[Previously in Beyond TPT: Frodo has agreed to take the ring to Mordor, though he does not know the way. Elrond has assembled the Fellowship to assist him in his quest. What the company does not know, is that they are being tracked by Gollum, who is after Gandalf's bag of homegrown. Now read on...]

Beyond The Porcelain Throne

Series 1 / 4 - Floyd, Rush and Margaret

[special thanks to Alex R, whose article I decimated to write this chapter]

 There are only three outcomes of any event, regardless of the details:

• Possibility 1. Suddenly, nothing happens. We'll call this a "Floyd", [in honor of the apathetic guy from the comedy movie "True Romance"] ...In a Floyd type of event, nothing occurs which changes anything in any way significant to its survival or adaptation. Nothing gets better or easier, nothing gets noticeably worse. A Floyd happens because of Inaction.
• Possibility 2. A "Rush" happens [named after a popular rock band]. This is a set of events resulting in an improvement in the survival/adaptability of any agent with sufficient potential. Since survival and adaptability are what entelechy is all about, a Rush is the best outcome to aim for, both for your own benefit and everybody else's. A Rush happens because of Interaction
• Possibility 3. Something called a "Margaret" [in honor of an infamous politician] happens. A Margaret is basically the opposite of a Rush. Overall, a Margaret will make the outcome of any event one step closer to entropy, and any organism involved in it one step closer to extinction. A Margaret happens because of Action / Reaction. Action / reactions often cause explosions, in most walks of life. Most people in politics or organized religions are Margarets. Most of the general public are Floyds.

A simple way of putting all this from entelechy's point of view is this:

For example, if you come home and your house is on fire, standing around watching it saying, "Ah, well, there was nothing I could have done," is option Floyd. Option Rush is to form a bucket chain, or move to a safe distance and phone the fire brigade. Option Margaret is to panic and/or go charging in to rescue your photos. Going in to get your kids out is however a Rush option because although you might die, you might save agents with the greatest ability/potential for entelechy. Since humans are supposed to be the organisms with the greatest ability/potential for survival and adaptation on this planet, that's how natural morality applies to us.

Eating a good meal, is a Rush event. Molecules move from a simple to a complex system, more options open up to them and to the diner, as chemicals are transformed into nutrients and used for energy. The result is certainly beneficial to survival, and the energy spent is less than that acquired.

...You might think, as we said in chapter 1, "It wasn't beneficial to the survival of the carrot!" –and you would be correct...Remember that entelechy always prioritises the agent with the greatest ability/potential for survival and adaptation in any situation, and in this case that happens to be you. –Yes, YOU! –So get that spliff lit and listen up!

From a physics point of view, the meal provides optimum nutrients for running the body closer to optimal health, and running on optimal saves energy too. As a nice side effect, the brain, knowing it is getting what it needs, releases hormones to make you feel good, satisfied, and occasionally, absolutely stuffed. These hormones also move you closer to optimal physical -and mental- performance. [A Rush often starts a chain reaction or 'cascade' of Rushes.]

What we are feeling changes how the world appears. In a good mood, we provoke better and friendlier responses in our social intercourse. This in its turn boosts our self esteem, and we are able to think more clearly and confidently, to pay attention where it matters, and not get distracted by things that don't really matter. We perform competently and with minimal error. We can understand things more easily and learn things faster. This makes every task easier and saves energy again. The more we interact, the more adept and adaptable we become. Ultimately, this is in the service of survival.

When every event inside your body is an interaction, your body (and brain) will be in optimal health. When every event inside your mind is an interaction, your mind will be running at optimal health. When every event in a culture is interaction, that culture will be running at optimal potential for the survival and thriving of those in it.

Thoughts also come into these three categories. We can have Floyd conscious thoughts, such as: "Ooh, I don't think we should interfere" "After all, what can we do?" "Don't rock the boat" "I daren't do that" "Might as well not bother; who cares?" "But whatever would other people think?" [And we can also have Floyd unconscious thoughts of the same nature that we're not even aware of.]

The trouble with not thinking clearly is that we're not thinking clearly enough to notice. And the trouble with thoughts is that the brain responds chemically to all of them, conscious or unconscious. That's why it's so hard to control the body even when the mind really wants to, after too many pints of 'Bishops Appendage Best Beer' or whatever. The brain responds to all signals. And all thoughts are like little emails with attachments. In the attachments are hormones, and all hormones cause both bodily changes and emotions or feelings that we actually perceive. Floyd hormones change the body in a way that makes us very tired, fatigued and weary. It is very difficult to think clearly or even to be bothered to think. Any animal under the influence of these hormones becomes a lazy, antisocial, scruffy animal which can only just about be bothered to feed itself. It won't play with toys and it won't explore. It becomes totally apathetic, or depressed, or both. The world appears uninteresting in the extreme. Such animals reproduce, but fail to nurture any young that are born, who grow up to become the next generation of Floyds. They could live for quite a long time in this physical condition, but they become senile at an early age and die through self-neglect unless there is intervention. This often happens to animals in captivity.

Rush thoughts are thoughts like, "Right, how can I solve this then?" "Something new...let's have a look...what is it?" "I wonder whether there's a safer way to get to the next village?" "Hey, if I can find something that floats, could I...?" and, on the whole, "I wonder...?" type of thoughts. Rush thoughts often end with question marks, followed by more Rush thoughts that answer them. These events lead to the development of new ideas, rational argument, exploration, beneficial inventions, and solutions to problems.

The hormonal attachments to thoughts of a Rush nature cause the emotions of excitement, interest, inspiration, alertness and attraction. They change the body in a way that makes us energetic and attentive, creative, imaginative, able to concentrate, and ready to learn. The end result of this is behavior beneficial to survival and adaptation, and, for you personally, the end result (also caused hormonally) is pleasure, and later a relaxed and satisfied calm. Proper sex is a Rush event and that's why it should make you feel like this. Animals under the influence of these hormones literally grow new brain cells, which makes sense if the organism is preparing to learn / learning. They have high self confidence and enjoy games. They are nosey and want to explore. They are sociable and not aggressive unless threatened. They heal faster than other animals and they rarely get sick. The world appears interesting and exciting, fun to play with, and also satisfying. They live long, healthy lives and reproduce successfully, raising healthy young. They don't go senile, regardless of increased longevity.

Margaret thoughts are such things as "They should jolly well do as I say!" "Respect my authority, or else!" "You're going out with me now, and therefore should do what I want!" "You have to tell people what to do, or society has no structure!" "It's for your own good!" "Vote for me!" Margaret thoughts often end with exclamation marks [and are often voiced loudly and dictatorially]. These events lead to conflict, rows, resistance (action-reaction), resentful children, the invention of things to control or harm people, war, estranged friends, anxiety disorders and divorce. Animals producing the associated hormones squabble, fight, posture, bully and dominate. On a long term basis (if constantly producing the hormones) they rape and kill each other and other species, setting up a society of 'Might is Right' and treating the most aggressive/crafty/deceitful/greedy animal as the one with highest status. They fear and attack or run from anything new or unexpected, such as animals of a different color or shape. They reproduce at a normal rate and aggressively control their young, who grow up to be the next generation of Margarets. They die physically burnt out by anxiety hormones, usually of cardiovascular diseases or cancer, senility occurring from middle age.

Now that you're beginning to see what's going on, in chapter 5 we'll look at why it happens. For that, we're going to need the Starship Enterprise.