Forums IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ PhotoReading, Memory Optimizer Intuition

Let's consider intuition for a minute.

Unless I'm misunderstanding a key facet of the program, the PR step is designed to (among other things) enhance the reader's intuition about the text at hand. Is that correct? Okay, but what do we mean by "intuition?"

A quick dictionary check offers: "insight; grasping the inward or hidden nature of things;" "direct apprehension or cognition; immediate knowledge, as in perception or consciousness;" and "instinctive knowing (without the use of rational processes); an impression that something might be the case."

Zounds! Even in science, we discuss a particular scientist as having extraordinary insight, or intuition, with regard to a major discovery. Does this mean, even in the pristine bastions of science, that intuition is somehow **shudder** paranormal?

Of course not! Intuition is a normal and very common human occurrence. We've all had the experience (I hope) of a flash of insight that bails us out on a final exam, gets us out of a tough social spot, or leads us to a hard sought answer at an unexpected moment. Hey, guess what? That's what Scheele calls the "other than conscious" mind coming through for us! Our brain can maintain state, process amazing quantities of data, react to the unexpected--even help us catch a line drive or dodge an unwary pedestrian--without stepping through a stodgy syllogism first.

But can intuition be taught? Can it be learned? Isn't intuition by nature unexpected and unpredictable?

Nope, I don't think so. I think intuition comes through participation and practice. At my age, if I'm covering third base and a line drive comes my way, I'm more likely to get beaned than to make the out. But a professional ballplayer who practices that play over and over still looks brilliant when he makes that split-second play. His reaction becomes a reflex. Why? Many reasons, I'm sure, not the least of which is inate talent. But for two main reasons, I suggest: practice and confidence.

Why does a batter hit a mid-season slump? Unless it's because of an injury or a change in training, the most often given reason is, "it's psychological." What does a good coach do? (Don't say "send him to the minors;" the owners have too much invested.) A good coach tells the batter to take extra practice, to focus, and to relax and keep his eye on the ball. A superior coach may just tell the pro to shake it off and remember all those fans back at home that idolize him--remind him that he's a winner, a future "Hall of Famer." Build up his confidence again.

[BTW, can you tell I'm ready for Opening Day?]

But maybe being a brilliant ballplayer doesn't involve intuition at all--perhaps it's all practice, preparation, and talent. Fair enough, but what's the batter's goal? Performance--pure and simple. Execution. Points on the board, runs batted in, getting on base, hitting a dinger.

So, maybe we don't need any stinkin' intuition for photoreading. What do we need? Practice? Sure. Preparation? It's one of Paul's steps! A little talent? Yep, maybe a bit. Confidence? Undoubtedly? And what do all these qualities lead us to?

The bottom line: performance.

But, in reading or anything else, can performance be enhanced by "immediate knowledge," that is, intuition? You bet! So is intuition about the materials at hand worth developing? Duh! No question.

And how do we develop intuition? Confidence and practice. Practice and confidence. Participation. A good, positive attitude. By keeping our eye on the ball--even if it's seeing out of the corner of our eye. By controlling our responses to and developing a mastery of the materials we're studying.

If this metaphor works for you, fine. If it doesn't--well, it's just a couple more weeks until Opening Day. Cheers!

--George

I think my take on intuition is a little different. My concept of intuition comes back to some of the other concepts we've been discussing lately. We've got this super powerful computer at our disposal. It is so powerful and gathers so much data that our little slice of awareness can't begin to cope with the data and the related analysis results.

So the computer chugs away anyway. It gathers all this data. It processes it. It comes to conclusions. All while we sit there happily and stare glassy-eyed at the TV. If the computer thinks the conclusion is important enough, it will send us a little signal. Depending upon some factor I couldn't begin to guess (maybe how the conclusion was reached, maybe based on how the initial data was gathered or stored) the brain will send us a signal. In our infinite wisdom, we ignore it because there is a Victoria's Secret commercial on or because the Iron Chef is making pudding from the intestines of some sea creature we didn't know existed. Whatever the reason, we ignore the signal. Over time, those signals get weaker (as Win Wenger says, we get what we reinforce). Occasionally, the brain decides that a conclusion is important enough to ratchet up the signal (maybe it heard footsteps in the alley ahead and gets our attention by sending a chill down our spine). Those we notice, if we're not totally pre-occupied.

