Aleksandar et al,

Aleksandar, can you more fully explain the statement “Authorities build 
their power by imposing a huge amount of alienated knowledge to people.”

I think we all would agree that in order to utilize wisdom to any 
extent, we must first establish an acceptable definition of what wisdom, 
in fact, is. Allow me to put in my two pfennigs worth here, and see if 
this is considered worthwhile of your consideration. If I am even close, 
please bite into my definition so we can eventually establish a 
statement we can agree on.
Firstly, my thought is that wisdom is not knowledge, and does not 
constitute knowledge. My thought here is that wisdom is the manager, the 
manipulator of knowledge. Wisdom can (but not necessarily does) increase 
with knowledge.
Secondly, wisdom is strongly affected by belief, and here we must keep 
in mind that if a thought is comfortable yet unsupportable, it will 
likely be accepted as belief over factual knowledge simply because it is 
comfortable. I think this is what Aleksandar refers to as “alienated 
premises.” Here is an area we must work on to increase wisdom.
If this is correct, to greatly varying degrees, everyone from the 
youngest kid utilizes wisdom when making decisions based on the 
knowledge (and the biases) they have.
The key to a more perfect world, one that can ultimately lead to what I 
call Civilization, is the increased utilization of wisdom by everyone.
In addition, children, where almost all of our social advances begin, 
need to be shown their worth from a very early age, and have their 
self-esteem reinforced continually by everyone who works with them. When 
children feel positive about themselves, the decisions they make are 
more socially acceptable (wise).
One further thing Aleksandar, to Erik Olin Wright’s statement that your 
English is not good enough, I would only say bullshit.

Larry Kueneman
P.O. Box 1609
Idyllwild, CA 92549

On 1/6/2011 6:47 AM, Aleksandar Sarovic wrote:
> Wisdom
>
> Wisdom is the highest level of knowledge which recognises real values in
> life. Wisdom is also the basic knowledge necessary for a good life. Reaching
> the highest knowledge is not easy and that is the reason we have
> difficulties reaching a good life.
>
> We are proud of our intellectual development, production capabilities, and
> the successes we reach throughout our lives and believe that our good life
> mostly depends on it. That might not be true. Today most people have a
> higher living standard than kings in the Middle Ages had. Therefore they are
> supposed to be more satisfied with their lives than kings in the Middle
> Ages. Are they? The living standard does not have much to do with the
> happiness of people. The point is we greatly overestimate the value of the
> successes we reach and underestimate wisdom. Wisdom has everything to do
> with a happy life.
>
> A wise man lives rightfully and in that manner he successfully controls his
> emotional states. A wise man can feel what is right or wrong before he even
> starts thinking about it. These feelings unmistakeably lead him through
> life. A wise man has a productive orientation. A wise man cannot accept
> destructivity because it would destroy his fine-tuned emotions that lead him
> down the wise path. A wise man is modest because he feels a virtue. An
> immodest person attracts troubles and that is not wise. A wise man is
> responsible towards himself and his environment, he constantly improve
> himself and his environment and therefore has a good life.
>
> When a person gets a picture of what wisdom might be, they probably would
> like to become wise by attending a short course. That would not be possible
> even though there is nothing complicated in wisdom. Knowing what is wise
> does not help much. For example, helping others is wise. Wise words would
> hardly stimulate an egotistic person to share his values with others because
> his character does not allow it. If he does it he would suffer. Why is this
> so? Our society has accepted money as by far the highest defined value and
> considering that a man tends to higher values, of course he does not like to
> share the money he possesses. A society that builds all its values on money
> is not only unwise but also very stupid because such an orientation presents
> a huge alienation of the meaning of life. If people realize that man to man
> is the greatest value they would then share the values they possess more
> easily  with others and would reach a good life sooner. However, the
> intellectual understanding of wisdom is not enough; one needs to feel the
> right way. Feelings that come from wisdom need a productive orientation,
> which recognises real values and time for such an orientation to be
> accepted. One becomes wise by living his life rightfully.
