Summary

The summary starts off by going in to zones, which don't adequately detail themselves in a manner which I can get a handle on. They are the zones of no hope, violent action, balance and high hope.

It then summarises the four dynamics and states that the reward of survival activity is pleasure and the "ultimate penalty of destructive activity is death or complete nonsurvival, and is pain."

There is a considerable balancing act going on here. There are times where an individual must sacrifice on one dynamic in order to progress on another. I have to admit to looking at the summit of complete success in all dynamics and think, "That's a difficult peak to climb. A lot of people are going to fall off the mountain face trying to get there." Also, unless you believe in reincarnation, survival on the first dynamic is impossible to achieve.

The chapter goes on to reasonably conclude that problems in the mind can cause drops in functionality, efficiency of memory, ability to reason, etc. however, these are lain at the door of engrams. "The engram is a moment of 'unconsciousness' containing physical pain or painful emotion and all perceptions, and is not available to the conscious, analytical mind as experience." This needs more evaluation.

Richard Wolfgang Semon appears to have coined the term, "engram." The best way I can describe what I am reading is that an engram is a reactive part of the mind; that the mind will automatically respond to stimulus. I translate this as being the fight or flight mechanism; programming which enables us to react instinctively to a situation without having applied conscious thought to what we are facing.

I can see how some programming, such as phobias, have negative impacts on our lives and are worth overcoming. However, there are some engrams which are necessary for survival. If I look up and see a girder falling towards me from some great height, I don't want to be standing there thinking, "Now where is the shadow and what are the odds of this actually hitting me." Man, I want to be running as fast as I can the hell out of there as quickly as possible.

On page 61 we come across the first equation. PV = ID to the power of x. Potential Value of an individual or a group equals the inteligence multiplied by the potential of the individual on a particular dynamic. x is undefined, but it could be a % sign, the type is that small.

This fails to take in to account as to WHO the potential value belongs to. Such as an individual with a high dynamic to survival of the species, would have a value to the society as a whole. An individual with a high self survival dynamic could thus do so at the expense of the community; survival of the fittest. That would result in a strong PV, but not one of benefit to all elements of society, unless your goal is to eliminate the weak and then it does become a positive.

So again, we have anecdotal evidence and unsupported conclusions which can mean different things according to your point of view.

The next chapter purports to educate me on, "The single source of all inorganic mental and organic psychosomatic ills."