Aligning our mental maps. Our minds were programmed to download and comprehend as much of the world as would be necessary for us. Each of us can download, for instance, the multiplication tables. When we do so, we can recall what has been downloaded and use it to multiply far larger numbers, enlarging our “map”. If we have downloaded the wrong multiples, any answers we reach will probably be wrong. If we download correct and larger multiples, for instance memorizing the multiplication tables through 15 times 15, we will save a surprising amount of time as we go through life, with the added bonus of frequently being thought to be intelligent.
The “map” of the multiplication tables that we put in our minds must be accurate if it is to help us. The same thing is true of every “map” we download. Our downloads are maps that tell us a little about how corresponding sections of The Outside Programs are arranged.
Our lives involve only two types of alignment.
We should learn about Outside Programs so that we can duplicate them on maps within our mind. That is the first sort of alignment, making sure that our Inside Programs accurately reflect the Outside Programs. At one time, schools used to try to provide accurate maps of the Outer Programs for students to download. No more.
The other type of alignment concerns both valid desires and vanity. Once we are able to understand the Outside Programs, we often want to change them. That involves the second kind of alignment, in which we try to make Outside Programs align with our Inside Programs. This involves overriding or modifying an Outside Program so that it behaves the way our Inside Program wants. A simple example is deciding that a white room should be painted beige and having that done. Alexander the Great provided the same example on a somewhat larger scale by making a large section of Outside Programs conform to his Inside Program of what many, many things around him should be.
The most popular errors involve aligning other people to do what we think they should do, which usually involves taking time and money from them.
