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Theorem One - Commentary by Agathos
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Introduction
The following represents one of the official commentary on theorem one. We quietly remind the reader that ultimately, each person must make their a commentary on the theorems for themselves. As noted previously, the main purpose of initiation is for the adherent to make their own commentaries and to come to their own conclusions.
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¤ - Theorem One "Every individual ...
THEOREM ONE
"Every individual has a particular personality due to the Law of Dissimilarity that governs Nature."
"This personality is expressed and affirmed in various degrees."
"The expression of personality depends upon the degree of freedom or restriction in the environment in which the individual has developed, whereas the affirmation of personality depends upon the individual's experience."
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Commentary του Agathos
TEACHING FOR THE ADHERENT
CONCERNING THE INDIVIDUAL
According to the above theorem, every individual has his or her own particular personality, which differs from that of others in various degrees, but enough to make it unique. We could accept this statement as a matter of course, yet upon closer examination we may perhaps observe further truths of capital significance.
To begin with, what do we mean by the term ‘personality’?
How do we differ from others? We differ from others in the particular way we express ourselves. It is this particular way that distinguishes us from our fellow-persons. Granted this, we can take as a first definition of the term ‘personality’: "the particular character of our expressions as a whole”.
When related to the sum total of our expressions, the term ‘personality’ bears a complex character and needs to be examined in greater detail.
By observing our various expressions, we can classify them into three categories:
physical or material expressions
psychical or emotional expressions and
spiritual or mental expressions.
We term physical expressions those that are perceived only through our senses. We identify a person by his or her external appearance and features. Height, complexion, gestures, posture, voice, etc. are some of the factors that enable us to recognize an individual and avoid confusing him or her with others. There are other expressions, such as language, bearing and gestures, common to particular groups, which are characteristic of a nation or a race. For example, we can tell that a person has lived in the Orient by their gestures and behaviour.
Thus we ascertain that even though we all generally have similar exterior forms and physical expressions, they differ from those of others. Each individual expresses a particular character and is distinguishable from others.
Psychical expressions are more difficult to perceive because they have to be deduced from impressions received. An individual may be strong- or weak-willed, impressive or easily impressed. Upon closer association, we can get to know his or her sentiments. A person may be motivated by love, kindness, generosity or altruism, or again may be bad, selfish, full of hatred, etc. Visibly, psychical expressions can also become apparent through facial expressions which manifest joy, anger, sadness, enthusiasm, indifference, fear, composure, daring, etc.
Though emotional expressions are common to all, their manner of expression is unique in each individual. In other words, we all love, hate, laugh or cry, yet each one of us does so in his or her own particular way.
Spiritual or mental expressions are still more difficult to determine because they require the study of those expressions that bear the stamp of the individual's thought and logic. People are of various degrees of intelligence: some grasp ideas quickly, others comprehend slowly; some have a keen power of observation, others lack it; some are imaginative, some strong-minded, some are narrow or broad minded, wise, foolish or slow-witted. We also observe particular mentalities: there are intellectuals, materialists, realists, idealists, positivists, optimists, pessimists, mathematically inclined etc.
Here again it is not difficult to note that expressions on the mental plane are common to all, but each one of us expresses them differently. Two idealists or two materialists often exchange views on a subject on which they basically agree, since each expresses his conceptions in a different and unique way.
We are obliged to conclude from the above that each one of us has a triple personality: physical, psychical, and spiritual. Furthermore, since it is different from the personality of others in its details, it is also different in its entirety. This fact is readily and easily ascertained and its reality compels one's recognition, regardless of one's particular conceptions.
Innumerable people have inhabited this earth, yet there have never been any two who were identical. Accordingly, we can assume the first premise of this theorem to be true. It states that "every person has his or her own particular personality".
Let us examine further this precept of dissimilarity, which governs Man. Is it a phenomenon particular to Man or can it be observed on other species as well?
A look around us is enough to convince us that dissimilarity is present everywhere. In fact, it can be observed in all creatures and in all manifestations of Nature. Whether animate or inanimate, each has some particular characteristic. Creation appears to us as a totality of beings and objects, containing no two identical monads. Science informs us that in Nature not only are there no two trees but also no two leaves exactly identical.
Why is this so?
It is so because everything in Nature is governed by a law, which can be termed the "Law of Dissimilarity". When a phenomenon is repeated, perpetuated, and constantly present in all manifestations of Nature as well as in Man, it cannot be the result of chance or coincidence. We are obliged to admit that it is a Law.
