Synthisophy
Skinwalkers - Chapter 18
The following are direct quotes from the book Tribe, On Homecoming and Belonging, by Sebastian Junger, May 2016, except for statements in italic added.
The ultimate act of disaffiliation isn’t littering or fraud, of course, but violence against your own people. When the Navajo Nation—the Diné, in their language—were rounded up and confined to a reservation in the 1860s, a terrifying phenomenon became more prominent in their culture. The warrior skills that had protected the Diné for thousands of years were no longer relevant in this dismal new era, and people worried that those same skills would now be turned inward, against society. That strengthened their belief in what were known as skinwalkers, or yee naaldlooshii.
Skinwalkers were almost always male and wore the pelt of a sacred animal so that they could subvert that animal’s powers to kill people in the community. They could travel impossibly fast across the desert and their eyes glowed like coals and they could supposedly paralyze you with a single look. They were thought to attack remote homesteads at night and kill people and sometimes eat their bodies. People were still scared of skinwalkers when I lived on the Navajo Reservation in 1983, and frankly, by the time I left, I was too.
Virtually every culture in the world has its version of the skinwalker myth. In Europe, for example, they are called werewolves (literally “man-wolf” in Old English). The myth addresses a fundamental fear in human society: that you can defend against external enemies but still remain vulnerable to one lone madman in your midst. Anglo-American culture doesn’t recognize the skinwalker threat but has its own version. Starting in the early 1980s, the frequency of rampage shootings in the United States began to rise more and more rapidly until it doubled around 2006. Rampages are usually defined as attacks where people are randomly targeted and four or more are killed in one place, usually shot to death by a lone gunman. As such, those crimes conform almost exactly to the kind of threat that the Navajo seemed most to fear on the reservation: murder and mayhem committed by an individual who has rejected all social bonds and attacks people at their most vulnerable and unprepared. For modern society, that would mean not in their log hogans but in movie theaters, schools, shopping malls, places of worship, or simply walking down the street.
Here is a list of skinwalkers, and their shooting rampages in the USA over the last 30 years. Note that from 1988 to 1997 there were 6; from 1998 to 2007 there were 9; from 2008 to 2017 there were 24. Why does it appear that over the last 10 years our society is generating a sharp increase in skinwalkers, individuals committing murder and mayhem who have rejected all social bonds and attack people at their most vulnerable and unprepared? Perhaps it is because, as Sebastion Junger stated, this “shows how completely detribalized this country has become.” Our neurological genetic predisposition, the warrior ethos, all for 1 and 1 for all, is no longer relevant in modern life. As individuals in society it appears we are now very far from our evolutionary roots.
In 2013, areport from the Congressional Research Service, known as Congress's think tank, described mass shootings as those in which shooters "select victims somewhat indiscriminately" and kill four or more people.
From: http://timelines.latimes.com/deadliest-shooting-rampages/
Mass shootings over last 30 years until October 1, 2017. And recent news from October 2 to December 31, 2017.
November 14, 2017: Rampaging through a small Northern California town, a gunman took aim on Tuesday at people at an elementary school and several other locations, killing at least four and wounding at least 10 before he was fatally shot by police, the local sheriff’s office said.
November 5, 2017: Devin Patrick Kelley carried out the deadliest mass shooting in Texas history on Sunday, killing 25 people and an unborn child at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, near San Antonio.
October 1, 2017: 58 killed, more than 500 injured: Las Vegas
More than 50 people were killed and at least 500 others injured when a gunman opened fire at a country music festival near the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip, authorities said. Police said the suspect, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, a resident of Mesquite, Nev., was was found dead after a SWAT team burst into the hotel room from which he was firing at the crowd.
Jan. 6, 2017: 5 killed, 6 injured: Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
After taking a flight to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida, a man retrieves a gun from his luggage in baggage claim, loads it and opens fire, killing five people near a baggage carousel and wounding six others. Dozens more are injured in the ensuing panic. Esteban Santiago, a 26-year-old Iraq war veteran from Anchorage, Alaska, has pleaded not guilty to 22 federal charges.
May 28, 2017: 8 killed, Lincoln County, Miss. A Mississippi man went on a shooting spree overnight, killing a sheriff's deputy and seven other people in three separate locations in rural Lincoln County before the suspect was taken into custody by police, authorities said on Sunday.
Sept. 23, 2016: 5 killed: Burlington, Wash.
A gunman enters the cosmetics area of a Macy’s store near Seattle and fatally shoots an employee and four shoppers at close range. Authorities say Arcan Cetin, a 20-year-old fast-food worker, used a semi-automatic Ruger .22 rifle that he stole from his stepfather’s closet.
