Hello, and good day. I was born with what you would call Extrasensory Perception (ESP). However, since there is nothing extra about it, as it is all I have ever known, I have come to call myself an Empath. That is to say that I am Empathic by both race and religion. I have a cognitive awareness of the emotional state of all the people with whom I come into contact. Empathy is a higher level of awareness and a higher level of reasoning. It is the next step in human evolution, and I am the natural selection.
Throughout the course of human existence, we have had to rely on our instincts in order to survive. Over the course of time, along with the changes in our society, the needs of the individual human, as well as the whole body of humanity, have changed. For instance, our need to hunt for food has diminished to an act done for sport, while the instinct to use extreme violence to protect our young has changed to a need to use a more sophisticated method. Yet, violence has also become a sport, in many ways. It is not as though our will to survive has diminished, nor that our capacity to rely on such basic instincts has abated, but that humanity has in fact evolved drastically over the course of the passed seven to ten thousand years.
What was once a need to kill in order to prevent from being killed has transformed into an insecurity that the world may be against us. The emotional responses we choose, in order to face adversity are dependant upon our emotional state, which is in turn caused by our experiences that we face in life.
One who encounters a great deal of violence in his or her life may become violent in nature, or perhaps instead form a low self esteem and an inability to face the world with confidence. If the latter is true, it may be a cause based entirely in choice, yet with the unredeemable notion that the world is not what it once was. If the world meets said person, who becomes violent as a result of facing a great deal of violence, with recourse and a level of fear and prejudice, then that person may find themselves unable to cope with the “new found” realities of life. Eventually, he or she may sink into a metaphorical abyss of sadness and a feeling of inadequacy. As a result the downward spiral spins faster, gaining speed with each moment, until eventually all hope is lost and the person decides that there is no longer any point in trying to maintain his or her humanity. This is as a result of reaching a conclusion that either he or she is not human, or that humanity is not what it should be, sometimes both.
If a man were to wander the town hunting for small animals to eat, in this day and age, in a city or a rural neighborhood, the majority of the residence would not only believe this man to have a mental deficiency, but to also be a danger to the community. Several hundred years ago, such actions were not only legitimate, but also expected, since there were no grocery stores at the time.
Given that humanity has changed the world to accommodate its needs, and in order to progress from that which we once were, it is not so hard to imagine that we may have quite a road ahead of us in the way of becoming even more.
A topic as seemingly unimportant as baseball is a great way to exhibit our changes. This particular game started out as a few guys hitting a ball in a field and running the basses, yet has developed into a multi-billion dollar enterprise that continues to change and improve. No longer is it enough to have a mere interest in the game, in order to play in the professional leagues, but one must now dedicate his or her life to the sport in order to compete with the professionals of today.
This particular sport, like many others, has become a symbol for American freedom and an inspiration to children. It now has enough of an impact on the world that is can only be described as a magnificent addition to the world of humanity. Many other aspects of human activities also fit into that same category. Each and every one of the industries in the world develop or evolve over time, and with the actions of more people adding to them. New tools are invented, old tools improved upon and methods changed to accommodate for aspects of each that could use improvement. It is not such that such improvement is required; at least not always, but enough that it is possible that it is done.
We, as individuals, have a predisposition to try to improve on something in humanity, so long as it has enough of our interest to allow us to focus upon it for the time it takes to acquire enough knowledge of the way it has been done in the past, but also to create hypothetical theories as to how to make it better, regardless of what “it” is.
Humanity has a habit of forcing change while fearing the onset of such. We tend to find ourselves feeling uneasy as to whether or not the impending change is going to be truly beneficial to us as individuals, as well as, as a whole. At the same time we often find ourselves fearing oncoming change simply because there is nothing we can do to stop it. We can look back on history and find many times in which people took to an action that cost us all a level of respect with regards to the entirety of the race of humans. At the same time, we can occasionally look back to a video of ourselves from several years ago, and feel a level of embarrassment as to how we looked and behaved.
Given that the study of human behavior is known as psychology, and that it transcends into “how the mind works”; we can look back at how those in the past behaved and reason out how they must have thought. Yet, how much time must pass before we can define one’s behavior, or the behavior of many, as a system of how he, she or they must have thought?
Throughout my life I have had a single question posing in my mind whenever I interact with people. I ask myself how this person feels right now, and why. I then use this person’s behavior, and the stimuli acquired by all five senses to reach a likely conclusion as to the answer to my question. Many factors play a role in determining the answer to the inquiry. Such things as eye movement, body language, and speech allow me to gather information as to the emotional state of the person in question. However, it does not end there. I have found that I can also pick up on the smell of pheromones released into the air by a person feeling an extensive level of a particular emotion. Also, skin tone changes according to the mood of a person. Hairs stand up, when fear is predominate, eyes widen when interest is peaked. Even one’s disposition in life affects the answer to the question I cannot help but to ask.
