desire

Desire (欲望) Thread Archive

1. What are Seth's specific claims about this concept? How many times, in which books, and did the wording change over time?

The material does not address this.

2. What mechanism does he provide?

First, desire is, at the ontological level, the fundamental driving force of creativity. "Desires, wishes, and expectations dominate all behavior and are the basis of all reality" [early-sessions-9 §427]; within All That Is, creative wishes, desires, and expectations exist prior to all other realities [early-sessions-9 §427]; the power and vitality of these yearnings become so unbearable that All That Is is compelled to seek out methods for producing them [early-sessions-9 §427].

Second, at the individual level, desire must satisfy several conditions in order to be translated into reality. "Conscious desires must work in concert with subconscious expectations and not be opposed by them" [early-sessions-2 §81]; sufficient emotional impetus must be released, and this will occur at the subconscious level [early-sessions-2 §81]; communication between the conscious and subconscious (i.e., between the inner self and the outer self) must be unobstructed [early-sessions-2 §81]; if a conscious desire is merely a superficial, culturally acquired wish, or even conflicts with the emotionally charged desires and expectations of the inner self, then the ostensibly desired outcome is in fact neither truly desired nor truly expected, and the ensuing material manipulation will not succeed [early-sessions-2 §81].

Third, the execution of desire is arranged by the inner self. "The inner self performs the actual work and brings about the events you have decided to occur" [mass-events §822]; if you wish to change jobs and hold that desire, a new job will enter your experience in exactly the same manner, because the inner events will be arranged by the inner self [mass-events §822]; when there is no conflict among desire, belief, and the execution of action, the action itself will flow smoothly [mass-events §822]; if you believe a certain behavior is dangerous due to a mistaken assessment of reality, you will obstruct the flow between desire and execution, and the creative energy flow initiated by the inner self will be impeded [mass-events §822].

Fourth, the intensity and direction of desire can alter or counteract existing states. "The energy of any structure can be weakened by another powerful energy force" [early-sessions-9 §481]; for example, a desire for work—held with enthusiasm and emotional intensity—can counteract poor health conditions [early-sessions-9 §481].

3. Are there observable inferences or explicit predictions (including time, quantity, conditions)?

• Desire realizes itself directly in the inner world: "In the inner world, your desires bring about their own fulfillment, effortlessly" [magical-approach §?]; but in the physical world, "time may have to pass, or conditions may have to change," and desire will still bring about the appropriate result [magical-approach §?]. This is a conditional prediction without specifying concrete time or quantity.
• Expectation (not mere desire) is the key trigger for material construction: "Desire may grow into expectation, but desire alone is not enough," and "expectation is the main trigger that actually transfers inner data into the field of material construction" [early-sessions-2 §76]. Explicit prediction: "A dangerous expectation does indeed create danger, and a successful expectation creates success" [early-sessions-2 §76].
• Under specific conditions, consciousness can guide the subconscious in manipulating matter; when the following three conditions are met, "the subconscious manipulation of matter may frequently follow the desires of the conscious mind automatically": (1) conscious desires must be consistent with subconscious expectations and not opposed by them; (2) sufficient emotional impetus must be released; (3) communication between the conscious and subconscious must be good [early-sessions-2 §81]. This prediction gives no precise timing but provides testable conditions.
• If desire is extremely vivid, it may project a pseudo-physical form identical to the original self at a distant location; this form "will usually not be seen by others; in the future, scientific instruments will very likely be able to perceive it" [seth-speaks §530]. This is an observable inference, with the additional note that "at present, those who have learned to use the inner senses may perceive such images" [seth-speaks §530].
• When the natural impulse toward action is denied over a long period, its intensity will "explode into whatever avenues of escape remain open," such as fanatical behavior, or in extreme cases suicidal impulses become the sole avenue of expression [mass-events §857]. This prediction is conditional (impulses denied, not trusted) and specifies outcome types, but gives no time or quantity.
• When individuals hold conflicting purposes (e.g., wanting fame while believing fame leads to misfortune), their behavior will unconsciously sabotage good relationships or opportunities, and "those who believe life itself has little meaning will begin to imagine obstacles in their path" [mass-events §833]. This description is not a precise prediction but constitutes an observable pattern of psychological behavior.