June 12, 2016: 49 killed, 58 injured in Orlando nightclub shooting
The United States suffered one of the worst mass shootings in its modern history when 49 people were killed and 58 injured in Orlando, Fla., after a gunman stormed into a packed gay nightclub. The gunman was killed by a SWAT team after taking hostages at Pulse, a popular gay club. He was preliminarily identified as 29-year-old Omar Mateen.
Dec. 2, 2015: 14 killed, 22 injured: San Bernardino, Calif.
Two assailants killed 14 people and wounded 22 others in a shooting at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino. The two attackers, who were married, were killed in a gun battle with police. They were U.S.-born Syed Rizwan Farook and Pakistan national Tashfeen Malik, and had an arsenal of ammunition and pipe bombs in their Redlands home.
Nov. 29, 2015: 3 killed, 9 injured: Colorado Springs, Colo.
A gunman entered a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, Colo., and started firing.
Police named Robert Lewis Dear as the suspect in the attacks.
Oct. 1, 2015: 9 killed, 9 injured: Roseburg, Ore.
Christopher Sean Harper-Mercer shot and killed eight fellow students and a teacher at Umpqua Community College. Authorities described Harper-Mercer, who recently had moved to Oregon from Southern California, as a “hate-filled” individual with anti-religion and white supremacist leanings who had long struggled with mental health issues.
July 16, 2015: 5 killed, 3 injured: Chattanooga, Tenn. A gunman opened fire on two military centers more than seven miles apart, killing four Marines and a Navy sailor. A man identified by federal authorities as Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez, 24, sprayed dozens of bullets at a military recruiting center, then drove to a Navy-Marine training facility and opened fire again before he was killed.
June 18, 2015: 9 killed: Charleston, S.C.
Dylann Storm Roof is charged with nine counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder in an attack that killed nine people at a historic black church in Charleston, S.C. Authorities say Roof, a suspected white supremacist, started firing on a group gathered at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church after first praying with them. He fled authorities before being arrested in North Carolina.
May 23, 2014: 6 killed, 7 injured: Isla Vista, Calif.
Elliot Rodger, 22, meticulously planned his deadly attack on the Isla Vista community for more than a year, spending thousands of dollars in order to arm and train himself to kill as many people as possible, according to a report released by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office. Rodger killed six people before shooting himself.
April 2, 2014: 3 killed; 16 injured: Ft. Hood, Texas
A gunman at Fort Hood, the scene of a deadly 2009 rampage, kills three people and injures 16 others, according to military officials. The gunman is dead at the scene.
Sept. 16, 2013: 12 killed, 3 injured: Washington, D.C. Aaron Alexis, a Navy contractor and former Navy enlisted man, shoots and kills 12 people and engages police in a running firefight through the sprawling Washington Navy Yard. He is shot and killed by authorities.
June 7, 2013: 5 killed: Santa Monica
John Zawahri, an unemployed 23-year-old, kills five people in an attack that starts at his father’s home and ends at Santa Monica College, where he is fatally shot by police in the school’s library.
Dec. 14, 2012: 27 killed, one injured: Newtown, Conn.
A gunman forces his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. and shoots and kills 20 first graders and six adults. The shooter, Adam Lanza, 20, kills himself at the scene. Lanza also killed his mother at the home they shared, prior to his shooting rampage.
Aug. 5, 2012: 6 killed, 3 injured: Oak Creek, Wis.
Wade Michael Page fatally shoots six people at a Sikh temple before he is shot by a police officer. Page, an Army veteran who was a “psychological operations specialist,” committed suicide after he was wounded. Page was a member of a white supremacist band called End Apathy and his views led federal officials to treat the shooting as an act of domestic terrorism.
July 20, 2012: 12 killed, 58 injured: Aurora, Colo.
James Holmes, 24, is taken into custody in the parking lot outside the Century 16 movie theater after a post-midnight attack in Aurora, Colo. Holmes allegedly entered the theater through an exit door about half an hour into the local premiere of “The Dark Knight Rises.”
April 2, 2012: 7 killed, 3 injured: Oakland
One L. Goh, 43, a former student at a Oikos University, a small Christian college, allegedly opens fire in the middle of a classroom leaving seven people dead and three wounded.
Jan. 8, 2011: 6 killed, 11 injured: Tucson, Ariz.
Jared Lee Loughner, 22, allegedly shoots Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in the head during a meet-and-greet with constituents at a Tucson supermarket. Six people are killed and 11 others wounded.
