15.AL Tutorial (Imagination enhancement)

'Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream'1

Health & Safety Warning:

Imagination control is a difficult matter, unless you have the supportive abilities of memory and emotion control to back it up. It is also a more potentially dangerous matter. Loss of control to sensory-motor drives can lead to some truly dreadful problems, but loss of control to midbrain systems can lead to mental illness which is often irreversible within our current lifespan. We can also waste an awful lot of time chasing nonsense our imagination wants us to believe in with the assistance of other people.

Imagination has at its beck and call, all of your memories, and all of your fears. If you cannot control it, and it gets out of hand, it will most certainly control you. It will drive both your emotion and your intellect. If you're going to enhance it, you obviously need to be in control of it (as Igor said to the good doctor). And to get control of it you need to program it in its own language, Allegorical Language (AL).

...They say a Dark Master sleeps within the Internet...

If you're thinking, "What the hell does that mean?" you don't understand AL and you're probably stuck in matrix 4. If you're thinking "I know, but is it a government conspiracy or the true spontaneous emergence of AI?" you're stuck in matrix 3 and you understand some things about AL but not all of it. If you've just written the next line, I'd have to see it to know how much you know about AL.

Unconsciously, failure to understand AL causes anxiety. If we don't know what it is, if we don't recognize it as a language of code and symbols that represent complex things, situations, and concepts, we cannot decrypt it. Since it feels rather important, we feel a need to. So we either decide it's rubbish and scoff at it (but secretly feel uncomfortable about it, nevertheless), or we think everybody else understands but we just don't get it, which makes us feel inadequate or depressed. Awareness of this can cause stupid people to develop an aggressive reaction to all things 'poetic'. Intelligent people in this situation often wonder why they just 'don't get it' and try to find out why...and they are prepared to pay money or do what they're told to find out why...

Consequently, something really horrible has happened to AL in current society. It has been kidnapped.

All the symbolism of all the religions, mystical/spiritual sects (and political parties) in the world are plagiarized straight from the AL archives. There is no exception. They seem to have such deep meaning only because they are based on our biology as much as our intelligence.

AL imagery maintains its power for all who are stuck in M3. Our current ability with AL, though, could leave a bit to be desired. When we're stuck in a matrix, the intellect takes subliminal information from the midbrain as being reality, as being relevant, and so we believe it is real and we deal with it accordingly. Midbrain language is meant to be an adjunct to PFC cognition, not it's main input. But, without an adequate translator online in the PFC to give us any information to accurately decipher what's out there, we cannot clearly perceive it. Instead of reality we see the mid brain networks' simulation of it, based on it's archetypes and allegorical language. These are strange in that they do not seem to abide by logical rules yet seem to have a very strong meaning and seem to abide by some rules of their own we haven't managed to figure out yet. They invoke strong emotional responses, so they must be real...At this point, superstition jumps in. We cannot explain something, so we stuff it under a rug labeled 'supernatural', and fear it thereafter.

In an insult to intelligent exploration everywhere, in seeking the meaning of allegorical language in mainstream media, people will discover and encounter only religious cults, political parties, elitist groups, patriotism, superstition, mystical/spiritual claptrap and anybody else stuck in Matrix three.

Using archetypes and symbolism because they have noticed how these things have an effect on people, the organizers of such groups (deliberate or accidental neurohackers), play with people's emotions and imaginations to make them obedient, dependent, supportive and servile. Forbidding any 'other' input that might make people realize there are other possibilities for stimulating emotion and imagination (no sex, no drugs, no rock & roll, no men, no women, no dancing, no lewd thoughts, no unholy literature, thou shalt have no other input but me), the victim's only source of input becomes the group/religion/party, which ties its own philosophical value system in with the symbolism and archetypes however it pleases. It doesn't even have to make sense, if they include a meme that claims 'some matters are best understood in some airy-fairy 'intuitive' mystical way and need not make logical sense in order to be true'.

Obviously all this sort of thing could confuse a stupid person, and it does, often for life. Some of the more intelligent folks decide it's all just nonsense; rubbish invented for the gullible masses, or those who never grew up and like to pretend fairy tales are real; cloud-cuckoo-land, space cases and cosmic hippies. Allegorical language comes over in these contexts as garbled rubbish, magic crystals mined by the elves, spiritual cures for all known diseases, and the holy hand-grenade of Antioch.

