Thinking With Somebody Else's Head show

Thinking With Somebody Else's Head

Summary: Science, philosophy, psychology, quantum physics, religion. In all these areas, we see the world based on what comes from others. Which means we're actually thinking with somebody else's head - not necessarily our own. And how much of those philosophies, ideas and theories are true? Thanks to the work of Brazilian/Austrian psychoanalyst and social scientist, Dr. Norberto Keppe, separating the wheat from the chaff is a lot easier today. We'll explore this rich and provocative territory in this podcast. Email me about your thoughts at rich@richjonesvoice.com

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Podcasts:

 The Spiritual Danger of Letting Yourself Go | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

Freedom. It's a word that hits deep in the human soul. Let Freedom Ring! Thank God Almighty, I am free at last! Give me liberty or give me death! These powerful declarations echo through time, but always seem current. Can there be anything more relevant than freedom? Stacked up against the social justice implied by liberty, our blind focus on monetary self-interest seems petty and pathetic. In the face of the grand ambitions of the human soul, our typical daily strivings pale in comparison. But for all its power and resonance, freedom in real terms seems dauntingly difficult to achieve. That's easy to see in places where freedom is blatantly restricted, but even in the so-called free world of the west, true freedom as Christ and King and Kennedy called for has eluded us. Perhaps this is because we have confused freedom with being free to do whatever we want - and that, in Keppe's psychological view, is fraught with peril. The Spiritual Danger of Letting Yourself Go, today on Thinking with Somebody Else's Head. Click here to listen to this episode.

 Transcending Einstein and Materialism with Keppe's New Physics | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

In The Brothers Karamazov, Dostoyevsky writes, "You have needs, satisfy them. Don't hesitate. Expand your needs and demand more." He calls this "the worldly doctrine of today." But true to the depth of the great writer, he acknowledges the trap we fall into when we pursue a life of singular materialism. "The result," Dostoevsky writes, "For the rich is isolation and suicide, for the poor, envy and murder." So boiling that down to its metaphysical essence, Dostoevsky was basically suggesting that the popular bumper sticker, "He who dies with the most toys wins," is a lot of twaddle. But materialism is our inheritance from about 500 years of science bent on eradicating anything to do with spirituality - which they termed superstitious - from their theories. I don't think this was a step up. In the end, a materialistic philosophy narrows our perspective to where mere survival becomes our primary objective. Transcending Einstein and Materialism with Keppe's New Physics, today on Thinking with Somebody Else's Head. Click here to listen to this episode.

 Narcissism, Shame and the Inverted Sense of Freedom | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

Think of the greatest among us and a pattern will emerge. For those who've done something truly valuable in life, one characteristic that stands out. Somehow, in some way, they've been interested in doing something for others. I'm not talking about the preening and PR initiatives that drive some accomplishment, of course - the self-promotion behind Academy Award lobbying or magazine cover stories proposed by highly paid publicists. But the true contribution of photo-op shy individuals and groups that truly makes the world a better place. For underlying all of this type of accomplishment must be a high degree of selflessness, of forgetting oneself in the service to the good of others. And we all know people like that who put aside their own glory a little to come to the aid of a greater purpose. Even if they receive personal recognition in the process. Erich Fromm considered the main condition for the achievement of love to be overcoming our narcissism, and it's this we'd like to dive into today. Narcissism, Shame and the Inverted Sense of Freedom, today on Thinking with Somebody Else's Head. Click here to listen to this episode.

 Vanquishing Mathematical Technology and Restoring Society's Soul | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

When analyzing the crises in society, it is customary to lay blame on a wide array of doorsteps. There's corporate malfeasance, of course, and political ineptitude and general apathy, to name a few. And back of them all is the corrupting influence of money and greed. And that's about as far as we normally get. A few of the more strident truth seekers draw a bigger circle and follow the trail to the secret organizations pulling the levers and flipping the switches from high level strategy sessions behind the scenes. But I don't think I've every heard anyone point the finger at the dominance of mathematics as a crucial flaw in our philosophical underpinnings. That's exactly what Norberto Keppe does in his magnificent work. Reading Keppe's book, Sociopathology, will be a slap in the face to calculus geeks and binary nerds of any nationality. And a breath of fresh air to any of us who need our cellphone calculators to divide up the lunch bill. This is a complex analysis Keppe embarks on, and we'll launch off on the initial forays into the territory today. Vanquishing Mathematical Technology and Restoring Society's Soul, today on Thinking with Somebody Else's Head. Click here to listen to this episode.