Nov. 5, 2009: 13 killed, 32 injured: Ft. Hood, Texas
Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, allegedly shoots and kills 13 people and injures 32 others in a rampage at Ft. Hood, where he is based. Authorities allege that Hasan was exchanging emails with Muslim extremists including American-born radical Anwar Awlaki.
April 3, 2009: 13 killed, 4 injured: Binghamton, N.Y.
Jiverly Voong, 41, shoots and kills 13 people and seriously wounds four others before apparently committing suicide at the American Civic Assn., an immigration services center, in Binghamton, N.Y.
Feb. 14, 2008: 5 killed, 16 injured: Dekalb, Ill.
Steven Kazmierczak, dressed all in black, steps on stage in a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University and opens fire on a geology class. Five students are killed and 16 wounded before Kazmierczak kills himself on the lecture hall stage.
Dec. 5, 2007: 8 killed, 4 injured: Omaha
Robert Hawkins, 19, sprays an Omaha shopping mall with gunfire as holiday shoppers scatter in terror. He kills eight people and wounds four others before taking his own life. Authorities report he left several suicide notes.
April 16, 2007: 32 killed, 17 injured: Blacksburg, Va.
Seung-hui Cho, a 23-year-old Virginia Tech senior, opens fire on campus, killing 32 people in a dorm and an academic building in attacks more than two hours apart. Cho takes his life after the second incident.
Feb. 12, 2007: 5 killed, 4 injured: Salt Lake City
Sulejman Talovic, 18, wearing a trenchcoat and carrying a shotgun, sprays a popular Salt Lake City shopping mall. Witnesses say he displays no emotion while killing five people and wounding four others.
Oct. 2, 2006: 5 killed, 5 injured: Nickel Mines, Pa.
Charles Carl Roberts IV, a milk truck driver armed with a small arsenal, bursts into a one-room schoolhouse and kills five Amish girls. He kills himself as police storm the building.
July 8, 2003: 5 killed, 9 injured: Meridian, Miss.
Doug Williams, 48, a production assemblyman for 19 years at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., goes on a rampage at the defense plant, fatally shooting five and wounding nine before taking his own life with a shotgun.
Dec. 26, 2000: 7 killed: Wakefield, Mass.
Michael McDermott, a 42-year-old software tester shoots and kills seven co-workers at the Internet consulting firm where he is employed. McDermott, who is arrested at the offices of Edgewater Technology Inc., apparently was enraged because his salary was about to be garnished to satisfy tax claims by the Internal Revenue Service. He uses three weapons in his attack.
Sept. 15, 1999: 7 killed, 7 injured: Fort Worth
Larry Gene Ashbrook opens fire inside the crowded chapel of the Wedgwood Baptist Church. Worshipers, thinking at first that it must be a prank, keep singing. But when they realize what is happening, they dive to the floor and scrunch under pews, terrified and silent as the gunfire continues. Seven people are killed before Ashbrook takes his own life.
April 20, 1999: 13 killed, 24 injured: Columbine, Colo.
Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, students at Columbine High, open fire at the school, killing a dozen students and a teacher and causing injury to two dozen others before taking their own lives.
March 24, 1998: 5 killed, 10 injured: Jonesboro, Ark.
Middle school students Mitchell Johnson and Andrew Golden pull a fire alarm at their school in a small rural Arkansas community and then open fire on students and teachers using an arsenal they had stashed in the nearby woods. Four students and a teacher who tried shield the children are killed and 10 others are injured. Because of their ages, Mitchell. 13, and Andrew, 11, are sentenced to confinement in a juvenile facility until they turn 21.
Dec. 7, 1993: 6 killed, 19 injured: Garden City, N.Y.
Colin Ferguson shoots and kills six passengers and wounds 19 others on a Long Island Rail Road commuter train before being stopped by other riders. Ferguson is later sentenced to life in prison.
July 1, 1993: 8 killed, 6 injured: San Francisco
Gian Luigi Ferri, 55, kills eight people in an office building in San Francisco’s financial district. His rampage begins in the 34th-floor offices of Pettit & Martin, an international law firm, and ends in a stairwell between the 29th and 30th floors where he encounters police and shoots himself.
May 1, 1992: 4 killed, 10 injured: Olivehurst, Calif.
Eric Houston, a 20-year-old unemployed computer assembler, invades Lindhurst High School and opens fire, killing his former teacher Robert Brens and three students and wounding 10 others.
Oct. 16, 1991: 22 killed, 20 injured: Killeen, Texas
George Jo Hennard, 35, crashes his pickup truck into a Luby’s cafeteria crowded with lunchtime patrons and begins firing indiscriminately with a semiautomatic pistol, killing 22 people. Hennard is later found dead of a gunshot wound in a restaurant restroom.