So, intuition (to me), is information bubbling up from the big old super computer. What we have to do is train ourselves to pay attention to those signals. We have to train ourselves to recognize that they could come in a variety of ways (images, sounds, feelings, words,...) but that any of those ways could be valid. If we get what we reinforce, then beginning to notice and decipher those signals will help to strengthen them in the future. We may also have to go through a period of learning to interpret our own signals to begin to get value out of them.

This makes sense in the PR system if we accept that the unconscious mind is able to store and process PhotoRead information. In that case, intuition is our brain saying, "Hey, you gave me this purpose. In analyzing the copy of the book that I have stored away up here, I think you need to consciously look at THIS RIGHT HERE."

mgrego2:

Very well put! I don't think we're at odds at all, though. If the results of your "super computer" (I'm afraid mine's still just a 16-bit model ) chugging away bubbles up and you recognize those cues, great.

I don't disagree with that metaphor at all. My post was more process-oriented: "Is intuition important? Yes! How do I get it?" The net result is some form of immediate knowledge, whether it's the ball headed for your right ear at a hundred miles an hour or just an inkling of a point you just photoread and where you can find it in the text.

quote:

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If the computer thinks the conclusion is important enough, it will send us a little signal.

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So, how do we "tune in" those signals? That's my point. If you accept the principle, "If you don't use it, you lose it," then what conscious steps can you take to prepare for those signals and to pick up on them?

Perhaps we disagree on the methods of nurturing and enhancing intuition. I readily admit I'm no master, but I am by nature a bit pragmatic. I like a formula that works for me: practice, confidence, participation, attitude--all those things I mentioned above.

Got a better way? I'm all ears (maybe 'cause I just got smacked by that baseball)!

--George

George,

I agree that it takes practice, etc. I guess I wasn't interpreting your post correctly (I was probably ignoring the intuitive signals). Paul has some ideas in the book (page 141 of the 3rd edition) like: play games with it, notice information at the periphery of your awareness, explore the sensory perceptions inside you, etc. Some of those are helpful, some aren't so much.

Laura Day provides this procedure in one of her books (I think it was Practical Intuition):
- Get centered
- Focus on a specific question
- Notice the first impressions you receive in response to the question
- Interpret your impressions
- Verify your conclusions

This is probably a bit out of context without the supporting material but what she is saying is: get into a relaxed state by first noticing impressions from each of your five senses (what are you seeing, smelling, hearing, feeling physically, feeling emotionally?). Then ask yourself a question, blah, blah, blah (I think you can get the rest of what she's saying from this context).

She goes a little further to suggest that EVERYTHING we notice (image, sound, smell, feeling...) is an intuitive signal. Our job is to notice it, then learn to interpret it. It's an interesting idea that I really haven't tested out much. She offers up an exercise where you ask yourself a question each morning and suggest to your mind that the first time you experience a certain trigger, the very next thing you notice will be an answer to that question. For instance:

- How can I be more creative?
- My trigger today will be a bird song. After I hear the first bird song today, my very next thought, impression, image, etc. will be helpful information about being creative.

I hope this helps relate her ideas. Unfortunately, I always forget to notice the trigger...

Well, guys, i'm going to a Silva BLS workshop this weekend. The man who is giving it was trained by Jose Silva in 1971 & psychic training is his speciality. So, maybe i'll have something to report next week. Hope so!

I like Laura Day's Practical Intuition. It was the first book i purchased on intuition & is still a favorite. Sonia Choquette is also excellent. Her book Psychic Pathways is wonderful. I even MM chapters directly in the book. I can open it up & go directly to MM's.