>
> So how can an individual reach wisdom? Wisdom is the result of an objective
> understanding of a free-living experience. Lack of objectivity and freedom
> are obstacles in reaching wisdom. Objectivity requires a high level of
> conscience. If a person does not develop it, he cannot be wise. The problem
> is, it is easier and in the short term more convenient to accept the
> subjective way of thinking. Practically whatever a person thinks may easily
> become the truth in his subjective mind. What ever a person does may be
> easily justified in his subjective mind. Such a truth even though if
> subjective, could easily release people from fear and bring them great
> happiness. So why would someone waste their time in finding the objective
> truth when they can reach it faster through their subjective mind? The
> answer lies in the fact that subjective knowledge is alienated from its
> objective reality. Therefore, subjective knowledge easily comes into
> conflict with objective reality and then often causes a far bigger
> inconvenience than the initial happiness. A bad experience may teach people
> to avoid subjective knowledge. Sometimes it helps but very often not. Why?
> Man has a very developed imagination so that it is not easy to see what
> really causes his emotional states.
>
> The most common subjectivity that alienates us from the objective reality is
> the wish to have power over people. Such a power brings an illusion of
> overcoming powerlessness in nature. It is initially extremely convenient to
> people and brings great happiness. That is why most people try to have power
> over others. Thus parents rule over children, teachers rule over students,
> bosses rule over employees, presidents of countries rule over their
> citizens. They might rationalize their behaviour as they do it for the
> benefits of the people but the fact is they all find initial satisfaction in
> authoritatively imposing their power over others. The problem lies in the
> fact no amount of power over people can overcome nor compensate the man's
> powerlessness in nature. When a person who accepts a subjective vision of
> his power sees that it was only an illusion, he is disappointed, feels pain,
> and easily becomes destructive. That is why a wise man would never try to
> realize power over people.
>
> In today's world, power over people is mostly built by money. If happiness
> lies in money then the richest and most famous people around the world
> should be the happiest people. Are they? No they are not. All these values
> that gave power to them are just illusions. The richest and the most famous
> people have great difficulty to keep the illusion going and that is the
> reason they are rather the most unsatisfied people. They live under constant
> stress trying to preserve the illusion of having power. They drink the most
> to try finding peace in their minds; they divorce the most trying to find
> peace in their lives. They easily confront other people because they cannot
> reach their peace. They live unhealthy lives and are quite destructive. They
> invest a big useless effort to present to the public only the bright side.
> By watching them shine, ordinary people are often unsatisfied with their
> lives because they cannot reach an illusion of power that would one day make
> them very dissatisfied and destructive. This is a huge absurdity caused by
> ignorance.
>
> Authorities build their power by imposing a huge amount of alienated
> knowledge to people. Such knowledge may be completely false but successfully
> prevents free thought of people and diverts people from real problems. By
> controlling our thoughts, authorities control us. Authorities have always
> determined what way of life people are going to accept, what they are going
> to think and what they are going to do. Very little of that is the result of
> free choice. Authorities are huge obstacles that prevent us from searching
> the truth and reaching objective knowledge.  Freedom is the basic necessity
> for reaching wisdom. If a person is not free he cannot check whether his way
> of living is correct and certainly cannot learn to be wise.
>
> People often do not mind accepting imposed knowledge because they do not
> feel that accepting it brings direct inconveniences to them. It is often
> easier for people to accept authoritarian rules than trying to find the
> truth alone. This is a great problem of our society that people are not
> aware of. A man who becomes accustomed to following authorities' knowledge
> loses the ability to think on his own. He alienates himself from his nature,
> from his feelings and from logic and that prevents him from finding the
> truth in himself. He becomes a machine for living, incapable to be wise.
>
> ***
>
> Individuals have a hard time reaching wisdom because their subjectivity
> easily declines them from the objective reality. Society as a whole might
> reach wisdom much more easily. How? The answer is extremely simple but due
> to the enormous authoritative influences people are not aware of it. A wise
> society will be built through freedom and equal rights among people. When we
> overcome the power of authorities over people and give it to people most of
> the problems in today's society will disappear. A more powerful animal often
> eats a weaker one, however equally powerful animals respect and do not
> attack each other. Something similar will happen to people. Equal rights
> among people will eliminate illusions, alienated values, and building
> respect towards every human being in society. People will become values to
> each other. This will teach people wisdom much more than individuals through
> contemplation can. That will build a good society.
