psychoceramics: Fwd: Evolve a Messiah? Evolve a Savior? Evolve a Christ?

[Bruce Baugh <arisian @ eyrie.org>]

From: Rudolph_X <rudy @ topsecret.gov>
Newsgroups: alt.conspiracy
Subject: Evolve a Messiah? Evolve a Savior? Evolve a Christ?
Date: Tue, 30 Sep 1997 22:26:58 -0400
Organization: I.E.S.

O.K. I'm glad you asked! Perhaps the Aliens are also working on a plan
similar to my own. I'll discuss how the "Alien Question" relates to all
this later. But, for now, I'd like to give a little background
information first. 

I am the Founder & Director of the "INSTITUTE FOR THE EVOLUTION OF A
SAVIOR." The IES is the first formal scientific organization in the
history of the world to conduct research, conference, and literally plan
for the evolution of a "Christ." 

Science now provides substantial evidence to support the belief that the
existence of a Savior, such as the one symbolized by the word "Messiah"
or "Christ," is within the realm of life's evolutionary potential. 

In my new myth shattering book, "SCIENTIFIC SALVATION: THE QUEST FOR
ULTIMATE SURVIVAL," I give the details of my scientific "THEORY AND PLAN
FOR THE EVOLUTION OF A SAVIOR," and also raise other issues involving
the questions of "Apostles from Space," and the possibility of a "Cosmic
Christ" evolving elsewhere in the universe. You should obtain a copy of
my book if you want to consider all the evidence for yourself. 

The following is a brief and general abstract. My contributions to this
forum will be simply written. Technical terms, and especially the
mathematical arguments relating to the cybernetic principles involved,
will be avoided as much as possible, so that these ideas can be
accessible to anybody who is interested in learning more. 

Unfortunately, right now, very few people are even remotely aware that
the evolution of a "Christ" is within the realm of the human
evolutionary potential. Fewer still have even the slightest idea of what
they can do to contribute to this great evolutionary task. However,
thanks to people like you, people with inquiring minds, I am filled with
confidence that some day the information that I and others before me
have tried so hard to expose shall become common knowledge to the vast
general masses of mankind. 

For thousands of years the Church has taught that we should allow the
spirit of Christ to enter into our hearts, and let it reside there. My
"Theory and Plan for the Evolution of a Savior" does nothing more than
to give this one most fundamental doctrine of the Church a scientific
foundation, and explain how this can lead to the evolution of a Savior.

I am not advocating a new religion. I am advocating a new vision of
reality, one based on an enlightened scientific perspective. I believe
that Science can provide a fuller understanding and a truer vision of
the nature of reality. A truer vision of reality gives us a better
conception of ourselves. Even the ancient Greeks knew, that to "know
thyself," is the foundation of all wisdom.

"The interested spectator is hardly aware yet how far-reaching the
effect is in changing the image of man."[1]

Our conception of ourselves is of the utmost significance because what
we believe about ourselves helps determine how we behave, and how we
behave helps determine what we will become. Nearly two thousand years
ago, it was written, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." More
recently, science has, to a degree, confirmed this statement. 

The "self-image" concept, postulated by Prescott Lecky, a Columbia
University psychologist and pioneer in self-image psychology, who
originally called the concept "self-consistency," showed us the powerful
impact an adequate self-image can have on changing human behavior.[2] 

Cultural evolution takes place with the acquisition of new knowledge.
New knowledge of ourselves helps to build and changes our self-image.
The self-image is our own deep seated conception of who and what we are.
What is man? Where did he come from? And, where is he going? The answers
we arrive at to these questions will help to form our belief systems.
Our belief systems are the interrelated beliefs we have about ourselves
and the world around us. What we believe about ourselves and the world
around us influences our every thought and act. When we come to
understand that our role as human beings can be to give rise to the
evolution of a Christ, we will automatically behave in a way consistent
to bring about the desired result. What is the purpose of life, the
meaning of human existence, if it is not to contribute to the evolution
of a Christ? What else can assure our ultimate survival?