This is terribly unfortunate as it prevents us from learning AL and stops our midbrain abilities developing as they should, and this in turn affects the quality of our overall intelligence.

AL hasn't received much more coherent treatment from the mainstream of psychology either. All kinds of bizarre ideas and their adherents have cropped up, from the 'Anything pointy represents a penis' brigade, to the 'dream interpreters', to the 'analyze the archetypes and you know the personality' school.

If you are operating from a value system of sentiment, these beliefs will affect your imagination. If you are grounded in fear, that too will affect your imagination, constantly.... And imagination control is where we are going next, so...take responsibility for yourself please, seat belts fastened, smoking is allowed throughout the flight, and we hope you will enjoy traveling with us.

What we need to look at now, is how the mid brain networks act to translate sensation into perception and conceptualization. We need to know this, in order to enhance imagination. We already know these systems use their own kind of memory, eidetic memory, and their own kind of programming language, Allegorical Language (AL). We've had a brief look at what AL does; it's a translator between the sensory motor 'old' brain systems and the 'new' frontal cortex. How does it do this?

The mid brain networks translate information from binary input data into conscious concrete concepts suitable for the application of intellectual logic and creative imagination. They do this using a 'go-between' language I've called AL which is understood in different ways by both sides of the information transfer, even though neither could understand the other without it. AL is not like Esperanto, a language that all comers can understand, it is more like a person who can understand two languages, one spoken and one signed, and it can speak in both at the same time. We often speak to small children instinctively in AL, signing as well as saying the words, especially when we are telling stories. The 'signs' and words that AL uses are a preconstructed set of patterns, which correspond to two groups, objects, and episodes. All of these are 'archetypes'.

We're not meant to have a fully integrated view of the world right away when we're born; it happens in stages.R3 As a child we build our perceptions up much more from the vaults of our imagination than we (should) do as adults, because those networks naturally form a larger percentage of our total cognition. For the first while, the midbrain is the only fully operational cognitive apparatus we have. No wonder we can really believe in Santa, or that there are bears under the bed, or our teacher is really an alien, or that the ghost of Hooflungdung haunts the castle towers...our locus of consciousness is right in those networks of emotion and imagination, busy developing our AL skills...or they should be.

It takes the human brain a minimum of 3 to 4 years to construct enough AL patterns to begin using the language efficiently (and AL is vital to memory, which is why most of our memories before age 3 are very sparse). We practice AL association in dreams first of all.

When we're asleep and dreaming, at any age, the mid brain is in the driving seat. Concepts are shifted from short to long term memory whilst we sleep, and that can only be done through long term potentiation. And that can only be done through the mid brain. When we dream, our memories and imagination combine and cast about for two things: objects that are linked with the new concepts, and patterns or episodes that are linked with the new concepts. And they do so according to allegorical language. Our dreams will always seem to be full of 'archetypes', because the mid brain's language is quite limited in its compressed form and only has certain code lines it can write with. Events in life fall into certain broad categories defined by biology according to what hormones they produced. The objects and episodes of AL are the most strongly recurring patterns of experience in reality, and the most commonly felt emotions. They are based on both biology and intelligence.

Which option your brain chooses, for shaping a dream, will depend on its neurochemistry at the time. If your dopamine is high, for example, a dream about a sexy person could well end up being a damp and happy one, whereas if your serotonin's low you could turn that person, in dream, into a psycho pervert who's trying to rip your genitals off. All of our hormones are constantly shaping the choices our memory makes from its databank, even in sleep. So the nature of your AL access, and hence the contents of your dreams is affected a lot by your personal state of mind. It's also affected immensely by the fact that the midbrain has to use archetypes. We expect certain patterns to emerge, and those expectations change our perception.

Because the amazing thing is, we construct our reality in exactly the same way whether we are awake, or asleep. In dreams, or in waking time, the midbrain unconsciously casts about looking for excuses for its input, and when we find them, we believe it's real. That's the only way intelligence can increase our interest enough to make the item worthy of long term memory. It has to have emotional weighting, and if we believe something is false, it cannot have much. We have to trick ourselves into thinking it is sufficiently real and important to be worth remembering. When the brain thinks it's 'real' it thinks it is coming from 'out there', and the body responds accordingly, as in the sexy wet dream or the sweaty nightmare. (In exactly the same way, people stuck in a matrix cast about for excuses for their mood, and when they find them they think it's real; sufficiently real and important to be worth remembering...)