 The Occult Olympics and the Reptilian Brain | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

This week on Thinking with Somebody Else's Head ... most of us are pretty clueless about the occult history of humankind. To our detriment. Occult agendas have been behind many of the momentous occurrences in history, from Columbus' journeys to find the New World, to Hitler's drive for a Third Reich. Both saints and psychotics have been moved by esoteric knowledge that has never been mainstream, and this makes analysis of the field murky and prone to extremism and fanatacism. Some agents acting on this occult knowledge have been extremely well intentioned. Columbus and numerous Millenarists from various religious and political persuasions fall into that camp. Others from the modern New World Order camp have been in no way well intentioned. And deep within the conspiracy theories lies some truth: the machinations behind the scenes of history's events have remained obscured and hidden in secret meetings and occult intentions, and this is never revealed on the 6 o'clock news. But if you know what to look for, you will see subliminal messages of this subterfuge everywhere. The Occult Olympics and the Reptilian Brain, today on Thinking with Somebody Else's Head. Click here to listen to this episode.

 Corrupting Society's Divine Tissue | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

We who spend our lives in so-called First World countries have little idea how we got that way. We grow up in the lap of relative luxury and are not stimulated to question the luck of the birth lottery that had us being born where we were. And as we grow up in that protected crucible, we seldom stop to question the system that gives us relative everything while millions more in other less privileged parts of our globe go without. Far from questioning, actually - we scramble frantically to carve out our little corner of paradise whee we can hunker down with families and fireplaces and frequent flyer miles in isolation so complete we rarely think about those little details like social injustice or economic imperialism. In spite of giving a nod to the global imbalance through our sophisticated recycling programs, financial support to Third World charities and wholesome bike lanes, we don't want to rock the boat that much. In fact, it's safe to say the blame for our world's social crises can be partly laid at out feet. Corrupting Society's Divine Tissue, today on Thinking with Somebody Else's Head. Click here to listen to this episode.

 Going Beyond Sex and Passion | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

I was browsing through a friend's Facebook timeline the other day, and came across her New Year's message. OK, so here we are in August and I'm looking at January, so I really was browsing. The point is, what she said really stood out to me - live with full passion is what she wrote. And I get that. Do what you do with feeling. Imbue your activities with drive and verve. This is, of course, sage advice. Far too often we sleep walk through life, failing to grasp the magnificence that lays itself out before us at ever step. So I get her point. But I also think it's a little more complicated than that. Passion, as the great Pablo Neruda said, is "as if you were on fire from within." And how could anyone argue against the merits of that? But it seems that perhaps passion unleashed without the tether of a good purpose can demolish rather than build. And it is here we need to explore more deeply. For a true human being must understand how to do what's really important. And that takes massive self-knowledge. So let's go beyond sex and passion today, on Thinking with Somebody Else's Head. Click here to listen to this episode.

 Analytical Trilogy: The Science of the Human Interior | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

All of us have a reluctance to see our problems as the result of our own actions. The more serious the issue, the more creative we become in our explanations. To the point of absurdity at times. Years ago, a radio student of mine had a unique twist on the age-old excuse. When I asked him why he handed his assignment in late, he said with all sincerity, "My dog ate my contact lenses." Laughable and ridiculous obviously. But illustrative of what has become the typical attitude. "Hell is the other people," is how Sartre characterized it, and this lack of awareness is a serious problem in our world today. It's led to obese women suing their mothers as being responsible for their fatness. Or one country so convinced the problem is out there that they drop bombs on others or erect walls to keep the others out. But seeing our own problems as caused by another makes us lose contact with our own inner lives. Meaning we alienate ourselves from wisdom and knowledge. Analytical Trilogy and the Science of the Human Interior, today on Thinking with Somebody Else's Head. Click here to listen to this episode.

 Compromising on Love and Truth | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

Compromise. It's a word ripe for heated debate. A thing to be avoided? Or a necessary evil? Better to bend than break, as an old Scottish proverb puts it. Compromise is supposedly what makes nations great and marriages happy, what people use to justify unconscionable bargaining techniques. But all too often - in business and international negotiations as much as in relationships - compromise means raising the thresholds of what we'll tolerate while lowering our expectations. Not exactly a recipe for strength of character. And perhaps it is those value compromises, those times when we give in but shouldn't, that cause us the most pain as we look back. For sure, compromise can be a slippery slope. We develop the habit of giving away the store or fine tun our manipulative techniques to Henry Kissinger-like finesse. The great convert to theology, C.S. Lewis, discussed the gradual road to Hell that I think can be the result of compromise, and it is important to think harder and deeper about this. Compromising on Love and Truth, today on Thinking with Somebody Else's Head. Click here to listen to this episode.

 Exploring the Hidden Me | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

My father is fond of saying that the problem with human society is that we were born without an operating manual. Clever I thought. Once. But thinking more carefully, I realize it's actually not true at all. We have endless advice passed down through tradition and testament and even tablet that lays out pretty unequivocally how we should live. And it's surprisingly consistent. From Buddhism to Chirstianity, Confucius to Mohammed, the great mandate has always been to do unto others what you would have them do unto you. So that's out there, and it shows up again and again in social conventions and cultural upbringing and even on fridge magnets and coffee mugs. Constitutions and declarations and proclamations for centuries have laid it all out. This is not the problem, Dad. Our problem is that we don't want to follow it. Yes, it's an obedience thing. When confronted with what we should do, we human beings like to say, "Oh yeah? Who says so?" Defiance to the truth then ... this is deep, isn't it. And it deep inside us all. Exploring the Hidden Me, today on Thinking with Somebody Else's Head. Click here to listen to this episode.