I am not talking about a predetermined innate purpose inherent in the
universe. My contention is that man can introduce his will and purpose
into the evolutionary process. Our role in the universe is one we can
choose for ourselves. We can choose to contribute to the evolution of a
Savior if we wish to do so. Mankind is free to choose. The whole basis
of the nobility of man is derived from this liberty. Our role in the
universe is not predetermined. We have the freedom and the
responsibility to choose our own evolutionary goal, and we have the
capability of becoming "masters of our souls and captains of our
destiny." 

Philip Handler, President of the National Academy of Sciences, reporting
for the Survey Committee on the Life Sciences, which was appointed by
the Committee on Science and Public Policy, clearly stated: "Although
man arose out of an evolutionary process that he didn't understand and
over which he had no control, he must realize that he is unique in the
known living world in the realization that the responsibility for the
continuance of this process is his. ... The evolutionary view gives man
not only a sense of humility but also a sense of responsibility. The
question is not whether man is to influence evolution or not; he is
already doing so, and indeed changing things more rapidly now than at
any other time in recent history. He now has not only the opportunity to
influence the other species, as he has done in the past with domestic
plants and animals, but also the opportunity - perhaps the obligation - 
to influence his own future evolution. The capacity of biologists to
develop ways by which man can determine his future evolution is
undoubted. The more difficult question is whether he will choose to make
such decisions, and with what wisdom."[3]

"Fata viam invenient." (The Fates will find a way.) If the way exists,
we will find it. Human beings are endowed with a built in success
mechanism; call it an innate instinct for survival. We all have it, and
it functions to a greater or lesser degree depending upon other factors
I will not go into now. This mechanism is much like that in a guided
missile system. Consider, how does a guided missile unerringly reach its
goal? Tried and proven principles of the science of cybernetics devised
and developed by some of the most prominent scientists in the world are
involved in creating such systems. Amazingly, mankind already is endowed
with a built-in guidance system that functions very similarly to that of
the cybernetic model, which took nature 15 to 20 billion years to
evolve. All we need do is to set the goal, to stoke it with desire, and
our built-in guidance system will be put into action.

Twelve years after Prescott Lecky did his original research on the
tremendous benefits that can be derived from an adequate self-image, Dr.
Norbert Wiener, professor of mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology, published his book "Cybernetics."[4] The book was filled
with arcane mathematical equations, and was only fully understood by a
small number of scientists who had become familiar with his work for the
government during World War II when he devised a method for keeping
guided missiles on target.

Dr. Wiener also published "The Human Use of Human Beings,"[5] a book for
the general public, in which he demonstrated that the same cybernetic
principles could be used by humanity to achieve desirable goals.

Cybernetics regards humans as being highly complex goal striving beings,
or human "servo-mechanisms," with a built-in guidance system directed by
human consciousness,  which can work in two ways: (1) where the target,
goal or "answer" is known, and the objective is to reach it, and (2)
where the target or "answer" is not known and the objective is to
discover or locate it. The human brain and nervous system has been shown
to operate in both ways. A human being's "built-in success mechanism"
must have goals. It is teleological in that it operates on or must be
oriented to "end results," or goals.[6] This is why it is so important
for humanity to have an evolutionary goal.

It should not be difficult for us to imagine how in combining the
self-image concept with cybernetic principles we can arrive at a
symbiotic concept powerful and potent enough to give an overall
direction to human evolutionary development. Certainly, many other
factors also enter into my formula and theory, but I will not go into
those extraneous though pertinent details here.

I know that nothing spoken in the English language can compare with
mathematical proofs, and a lot of people won't believe it unless they
see the formulas written out in irrefutable mathematical terms. Yes, my
"Theory and Plan for the Evolution of a Savior" has been put into just
such mathematical terms, but it is impossible to post a mathematical
argument on this Bboard. So, if you want to see the mathematical
arguments, you'll just have to buy the book.

Everyone shares in the responsibility for the future. This duty we all
share can be transformed into constructive effort only if we come to
understand the full meaning of our lives, the significance of our
struggles, and if we keep faith in the highest ideals to which we can
aspire. Basic faith changes man's life. It gives him something to hope
for and strive toward, despite its intangible form and abstract nature.
Faith in a better more prosperous future helps man to rise above his
problems, and provides the strength and motivation that come from hope.
Scientific research is possible only because of faith in basic
assumptions. Without faith in his ability to perform a new feat mankind
would not have progressed in any field of endeavor. New ways are
constantly being found to prolong life, ease hardships, and improve many
of the conditions which have hampered man's advancement, happiness, and
longevity. Knowledge and faith motivate action. An evolutionary goal
gives us direction.

