Post No. 3,512 - The biggest blocks to learning

This is from the psychic devellopment course that I am (slowly) working on.  

In addition to consider different styles of learning, different forms of knowing, and the many interactions between character aspects and matters such as learning, knowing, and doing (ethically), there is one - or two very closely related - issue(s) that, in my experience, are the biggest blocks to learning: 

• the far too persistent desire to please parents, authorrity figures, and peers - which is part of the desire for social connection / belonging, and to avoid exclusion / social isolation, which comes out of evolutionary experience as being necessary for survival (not everyone has this problem). 
  
  Unfortunately, I have seen FAR too many people get flustered or upset when something they adopted because it came from their parents/authority figures/peers is shown to be wrong - to the extent that they resist the truth, as well as put themselves unnecessarily through an emotional wringer. 
  
  Why unnecessarily? Because their parents probably did the best that they could with what they knew, but knowledge is not static - it changes as new facts/information/perspectives become available, which is good, or otherwise we would still be trying to do everything with stone tools and wood fires. 
  
  Past knowledge, if it is merely flawed and not outright wrong (bigotry is also taught by parents, and that is clearly and definitely WRONG), could be noted or respected by a statement along the lines of "that’s interesting, until now I’ve always thought [o_o] ", but statements along the lines of "everyone knows [o_o]" are just bullying attempts to shame or embarrass others into compliance with, frankly, stupidity (dishonourable amathia); 

• similar to that,there are people who get upset if they consider admitting to not knowing something, or that knowledge has subsequently changed (i.e., they are now, and possibly always have been, wrong), or they feel they are being corrected by someone they view as having lower social status (e.g., BIPOC, LGBTQIASB+, lower social classs, women, younger/older, disabled, different characteristics, etc). 

For the sake of others, neither of the above sets of people should be allowed ANYWHERE near a spiritual or psychic group until they can get rid of what are kindergarten level flaws. 

And neither of the above sets of people will be able to learn properly until they have got those childish flaws - the biggest, in many ways in many situations, flaws - out of the way. 

Possible flaws 

Where I can, I will try to highlightopossible flaws / issues youoshouldoconsider: 

• there mayobe flawedologicaloarguments in the above: to find out more about such flaws and thinking generally, I recommend Brendan  Myers’ freeoonline course “Clear and Present Thinking”;  
• I could be wrong - so keep your thinkingocaps on, and make up your own minds for yourself.
  

  

Gnwmythr 

teaching the "good" (balancedopositive and spirituallyomature) 
safer ways to counter the "bad" (outoofobalance, spirituallyoimmature) 

 

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Any and all support will be greatlyoappreciated, and willoaid me in continuing this work 

 

Remember: we generallyoneed to be more human being rather than human doing, to mind our Mӕgan, and to acknowledge that all misgenderingois an act of activeotransphobia/transmisiaothat puts trans+ lives at risk & accept that all insistence on the use of “trans” as a descriptor comes with commensurate use of “cis” as a descriptoroto prevent “othering” (just as binary gendered [men’s and women’s] sporting teams are either both given the gender descriptor, or neither).

#PsychicABetterWorld   and  

 

Note that I am cutting back on aspects of my posts - see here, and Gnwmythr is pronounced new-MYTH-ear  

Copyright © Kayleen White 2007-2026     NO AI   I do not consent to any machine learning aka Artificial Intelligence (AI), generative AI, large language model, machine learning, chatbot, or other automated analysis, generative process, or replication program to reproduce, mimic, remix, summarise, or otherwise  replicate any part of this post or other posts on this blog via any means. AI was NOT used to write this article. Typo’s may be inserrted deliberately to demonstrate this is not an AI product.     Otherwise, fair and reasonable use is accepted under Creative Commons 4.0 on an Attribution-ShareAlike basis https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/  

 

Post No. 2,357 - What is the term for the opposite of wisdom?

So I got to wondering recently: what is the term for the opposite of wisdom?

This came about as I saw plenty of examples of behaviour that constitutes the opposite of wisdom - I’ll list some below - and wondered how to describe them. 

I looked up a list of antonyms, of course, but - despite the list being excellent from a literacy point of view - a lot of those are either wishy washy nothings (a bit like calling people fools, which has next to no impact in the modern world - sort of “oh I wouldn't do that if I was you”) or had so many other meetings that they lacked specificity or impact. 