Jose Silva trained many people to use their psychic abilities. He was very successful, but he cared more for humanity than anything else. He believed & proved it also that there are minds that can train other minds. Some people just learn & teach. But some teachers are so powerful that the things they teach automatically train other minds to actually do what they are teaching.

That's why people like Pete are so interested in Chunyi Lin. It's why i go take Mother Meera's darshan & Sai Baba's also. I've been a devotee of Swami's for 29 years! He can look at you & your life may never be the same again. Some of His looks are so powerful that you change immediately. Mother Meera also.

I FORGOT TO ADD THAT I NEVER WOULD HAVE BEEN INTO INTUITION EXCEPT FOR LEARNING STRATEGIES!!!

I NEVER REALIZED HOW LITTLE I TRUSTED MYSELF UNTIL I TOOK THE PHRING HOME STUDY COURSE.

THAT COURSE DID CHANGE MY LIFE!

mgrego2:

Your most recent post has sent me momentarily down a strange and twisted path. I went looking for my copy of Aldous Huxley's "The Doors of Perception." Didn't find the book, but I found the text online.

Huxley: "We live together, we act on, and react to, one another; but always and in all circumstances we are by ourselves. The martyrs go hand in hand into the arena; they are crucified alone. Embraced, the lovers desperately try to fuse their insulated ecstasies into a single self-transcendence; in vain. By its very nature every embodied spirit is doomed to suffer and enjoy in solitude. Sensations, feelings, insights, fancies - all these are private and, except through symbols and at second hand, incommunicable. We can pool information about experiences, but never the experiences themselves. "

The theme of Huxley's essay is, of course, his experiments with mescalin. Not my recommendation and not important, just mind the quote. Since reading is half of the communication process in this case, I think it's an interesting observation.

http://www.mescaline.com/huxley.htm

[Hold that thought.]

Then, I dug into a tape I'd made of some TV I was watching recently--not because of the program, but because of a commercial. It's my current favorite and one of my top, all-time best. If you want "pragmatic," commercials are it. They've got one simple job to do: sell.

Anyway, this is a Reebok commercial that's currently on here in the US (at least). The theme is "Defy Tradition. . .Convention. . .Whatever." I suppose they're trying to build market share or something silly like that. It's the presentation that's killer--must be a hundred jump shots! I just went through this frame-by-frame (thanks, Sony) and--although I've seen it dozens of times--I never picked up on even half the shots!

My wife watched it and said, "They blew up a shoe!" Of course they did, but I first noticed the woman sitting on the business end of a copier. My favorite shot is the kid who jumps over a moving car head on. There's also the Tennis Twins, a tropical soccer game in a downpour, a Sumo wrestler attempting gymnastics, a person releasing dogs from cages, an executive being hit with a pie, a man who cheats the electric chair--it goes on!

This is just a 30-second spot! Unless you slow it down and take it a frame at a time, you miss most of it. Even after watching it through several times that way, I couldn't consciously pick up all the shots at normal speed.

It begs the question, why? Why did they spend the obvious time, effort, and money to produce something you can't really watch?

In my opinion, the answer to that is a powerful endorsement of the mechanism behind photoreading. As I said, advertisers are pragmatic--they do what works. And they test. Especially before a national campaign with a prime time schedule.

So maybe your intuition--the link to your "other than conscious mind," can be coaxed as you say Laura Day suggests. Maybe, too, it can be slammed, shaken, bludgeoned, and dragged into the light of day--pressed into service by sheer sensory overload. Pushed, prodded, demanded, squeezed, dazed, and confused.

Maybe, as we go forward trying to wring a common experience from this solitude, these "insulated ecstacies," we should just agree on one thing.

Whatever works.

--George

Margaret:

Oops! I was composing as you were posting.

As you can see, I'm in a less esoteric and more mundane mode today. I don't disagree; I just don't have much to add to your observations.

--George