Revolutionary new concepts that aim to put an end to old age and death
as we now know them are being investigated with surprising determination
all around the world. Today, when we speak of immortality and of going
to other worlds, we no longer mean these in a theological or
metaphysical sense. "People are now striving for immortality. People are
now traveling to other worlds."[7] Very soon it will be possible to
extend human life indefinitely. After thousands of years of desperate
struggle against death and deepest anguish at its inevitability there is
at last hope of winning that struggle. In research centers around the
world efforts are now accelerating to overcome aging and, in time, death
itself.

The dinosaurs existed and evolved for 150 million years before becoming
extinct 65 million years ago; Hominoid like creatures can be traced back
2 million years or so. Recorded human civilization is around 5,000 years
old. If man can continue to evolve for nearly as long as the dinosaurs
did, 150 million years, can you imagine what mankind may become? Just
look at how far we've come in the past several thousand years! Can you
imagine what the outcome of another several hundred million years of
human evolution could produce? I know it boggles the mind to even begin
to consider such questions. In terms of space and time the universe is
vast beyond our comprehension, not counted in hundreds of millions of
years, but perhaps in hundreds of billions of years, and for all we know
it may even be infinite. Looked at in these terms, who could set limits
on our human evolutionary potential? Who could deny the possibility for
the evolution of a Christ?

"Every age is shaped by its concept of the basic nature of reality.
People may be quite unconscious of the concept but it pervades all their
ideas and, reinforced by major social institutions, influences their
every thought and act."[8]

"What mankind believes about itself is of the utmost importance for it
will determine the kind of world that he will make and even his own
fate. ... The serious division in the world today is not so much on
social, economical or political issues as on this basic question of what
man really is."[9]

The scientific perspective not only influences the way we see ourselves,
it also influences the way we see "Christ." Andre Malraux, one of the
great literary figures of our century said, "Science can do anything for
man except form him. What forms man has always been the belief in an
exemplary sort of character," such as a Messiah or Christ.

Down through most of recorded history mankind's basic vision of reality
was primarily formed by religious and political indoctrination. The
religions told people how to behave and what to believe about who they
were, where they came from, and where they were going. The political
powers told the people about their nationalism, patriotism, about their
social history, and about how and why to behave as responsible law
abiding citizens.

Historically, many of these theological constructs and political
concepts regarding the nature of reality have emerged, been developed,
and were used to control the public mind, and keep it in line with the
purposes of the ruling classes. Eventually over the course of time these
concepts change; a society outgrows archaic concepts; these outdated
modes of thinking lose their power and disintegrate, and then they are
eventually replaced by other more acceptable and effective ideas. This
breakdown usually occurs "when a civilization loses a positive image of
its future, since the image of the future motivates action, provides a
criterion for selecting priorities, and literally forms the future for
that civilization."[8]

In our time there has been a disintegration of the
Fundamentalist-Religious concept which "trusted in God to care for man
in the next life," and the Mechanistic-Science concept which "trusted
science to lead mankind toward inevitable progress in this life." The
breakdown of these views has left mankind "destitute of hope, with no
afterlife to pray for and no desirable earthly future to strive
toward."[8] Without the moral foundation these views engendered, our
society's values have and still are continuing to degenerate. We need a
new "myth" for modern man.

"God became inoperative in a mechanistic universe; evolution operated
through random selection and survival of the fittest; the universe was
inevitably running down to a 'heat death' as entropy increased; no
future was possible beyond this transient life; all religious
aspirations appeared false; there was no purpose in life except what one
gave to it; forces beyond man's conscious reason were in control; man
was inalterably an aggressive, competitive animal motivated by sex,
power, and economic greed. We were alone in a godless universe, an
accident of nature, victims of natural forces within and without, and
would be destroyed by the powers we had unwittingly released.