June 18, 1990: 10 killed, 4 injured: Jacksonville, Fla.
James E. Pough, a 42-year-old day laborer apparently distraught over the repossession of his car, walks into the offices of General Motors Acceptance Corp. and opens fire, killing seven employees and one customer before fatally shooting himself.
Jan. 17, 1989: 5 killed, 29 injured: Stockton, Calif.
Patrick Edward Purdy turns a powerful assault rifle on a crowded school playground, killing five children and wounding 29 more. Purdy, who also killed himself, had been a student at the school from kindergarten through third grade.Police officials described Purdy as a troubled drifter in his mid-20s with a history of relatively minor brushes with the law. The midday attack lasted only minutes.
July 18, 1984: 21 killed, 19 injured: San Ysidro, Calif.
James Oliver Huberty, a 41-year-old out-of-work security guard, kills 21 employees and customers at a McDonald’s restaurant. Huberty is fatally shot by a police sniper perched on the roof of a nearby post office.
Synthisophy
Integrate the Wisdoms of History into Present Culture
Addressing the polarized political climate in the USA
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Synthisophy – Course Syllabus
Each Lesson assumes meeting once a week for 3 hours
Detailed Lesson Plans
Grading Rubric
Lesson 1:
Synthisophy and Mission
Watch video: http://www.synthisophy.com/synthisophy-mission.html
· Definition and Roots
· Depolarize the Nation
Introduction
Watch video: http://www.synthisophy.com/introduction.html
· Bell curve
· Ideological consistency – Take the Survey
· Hot and Cold Water Experiment
· Relate to overcompensation of far left and far right viewpoints
Listening Skills
Develop in preparation for group discussions
· Become aware of primitive brain - amygdala/hindbrain/medulla
· Become aware of modern brain – neocortex
· Model listening skills and emotions – sympathy, empathy
· Students in pairs practice listening skills – model for the class
Socratic Method
Discuss Socrates and Socratic Method
· Mention in future lessons we will be having political discussions keeping listening and the Socratic
method in mind.
Lesson 2:
Chapter 1 – The United States in a Democratic Republic
Watch the video: http://www.synthisophy.com/1-democratic-republic.html
· Discuss Classical Period in Greece
US Constitution
· Review Federalist Papers Quotes
· Review 3 branches of federal government
Media Outlets
· Click on each one on the list, see what the latest news is, see Left and Right, ask students what other
news sources they use.
The Fairness Doctrine
· Discuss the Fairness Doctrine, it’s removal 1987, and the impact that had on media
Last portion of class for group political discussion. Break the class down into groups of 4. Use the listening
skills we discussed last week. Students may discuss topics covered in the lecture for better understanding or
greater depth, and/or discuss any political topics that are of interest to the group. Suggest for future classes
that students come with 1 or 2 political topics that they’d like to discuss with their group.
Have someone in each group provide a summary of what they discussed and views expressed.
Paper #1: Describe our Democratic Republic and the structure of our federal government, and about our news
media outlets. Due next week.
Lesson 3:
Chapter 2 - Evolution and Human Evolution
Watch the Human Evolution video: http://www.synthisophy.com/2-human-evolution.html
· Australopithecus, Homo habilis, Homo erectus, Homo sapiens
· Agricultural Revolution, Advent of Ciivilization, Scientific Revolution, Industrial Revolution, Digital Revolution
Walk through evolution of life on Earth:
· http://www.synthisophy.com/beginning-evol-of-life.html
Break into groups of 4 for political discussion. Talk about what we covered here today, then talk about any
political issues you think are important. Use the listening skills we discussed.
Have someone in each group provide a summary of what they discussed and views expressed.
Homework: Confirmation Bias: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias
Review this information and come to class prepared to share aspects of confirmation bias presented here that you
found significant or interesting.
Lesson 4:
Chapters 3, 4, 5: Cognitive Bias, Confirmation Bias, Argumentative Theory
Watch the Cognitive Bias video: http://www.synthisophy.com/3-cognitive-bias.html
· Then zoom in on each quadrant, read the larger summary statements , ask for situations when these
summary statements might be used. Have students choose one topic in each Quadrant and look up
on-line on their phones to find out what that topic is and means. Ask if there is anyone who would like
to share.
Watch the Confirmation bias video: http://www.synthisophy.com/4-confirmation-bias.html
· Have students go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias - The homework was to review this
information. Ask students what areas they thought were significant or interesting, share, discuss, and
provide input.
