Medium published my new article “Clean Up Earth of Our Polluted Human Nature”

The United Nations recently celebrated the International Mother Earth Day as a reminder to protect the environment. Heat waves, droughts, fires and heavy rains that cause severe flooding have become more frequent in many parts of the world due to climate change, which affects the entire worldwide population.

The Earth is facing a “triple planetary crisis,” warn UN officials. Climate disruption, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste are the main areas of concern regarding the current state of the environment. This year, the Earth Day’s theme is “Invest In Our Planet,” so what would humanity’s best investment for the planet be?

We need to start by cleaning up the planet. There is no place on Earth where the air and water are clean, and that’s a real problem. In theory, tackling this issue should be our priority when it comes to taking action to improve the dismal state of our planet. But let’s not fool ourselves. Such a plan alone will solve nothing.

It will only help the international organizations to justify their own existence. They tick off “done” to raise as much money as they want, and that’s it. If we do not improve relations between us, we will not be able to achieve the great and ambitious improvement in nature that we want and need to attain globally. We will never achieve a good result through bureaucratic, mechanical measures.

There are a lot of people sitting in their comfortable offices profiting from the environmental crisis and demanding money and respect. They keep flying from one end of the world to the other on all kinds of missions to make a lot of noise with what they are “doing” and which everyone “needs to hear” as if that alone means something is happening, but in practice we see no real progress. The Earth must also be cleansed of them, of these people who engage in useless campaigns that only cause harm because they mislead the world, leading it away from the real solution.

The cleaning of the planet should start inside out. If we do not clean the planet from within, and continue with our reckless behavior and the selfish nature of our hearts as before, nothing will change for the better. The immense sums invested in environmental initiatives should be directed to spreading an educational process aimed at improving the way we relate to each other.

Humans are the most developed and influential factors of all of nature’s levels: still, vegetative, animate and human. Since we occupy the highest level in nature, positively affecting the environment, the climate, and nature in general can be achieved by reaching positive relations among us. On the contrary, by letting our divisive drives tear apart human relations, we also destroy our surrounding environment, the very nature that our lives depend on.

The more we humans are able to correct ourselves by changing our divisive attitudes toward each other into positive attitudes of mutual support, encouragement, mutual responsibility, and reciprocal concern, the more we will receive positive feedback from nature. And the more we develop without making this necessary correction, the more negative feedback we will receive from nature, as we have experienced in the form of natural disasters, pandemics.

It is of utmost importance for us to organize our thoughts, desires and qualities so that we understand that saving the environment and a shift to a better future depend solely on changing our attitudes to each other: from antagonistic egoism to positive, compassionate and cooperative relationships.
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Question: Who is more egoistic: the nations of the world or the people of Israel?

Answer: Today it is the people of Israel because it is revealed in them first of all, and at the end in the nations of the world.

Egoism is revealed to the extent that it is possible to correct it. The strongest egoism is found in the nations of the world.

Question: So is egoism more in the female part than in the male?

Answer: Naturally. We see that men are dreamers, they need a game, football, travel. A woman needs something stable: a house, children, and taking care of them. A man, even if he does this, it is only for the sake of playing, competing. He is in the air like a child.

A woman is more down to earth, and therefore development, birth, and progress are impossible without her. Although the power of progress is brought by a man, it is carried out precisely by the female part.
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From KabTV’s “Close-up. Reincarnation” 5/3/10

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Medium published my new article “Decoding the Human Genome — the More We Know, the Less We Understand”

In recent weeks, newspapers and scientific magazines hailed the completion of the mapping of the human genome. Smithsonian Magazine exclaimed, “Scientists have deciphered the missing eight percent of our genetic blueprint, setting the stage for new discoveries in human evolution and disease.” Time Magazine festively quoted Evan Eichler, one of the leaders of the mapping project, “The excitement in the genomic and medical community is palpable. ‘Hallelujah, we finally finished one human genome, but the best is yet to come,’ Eichler said during a briefing. ‘No one should see this as the end, but the beginning of a transformation not only in genomic research but in clinical medicine as well.’”

It is great that we have “Sequenced a ‘Gapless’ Human Genome,” as Smithsonian Magazine described it, but reality shows that the more we know, the less we understand. Decoding the human genome might help solve some problems, but it will not make our lives easier or happier. Since we have no understanding of our surroundings, we don’t understand the context by which our genes evolved and how they operate in relation to the environment. Therefore, all the formulas and knowledge will be swallowed in the abyss of our incomprehension of reality, and we will deepen and worsen our problems through our own doing.