All people fit into groups, yet no two people seem to fit into all of the same groups, and only those groups. Using the notion of a Venn diagram, I place people into stereotypical groups based on observations I make about them. I then find the center, or intersection of the circles created by the Venn diagram to establish one’s individuality.
For instance, it is not hard to fathom that all African Americans feel the pressures of racism even if they are not currently in a situation in which it occurs. Nonetheless, it is safe to say that nearly every African American can understand the notion of being a black man or woman in a world controlled by white people. Just the same, homosexuals have a similar disposition where they in fact must face similar prejudice from people, yet for a different reason. In this example, African Americans, as well as homosexuals, have an understanding of what it means to be a person of difference amongst a group of people with more similarities. However, the notion of the larger group having more similarities is not accurate; simply that one difference is enough to cause anyone to feel as if they are out on a limb by themselves.
Even though one cannot claim justly or accurately that African Americans and homosexuals are identical, one can say that they have a similar disposition on life. Furthermore, any person having but one obvious difference when with a group of people not possessing or exhibiting said difference can certainly fit into the largest group of people who face a level of bias or prejudice which is usually based in fear. It is simply that many of the occupants may not understand said difference that causes the one, or the few, to feel as if everyone sees them as being different. As such, the fear starts with the one or the few, and extends then into the larger group.
By this I mean that being a person of difference causes one to expect to be treated differently, thus causing a fear or anticipation of a likely form of treatment by the larger group. Henceforth, this person or smaller group of people becomes anxious, which in turn causes the larger group to question the behavior of the smaller group. In essence, the larger group begins to fear the smaller group, because the smaller group fears the larger.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt once said that there is nothing to fear but fear itself. However, I believe that he was not speaking of our own inner fear, but that when others fear us that is when we must truly be afraid, as we cannot trust those who fear us. Yet, that idea works both ways, because it is not until we ourselves stop fearing the world that the world will stop fearing us.
Under this principle idea, one cannot begin to fathom accurately, the emotions of others unless or until he or she has found the means by which to control his or her own emotions. Focus is the primary determining factor as to the successfulness of any act. As such, to focus on one’s own emotions is to lose sight of the reality of the thoughts and emotions of others. Thus, we tend to jump to uneducated conclusions as to the emotional and or logically state of others based merely, or at least mostly upon what we fear others may think, rather than what the behavior of others suggests.
Gaining control of one’s own emotions is not an easy task, yet is most likely to be done at the height of Jean Piaget’s description of formal thought processing; the ability to think in the hypothetical. Once we have reached a level of psychological development such that we see the world for what it truly is, we can then make more valid assertions as to the likely meaning of the behavior of others.
For instance, many people make an assumption when they are yelled at profusely by another, specifically a loved one. Many people simply assume that it means that the person yelling feels hatred toward the one being yelled at; when in fact it does not. To be yelled at by someone simply means that he or she disagrees with your opinion, action or perhaps is afraid that a matter of a personal nature is to be revealed. If in fact one hates another, the one tends to neglect the other, casting he or she out of his or her life permanently, and tends to be done only when either the one is proven wrong, or the other is proven unable to be changed.
Many human beings have a tendency to move away from emotions that cause a feeling of weakness. If someone makes a statement that causes emotional pain, or fear, people tend to trade it for anger in the hopes of trading a feeling of weakness for one of strength. We tend to do so in order to protect our dignity, because we concern ourselves so much with the manner in which we are received by others.
This being said, one has the choice to respond any way he or she wishes, about anything. It is a matter of choice to respond with anger, or rage, to a comment made insultingly, or an action taken against us. We all have within us, the power to control our emotions. In fact, there are but three choices each and every one of us has with regards to emotion. We can either try to suppress the emotion, or emotions; we can let them overwhelm us, or we can simply allow them to flow through us freely; thus controlling them. Emotion operates much like a wave, and we can control the tide. We can do so, only after we achieve acceptance of the experiences of our pasts and moving into an adult phase, after our adolescent hormonal floods have abated.
This is the theory of the Empathic ability; to make these determinations about the people with whom we come into contact, nearly on the fly. As a result, one could choose to live his or her life by a simple notion that his or her emotions are not nearly as important to himself, or herself, as that of the emotional states of those around us at any given moment. In making such a conscious decision, said subject is then able to acquire information about his or her surroundings and, most specifically, cognitively maintained information about the individuals with whom the subject interacts. Interaction that occurs on a daily basis and/or over an extensive period of time allows for information about said persons to acquire more vastly; allowing for more accuracy.