· Do the Wason 2-4-6 task and the Four-Card task
· Do the THOG Problem with the class
· Do the Four Card Task with the class
Watch the Argumentative Theory video: http://www.synthisophy.com/5-argument-theory.html
· Charles Lord: Biased Assimilation and Attitude Polarization
· Irving Janis: Group Confirmation Bias
Break into groups of 4 for political discussion. Talk about what we covered here today, then talk about any
political issues you think are important. Use the listening skills we discussed.
Have someone in each group provide a summary of what they discussed and views expressed.
Lesson 5:
Chapters 6, 7, 8: Brain Function, Neuroreality, Bloom’s Taxonomy
Watch the Brain Function video: http://www.synthisophy.com/6-brain-function.html
· Watch the 4 videos at bottom of webpage for more detailed description
Watch the Neuroreality video: http://www.synthisophy.com/7-neuroreality.html
· Restate, ask if any questions, clarify if needed
Watch the Bloom’s Taxonomy video: http://www.synthisophy.com/8-bloom-s-taxonomy.html
· Give example of the pyramid: Health/Diet/Exercise
Break into groups of 4 for political discussion. Talk about what we covered here today, then talk about any
political issues you think are important. Use the listening skills we discussed.
Have someone in each group provide a summary of what they discussed and views expressed.
Paper #2: Describe evolution and human evolution, cognitive and confirmation bias, and argumentative theory
as they refer to neuroreality. Due next week.
Lesson 6
Chapters 9 + 10: Science, Science and Religion, Side Light 1
Watch the Side Light 1 video: http://www.synthisophy.com/side-light-1.html
· Question your perception
Watch the Science video: http://www.synthisophy.com/9-science.html
· Mention 2 other Natural Experiments, Hispaniola and North Korea
· Walk through the History of Science link: http://www.synthisophy.com/history-of-science.html. Students
choose a scientist listed or one of their own, research such and share information about that scientists
with the class.
Watch the Science and Realigion video: http://www.synthisophy.com/10-science-and-realigion.html
· Restate, emphasize “Perhaps God is Truth.”
· Ask students what they think of the idea of Realigion.
Break into groups of 4 for political discussion. Talk about what we covered here today, then talk about any
political issues you think are important. Use the listening skills we discussed.
Have someone in each group provide a summary of what they discussed and views expressed.
Lesson 7
Chapters 11, 12, 13, 14: Tribe and Society, Modern Crises, Warrior Ethos, Return From Combat
Watch the Tribe and Modern Society video: http://www.synthisophy.com/11-the-tribe-and-society.html
· Discuss the native American Indian
· Restate how completely detribalized we and our society have become
Watch the Modern Crises and Tribal instinct video: http://www.synthisophy.com/12-modern-crises.html
· Restate how Self-interest gets subsumed into group interest because here is no survival outside of
group survival, and that genetically evolved and chemically existent tribal instinct is revealed.
Watch the Warrior Ethos video: http://www.synthisophy.com/13-the-warrior-ethos.html
· Restate conclusion: perhaps this Warrior Ethos had evolved into the dominant genetically selected trait
that led to an exit of Homo sapiens from Africa and for them to overcome all other hominid species and
become the only human species on the planet.
Watch Soldiers Returning From Combat video: http://www.synthisophy.com/14-return-from-combat.html
· With this last story from John Musgrave, can you understand what the warrior ethos is? Can you see
where it’s possible, evolutionarily speaking, why this ethos may have been the reason why homo
sapiens became the dominant and only human species left on earth? Can you see where now in
modern society we might be very far from our genetic roots?
Break into groups of 4 for political discussion. Talk about what we covered here today, then talk about any
political issues you think are important. Use the listening skills we discussed.
Have someone in each group provide a summary of what they discussed and views expressed.
Paper #3: Express your opinion on each of the following topics: science and religion, the tribe and modern
society, the Warrior ethos and soldiers returning from combat. Due next week.
Lesson 8:
Chapters 15, 16, 17: Theses 1, 2 and 3, Skinwalkers, Modern Skinwalkers, Side Light 2
Watch Side Light 2 video: http://www.synthisophy.com/side-light-2.html
· Question your perception
Watch Theses 1, 2 and 3 video: http://www.synthisophy.com/side-light-2.html
· Then ask class what students think of each thesis….….keeping in mind the idea is to question the
hypothesis, consider all angles, run each thesis through the mill, and see what comes out the other end
Watch the Skinwalkers video: http://www.synthisophy.com/16-skinwalkers.html
· What do you think of this skinwalker hypothesis? Are we far from our genetic roots?