4. Where did he say science of his time was wrong, and in what direction should it look?

In what direction should it look? The material indicates that science should recognize "desire" as a fundamental characteristic of existence—"you are born because you desired to be born," and the same holds for plants [magical-approach §?]. The direction should therefore shift toward: acknowledging the interaction of consciousness, intent, and the genetic system, recognizing that the genetic system responds to thoughts and emotions, and participates in the planning of future probabilities [dreams-evolution-2 §910]. Science should abandon mechanistic, deterministic, and reductionist views of genetics, and instead seek a larger frame of reference that includes consciousness, intent, and genetics [dreams-evolution-2 §910]. It should also recognize the forces of union and cooperation in nature, rather than isolation and competition [magical-approach §?]. When scientific methods are disproportionate to their intent, they border on an anti-scientific attitude—when methods are inadequate to carry their purpose, they undermine respect for the sacredness of life [mass-events §868].

5. What experiments or exercises did he suggest? What did Jane and Rob actually do and observe at the time?

Experiments/exercises suggested by Seth

• Seth encouraged Jane and Rob to try various experiments on their own, calling them "homework," and said "abilities can be trained to some degree in this way," but gave no specific operational steps [early-sessions-1 §12].
• Seth suggested regular sessions twice a week at 9 PM, with Monday and Wednesday being more suitable, and considered the use of the board (the ouija board) an important ritualistic means of contact, helpful for emphasizing the material [early-sessions-1 §12].
• After Jane experienced a prolonged dissociative state, Seth instructed her "not to attempt any external experiments for a week," saying "his wings must be clipped temporarily," because her energy was focusing too rapidly and the ego was resisting [early-sessions-3 §140].
• After Rob attempted to suggest to his subconscious that the car's fuel consumption be reduced, Seth did not directly comment on the experiment, but Rob recorded that the vehicle did indeed use about two quarts less oil on the return trip [early-sessions-2 §80].

Experiments Jane and Rob actually conducted

• On the evening of January 4, 1964, at Seth's suggestion, Jane and Rob attempted a spontaneous experiment: drawing the curtains, using a red Christmas light, laying out a black triangular cloth, placing Jane's wedding ring on it, and sitting facing each other with hands flat on the cloth; they later switched to a Spanish-American military insignia and, with the lights off, sat in darkness [early-sessions-1 §12].
• In this experiment, Rob obtained a color vision with his eyes closed (about a man walking down a road), while Jane observed that her hands and the metal insignia sometimes "disappeared," though she was not concerned about their nonexistence [early-sessions-1 §12].
• After about an hour of sitting with no results, Rob began asking Jane random questions, and Jane spontaneously spoke in an ordinary voice, relating a vision of a girl named Sarah Wellington in a 1748 English shoemaker's shop who was burned to death; Rob's notes, written in the dark, were remarkably clear and complete [early-sessions-1 §12].
• Jane entered dissociative states multiple times during psy-time experiments: on November 4, 1964, she unintentionally entered a trance state lasting several hours (see Section 103), and on February 8, 1965, she entered a semi-trance state through reading and another psy-time experiment (see Section 130) [early-sessions-3 §140].
• On March 15, 1965, Jane again entered a prolonged state during a psy-time experiment, feeling her hands light and experiencing a sense of "being able to fly"; she had to concentrate to complete daily tasks, and the state subsided after dinner; she suspected she had given herself improper self-suggestions [early-sessions-3 §140].
• Around May 10, 1965, Jane heard the word "twelve-o-five" in a state of morning drowsiness (a low male whisper), which she confirmed via pendulum as random telepathy; on another occasion, while drowsy, she stood in grayish-white smoke and smelled smoke, and the experience ended when she felt panic [early-sessions-4 §153].
• Jane and Rob worked to resume regular pendulum practice, and Rob also attempted to suggest to his subconscious that the car's fuel consumption be reduced (see above) [early-sessions-4 §153, early-sessions-2 §80].
• During a vacation, Rob attempted a "half-hearted experiment": suggesting to his subconscious that the car use less fuel on the return trip than on the outward trip; upon arriving home he felt at least two quarts less oil had been used, and the gas station attendant twice told him no refueling was needed [early-sessions-2 §80].
• On the evening of August 24, 1964 (Section 80), after Seth's brief talk, Jane and Rob also attempted several experiments, but obtained no clear results, with only Rob feeling the "familiar sense of excitement" [early-sessions-2 §80].

6. Supplementary or contradictory material from other concepts in the corpus related to this concept?

• A strong desire can, without the conscious mind's awareness, project a pseudo-physical form identical to the person at the location desired, with that form bearing the imprint of the person's personality and image [seth-speaks §530].