Of course, it is supposed to correspond to what is real, but this is not often the case...what people are saying does not correspond with what they are doing. This is why the whole of 'real life' and most entertainment for a lot of people is based on subconscious archetypal stories that form the interface between our animal and machine-like natures. We are meant to grow through this fairy tale magical bit of childhood and emerge sane, contemplative, creative, flexible, imaginative, and intelligent. But these 'preset' unconscious patterns now control people's every move on a permanent basis, if they never grew up enough to take over the authorship. Just how many people are out there in the world helplessly acting out archetypal scenarios unbeknown to themselves, remains unknown. I would estimate it at around nine tenths of the Western population, and most of the rest are stuck in matrix four. People do not merely live in a simulation... It has episodes. People live in a soap opera.

Everybody's midbrain works to some extent and everybody's midbrain uses AL, but most have no conscious awareness of it due to lack of exposure to it at the right age, or no ability to decrypt it due to lack of example. It is possible to learn conscious AL at any age, but it might take a lot of effort against resistance because people with little knowledge of it often fear and mistrust it. It is not under conscious control and therefore scary, a little bit too unknown to be faced by some. M4s tend to label it 'cosmic bullshit' or 'superstitious gobbledygook', and that kind of misconception takes a lot of getting past, especially with so much gobbledygook and bullshit around. M3s on the other hand take AL as the end product of input, try to translate it literally, and overreact at the resulting message.

Since AL is predominant in dreaming, that gives you a clue that it is not dependent on conscious thought to begin with, and the fact that the same symbol can have a different meaning to different people but evokes the same hormonal response should give you a further clue as to what AL is really for. Sadly, we continue to mess about interpreting inkblots or designing mystical 'systems' to find the true meaning of the unconscious 'magical symbols'

AL is meant to be a system we become consciously aware of from about age 7.R4 We get a brain growth spurt right then to prepare us for it, because it's a matrix shift, from M3 to M4. From age 7 to 11 is the time when we should begin making up stories and songs instead of just listening to them, painting pictures instead of just looking, designing systems rather than just using the given. We should move in to the locus of the RH, and start using our creativity in every medium. We should become more dexterous and adept at using tools on the outside, and more skilled at using midbrain language consciously, increasing the connections in our Corpus Callosum (CC) and sitting on a rich, already-constructed, thickly wired bus from the RH to the mid brain. These connections increase our creative ability (which is how we can write good stories, make movies, choreograph a dance, invent things, design things, do special effects, get a spaceship to the moon, escape from Alcatraz, and generally have new ideas that haven't been explored before.) And they also increase our ability to interact (which is how we can teach each other things, demonstrate, plan, strategise, work things out, solve problems, repair, predict, and control.)

Here is the process of translation in summary:

· Binary input comes in parallel and each collection of coincident streams is compared to past patterns of coincident streams.

· The input from the event or situation is found to have some familiar patterns.

· The familiar patterns will be represented in eidetic memory as images of objects or episodes. AL examines these and then all the others associated with them, starting with the most similar, popular, or important (emotionally weighted).

· From these the mid brain makes probability calculations about which preset pattern events will turn out to be closest to, and sends messages to trigger any hormones we might require, changing our body language and psychological state.

· Groups of selected objects and episodes are sent as imagery to the frontal lobes together with packets of the chemicals that we used when the last most similar situation arose.

· The PFC translates these into the concepts they represent and processes these accordingly.

Remember that all thought and all input cause micromovements throughout our bodies from before birth.R16 This is a huge part of the old brain's sensory-motor input. It is a summary of every situation encoded in full body subconscious awareness. Every move you make changes that message. If your fists are clenched, or relaxed, you send a different message to the mid brain. If you smile, or frown, you access a different archetype and send a different message. You are so finely tuned, enough to see the wood and/or the trees, but most see only one or the other.

In summary, sensory motor input hits the old brain, is sent to the midbrain, encoded in symbol; object and episode, complete with emotional weighting, and sent to the frontal cortex.