I could try using something like un-wisdom, but that also covers neutral behaviour and lacks impact. 

No, I suspect the term I am looking for is antiwisdom - a bit like antiracist is the term for the effective opposite to, or counter of, racism.

OK, so having adopted (developed?) that term, the examples. 

But firstly, I am reading an utterly brilliant book titled “The Dreaming Path: Indigenous Thinking to Change Your Life” by Paul Callaghan and Uncle Paul Gordon (Pantera Press, Neutral Bay, NSW, 2022, ISBN 978-0-6487952-7-8; Amazon, Readings, Apple). I struggle for words to describe the book, so perhaps I can say it combines the best of all the spiritual growth work I have done over the last century with the best of Indigenous spiritual/personal/social growth thinking and practices in a way that warmly affirms what I have long thought whilst also building on that in ways I didn’t realise were possible.

Anything that is anti, undermining of, or in conflict with that book fits into my new category of antiwisdom. 

Anything that is anti, undermining of, or in conflict with, the concept of antiracism - and all other version of antibigotry - constitutes antiwisdom.

The active evil that I wrote about here and in many other places is antiwisdom.

And the following from everyday life are ALL either antiwisdom or fail to take the opportunity to be wise: 

• trying to “push though” illness or any other message from your body saying “slow down”; 
• all views that we should be spending more than ~4 hours/day max meeting survival needs - “The Dreaming Path” suggests ~ 1-2 hours/day was adequate for the Indigenous people to meet survival needs, leaving plenty of time for self care, social care, and spiritual/personal growth care. Other sources I’ve read suggest 25 - 30 hours/week met gatherer-hunters’ survival needs, and there is probably some seasonal variation in this, but, given modern knowledge,. technology, and resources, really no-one should be spending more than 2 - 4 hours/day on survival needs - including housework;
  
• all views, actions, inactions and misconceptions promoting endurance/acceptance (such as toxic positivity and this) that support the patriarchy - specially when that is because those antiwise people are doing so because they are bored or do not know what to do with their time; 
• similarly to the previous point for neoliberal capitalism; 
• a recent advertisement I saw for a key DEI position which was using the “were touch and have egregious expectations” line of BS - an ad which clearly showed those who placed it were utterly clueless about what DEI requires ... and this ad was being placed because the company had been criticised for being abusive!!! (needless to say, I did NOT consider applying - there was nothing inspirational in the ad, only antiwisdom).

When I was in my 20s, another resident in the block of flats I was in had a mental health crisis after a relationship break up, and sometimes crept around the flats in the middle of the night calling out to other residents and even claiming to have a knife. The police were called a couple of times, and I wound up talking to them the last time they came out. I was asked my opinion, and said he had been struggling after a relationship breakup, and just needed a bit of guidance. They apparently did that - talked to him, and I was even thanked by the person concerned later, but he eventually continued to have problems as he wasn’t receiving the ongoing support he needed. 

A similar incident occurred at work with a young man who thought it was OK to email a video of a police car bing machine gunned as “people needed to know what things happened”. Well, at that time I had a friend who was a serving police officer so I already knew what could happen, and made a complaint to management which led to effective support and counselling. 

Good mentoring/counselling (in the informal sense) can make a difference, but that concept has also been abused by the antiwise (especially those who support white supremacism, the patriarchy, neoliberalism, or the antiwise forms of capitalism), which has, in the hands of those who struggle with nuance / ethics or are inclined towards “throwing the baby out with the bathwater” (possibly because they want to demonstrate what they mistakenly think is moral superiority), left a sour taste about such things. 

There is the potential for good - wise - examples and guidance, and, frankly, the use of questionable phrases such as “don’t do stupid stuff” (Obama’s team), or “no ****heads” in some sporting clubs, often gets the point across to those who need to understand it.

Wise actions can be taken, but that sometimes needs courage as well a commitment to UDHR-style ethics. 

In my case, I recently blocked a transphobe on Medium, and I am now feeling safe enough to post there (when I have the time and energy).