• If the desire is even stronger and the energy core larger, part of the person's stream of consciousness is transferred to the projected form, so that the person instantaneously becomes aware, at a distance, of the environment they originally occupied [seth-speaks §530].

• Every individual burns with the desire to act, to perform beneficial and altruistic actions, and to leave a mark upon the world; when this natural impulse toward action is denied and distrusted over a long period, its intensity explodes into whatever avenues of escape remain open [mass-events §857].

• An individual may simultaneously hold two clearly opposed purposes: for example, wanting fame while believing fame or fortune brings misfortune, or wanting to marry and have children while being convinced that love is wrong—these conflicting purposes each arise from their respective desires [mass-events §833].

7. Questions not yet asked

1. Can the Implicit Association Test (IAT) or an affective Simon task be used to operationally measure an index of consistency between an individual's conscious desires and subconscious expectations, and to test the predictive validity of this index for the rate of goal-behavior attainment?
2. Using a predictive coding framework, can an event-related potential (EEG) experiment be designed in which stimuli are presented after a cue of "expected success," examining whether P300 or error-related negativity varies with expectation intensity, thereby testing the observable neural correlates of "expectation as the main trigger for material construction"?
3. Can a laboratory study using highly sensitive electromagnetic field sensors or infrared thermography be designed to detect statistically repeatable physical anomalies in the surrounding space of subjects during deep meditation or intense desire focus, thereby testing Seth's prediction that "pseudo-physical forms" can be perceived by future instruments?
4. Based on the stop-signal task for response inhibition, can the behavioral performance and fMRI brain activity (e.g., right prefrontal activation differences) of individuals who have chronically suppressed action impulses be compared with controls, to test the neurobehavioral hypothesis of "impulse eruption into other avenues after suppression"?
5. Can neurofeedback training enhance switching flexibility between the default mode network and the executive control network, and can post-training improvements in the fluency of execution from desire to action (e.g., task initiation time and completion efficiency) be measured, thereby indirectly testing the neural plasticity mechanisms underlying "the inner self's arrangement of events"?

Appendix: Claim List (for Phase C)

id	Claim	Type	Source
desire-1	Desires, wishes, and expectations dominate all behavior and are the basis of all reality, and creative wishes exist prior to all other realities.	Ontological assertion	early-sessions-9 §427
desire-2	Conscious desires must work in concert with subconscious expectations, not be opposed by them, release sufficient emotional impetus, and have unobstructed communication between the conscious and subconscious.	Mechanism description	early-sessions-2 §81
desire-3	The inner self performs the actual work and brings about the events you have decided to occur; when desires, beliefs, and actions are in conflict-free alignment, action flows smoothly, while erroneous assessments obstruct the creative energy flow.	Mechanism description	mass-events §822
desire-4	The energy of any structure can be weakened by another powerful energy force; for example, passionate desire for work can counteract poor health conditions.	Mechanism description	early-sessions-9 §481
desire-5	Expectation is the main trigger that actually transfers inner data into the field of material construction; a dangerous expectation does indeed create danger, and a successful expectation creates success.	Testable prediction	early-sessions-2 §76
desire-6	If desire is extremely vivid, it may project a pseudo-physical form identical to the original self at a distant location; this form will usually not be seen by others, but future scientific instruments will very likely perceive it.	Testable prediction	seth-speaks §530
desire-7	When the natural impulse toward action is denied over a long period, its intensity will explode into whatever avenues of escape remain open, potentially leading to fanatical behavior or suicidal impulses.	Testable prediction	mass-events §857
desire-8	Seth suggested regular sessions twice a week at 9 PM and considered the use of the board an important ritualistic means of contact.	Methodological suggestion	early-sessions-1 §12
desire-9	Jane and Rob attempted experiments at Seth's suggestion, using a red Christmas light, black triangular cloth, etc.; Jane observed her hands and the insignia "disappear," Rob obtained color visions, and spontaneously related a vision.	Experimental record	early-sessions-1 §12
desire-10	Rob suggested to his subconscious that the car's fuel consumption be reduced, and the vehicle indeed used about two quarts less oil on the return trip.	Case evidence	early-sessions-2 §80
desire-11	When individuals hold conflicting purposes (e.g., wanting fame while believing fame leads to misfortune), their behavior will unconsciously sabotage good relationships or opportunities.	Mechanism description	mass-events §833