Watch Modern Skinwalkers video: http://www.synthisophy.com/17-modern-skinwalkers.html
· What do you think of these skinwalkers:
1. Defense Industry
2. Unemployment, Welfare, Medicare, Medicaid
3. Insurance Industry
4. Pharmaceutical Industry
5. Tobacco Industry
Break into groups of 4 for political discussion. Talk about what we covered here today, then talk about any
political issues you think are important. Use the listening skills we discussed.
Have someone in each group provide a summary of what they discussed and views expressed.
Paper #4: What do you think of Theses 1, 2 and 3? What do you think of the modern skinwalker analogies?
Due next week.
Lesson 9:
Chapters 18 + 19: Climate Change, Smoke and Hot Air
Watch Climate Change video http://www.synthisophy.com/18-climate-change.html
· Any questions or comments on informaqtion presented in this video and global warming?
· What are your views on climate change?
· How will it affect the world?
· How will it affect the USA?
· Have we already passed the tipping point?
· What can be done to address climate change?
· What about those in political office that deny climate change?
· Has COVID-19 affected climate change?
Watch Smoke, Mirrors and Hot Air video: http://www.synthisophy.com/19-smoke-and-hot-air.html
· Any questions or comments on information presented in this video and the fossil fuel industry?
· What do you think of the fossil fuel industry?
· What can be done to address our dependence on fossil fuel?
· Has our dependence on fossil fuel already pushed us past the tipping in global warming and climate
change?
· Has COVID-19 affected the fossil fuel industry?
Break into groups of 4 for political discussion. Talk about what we covered here today, then talk about any
political issues you think are important. Use the listening skills we discussed.
Have someone in each group provide a summary of what they discussed and views expressed.
Paper #5: What do you think of the oil industry and climate change What can we do about climate change?
Due next week.
Lesson 10
Chapters 20 + 21: Far From Our Roots and Sport, Gestalt and War
Watch We Are Very Far From Our Genetic Roots video: http://www.synthisophy.com/20-far-from-our-roots.html
· Any questions or comments on information and the conclusion presented in this video? Review 180
degrees of change.
· Bring students outside around a flag pole, put an empty 3 ring binder down flat, wide end facing flag pole.
Walk with students 50 yards away, flagpole in sight, ask one or a few students to volunteer to stay there.
Walk with class halfway between, and walk outward from line between flagpole and students. The human
population has hugged the ground for the last 4 million years, and after the agricultural revolution and
civilization 10,000 years ago, the population started to increase (the notebook) and then 200 years ago
to the present the human has spiked exponentially - from 300 million in 1800 to nearly 8 billion today.
Watch Sport, Gestalt and War video: http://www.synthisophy.com/21-sport-gestalt-and-war.html
· What do you think of the conclusions drawn in this chapter: Sports, Gestalt, Warrior ethos gone wry,
politics, far right and far left, polarization?
Break into groups of 4 for political discussion. Talk about what we covered here today, then talk about any
political issues you think are important. Use the listening skills we discussed.
Have someone in each group provide a summary of what they discussed and views expressed.
Homework: In preparation for the next class, read all of Chapter 22, Fantasyland, and be prepared to share
any interesting observations: http://www.synthisophy.com/22-fantasyland.html, and the 3 additional pages:
http://www.synthisophy.com/22-fantasyland-2.html, http://www.synthisophy.com/22-fantasyland-3.html,
http://www.synthisophy.com/22-fantasyland-4.html.
Lesson 11
Chapters 22 + 23: Fantasyland, Fantasy Becomes Reality, Side Light 3
Watch the Side Light 3 video: http://www.synthisophy.com/side-light-3.html
· Question your perception
Watch Part 1 of the Fantasyland video: http://www.synthisophy.com/22-fantasyland.html
· What do you think of these statements about the settlement of the new world?
· What do you think of early religion in the Northern colonies?
· Any interesting observations from http://www.synthisophy.com/22-fantasyland-2.html
· Any interesting observations from http://www.synthisophy.com/22-fantasyland-3.html
Watch Part 2 of Fantasyland video: http://www.synthisophy.com/22-fantasyland.html
· Any interesting observations from http://www.synthisophy.com/22-fantasyland-4.html
· Questions, comments? Let's call 2000, the first year a majority of Americans were online, the unequivocal
first year of full Fantasyland.
· Fantasyland has been the norm for the run of humanity; the unusually rational and scientific centuries
here and there along the way, like the last few, are exceptions. Dominant cultures have had their
enlightenments and golden ages before, then returned to primitivism and murk.