>
> Social scientists should have become aware of how to build a good society a
> long time ago but have not. Why? The more educated a person is, the more he
> had to accept imposed alienated knowledge by authorities. Generally speaking
> authorities have always had power over people and their privileges averted
> them enough from the interest in equal rights never mind what philosophy
> stood behind them. Of course educated people correct the imposed alienated
> knowledge of authorities by their intellectual abilities, but a huge amount
> of the acquired alienated knowledge, gained through education, does not
> allow them to go far enough in correcting such knowledge. When they get the
> chance to think independently they already think through alienated premises,
> which is a heavy burden that prevents them from enlightenment. The more a
> person uncritically accepts knowledge of authorities, the less chance he has
> to understand objective reality, and the less he can see the simple truth.
> That is why social scientists cannot find the escape from the troubles of
> our society.
>
> I have to mention professor Erik Olin Wright, the elected President of the
> American Sociological Association. Under the influence of philosopher Karl
> Marx, he searches for "real utopias". One of his goals is Marx's idea "to
> each according to their needs." The idea presents communism, the system
> where all goods are available free of charge which probably makes the
> highest state of equality among the people. I was surprised with the fact
> that professor Wright openly promotes such ideas in North America. However,
> he did not propose anything that might bring the goal even a little closer
> to us. I contacted professor Wright and informed him that I have developed a
> system that one day might reach the goal "to each according to their needs".
> He responded to me that he was very busy and that my English is not good
> enough to enable him to follow such a complex issue. I use very simple
> language but for those who do not understand the simple truth everything is
> very complex. A general problem with social scientists is the incapability
> to recognise the simple truth. Under the influences of wrong or not enough
> right authorities, social sciences are on the wrong or not enough right path
> and cannot offer anything beyond cosmetic changes of society regardless of
> the ambitious words they often use. If sociology today were worth something
> society would prosper. Sociologists also have a hard time accepting my ideas
> because my work makes their knowledge useless.
>
> Professor Noam Chomsky is a brilliant critic of the American policy. Sadly
> he could criticise the American policy forever and would not be able to
> change anything. In the best possible case his effort may lower the
> government's ratings a tiny little bit at elections but the new government
> more or less continues the same policy. A person who wants to change
> something must propose a solution that could do it. Noam Chomsky does not
> propose a new solution. Why? Simply because it is very hard to offer
> something new to the world, and it is even harder to create ideas that will
> improve society. However, I did create a new system that will bring a bright
> future to humankind and have informed Professor Chomsky about it. He
> responded to me: "You could well be right, but I simply don't see it." Does
> it mean that he thinks my philosophy might help the world but he still does
> not have time to read me because he is very busy with his work, which
> actually does not help the world? By not giving a solution for a better
> world and by not supporting ideas that might do it, Chomsky actually admits
> without saying it that nothing could be done and therefore preserves the
> existing state in the US regardless of his brilliant criticism of the
> American policy. Public media does not admire him but people know him and he
> could do better.
>
> The system of education, media, government, and the corporate world control
> our thoughts, and that means us, practically from the day we are born. We
> are not free and we do not have equal rights. In such circumstances there is
> not much space for the development of wisdom and then of course for the
> development of society.
>
> ***
>
> I am wise even though I had never had a particular interest to be wise. I
> became wise just because I have not allowed imposed knowledge to affect and
> lead me. I have doubted most of the ideas that were imposed to my life. That
> was not easy but that was how I developed my ability to find real values in
> my life and to avoid false ones. Just because money was never a great value
> to me and I did not need power over the people at all, I avoided alienation,
> which helped me find the path towards wisdom and brought satisfaction to my
> life. I cannot say that I am very happy each day but I do not have problems
> that make me unhappy. I do not feel stress and depression as many other
> people do. Contrary, I have my inner peace and often feel joy just because I
> am. That is big enough of a reward for me. On top of that, I found love as
> the highest possible value if not the only one after basic people's needs
> are met.