Different networks use different electro-chemical signals. The frontal cortex cannot use the signals of the old brain in the same way the old brain can use them. It's not wired for the same chemicals. Drugs that affect the body use old brain signals. Most drugs that affect the mind affect midbrain signals and some networks of the frontal cortex, their bodily effects being actuated through hormones, or the end result of chain reactions. The message is universal because each neuron uses only its own chemicals from the whole selection produced. All receive the same message, in their own particular neurotransmitter language.

The archetypal images have the associations they do because certain patterns of behavior occur much more often than others. They are expected. Episodes are likewise expected. Boy meets girl, they like each other and they...? ... (They probably don't usually start a fire-engine manufacturing company, for example). The images in AL are so powerful and seem so important because they have been with us throughout our evolution and they have heavy emotional weighting. If things don't turn out how they 'should', it's a sign that something could be very wrong, from biology's point of view.

It must be obvious that two things are very important in this system: making sure the images are associated with the correct translations, and recognizing when events deviate from expected patterns.

Here is where the first problems occur. A good analogy for AL is a computer keyboard and the software that turns your keystrokes into words on your screen that your frontal lobes can think about. There are a limited number of keys, but our sensory motor actions (typing) at one end enable the translation into a format our logical minds can understand. This is pretty much exactly what AL is doing, but instead of a keyboard, the 'keys' are all archetypes. When we put these together in the right order and attach the correct emotional package, the message will be understood by the PFC. Everything we perceive is judged by us according to our expectations based on previous experience, and everyone we meet is categorized according to whom we have met before. Those we have spent the most time with, those who made the greatest impressions on us, and those who were around us during brain growth spurts will have given our databank the strongest weighting. Whether any of them were sane and healthy is a matter of chance, we will form our ideas about 'normality' from their example. If our whole society is terrified of bears, we probably will be too.

This is quite a reasonable way to assess things, from biology's point of view. Nature expects the world to show us examples of reality; of what is 'the norm' in various circumstances. Our first examples are expected to be a reflection of reality overall, that is to say, our parents should be more or less similar to other humans, and as we get to know our family and friends we should see a broad enough spectrum of life and human personality types to get a basic idea of humans in general. Likewise our parents' interactions and family life should slowly introduce us to society. All of this should fit in very nicely with our own mid brain's archetypal 'patterns' or 'templates' because they are about reality too. A sane society incorporates its knowledge and understanding of archetypal patterns into its fabric as the underlying themes, and makes sure it chooses beneficial ones.

What we get instead is a cycle of repeating patterns in our relationships, our work and our society, which seem to happen outside of our control, or sometimes even awareness. The AL images are associated with the wrong translations.

Our knowledge of how things 'should' go is equally sparse, taken as it is from whatever just happened on television. Interaction, which is what intelligence aims for, requires all participants to be operating from the same archetypal template. This is an impossibility if anyone is 'running another story'. Our underlying themes must cohere, if we are ever to function in effective groups.

The influence of these two things, our conscious awareness of archetypes and our accuracy in their use, cannot be overestimated in assessing our perception. Unconsciously, every word we hear affects our opinions. Every sight we see consolidates or changes them. Every experience we have, if we're stuck in a matrix, can reinforce our stuck position, or help us to improve.

This effect is all-pervasive and can be totally accidental. For example, if I tell you about a kind of food you've never eaten, and whilst I'm talking about it I look quite disgusted (because actually your dog is trying to make love to my leg, but you haven't noticed this), you will be less likely to consider the food pleasant when you try it, even if I said it was okay. You'll remember my uncomfortable, disgusted body language as one of the first pieces of information connected with that food, and the first information we receive about anything always has strong weighting, regardless of its verity.

Even if the second piece of information contradicts it, the first piece matters most. For another example: I'll tell you a story about Jane. Jane's a nice, warm, friendly sort of person and she's a restaurant owner in Paris. Now I'll introduce you to Mr. Sing, who owns my local Chinese restaurant and is having a few problems with his computer. You'll talk to Mr. Sing in a more receptive, friendly way than you would have if I'd previously told you a story about a nasty, mean, miserly Italian restaurant owner who rips off his customers. The correlative term 'restaurant owner' has tied these people together in your unconscious, despite all the other differences between them you expect similarities. Subliminal links and clues in the growing midbrain jump topic with only the slightest connections and clump together at the least excuse. We are designed to modify the mid brain's behavior as we grow, using LH logic and RH creative flexibility, synergizing in the ACG to make logical common sense out of the code. But a dysfunctional PFC cannot understand the mid brain's interpretations, and stands no chance of doing so if they remain incorrect (Because they do not make logical sense). Such an immature midbrain on its own cannot help but believe it's own creations, it has no overview with which to modify. And it effects our every judgment, with false weighting from irrational associations.

