February 5, 2008

I spent the evening talking to a Russian psychologist last night. I met him through the same people who study Systema. He had nothing but disdain for modern man. And modern women. He said that all our decisions were fear based. I had hoped that he would meet me half way but he wouldn’t budge. All of our decisions are he said, if you really look at them. He blamed the education system, among other things. He was quickly riled and did a lot of finger pointing. He would have been an impressive speaker if his grammar hadn’t been so off. He spoke about creating an architecture that would demystify fear. I agreed with him that it was surprising. That after all this time most people couldn’t tell you a thing about it. They would point to their stomach, they would shrug. The tough ones would even make a case for it being important. But no one really had a bead on it. He was obsessed with going beyond oneself. And that to do it one had to overcome fear. He was a grandiose speaker, yes, but he had a point. Because there is nothing more detrimental to a persons success than fear. Because fear is comprised of many different elements, only very few of which serve. For to be afraid is to experience several entirely conflicting conditions all at once. It is to be alert and yet petrified. Primed and yet careless. Stronger in every way and yet weaker. In no other state are we as simultaneously more able, and more unable, to take appropriate action. For to be afraid is to become momentarily super conscious, and yet in only the most narrow of fields. Man’s principle aim of course, should be to widen them. But no where is this taught. And why would it? No one wants man to be unafraid. Because the minute that happens he will stop behaving. He will stop obeying. And so will she. There have been many tales in mythology of heroes travelling through mirrors, descending into the underworld, doing battle with demons. The iconography is universal, and individual. For each of us has one uglier than the last. And this is precisely the lesson of a modern cult. That fear is not selling you a bad product. You’re buying it.