>
> I discovered love in creative work. Particularly I discovered love in the
> field of architecture I studied at university. The work gave me a great
> satisfaction that encouraged me to work more. As the result, while I was
> just a student of architecture I won a Yugoslav competition for the
> arrangement of the Republic Square in Zagreb, Croatia. It brought me glory
> and huge happiness. I thought during that time that I was on the top of the
> world. On the other hand it imposed to me a wish to stay on the top, which
> was stressful. In the next attempts I was not able to repeat the success and
> that was disappointing. Generally, I do not recall this period as a
> successful and happy period of my life.
>
> One doesn't need to reach a huge career success in order to be happy.
> Recently I completely renovated my home. Only the basic walls remained the
> same. I did everything on my own even though I did not have much previous
> experience in renovation. I spent more time in renovation than professionals
> would but I enjoyed every second. The result of my work is beautiful art and
> functional perfection and I am proud of it. Most people would not do such
> thing because they do not know how to do it and would not make an effort to
> learn. This way they miss the great satisfaction coming from that. Loving to
> work brings a beauty of life. Work success is much easier to achieve than
> winning competitions and unlike competitions it brings a stable joy of life.
>
> Love towards people is even more rewarding. I love my daughters and my wife
> very much. I spend a lot of time talking to my daughters. I do not impose
> anything to them but do explain what ever they need. As a result, my
> daughters have good lives with no significant problems and I am happy
> because of it. Those who know what love is, know what I am talking about.
>
> My philosophy, on which I have been working for 28 years, gives a great
> pleasure to me even though I am still not successful in presenting it to the
> world. From the beginning I foresaw that my work was not going to be easily
> accepted, but to be honest, I did not foresee such a big unsuccess either.
> Probably I will not be able to see the implemented result of my work but it
> does not matter much to me anymore. My work already gave me a huge reward
> because it helped me discover natural laws deeper. Whenever I develop some
> new thoughts in my philosophy I feel better and love this world more. I
> enjoy writing also because I know that one day my work will bring a
> beautiful life to all of the people.
>
> Love is the only real value after basic needs are met. Only love brings real
> joy. Everything else is an illusion that easily comes to conflict with
> reality. If one does not feel love he has nothing nevertheless what kind of
> success he has accomplished. He has just fallen into the illusion and has to
> pay an expensive price for that. Most people think that they are able to
> love. I found that behind these thoughts most often lies narcissism and love
> for power over people. That is mostly because our culture has supported the
> development of alienated values, which prevents the development of love. You
> think you love? I have created a small test that could tell you whether you
> love. The test is located in my article "Do you love?"
> here: http://www.sarovic.com/do_you_love.htm
>
> Wisdom is finding the way to love. Wisdom and love are conditioned by
> freedom and equal rights among people. If one is not free and equal to any
> other human being he cannot be wise and has huge difficulties to love. The
> system I have proposed will establish freedom and equal rights among the
> people to such an extent that an average person cannot imagine it right now.
> Why? Because authorities have always worked hard on preventing the
> development of ideas that could take power and privileges from them. A man
> was never a real basis of any system and any one ideology. A man has always
> been just a subject in the service of various ideologies and therefore
> cannot be happy.
>
> The system I have proposed will turn upside down the principles our society
> is based on. For the first time in human history it will really take the
> power from authorities and give it to people. Man will become a center from
> which everything proceeds and to which everything returns back. Each person
> will have equal rights of decision-making in society and therefore the
> system will for the first time certainly follow the needs of people. Each
> person will have free access to any work post at any time and that will
> definitely abolish the privileges and all the disadvantages that come from
> them. The system will democratically establish a very efficient system of
> bearing the responsibility of individuals for their free actions and that
> will contribute to the development of cooperation among people at all levels
> of human relationships. That will make good society. That will teach people
> wisdom. That will teach people to love. That will bring the joy of life. One
> day the world will accept my ideas because freedom and equal human rights
> are conditions without which is not possible to achieve a good society. Then
> this world will become a wonderful place to live, better than our wildest
> dreams today. You can find more about it in my article "Humanism extensively"
> here: http://www.sarovic.com/humanism_extensively.htm
>