This is the realm of our susceptibility to psychological tricks and deception, and knowing the rules can help prevent them happening to you. The 'first impressions' effect only happens if two pieces of information are encountered close together. If there's a gap, the opposite occurs. Whichever way it goes, if we're not under control we make prejudiced judgments. On top of this we categorize things in our midbrain and try to see patterns in information, even where none exist. ...Did you ever take an instant irrational dislike to someone because their name was the same as that of someone you despised? Or express an opinion of like or dislike about someone you have never met (say, some celebrity)? Often a single characteristic forms the basis of the mid brain's view of a person or thing, and without the PFC we only pay attention to that one factor. The characteristic we choose will often reveal which matrix we're stuck in, for example someone in M4 would be far more likely to notice that a guy had a violent temper than someone in M2, where such behavior may be considered 'normal'. Someone in M3 would probably see spirituality as a positive trait, someone in M4 could see it as a negative one.

Add to that some inevitable sensory distortion (unless all your senses function perfectly), and consider the phenomenon of the alternative memories we dig up depending on our mood, and then consider the effect of having a damaged or incomplete reticular formation (input distortion) and a non-functional ACG (no translation of midbrain imagery). With this as a basis people are trying to operate from parts of the brain that they should have finished building and moved on from years ago. We are stuck currently with whole generations of permanent 7 to 11 year olds 'running' large sectors of society.

Perhaps the cruelest thing is that we do it to ourselves. We see ourselves as being part of a 'group' or groups and judge ourselves according to their faulty archetypes, altering our lifestyles to 'fit in', believing we are 'sinners' or 'the chosen' or whatever they want to tell us we are. We see our groups & archetypes as being superior to other groups and their archetypes, and become more hostile to people in other groups. Some social psychologists claim that prejudice is a result of personality. To me this is a little like saying that being fond of too-tight hats is a result of going bald. It is a correlation, not causality. As far as perception is currently concerned, it's a circle: personality is a result of prejudice (because our personality is built up from our like/dislike response, and then is subject to the prejudice inherent in perception.) Society doesn't help. Often, 'conformity' is a way of gaining social approval (or avoiding rejection) and increasing status.

In reality, the only relevant discrimination between people is a natural one. If there are four of you escaping from somewhere horrid and only one can interact with (fly a) plane, you don't feel discriminated against if they pick her to be the pilot. Ability determines position. Our archetypal 'heroes' should be those able to interact in the most varied situations, the greatest unknowns. Those with the most abilities in service of survival, those most able to increase their own intelligence and with the greatest potential are obviously very valuable. Those who already have many abilities are the current (Kings and sometimes Wizards) wealth of intelligence, but those with most potential are its best investment (Its princes and princesses, its unrecognized heroes). Input and relationships that enable us to get to this stage and beyond (Masters and Students) is valuable input, all else is either deleterious or irrelevant. Except for magic swords. (Or any piece of tech that we can work with in synergy, as though it were a part of us.)

AL

People's ignorance of the origin and purpose of archetypes is stunning, so we really do have to start right at the beginning in order to avoid the popular confused memes. But we can make it more fun by doing an interactive lesson. Here's the game: wire yourself up to a pulse/BP monitor.

...How far can you raise you pulse using only your imagination? Keep your hands to themselves. And find out.

...How far can you lower it?

Most people have no difficulty thinking of all kinds of things that will increase their pulse, but not many can reduce it by very much, or even think of anything to reduce it. What does this tell you?

Try this out next: wire yourself up for GSR, MCG and pulse rate. Imagine a scene in which someone you care about is betraying you in some nasty way and plotting to harm you, and you've secretly found out. Imagine how you would feel. Watch those readings change! Nothing is going on in reality, but your body thought it was because your imagination said so.

Emotion and imagination weight every thought. The first conscious port of call for any form of entertainment you are exposed to, from outside or in, is emotion and imagination networks. Mixed in with ambient surroundings and events in our lives in real-time, all the movies, books, music and art we encounter is noticed, assessed and filed by the midbrain before it gets any intellectual attention.