Businesses and the media (mainstream and social) need to avoid the antiwisdom trap of “bothsidesism”, and ensure the broader picture is fair, equitable and inclusive. Expressing hate or fear is NOT expressing an opinion. When someone does that, counter that antiwisdom by being wise and reining them in and countering the evil they have done - including contradicting the claims that it is free speech.

I had an example of that on social media when a troll said censorship - meaning the imposition of decency - was stopping people expressing their opinions. No, what was being complained about was stopping people indulging in hate speech. Trolls - such as the transphobic one I blocked on medium - are the ones who are stopping free speech. 

And people with influence / power or in positions of responsibility need to stop being moral cowards and accessories to antiwisdom by taking a moral, principled, wise stand. 

PS - a friend joked that the opposite of wisdom could maybe be wisdom teeth 😁

 

Assumptions / basis 

In writing this, I have assumed / started from the following: 

• decency matters, as does diversity, equity, and inclusion, and wisdom and mature, balanced  spirituality;

Possible flaws 

Where I can, I will try to highlight possible flaws / issues you should consider: 

• there may be flawed logical arguments in the above: to find out more about such flaws and thinking generally, I recommend Brendan  Myers’ free online course “Clear and Present Thinking”;  
• I could be wrong - so keep your thinking caps on, and make up your own minds for yourself.
  

 

If you appreciated this post, please consider promoting it - there are some links below.
I am on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/Gnwmythr.

Finally, remember: we need to be more human being rather than human doing.

Book rave: "Spirit Release", by Sue Allen - part two: the other tags

The other tags from my post here.

Post No. 149 - Updates: healing, world peace, vegan witches, crop circles and memory

This is just a short post so I can get a few updates, possibly interesting links and thoughts out into the blogosphere.

Firstly, healing - which I have written about a few times (see here, here and here).

One of the aspects of healing that I have occasionally wondered about is the apparent heat that comes out of my hands. Specifically, could that simply be a byproduct of something like more blood flow, as I have noticed veins standing out at times? Well, I recently have had to go to hospital a few times as part of managing my diabetes. Sitting in the waiting room with literally dozens of other people, some quite ill compared to me, some about the same, I felt the healing energy start to flow - and I decided to let it, although I considered trying to close down to protect my energy levels.

Anyway, when I got in to have a blood sample taken, the nurse commented on how warm my hands were - even saying "we'll have no problems getting blood from you".

But she did.

She had to try a few locations, and do a lot of squeezing to get a few tiny drops of blood out.

I'll take that as a reasonable answer to my question, with the answer being "no, the warmth is not necessarily due to extra blood flow".

(One of my sisters has been in hospital for some major surgery recently: I'm currently giving her healing every day, and her doctors have told her she is healing faster than expected. Could be due to other factors, of course, but I could also be contributing to that ... )

I've done a sketch on healing which I will use as part of future teaching, and have decided to give it a preliminary run, so ... here 'tis:

Next: world peace, which I have also written about - see here, here, here, here and here.

Wikipedia had an interesting article on "Nonviolent resistance" (see here), and I recently found an online edition of Tolstoy's "The Kingdom of God is Within You". This book apparently influenced Gandhi; I've only skimmed Chapter One so far, and can't say I've particularly found it appealing or inspiring, but then I come from a different era when these concepts are no longer as revolutionary as they were. I also must say that I think it is dangerous to say evil should not be resisted at all, and I don't think that was Gandhi's take on this matter: my impression was that Gandhi sought to actively oppose evil, but he was as firm that such resistance be nonviolent as he was that it should be resisted. Anyway, if I manage to wade through it all, I may post a few further thoughts ...

Don't hold your breath.

As an aside to this, I came across a debate on religion and violence which was started by a speech or article by a William Cavanaugh, Research Professor at the Center for World Catholicism and Intercultural Theology at DePaul University, Chicago (apparently the author of, most recently, The Myth of Religious Violence: Secular Ideology and the Roots of Modern Conflict (Oxford University Press, 2010)), on the ABC's Religion and Ethics dated 24th August, 2010:
"Christopher Hitchens and the Myth of Religious Violence".

The blurb on the website has this:
"When I recently gave a lecture entitled "Does Religion Cause Violence?" at a college, someone scrawled across a poster advertising the lecture a single word - "Duh!" The idea that religion has a peculiar tendency to promote violence has achieved the status of truism in Western so ... " More

The debates after the article itself are, to me, more interesting that the article itself. Have a read and a think ...