 Keppe Motor and the Disinversion of Science | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

Mandela wrote that true freedom is not just merely casting off your own chains, but living in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. I love that last part because it implies that we have an obligation to do something to assist the general welfare - not just sit back in our "I'm all right, Jack" armchairs. But it strikes me as I think about it that, actually, the strongest prisons that hold us hostage are not those made of concrete and steel and barbed wire. We live in prisions erected by our wrong beliefs and philosophies of life. Norberto Keppe has written voluminously about a psycho-social condition called Inversion and how this has caused us to see reality upside down. A deep reading of his vast output will take you on a journey of human consciousness that will mark a turning point in your life. You will never be the same after his great discoveries of human psychology enter your consciousness. One of the inverted institutions that locks us into an inferior perspective is modern science. Our lauded scientific worldview is seriously incomplete. The Keppe Motor and the Disinversion of Science, today on Thinking with Somebody Else's Head. Click here to listen to this episode.

 Rockefeller and the Shattered American Dream | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

Norberto Keppe's book, Liberation of the People, is the most complete book I know about the pathology of power. It explores the psychological condition that lies behind the lust for power, and shows clearly that this drive is most times fueled by a pathological desire for self-service and narcissism, not for the common good. "It is extremely important to perceive that the established powers have been organized so as to control the will of the people, paralyzing their capacity to act," Norberto Keppe writes in this profound book. In other books, Keppe writes forcefully about secret groupings of powerful people acting in the shadows as constituting the basis of all social sickness. Here, he's talking about the Bilderbergers and the Trilateral and the secret societies at Yale and all that mess. And just saying that pushes us into the territory of conspiracy theories for some. I mean, what's next? Questioning the moon landing? But Keppe's voice is not strident or self-righteous. Instead, it's a fresh breeze of sanity into this minefield of subterfuge. Rockefeller and the Shattered American Dream, today on Thinking with Somebody Else's Head. Click here to listen to this episode.

 A Cure for Corruption | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

Broach the subject of corruption with most people, and there's an almost instant reaction. We understandably get apoplectic about the cases of corruption evident in corporations like BP or rogue traders like Nick Leeson. I even remember some self-righteous media pundits lamenting the blow to baseball represented by Pete Rose betting on the game. We all get irate when facing these levels of unethical behavior, or even when a loved one betrays a trust. But this is when it would be timely to remember Shakespeare's counsel in moments of self-righteous indignation: Methinks you doth protest too much. It's well known in psychology that we can often tee off on behavior outside that we also partake in, and that can be a tough pill to swallow. It takes all the honesty and virtue we can muster to see that external conduct as a mirror reflecting back our own sins. But it is exactly this that's required of us today. Because one thing we must admit - if the world has gone astray, chances are pretty good we've contributed to that. A Cure for Corruption, this time on Thinking with Somebody Else's Head. Click here to listen to this episode.

 Spirituality and Leadership | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

The murky world of shadows that constitutes modern leadership is not a new thing, of course. The TV mini-series "The Tudors" lays out in all its deceit and subterfuge the nest of vipers that was the British Royal Court of the 15th and 16th centuries. Ancient Rome was no picnic either from all accounts. And Chinese warlords scheming to be Taipan operated within complex webs of treachery. Not much has changed. We're inverted, so we still practice to deceive and think, in our boundless delusion, that it will all come out ok in the end. It's been that way for centuries. So prevalent is it that we could be excused for thinking that political gamesmanship is just human nature - whether it's office competitors vying for the bosses favor, or contestants on a reality TV show pacting to get another sent home, or unelected bank leaders meeting in secret to decide world monetary policy. Treachery and cunning, though, in all their proliferation, are far from what it means to be truly human, and this disinverted view deserves more headlines than it's gotten. Allow us to do that a little today. Leadership and Spirituality, today on Thinking with Somebody Else's Head. Click here to listen to this episode.

 Freedom and Leadership | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

Take a look around at the critical situations facing we human beings, and it's sobering. Maybe that's why most of us don't like looking too closely. It becomes overwhelming. "Can't you talk about something else," is how my mother often phrases this sense of overwhelm. The implication being that not talking about it makes it disappear. An absurd rationale, of course, but one that's rather common in our addicted-to-positivity society. In the science of psycho-socio-pathology elaborated at the International Society of Analytical Trilogy where our program originates, this is called an Inversion. Seeing problems is a negative. You have to make lemonade with that mountain of lemons, after all. Problem? what problem? What we've got here is a heaven-sent opportunity, not a problem at all. That's the common parlance. But to really solve the problem, we have to forget about the inverted dictums of the motivational literature. There it is written that we need to forget the past and look to the future - exactly the polar opposite of what we should be doing. Real leaders, in truth, need to look very hard at the reasons we're in the mess we're in. Freedom and Leadership, today on Thinking with Somebody Else's Head. Click here to listen to this episode.

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