Imagination uses various different kinds of representation in the mid brain's programming language. One kind is visual imagery, symbols or pictures, which are archetypes. Another is words, but not in the grammatical format we normally use in speech or text. The use of words as representations in midbrain thought is as allegorical or analogical language.

Examples of archetypes are: (Objects): fox, bear, dragon, mermaid, wizard, healer, warrior, star, sun, moon, king, queen, death, fate, god, goddess, sword, spear, blacksmith, apple, rose, black, red. (Add any culturally recognized symbol you know) (Episodes): 'The wounded healer' (the guy who can cure all pain except his own) 'The return of the king' (the king/warrior sleeps/hides, to return again in time of greatest need/end of world) 'Star-crossed lovers' (two people fall in love and win/lose against great opposition) 'Sacrificial king/god/warrior' (someone has to die horribly to save humanity/the planet) 'Cinderella' (someone in hopeless circumstances achieves their wildest dreams and lives happily ever after) 'The 3 bears' (large scary creatures/threat plus innocent vulnerable human, turns out fine in the end)...Add every traditional tale you know.

These 'Episodes' are constructed on the basis of patterns of events that occur in all societies, of every age in every time. In all societies these same dramas are played out. We don't have room to file every event we experience as a separate event. Archetypes are the patterns of our lives, stripped down to the common denominators of all experience. Our personality types align us with archetypes; every scientist is a 'wizard', every actress is a queen. Every waiter is a servant, and the prince or princess who will sweep us off our feet is just around the corner in the wine bar. Our life patterns align us with these episodes; every relationship will fall into an archetypal category or several; teacher/student (master/novice); teenagers in a relationship against the will of parents (star-crossed lovers); man more interested than woman, (pauper courting princess or human courting goddess); everything hinges on this contest (save the world). Once people get into an archetypal episode it is very, very difficult to stop it. Everything in our subconscious minds knows the story and will try to conform to it because of expectations. We expect the young girl to leave the old wizard and go off with the prince, when he arrives, someday my prince will come and save me from the drudgery...take me away from all this, I knew you would come for me, now I don't have to do that horrible degree my evil stepparents are pushing me into. We expect the doctor to be altruistic and politically neutral, the scientist to be slightly eccentric if not a full blown mad genius, the soldier to be fierce but honorable, the nurse to be a gentle soul and Men of God to be serious and somewhat ascetic. We categorize people subconsciously according to archetypes and expect them to behave accordingly. We get surprised if they don't. Episodic archetypes represent a lot of people.

Symbols also represent a lot of things. When we see, for example, a swastika, what happens? Your 'old' brain looks at the shape via the eyes, but has no idea what it is, although memory has already shouted 'beware'...as the input is passed to the midbrain, because even the old brain knows that when a lot of people see that sign they run away, so you might have to run away real soon...The midbrain is searching its files, finds the object, sends a quick cryptic email to the frontal cortex saying 'swastika-nazis-fascists-political-war-uniforms-flags-shouting-violence-cruelty-torture = evil tyrant + danger + death.' The cortex applies its intellectual and creative skills to these concepts, whilst dozens of other messages are arriving via the midbrain...if the other messages are 'tattoo', 'thug', 'shouting' and 'knife', we are probably halfway down the next block by now with a fair turn of speed...midbrain awareness alone was enough to trigger the old brain into action pumping those legs like roadrunner, hormones flowing, and the cortex is only just catching up...if the other inputs are on the other hand 'book' 'learning' and 'history', we are probably settling down into the chair with our tea quite calmly and getting on with it.

How the symbols are interpreted depends on the back up associations they make. To program our own archetypes we have to go one step along the information tree and replace the back up associations with the information relevant to AL. So let's get on with some intensive file management...

Unwire yourself, get somewhere comfy and relax. In 'Imagination/Mid brain networks/eidetic memory/objects', look for a folder called 'King' (if you can't find one, make one). Empty it, i.e., assume you know nothing about the word, have no associations for it, as though it's from a foreign language. In that folder place this information:

****************

· Definition: Powerful person with much higher status in their environment than most, who could be a powerful ally if friendly but a powerful enemy if not friendly, tends to excel at certain abilities although they may not necessarily be beneficial ones. Highly regarded by many. Probably has access to many resources and contacts. Successful and therefore a role model for survival in their own environment. May be a good role model for some abilities.

