never
mention the disability again , even to the boy. The label was removed and the boy grew up more or less normally , was rated with a decent IQ of about 110 ,
did well in his studies. There were cultural problems of course. Keeping such a secret was difficult for the family , and the boy did exhibit some annoying
behaviors. When teasing , in his teenage years, became a problem , he was finally told the truth. As he was now fairly mature , the parents fears were not
realized , and things only got better for him , as he could now tell his classmates what was happening. He made friends.
So , I see that , as I suspected , to treat individuals as just plain human overcomes many ills. And that so-called civilization creates the very problems it
claims , in self-importance , only it can solve. I think of Carlos Castaneda and his ridiculous task of trying to classify don Juan's knowledge according
to some pre-established form. Classification is best left to machine descriptions and clothing sizes.