"After World War II an impending sense of doom gathered. Threats of
nuclear holocaust, environmental disasters, riots, crime, and urban
decay mounted. There appeared to be no hope, no faith, no vision of the
future to motivate action. People dropped out, turned off, or otherwise
sought escape. ... But now, out of an evolutionary dead end, a new
concept of the nature of reality is emerging. ... It is a vision of
human existence in another dimension, of humanity taking conscious
evolutionary steps toward the harmonious use of humanity's total
capacities in consonance with the laws of nature."[8]

"The change under way begins with the individual reassessment of
personal values and potentialities. This change gathers momentum as the
individual discovers increased personal capability for growth and
fulfillment. It takes on social significance when the individual begins
to apply his new appreciation for the wider horizons of consciousness
within the social milieu. This effort will be collective but not
political, a coordinated growth arising not on the basis of alliances or
agreements but out of a fundamentally shared view of man and his
unfolding possibilities."[10]

Dr. Maxwell Maltz said that the most adequate self-image a human being
could possess, was to conceive of yourself "as being made in the image
of God."[6] 

You cannot conceive of yourself as being in the image of a "Christ,"
deeply and sincerely, with full conviction, and not receive a new source
of strength and power. If mankind were to collectively adopt this new
self-image our world will have undergone the greatest societal
transformation in human history, and the next evolutionary phase in
human evolution will have begun.

We at the "Institute for the Evolution of a Savior" are heralds and
champions of this new vision of reality. We have proposed a specific
program through which a great progressive societal transformation may be
achieved. Join in the great quest for the evolution of a Christ! "Know
thyself."

We don't need your financial support. What we need is for you to become
thinking, caring individuals with conscience, real human beings, willing
to share your hard earned knowledge with others. Be a link in this
fantastic chain reaction of the mind's awakening to the human
evolutionary potential. Spread the word.

"It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness."

My bodacious vision may inspire some hope for our future. This quest is
certainly a monumental undertaking. My "theory and plan" is a rough
blueprint and guideline for our accomplishing the seemingly impossible,
provided only if we choose to try. Once thought foolish and impractical
we set out on this high endeavor because countless men and women trust
in the unique human ability to solve problems. Empowered by their
determination and intellect they choose to labor, step by step, and make
real some things that had been only the stuff of fantasy since the
beginnings of humanity. The evolution of a Christ is made possible only
because we choose to engage in the quest for it. 

John F. Kennedy said, "We choose to go to the moon, and to do the other
thing." Not long after he made his statement, men left footprints on the
moon. Now the American flag is planted on the lunar surface. These are
the kind of things dreams are made of. They become real when we choose
to make it happen. No one doubts that our labors are required, if we are
to survive, and if we are to achieve our goals. Our ability as a species
and as a people are tested by such great endeavors, when we imagine such
things and decide to make them happen. The solutions to many of our most
pressing problems are now within our grasp. We can contribute, each in
our own way, to the promise and potential of mankind. With the
collective effort of mankind anything is possible, given time and effort
there is no difficulty we cannot overcome. When mankind chooses to make
the effort, in both the eye of God and within the reach of humanity all
these things are possible. Such things require only the taking of small
steps, one after another, steps of effort and steps of faith, a step
like the ones that took us from the earth to the moon, a small step for
a man, a giant leap for humanity.


_________________________


1. Jacob Bronowski, "The Ascent of Man," Little, Brown & Co., Boston,
1973, p. 13.

2. Perscott Lecky, "Self Consistency, A Theory of Personality," Island
Press, New York, 1937.

3. Philip Handler, ed., "Biology and the Future of Man," Oxford
University Press, New York, 1970, p. 492.

4. Norbert Wiener, "Cybernetics: Control and Communication in the Animal
and the Machine," John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1948.

5. Norbert Wiener, "The Human Use of Human Beings: Cybernetics and
Society," Houghton Mifflin Co., New York, 1950. 

6. Maxwell Maltz, "Psycho-Cybernetics," Prentice-Hall, New Jersey, 1960.

7. F. M. Esfandiary, "Up-Wingers: A Futurist Manifesto," Popular
Library, New York, 1973, p. 137.

8. Barbara Hubbard, "The Futurist," February 1974, Volume VIII, No. 1,
p. 28-30.

9. Edmund W. Sinnot, "Mind, Matter, and Man," Harper & Rowe, New York,
1957.

10. Harold H. Bloomfield, et. al., "Transcendental Meditation," Dell
Publishing, New York, 1975, p. 212.