· Questions to be pursued if necessary: Is this person 'Beneficial' or 'Not beneficial'? How can I interact with this person in a way beneficial to both of us? How can I prevent this person harming others? How can I assist this person's worthy work?

********************

Move all files and folders labeled 'Top', 'Best', 'Admired' 'Successful' and so on into the folder called 'King'.

In the same directory, find and open or create a folder called 'Wizard'. Enter the following data:

********************

· Definition: Person with power but not necessarily overtly; power lies in their ability to manipulate something; tools or machines or people or the environment. They and the things they manipulate may be beneficial or not beneficial. Probably a good ally if beneficial, but a powerful enemy if not beneficial. Probably feared by many, particularly stupid people. Probably sought after by high status people, and hence high status. Their skills could probably be useful to anyone.

· Questions to be pursued if necessary: Is this person 'Beneficial' or 'Not beneficial'? How can I interact with this person in a way beneficial to both of us? How can I prevent this person harming others? How can I assist this person's worthy work?

*******************

Move all files and folders labeled 'Whizz', 'Tech head', 'scientist' and 'expert' into the folder called 'Wizard'.

Now, do exactly the same thing to these archetypes: Doctor, Warrior, Prince, Dragon, (Dragon may sound difficult, but in fact all it is, is a large powerful thing that completely outclasses everybody around in terms of physical strength but isn't too bright, and is mollified by shiny objects, laying down its laws and being an extortionate pain. You'd be amazed how many humans fit that description.)

...And that is all it's for. Summing situations up really fast. Survival. Creative thinking. It's not a secret language that only dungeons and dragons fans can understand. You don't have to get your dreams interpreted or study poetry to 'get' it, and although most of the things you'll read about it are a waste of memory space, if you take AL on board as what it's meant to be, you'll be able to use it to control your own imagination and predict the effects of your creativity on others.

We are designed to be fascinated by the input that fills up our AL files between the ages of seven and fourteen; stories, fantasy, witches and wizards, elves, dragons, animals etc. Children watch animals carefully (cartoon or real) and get an idea of the attributes associated with those animals. Thus, later, if someone says to you 'My big brother is a total pig', you know very well the kid referred to is not porcine, but may well be fat, rude, greedy, selfish or unpleasant in a variety of 'piggy' ways. And if I say the guys in the local garage are sharks, you know exactly what I mean.

There, see; you do understand AL. That's why it has symbols, they can convey information a whole lot faster than words because the information is compressed. When these images are replayed, the same neurons fire that went with the past most popular events of this nature, plus any other networks that are relevant only to this particular event. Association is made between the two, just as surely as anyone opening a tin in a household with pets is always immediately surrounded by anticipatory furry faces. Intelligence makes associations. It expects our input to help it make the right ones.

After getting a few symbols in your archetype directory you'll want to start your dictionary (or rather, thesaurus, because that is how you file AL, by association).

Start with those words most important to survival: Light, dark, wake, sleep, desire, reward, eat, drink, fight, run. Each of these words is a trigger for its own set of hormones to adjust our bodily behavior and our psychological state, including our level of attention, in order that we might make an appropriate response to whatever the event seems to be. Learn which ones affect your imagination most strongly. All this ordinarily happens unconsciously, but it happens in response to these words and the images associated with them and you can bring that into conscious awareness using images and your imagination. You'll find your own and add to your collection as you go along; I'm just showing you how to start.

Combinations of words affect the psychology of both others, and ourselves, as does the way they are delivered. Speaking AL is an art to be mastered. Aspects of it crop up in fiction, fantasy and sci-fi, but rarely is it encountered in full form. Those who can think in it, speak well, their words inspire us because they are linked to those numinous archetypes which underlie all psychological being. A good example is from my favorite Abe Lincoln speech:

"The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate for the stormy present...The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise to the occasion.. We cannot escape history...we shall be remembered in spite of ourselves...The fiery trials through which we pass will light us down in honor or dishonor to the last generation...We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, our last best hope..."

Archetypal episodes don't age; they just repeat. And in AL terms, this sums up how things are, right here, right now.

...If you add the words "For intelligence".

1. From the famous 20th century Earth classic, 'Row, Row, Row your Boat'.