Now, third - speaking of having a think: wisdom.

ABC Radio National's Life Matters programme had a session where a University Vice Chancellor said he thought institutes of higher learning should be teaching wisdom, not just knowledge for jobs ...

The blurb on their website is:

Learning wisdom Universities are well known as institutes of learning. But perhaps it's best known for teaching things like history, molecular biology, economics, botany, engineering,and medicine. These days much of the knowledge imparted at universities is about making graduates job-ready. But Steven Schwartz, vice-chancellor of Macquarie University, says knowledge is not enough. Universities, he believes, ought to be in the wisdom business too. He'll be giving his annual lecture on just this topic tonight. Guests Steven Schwartz Vice-Chancellor, Macquarie University Further Information Wise Up: Restoring Wisdom to Universities, Vice Chancellor's annual lecture

Fourth: a blog which might be interesting: Vegan Hippie Witch

Now, fifthly, we come to a topic that I've had, at times, mixed feelings about: crop circles. There were a couple of blokes who claimed to have created all the crop circles. They may have, I agreed at the time, but is the occurrence of crop circles limited to what two people at night can create within the confines of working at night, etc? Well, the answer it would seem, is no - see here.

(If the link has disappeared when you look at it, go over to my website and email me for a copy of the article.)

I'm still not so certain about the interpretations that are placed on these ...

For my sixth comment, I'm now going to go back to the ABC's Radio National's - and my favourite programme there, Life Matters, and a topic that is of great importance to psychic work: perception. Being objective and, at times, dispassionate is actually crucial to developing advanced psychic abilities. Hence, I post links about perceptions from time to time. Well, this article was about something that is somewhat similar: memory ... (see also here)
From here:
Memory and witness discussions
New forensic psychology research from the University of Sydney indicates that crime witnesses tend to contaminate each other's memories by discussing the event. Study participants were convinced they were describing a scene from memory, when they were often describing a similar scene someone else had seen, and then told them about.

Seventh, one of my environmental passions: the need for a change of lifestyle, which is included in an article titled "Fiddling while the Earth burns", published in The Age on 27th August, 2010.
To view the entire article, click on: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/fiddling-while-the-earth-burns-20100826-13u4m.html

Eighth: a cautionary note about the travails of being a psychic detective. Now, apart from the limitations of accuracy and communication, and the fact that such work will only be useful if it leads to evidence which is admissible in a court of law (which it can and has done), there is the sceptical attitude of the police and media, which conceivably could potentially lead to suspicion of having committed the crime being laid against the psychic.

Doubt that? Have a read of the following ...

"Psychic searching for Kiesha discovers woman's torso", August 12, 2010 - 1:05PM
To view the entire article, click on: http://www.theage.com.au/nsw/psychic-searching-for-kiesha-discovers-womans-torso-20100812-120mf.html. Later articles described the psychic as an aboriginal elder. (There is another article about a psychic on this case here.)

Ninth: guides. This is also a topic I have posted on previously (for instance, see here, here and here), and now I've been working on a sketch to help illustrate some of the concepts (namely, that either your direct guides, or the indirect guides helping someone who is guiding you because you trust them, will have more spiritual experience than you, but will NOT necessarily be "wise".


Keep in mind, too, that any time you ask for guidance, you should specify that it is from constructive sources, and check to make sure it is not someone trying to dupe or mislead you, possibly to gain power over you (as some earthbound entities and other lifeforms may do).

Tenth: a cautionary article from Witch's Voice. I actually consider the author to have been a little naive, but it may well be that others have not come across such behaviour previously either. So ...
"Dealing with Antagonists in Pagan Groups (Part One)", by Iris Firemoon http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usva&c=words&id=13986

I'll have to see what the next part is like.

And finally, a lighter comment: a name for a band, if any happen to be looking and read here (not likely!), from a sign with an obscured "s": Tone Masons ...

Love, light, hugs and blessings

Gnwmythr

This post's photo is from the Queenscliff to Sorrento ferry between the heads of Port Phillip.

Tags: energy work, healing, education, learning styles, wisdom, crop circles, vegan, perceptions, memory,

First published: Tuesday 31st August, 2010

Last edited: Tuesday 31st August, 2010