· Where will go as a nation?
Watch Fantasy Has Become Reality video: http://www.synthisophy.com/23-fantasy-to-reality.html
· In the extraordinarily complex society of today, the instinctive cognitive bias, the resulting confirmation bias,
that generated the argumentative theory and the tribal ethos, that then lead by extension to the warrior
ethos, may all very well be present in the 100 billion neurons in your brain helping to generate one’s
perception of reality, one’s neuroreality. And as proposed by Andersen in Fantasyland, that neuroreality
may not reflect true reality. It’s in our genes. Our perception of reality, our neuroreality, has been in our
genes since the advent of Australopithecus and cognitive bias 4 million years ago or perhaps much earlier,
to Homo habilis and confirmation bias 3 million years ago, to Homo erectus and the argumentative theory
2 million years ago, all the while from there generating the tribal ethos resulting in the warrior ethos that
led to Homo sapiens 300,000 years ago and their migration out of Africa 70,000 years ago, and to us today.
· What do you think of the conclusion of Chapter 23: Fantasy Has Become Reality?
If time, break into groups of 4 for political discussion. Talk about what we covered here today, then talk about any
political issues you think are important. Use the listening skills we discussed.
Have someone in each group provide a summary of what they discussed and iews expressed.
Paper #6: What do you think about Andersen’s last statement?:
Fantasyland has been the norm for the run of humanity; the unusually rational and scientific centuries here and
there along the way, like the last few, are exceptions. Dominant cultures have had their enlightenments and
golden ages before, then returned to primitivism and murk.
Due next week.
Lesson 12
Chapter 24 + 25: The Previous President, Unneurealism on the Left
Watch Our Current President and Neuroreality: http://www.synthisophy.com/24-the-previous-president.html
· Have discussion about the content of this video. Does this conclusion have any merit?
· What do you think of the far Right, the alt-Right
Watch The Same Unneurealism Exists on the Left video: http://www.synthisophy.com/25-unneurealism.html
· Have discussion about the content of this video. Does this conclusion have any merit?
· What do you think of the far left, illiberal left?
Break into groups of 4 for political discussion. Talk about what we covered here today, then talk about any
political issues you think are important. Use the listening skills we discussed.
Have someone in each group provide a summary of what they discussed and views expressed.
Paper #7:
Do the conclusions of Chapter 24 and 25 have any merit? Why or why not? Respond to each Chapter
individually. Due next week.
Lesson 13
Chapters 26, 27, 28: Yin and Yang, Upside-Down Bell Curve, Review + Thesis 4, Side Light 4,
Watch Side Light 4 video: http://www.synthisophy.com/side-light-4.html
· Ask students what they think of the conclusions of this video
Watch Yin and Yang video: http://www.synthisophy.com/26-yin-yang.html
· So let’s try and get away from alt-Left and alt-Right polarization, move towards the more rational Center,
integrating aspects of both Yin and Yang so our society resembles more the functional tribe from whence
we genetically and evolutionarily came.
Watch Upside-down Bell curve video: http://www.synthisophy.com/27-upside-down-bell-curve.html
· Note in 1994 there is no split in the curve between the Left and the Right, in 2004 we can see a split
starting, by 2014 we can see an increase in polarization as the upside-down bell curve shows itself, and
by 2017 the upside-down bell curve becomes prominent. This shows us the polarization of the Left and
Right and the upside-down bell curve now present in the USA. If a bell curve is considered normal, why
do we as a society among the politically active and influential have an upside-down bell curve, is that
abnormal? Why are we so polarized? The answer lies in the human brain and neurological evolution.
It’s in our genes, it’s been in our genes for a very long time: cognitive bias probably developing over the
course of late mammalian evolution and present in Australopithecus; to confirmation bias in Homo habilis;
to the tribe and argumentative theory, where truth doesn’t matter, winning the argument and gaining power
does in Homo erectus; all the while generating the tribal ethos resulting in the warrior ethos that lead Homo
sapiens out of Africa 70,000 years ago to dominate the world. Our genetically evolved and present
cognitive, confirmation, tribal and argumentative biases shape our polarized perceptions of the world
around us, and our warrior ethos finds others of similar mind to battle the opposing party. Do we have
to be this polarized? Can individual human consciousness be aware of this predisposition and keep it in
check, putting value in moderation, reason and truth? Can your neuroreality be neureal and rather than
unneural? Ben Franklin addressed that question after the Constitutional Convention: “We’ve given you a
republic, can you keep it?” Perhaps if we depolarize, get back to the normal bell curve, become more
neureal, and become more centrist as a Nation, the answer will be yes.
