Our Mental Reality

Excerpt from my book "An Unorthodox Truth"

An image showing how the mental world affects our physical world

The Electrical World

In the first chapter, we explored how electricity revolutionized the world. In The Invisible Rainbow, author Arthur Firstenberg delves into the fascinating connection between electricity and spiritual beliefs before the modern era.

Let’s transport ourselves to a time before electricity was widespread. Picture a world untouched by technology, where nature extends as far as the eye can see. In this imagined world, electricity is ingrained in the natural environment. From Invisible Rainbow, we read:

“Once upon a time, the rainbow visible in the sky after a storm represented all the colors there were. Our earth was designed that way. We have a blanket of air above us that absorbs the higher ultraviolets, together with all of the X-rays and gamma rays from space.

Most of the longer waves, that we use today for radio communication, were once absent as well. Or rather, they were there in infinitesimal amounts. They came to us from the sun and stars but with energies that were a trillion times weaker than the light that also came from the heavens.

So weak were the cosmic radio waves that they would have been invisible, and so life never developed organs that could see them.”

Certain locations within this world have more pronounced electrical activity. They could be referred to as “holy grounds” or “sacred places.” It is in these locations that early humans may have encountered spirits or ancient fairies.

Carlos Castaneda, during the interview with TIME magazine, describes the practice of perceiving the spirit world with the whole body, attuning the senses to the surroundings and seeking out places of power.

“The difficulty.” says Castaneda, “is to learn to perceive with your whole body, not just with your eyes and reason. The world becomes a stream of tremendously rapid, unique events. So you must trim your body to make it a good receptor; the body is an awareness, and it must be treated impeccably.” Easier said than done.

Part of the training involved minutely, even piously attuning the senses to the desert, its animals and birds, its sounds and shadows, the shifts in its wind, and the places in which a shaman might confront its spirit entities: spots of power, holes of refuge.”

Was it easier to perceive these spiritual beings before the prevalence of electricity? Perhaps, but the quote from the 1790s reveals the immense power attributed to electricity, as it was believed to animate nerves, muscles, and the natural world itself.

During the 1790’s, European science faced an identify crisis. For centuries, philosophers had been speculating about the nature of four mysterious substances that animated the world. They were light, electricity, magnetism and caloric (heat). Most thought the four fluids were somehow related to one another, but it was electricity that was most obviously connected with life.

Electricity alone breathed motion into nerves and muscles, and pulsations into the heart. Electricity boomed from the heavens, stirred winds, tossed clouds, pelted the earth with rain. Life was movement, and electricity made things move.

Due to the widespread influence of electricity, it is difficult to grasp what life was like before its existence. However, in this section, we aim to explore the existence of spirits and the potential impact of electricity on their presence. Whether their presence has increased or decreased in the age of electricity remains uncertain, but as we have learned, there is much more happening in the world than what meets the eye.

With that, we shift our focus from the realm of spirits and fairies to the effects of electricity on our mental capacities. It is time to delve into the realm of psychology and the contributions of Sigmund Freud, one of its pioneering figures.

Psychoanalogy

Sigmund Freud, esteemed as one of the founding figures in psychology, was born on May 6th, 1856. After becoming a doctor in 1881, he left the hospital in 1886 to establish his own practice, focusing on “nervous disorders.” Interestingly, this was during a time of great change with the advent of electricity.

In December 1894, the promising Viennese psychiatrist wrote a paper that had a profound and unfortunate impact. This influential paper led to the acceptance of neurasthenia as a normal part of the human condition, disregarding potential external causes.

Additionally, it dismissed environmental illness and attributed its symptoms to disordered thoughts and emotions. This shift in thinking has resulted in the widespread use of medication rather than addressing the possible toxic environment.

Freud renamed neurasthenia as “anxiety neurosis” and its episodes as “anxiety attacks,” which we now know as “panic attacks.” From Invisible Rainbow, we read the following:

Because of him, neurasthenia, which is still the most common illness of our day, is accepted as a normal element of the human condition, for which no external cause need be sought. Because of him, environmental illness, that is, illness cause by a toxic environment, is widely thought not to exist, its symptoms automatically blamed on disordered thoughts and out-of-control emotions. Because of him, we are today putting millions of people on Xanax, Prozac and Zoloft instead of cleaning up their environment.

For over a century ago, at the dawn of an era that blessed the use of electricity full throttle not just for communication but for light, power, and traction, Sigmund Freud renamed neurasthenia “anxiety neurosis” and its crises “anxiety attacks.”

Today we call them also “panic attacks.”

Arthur asserts that Freud’s influence in psychology has caused us to overlook many invisible conditions in today’s society. This claim holds merit when we examine Freud’s theories, which lack factual support, similar to theories proposed by Darwin, Cope, and Marsh. These theories were widely accepted but lacked solid evidence upon further investigation. Freud, as one of the founding fathers of psychology, falls into the same category.

Another detrimental aspect of Freud’s impact is his concept of psychology. A documentary called The Century of Self delves into how Freud’s ideas have influenced society globally. The film explores Freud’s belief that humans are driven by irrational subconscious fears and desires.

His nephew, Edward Bernays, who we discussed earlier in our chapter regarding governments, put this theory into practice, creating a social structure to control the masses who were deemed unable to control themselves. It is crucial to note that Bernays was only able to carry out his work due to his uncle’s research.

However, in our book challenging conventional norms, we question Sigmund’s idea that humans are irrational and untrustworthy. According to simplypsychology, Freud’s theories lack scientific support. They are effective at explaining behavior but fall short in predicting it, a key aspect of scientific research. Moreover, Freud’s theory is unfalsifiable and difficult to objectively test. In essence, it is deemed highly unscientific.

In conclusion, Sigmund Freud, widely recognized in the field of psychology, may have had notable ideas, but the overall impact of his work has been more harmful than beneficial. He played a role in obscuring the existence of invisible conditions related to electricity. Additionally, his studies, like those of Darwin, Richard Owen, Marsh, and Cope, have led the field astray and have been accepted as fact.

The acceptance of Freud’s ideas into psychology has had far-reaching consequences that persist to this day. Individuals struggling with conditions like anxiety were no longer encouraged to consider their environments, such as potential exposure to excessive electricity or tangled wires.

Instead, their experiences were solely attributed to anxiety. This disregard for the environment has resulted in the replacement of trees with telephone wires and the transformation of natural landscapes into modern cities.

Similarly, when someone felt depressed or sad, the focus shifted away from understanding their goals and dreams or examining their understanding of themselves and their relationships. Instead, pharmaceutical solutions, often funded by influential figures like Rockefeller, were readily prescribed.

This shift in thinking occurred during a period of rapid industrialization and urbanization. As electrification and technology advanced, society became less interested in studying the intangible aspects of life. Thanks to Freud, there was now a scientific explanation for these conditions - they were no longer invisible.

However, one of Freud’s students, Carl Jung, saw the need to delve even deeper into the unseen world of psychology. He offered a more accurate understanding of what goes on inside our minds.

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This is an excerpt from my book: An Unorthodox Truth. To learn more about my book, click the article below to read what my book is about:

The History of You: A Book That Connects the Past, the Present, and the Future

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If you would like to order the book, click the following link below to order a signed copy from me:

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Here are more excerpts from the book if you are interested:

Did Dinosaurs Exist?

Donating to a Good Cause (How Billionaires Ran The World)

Origins of Modern Education

Enjoying Your Enslavement

The Reality of Magic

The Man Behind the British Empire

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