Information specific to the mental states persons interacted with is hypothesized to record into a reflective neuron. One neuron is thought to be designated for each specific individual, and neurons containing similar information are theorized to interact with each other during a reasoning period experienced by the subject. During this reasoning period, subject utilizes all information acquired, reviewing material as needed. This is an involuntary action of the mind, done as a predetermination, and lasts until reasoning has established a likely solution to a dilemma which has preoccupied the subjects mind.
The preoccupation of a dilemma occurs when the behaviors of a group of individuals or a single individual interacted with, by the subject, or exhibit a thought pattern suggesting a course of action being taken against another.
The choice to intervene with such behavioral patterns, whether propagated against the subject or another person or persons, is made through determination, by the subject, of the subject’s emotional connection to said individual. Where the adverse behavior is against the subject his or herself, the likelihood of intervention is much greater. If subject chooses not to intervene in a succumbed to behavioral pattern posed against he or she, the act is expected to be carried out and the subject lead to suffering of some type. In many cases, multiple parties are affected by the actions of others, whether adverse or advantageous. Given that each person has the choice as to what actions to take either for or against another; it becomes the decision itself that determines the path taken. Thus, responsibility is placed upon the enactor of the adverse or advantageous act, or series of actions, for said acts, as is the responsibility of the choice of whether to intervene, and how to do so, is placed upon the subject, or subjects.
Importance must be seen on the level of emotion expressed in intervention. If the intention to intervene, or the intervening act or acts, become apparent to the intender of the adverse act, it is likely the intender will attempt to adjust his or her actions to accommodate. Thus, it is imperative that the level of emotion expressed remains within the parameters of acceptable sociological behavior.
Under the Empathic Religion, it is believed that The Big Bang Theory is accurate; and coincides with the book of Genesis. The very first words of God, by the book that begins the Islamic, Jewish, and Christian religions, were “Let there be light”. In those same texts God is referred to as being “The Light”. As such, it is believed that the very first words of God were a translation of “Let me exist”, thus self conceiving himself. The answer then to the age old question “What came first, the chicken or the egg, is that there is no chicken, per se. It is believed that the egg is the creator and the creation and all things including we humans and our surrounding are within said egg.
Under the principles of Empathy, God being both righteous and infallible can commit no action that is wrong and is righteous by any act he, she or it commits. As such, it is believed that the purpose of human existence is to measure the difference between right and wrong as it is the one thing God cannot do. In having humanity do so, the Alpha and Omega, God, attains perfection that he, she or, it would not be able to attain without the existence of humans.
The empathic belief states that the Lord, God Almighty is an inventor of sorts. In this metaphor, God created himself, the creation, swinging at the first pitch, so to speak, and hitting a home run. Like any good inventor, God continuously attempts to break his, her, or its machine, in order to test its effectiveness. Thus, the notion is that God operates on both sides of the moral line to the nth degree. In doing so, God extends the notions of good, and evil, across a line which extends into infinity.
Given that we all have free will, and that God operates in the infinites of both good and evil, it can then be said the it is a matter of personal decision as to which side of said line each of us operate on, and to what degree. So, we have but two choices in life, follow the light, or fall into the darkness; and to what degree we follow said chosen course.
Democracy is believed to be the way of the light. However, Democracy forced upon a people is no more beneficial to the light or the people than monarchy or despotism. A live and let life philosophy is then accepted as a means by which to accommodate to the diversity in the world. That each of us have a different path to chose, and that we each choose to what degree we follow said path, as well as the means by which we do so, is a determination for us to make as individuals. Each person’s relationship with God is personal, and met on an individual basis. Yet, no act prohibited by the Ten Commandments can be considered a justifiable action to take in the name of God.
It is believed by the Empathic faith that Jesus Christ was a man who had a message for all, not merely Christians, since he himself was not a Christian. His words were clear, “With my Death, all are forgiven”. Such words were not meant solely for the benefit of Christians, but for all people forever. If it is a sin, it is forgiven, regardless of what sin it is. Sin is said to be forgiven in death yet not in life. That is to say that we pay for our sins in life and are forgiven for them upon death. We create our own prison and serve the sentence we set for ourselves, even on a subconscious level.
Under the Empathic faith, it is believed that creation and evolution are each and both a part of the human equation as well as the equation of God itself. It is believed that since all constructs begin with a foundation, and that all life emerges from a seed of some type or another, that God himself, planted a seed all those millions and billions of years ago and it has been evolving, developing and becoming more as time progresses.
Finally, Extrasensory Perception (ESP) is not believed to be perception beyond the five senses, but a higher level of sensory input acquired by the five senses, as well as a higher level to perceive the stimuli taken in. The defining factor, however, is choice.