· Does this argument have any merit?
Watch Review and Thesis 4 video: http://www.synthisophy.com/28-review-thesis-4.html
· Review Chapters 20, 23, 24, 25, 26 and 27
· Perhaps politics has taken the place of religion, particularly among the unneureal alt-Right and Illiberal-Left.
Recall the old adage, never talk about politics or religion? Thesis 4: Perhaps politics on the alt-Right and
illiberal-Left has become their religion.
· Discuss Zeynep Tufekci’s conclusion in her article: YouTube, the Great Radicalizer: It seems as if you are
never “hard core” enough for YouTube’s recommendation algorithm. It promotes, recommends and
disseminates videos in a manner that appears to constantly up the stakes. Given its billion or so users,
YouTube may be one of the most powerful radicalizing instruments of the 21st century. This is not because
a cabal of YouTube engineers is plotting to drive the world off a cliff. A more likely explanation has to do
with the nexus of artificial intelligence and Google’s business model. (YouTube is owned by Google.)
For all its lofty rhetoric, Google is an advertising broker, selling our attention to companies that will pay
for it. The longer people stay on YouTube, the more money Google makes. What keeps people glued to
YouTube? Its algorithm seems to have concluded that people are drawn to content that is more extreme
than what they started with — or to incendiary content in general.
This section acts as an introduction to the next Lesson, Chapter 29 and What Can We Do to Depolarize the
Nation.
Break into groups of 4 for political discussion. Talk about what we covered here today, then talk about any
political issues you think are important. Use the listening skills we discussed.
Have someone in each group provide a summary of what they discussed and views expressed.
Homework: start thinking about political issues that you are interested in and would like to learn more about, in
preparation for your Final Paper.
Lesson 14
Chapter 29: What Can We Do to Depolarize the Nation?
Watch the What Can We Do video: http://www.synthisophy.com/29-what-can-we-do.html
· Ask students if there are other areas where they think we should Take Action?
Spend rest of Lesson thinking about what you would like to write your Final Paper on, aka your Final Exam,
which is due next week. You may work now in groups to brainstorm ideas, you may work by yourself if you’ve
already chosen a topic of interest, you can speak with me for input, etc… Start working on that Final Paper.
Here’s the directions for your Final Paper:
Introduction
Provide a description of synthisophy, as in root meaning and it’s meaning in the context of science, history,
politics and society as applied to modern society today.
Then choose an area you might pursue to address polarization in politics and society today and Take Action,
as we covered in Chapter 29 and brainstormed today. Describe what you could do, or what actions could be
taken, to address that issue and try and solve that problem.
Your Final Paper is due by our next lesson. There I’ll go over Chapter 30, and then you can share with the
class what you wrote about in your Final Paper.
Lesson 15
Chapter 30: Our Future, and share Final Papers with the class
Watch the Our Future video: http://www.synthisophy.com/30-our-future.html
· What does this logarithmic similarity between evolutionary and societal change over the last 3.8 billion
years and the computer transistor count in the last 50 years mean? At this point in time this similarity may
mean that we are in the early stage of huge societal changes as a result of the digital revolution, and that it
may be in our best interest to become less polarized and more rational in order to best choose our destiny
as a society. We should heed Ben Franklin’s question: “We’ve given you a Republic, can you keep it?”
Yes, and to do so we need to be politically active, synthisophic and neureal.
Share Final Papers
"We've given you a Republic, can
you keep it?" Ben Franklin after
the Constitutional Convention
"United we stand, divided
we fall." John F. Kennedy
Inaugural speech
"I believe, as I always have,
that America's strength is in
'We the People.'" Ronald Reagan
Synthisophy first appeared in SKOLE, the Journal of Alternative Education, Summer, 1995, Volume 12, #3
Then synthisophy appeared in The Cyclopedic Education Dictionary, published in 1998
Chapters 1 through 15 were first published here in full in August, 2017.
Chapters 16 through 30 were first published here in full in August, 2018.
Summary of Chapters 1 through 15 of Synthisophy was published in the Research Association for Interdisciplinary Studies, August 2020, and ResearchLEAP, February 2021.
Summary of Chapters 16 through 30 of Synthisophy was published in the Research Association for Interdisciplinary Studies, October 2020, and ResearchLEAP, April 2021.
A minor edition to Synthisophy in Chapter 24 was made on January 20, 2021.
Synthisophy is a registered non-profit LLC.
"If we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed
ourselves." Abraham Linclon
Synthisophy
Integrate the Wisdoms of
History, based on Fact and Truth,
into Present Culture
