The Unexamined Life

Socrates is purported to have said that the unexamined life is not worth living, but he failed to explain how. Socrates also said, "Think not those faithful who praise thy words and actions, but those who kindly reprove thy faults."

Therefore, we shall kindly reprove our leaders for not acting on information presented by Richard W. Wetherill in his book Tower of Babel published January 1952. It explains how and why people's unwanted results are caused by their disregard for a little-known law of nature.

Wetherill had coined the word humanetics for his study, and the law is presented here as nature's law of absolute right. It calls for thoughts and actions that are rational and honest.

People behave as if they had multiple choices, but natural law states just two: what is right or what is wrong. Right works; wrong causes trouble.

Wetherill taught that among the principles people reason from many are counterfeits. Some people object to the term counterfeit principles, but consider counterfeit money. It is not real, but it attains a kind of reality when accepted. In that sense, there are counterfeit principles people habitually form, unknowingly causing their wrong results.

By releasing counterfeit principles, people are changed. The five points of humanetics are listed next:
1. What are counterfeit principles? They are commands to self that people form such as "My mind is made up and I won't change it" or "I'm afraid around strangers" or "It's my way or the highway."
2. How are they formed? When emotional, people do unrealistic thinking that gets lodged in memory as premises to be acted on such as "When I feel attacked I fight back" or "After what's happened I'll never be the same" or "People are out to get me."
3. What do counterfeit principles cause? They cause behavior contrary to nature's law of absolute right. "Nobody's going to tell me what to do" or "I want things to go my way" or "Nobody listens unless I shout."
4. How are they released? Provided a person wants to live a rational, honest life, when concepts are recognized as counterfeit principles, they drop from memory and no longer influence behavior.
5. What results? Meaningful relationships, problems get resolved, stress leaves, and well-being results.

Observing people's behavior confirms the validity of nature's behavioral law. Counterfeit principles permeate conversations such as "If I don't like it I won't do it" or "I don't like to make changes" or "Nobody understands me" or "I hate being told what to do."

It is widely known that lifestyles impact people's well-being, but despite warnings, many people continue irrational or dishonest lifestyles. This writing states the right formula: Base your decisions on what is rational and honest to receive the protection of a self-enforcing natural law.

To paraphrase Socrates: "Think not those faithful who praise thy words and actions, but those who kindly reprove thee of thy counterfeit principles."