Every single gene that is encoded into us is there for a reason. If we alter or manipulate it, we will alter everything connected to it. Nature does not create malfunctions on purpose. It only mends. Therefore, when we try to “mend” nature, we invariably spoil what was not broken except we could not see it because of our blindness.

Our sages in the Babylonian Talmud (Shabbat 156a) wrote that if a person is born with the nature of a killer, he may become a murderer or a thief, or a butcher or one who performs circumcision. In other words, we should not try to change people’s basic characteristics, but only use them where they help all of society.

Instead of trying to modify people’s genes, we should teach them how to use their innate nature for the benefit of society rather than to harm it. To do that, we should create a social atmosphere where those who contribute to it are the most respected, venerated, and admired people.

Currently, the “leaders” of society are narcissists who appreciate nothing but themselves and aspire to be as “unique” as possible, or those who exploit society to gain wealth, power, and clout. When these are the people that everyone admires, society cannot but disintegrate. The self-centered values that everyone tries to follow divide society and break it into smaller and smaller pieces. Finally, everyone will be left to fend for themselves. They will feel that they have no one close to them, and anyone is a potential enemy. In such a state, the only escapes from misery will be drugs and suicide.

Leaders will not change themselves. They are leaders only because we ourselves are like them, so we venerate people who excel in how we would like to be. Therefore, we should not wait for the idols of society to change. Instead, we should change who we are, and as we change ourselves, the personas that we idolize will change, as well, and new values will take center stage.

Once we change the values of society, we will discover that there is nothing inherently wrong with any of us. Our only flaw was how we used what was instilled in us by nature. In other words, the intention behind our actions was the culprit, not our DNA.

Because our current intentions are only for self-aggrandizement, everything that we discover and develop is harmful to society. And because we live in the society we harm, the very society that nourishes and sustains us, everything we develop and discover ends up harming us.

We need not change what we are, but who we are. Our problem is not what we do, but why we do it. If we work in order to benefit the society we live in, we will benefit ourselves.

It takes a joint effort to transition from our narcissistic mindset, but the global situation is already so poor that I think we have no choice, and no time to waste.
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Throughout our lives we develop thanks to egoism, which pushes us from generation to generation. Every time I want something new: this, that, and other things. Look at children, they are on the move all the time. This is how our egoism develops: grab this, learn that, try this.

Although we clash with each other, fight, kill, and steal, we are controlled by our nature, and therefore, no matter what, we are moving forward. This is how humanity has come to this day.

If suddenly we say: “Let us develop not with a natural egoistic force, but with an altruistic one, opposite to it,” where can we get the desire, strength, and energy for the realization of altruism?

For the realization of egoism, I have the energy, I want to receive. But to give, where will I find such a desire in myself? Can I think of others? Of course not.

I can only think about the other to the extent that I understand my dependence on him. As a result, I think only about myself and can do good for others if I clearly know that it will be good for me.

Human nature is the most common everyday egoism at any level. Look at how atoms, molecules, the valence of elements, and everything else connects, how larger substances combine into an organism and how it works.

Even altruism inside the body in which each part thinks about the other is necessary for the whole system to work; otherwise, no organ will live. Thus, there is altruism in our world also, but it is animalistic altruism.
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From KabTV’s “Close-Up. Gene of altruism” 9/19/10

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Comment: Scientists have established that there is no gene of altruism as we understand it in nature. It exists only in the form of collectivism, when I as an egoist perform actions aimed at the benefit of the whole organism because I understand that I cannot exist without it.

This is well known from the example of ants, which when infected with a deadly virus leave the anthill so that they would not infect others.

My Response: Ants have altruism developed at the genetic level and they carry out orders without having freewill. We do not have this gene by nature. Therefore, we cannot compare ourselves with ants. If I were programmed like them, I would also think about my neighbor.

However, this would not be altruism but the same egoism that makes you think about others. Is a mother who thinks about her child an altruist? No, this is her child, and she feels him as the most precious part of herself.
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From KabTV’s “Close-Up, Gene of Altruism” 9/19/10

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Medium published my new article “Are We Blind to Our Own Nature?”

