In the News (from Physorg): “Scientists Model Words as Entangled Quantum States in our Minds” Research has shown that words are stored in our memories not as isolated entities but as part of a network of related words. Researchers have modeled the human mental lexicon as consisting of words that cannot be separated from other words, which may explain why words have many associations, a feature which helps us communicate.

In trying to understand these connections, scientists visualize a map of links among words called the mental lexicon that shows how words in a vocabulary are interconnected through other words. The quantum-based model doesn’t assume that words are separate entities.

A question I received on this news story: But at the same time scientists talk about “memory shelves,” where separate bits of information are stored. So which theory is correct?

My Answer: Any particular part of the universe is similar to the entire universe and is a mini mirror-image of it. The only thing in creation is the World of Infinity, and it is divided into parts that perceive it. These parts are identical to their collective whole, just like in a holographic picture.

Although it’s easier for us to speak in terms of memory cells, whenever we speak about anything, we’re always talking about a mini-model of the only creation – the World of Infinity. The only thing that differentiates the mini-model is its infinitude: it is a finite, fixed desire to love and bestow. This is how the degrees of descent were formed, starting from the World of Infinity and ending down in our world.

In our world, the descent continues. However, it no longer happens in likeness to the quality of love and bestowal, but in different degrees of the desire, “to receive for one’s own sake.”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: New Scientific Discovery: The Universe Is a Giant Hologram
Laitman.com Post: Preface to the Science of Kabbalah. Items 6 – 9
Wondrous Wisdom: “Eight Beginning Lessons in Kabbalah – Lesson 5”
Baal HaSulam Article: “Introduction to the Book of Zohar”, Item 2

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In the News (from The New York Times): The publishing industry struggles with declining sales amid a generally difficult economy.

My Comment: Baal HaSulam writes the following in his article, “Time to Act”:

Prior to the development of the printing industry, there were no false books as there were no irresponsible writers, for the simple reason that an irresponsible person could not be famous. And even if one dared to write such a book, no scribe would copy it, since there was no one to fund the scribe’s expensive labor.

However, ever since book printing became popular, books became cheaper and irresponsible storytellers were able to publish whatever books they please, for money or for glory.

Let’s hope the crisis will cleanse the book market of junk literature.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Why Are There So Many Unneeded Books?

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In the News (from The Washington Post): “Out of Gaps In Treaties, First Salvos Of Trade War” Leaders worldwide face intense pressure at home in the deepening financial crisis. In the United States, a move to greatly expand Buy American provisions as part of the $819 billion fiscal stimulus package has generated shock waves in other countries. [The Buy American provision can result in] potentially dramatic series of countermeasures by America’s trading partners if it is passed and signed by President Obama.

My Comment: If countries take the route of limitation and separation, they will harm themselves and everyone else, which means they’ll harm themselves either way. The only chance they have of developing positively (instead of through suffering and war) is by taking all people, economies, and countries into consideration.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Countries Are Starting a Global Trade War

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In the News (from The Times Online): Sex discrimination is destined to continue in the scorching fires of Hell, according to a study approved by the Vatican.

The men, it seems, are the ones whose souls end up being pelted with fire and brimstone, while the women’s souls are more likely to be broken on a wheel… Men are likely to have indulged in lust and gluttony [whereas] women are primarily occupied with pride, envy and anger.

My Comment: Now I’m really scared: I’ve been touched by a breath of everlasting darkness, cold and stale like a cellar, and I was overcome by fear… But then I thought: “Monsignor, I beg your pardon, but doesn’t anyone go to heaven?”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Heaven Is the Feeling of Delight from Being Similar to the Creator
Laitman.com Post: On Life, Death and Free Choice

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Two questions I received on “neighbors”:

Question: Can we begin to think of all of humanity as our “neighbors” instead of just the Bnei Baruch group? Maybe then our thoughts will make the world change?

My Answer: What you wrote is true: Everyone in the whole world is our “neighbor.” However, right now my “neighbors” are the people I can draw closer to mutually, through our common aspiration for the common goal. In other words, these are my friends in the Kabbalistic group. But gradually, this will come to include the whole world, to the extent that this desire will be revealed in everyone.

Question: What does it mean to pray for my neighbor if I’m the one who is uncorrected?

My Answer: By praying for your neighbor, you develop your connection with him. And to the degree that your prayer is sincere, you will uncover your own egoism. As a result, your prayer will turn into a plea for personal change. This is why in Hebrew the word for “prayer,” Lehitpalel, means “to judge yourself.”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Hope for Peace
Laitman.com Post: To Pray Means to Judge Yourself
Lesson: “Unconditional Love”
Shamati #103: “Whose Heart Makes Him Willing”
Baal HaSulam Article: “Peace in the World”

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