Every so often, I am amazed at the willingness of people to blindly follow leaders in the name of some ideology or religion, and believe that it will solve all the world’s problems. I am amazed not because people can become fanatics, but because they somehow still don’t understand that “The inclination of a man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Gen. 8:21). Somehow, despite eons of bad experiences deriving exclusively from our evil nature, we fail to see that there is simply nothing good in us, that “great is the wickedness of man in the earth, and all the inclination of the thoughts of his heart are only evil all day long” (Gen. 6:5).

Even when we give, we do it because of some ulterior self-serving motive. Baal HaSulam, the greatest kabbalist and thinker of the previous century, and one of the greatest of all time, articulated the nastiness of our nature in the early 1930 in his essay “Peace in the World”: “In simple words,” he wrote, “we will say that the nature of each and every person is to exploit the lives of all ‎other people in the world for his own benefit, and all that he gives to another is only out of ‎necessity.” “Even then,” he stressed, “there is exploitation of others in it, but it is done cunningly, so his neighbor ‎will not notice it and concede willingly.”

I do not expect leaders to acknowledge that this is who we are. Leaders are fixated on gaining power and control, so they will support any agenda that increases their popularity. But what about us, the people who follow them? Have we not learned yet that every ideology and every religion, even if it begins with the best intentions, ends up being self-serving, patronizing, and therefore wrong?

It is vital that we recognize the truth about human nature because only if we acknowledge it will we genuinely seek to change it. Until then, we will continue to cling to false ideas and dogmas, and we will continue to patronize, admonish, and torture one another through our ignorance. Perhaps this is why Rudyard Kipling wrote, “There is no sin so great as ignorance. Remember this.” Indeed, we seem to be oblivious to it.

If we resolve to change our nature, we will discover that there is indeed an alternative. The reason we perceive every being in our world as selfish and uncaring toward others is that we ourselves are like that. However, this is not at all the truth. If it were, this world would not persist; it would disintegrate before any complex being could come into being.

The truth is that the law that governs our world is not the “winner take all,” but the “law of balance,” of homeostasis. Every scientist and physician knows that were it not for homeostasis, or dynamic equilibrium, nothing would evolve. Yet, unless we recognize that our current perception is flawed, we will not be able to open our eyes and see the truth.

Once we realize that we are the only selfish beings on the planet, we will begin to change. Gradually, we will become aware of our mutual dependence and learn to act accordingly. What comes naturally to animals, we will gain through our efforts. Yet, our reward will be a deeper understanding and perception of the world than any being can have.

Only once we achieve this new perception will we realize that we were created selfish precisely so as to perceive how the world really operates. Had we been made this way from the beginning, we would have followed our instincts and would not have known that there is more than one option for existence. Our ego is our foe, but it is also our impetus for positive transformation. The sooner we use it for that purpose, the sooner we will gain that new perception and discover the truth about our world — that everything is balanced, harmonious, and filled with love.
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Comment: George Orwell’s well-known novel 1984 talks about the utopian the idea of communism in Russia. The Communists did not understand that it was impossible to change human nature and dominate people’s thoughts.

My Response: I must say that Karl Marx wrote his works in accordance with Kabbalistic principles, but he was misunderstood.

First we need to reach such a state where we extract altruistic energy from nature, and then we can rebuild ourselves. It will be profitable for us, it will be good for us.

Today we are in a state where the whole world is beginning to discover a universal crisis in everything that a person does, that is, a crisis of egoism. The ego has exhausted itself. I have nothing to chase anymore, I do not want anything. I want to forget myself and not think about anything. That is it! This is the most peaceful state because humanity begins to feel emptiness. Depression ranks first in the world in its occurrence.

So what happens? We have reached a state where egoism is killing itself, and we still need to understand where we are going. Families are breaking up. Terror is flourishing. We see a tangle of contradictions. Humanity is approaching some kind of a barrier. Therefore, an absolute, full awareness of the evil of our egoism is necessary.
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From KabTV’s “Close up. Gene of Altruism” 9/19/10

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Question: The Theater of the Absurd or absurdist drama originated as a concept in the twentieth century. In absurdist plays, the world is presented as something existing without meaning or logic and our actions or spoken words lead to nothing.

Is there is a lot of overlap between absurdist theater and our life?

Answer: Most likely, that is why the idea to portray what is happening in our world on stage was born. The theater somehow reflects our thoughts about the world, our aspirations, disappointments, and hopes.

The twentieth century is characterized by this. In the middle of the twentieth century, humanity began to feel it was entering some kind of meaningless period of existence. The Club of Rome appeared, then the Club of Budapest, and so on.

Scientists, social scientists, and political scientists have begun to realize that the world is losing its rosy perspective people once had. They always tried to imagine a happier, better, easier future.

If they were not interested in spiritual fulfillment, at least they were interested in material ones. People had some artistic and cultural interests. They tried or hoped to change the social order, to safeguard their future and old age.

In other words, they had some needs from this life, from this world. They believed that someday they would be fulfilled and, most importantly, they would be happy as a result.

While egoism was constantly growing, they were constantly trying to fulfill it. So, they ran like a dog after its tail. But now, the rosy prospects are gone. The tail has disappeared from the dog’s field of vision, it no longer knows where to run, it is in confusion—this is our humanity, this is our current state.
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From KabTV’s “Close -Up. Theater of the Absurd”

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Comment: Eldar writes: “Dear Michael Laitman, show us all how to kill egoism.”

My Response: To do this, you need to turn to the Creator and beg Him many times, for a long time, insistently and, most importantly, together with others, with your friends. Moreover, this request should be continuous, constant, and increasing all the time. Then you will achieve it.

Question: When a person has a question about wanting to kill his egoism, is this already an advancement?

Answer: Of course! This is already a great achievement! And this is the great help of the Creator from above, when a person begins to understand what he needs.

Question: Is it possible to kill egoism?

Answer: No, absolutely not. You can only correct it, complete it, and use it correctly. You cannot rid the world of the engine that really moves the world, rotates, turns, and awakens it all the time, and brings everything into motion.

That is, the negative force is the one that drives. The positive force cannot manifest itself as much as the negative one. It manifests itself only when it is required, that is, it is more passive.

Egoism is a feeling of lack. I do not have enough! I am suffocating! I need fulfillment more and more! This is why it is so full of energy.

Therefore, the Creator is proud of Himself: “I created egoism!” Look how this great force works, how every second it is in everything and all the time. There would be no life without egoism. It is because a positive force is just a positive force, and nothing more.

Question: But still, how can I take this negative force, which dictates to me that “I must be filled,” “I am not filled,” “I need to be filled more,” and turn it over and make it a positive one?

Answer: You need to ask a positive force to show you that in fact everything in the world is yours. Everything around me is me. I need to collect all these scattered, torn, broken parts, put them together in a way when they mutually complement each other. This is all mine, my treasure. This is me. I want to bring this all to a perfect state.

Question: What state do you call perfect?

Answer: When all the parts will be mutually connected and will complement each other and be filled with an absolute state of love.

Question: Is this what is called “everything is mine”?

Answer: Yes. It is “mine” because I have to bring them to this state.

Question: So, is this my responsibility?

Answer: Yes. This is my state, I have to bring it. These are my parts, and I have to put them all together. I have to make sure that they all are connected and filled. That is, I am a worker of the Creator.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 3/7/22

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Question: Psychologists say that people who are endowed with power have pronounced tyranny, stubbornness, and mental imbalance. Scientists have found that power changes the structure of the individual and even his brain. Do you agree with this?

Answer: Absolutely agree. The fact is that we are all arranged in such a way that we are between two forces of nature (reception and bestowal, pressure and release), which must constantly be in balance.

All nature consists of two opposite forces, and in whatever way they are revealed, they must be balanced. Only in this state can we achieve correct results. We need both forces. There is no darkness without light and no light without darkness.

We must choose the golden mean in everything. If a person loses the opportunity to hold on to it and he is given permissiveness: do what you want without a limit, then we will disfigure him. He will not grow up to be what he needs to be. He must necessarily be within a framework and feel that he is given the opportunity to act in a narrow range, in the balance of two forces.

An animal has no problems in this regard. It understands what it needs and does not overeat, overdrink, or oversleep. It does whatever its body requires. The organism in the animalistic state always requires the most normal and rational things.

This is not how it is in a person. The problem is that a person is always ruled by his egoism.

Question: How does this fit with what Baal HaSulam writes: It is necessary to give freedom to the individual?

Answer: The freedom of the individual lies precisely in the fact that we do not force him, but teach him. To the extent of this learning, he gains freedom, knows how to restrict himself correctly, how to limit himself, and how make a man out of himself.

That is, freedom is a conscious restriction of one’s egoism, when a person understands how he should educate himself, meaning to be “above himself” and from “above himself” to control his animalistic nature.
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 3/22/22

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