It is not enough, however, to acknowledge the existence of a law. We should seek the reason for its existence.
In order to achieve this, we need to examine the aims and effects of this law. Only so can we determine its necessity and importance.
Nature gives us the impression of a live, vibrating whole, in perpetual motion, continuously renewing itself by producing new forms of life to replace the old ones. Everything in Nature is movement, from the lowest to the highest, most complex being. Even the forms of life that appear to be static are maintained by the balancing effect of opposing forces.
Yet this continuous renewal and apparent stability of forms would not be possible were it not for the combination, opposition and difference of unequal forces. 'Unequal forces' are, of course, 'dissimilar forces'.
Let us imagine a point in Matter at which two or more forces of absolute and equal strength oppose each other. This point would remain inert and motionless and would not manifest any sign of life. Whether it pertains to the universe as a whole, to planetary systems, human beings, or to the most elementary forms of life, everything is in motion and keeps vibrantly alive by the balancing effect of unequal or dissimilar forces.
The wonder of Nature that charms us and attracts our curiosity and interest could not have been possible without Nature's variety of forms and the opposition and exchange of its properties. Beauty and harmony are feelings generated in us by the dissimilarity that governs everything in Nature.
This fact is so obvious that further arguments are superfluous.
Dissimilarity in manifestations in Nature is common knowledge. What perhaps everyone is not aware of is that dissimilarity is in fact a Law and not a stroke of chance. Without it, everything would be at a standstill and no manifestation of life could be possible.
Accordingly, let us examine the effects of dissimilarity on the individual in particular.
Our body is a constant wonder to all who attempt to study it. Yet this wonder of Nature, which appears to be an indivisible monad, is composed of a multitude of organs, each absolutely dissimilar to the other and each performing a totally different and specific task so as to ensure the harmony and the life of the whole. We need only imagine for a moment the non-existence of dissimilarity in various parts of our body to understand that it would then cease to live and exist.
Similar observations can be made as regards the emotional and mental planes in Man. Our emotional and mental activities are ensured by the variety of opposing sentiments and ideas.
On observing humanity as a whole, we can easily see the awe-inspiring results of the Law of Dissimilarity governing its members and their activities. Again, let us imagine for a moment a society in which all men were absolutely identical, felt and thought in the same way, had the same tastes and desires and the same opinions on everything. The result is obvious. A psychical and spiritual similarity would reign everywhere, denying all judgment and inter-exchange. We would have the strange spectacle of mass humanity deprived of all possibility of evolution and therefore completely useless.
Conversely, dissimilarity in tastes, desires, feelings, ideas and physical shapes forms beings who vibrate with life. Activity among them allows them to evolve. The constant exchange of dissimilar qualities, feelings and conceptions gives humanity an integral manifestation. Just like Man's body, humanity can thus live and evolve through the dissimilar and harmonious cooperation of its members.
We have greatly stressed the precept of dissimilarity because it constitutes an absolute and indispensable condition for our existence, evolution and happiness. It is a reality tacitly accepted by everyone. However, it has the disadvantage of being too evident. Man does not study the concept of dissimilarity seriously enough to draw all of its benefits and apply it for a better life.
We all know that we have the power of observation. Only a very few of us, however, use it to ascertain that dissimilarity is a Law of Nature and that we must constantly bear it in mind if we want to live and evolve normally.
Suffice it for the present to note that through our own thoughts and observations we have accepted the validity of the second assertion of the theorem: that "Each individual's particular personality is due to the Law of Dissimilarity that governs Nature".
We should further note that although personality exists within us, it is not always clearly defined, and usually underlies our habitual behaviour. In fact, we observe individuals whose characters are clearly defined; others whose characters are ambiguous, and still others - the majority - who have no character at all. An individual belonging to the first group always has his or her own opinion and personal manner of thinking. One in the second group is always hesitant as regards opinions and their expression. Lastly, one in the third group is always carried away by the opinions of others. In most instances, people in this last group hardly express any personal intellectual activity or have any definite psychical preference. Their physical appearance is their only distinguishable factor, and here too they tend to become colourless, imitating the gestures and behaviour of others.
The Theorem states that the expression of a personality “depends upon the degree of freedom of the environment in which the individual has developed”.
The environment we are born and raised in has a considerable influence upon us. By ‘environment’ we mean the particular atmosphere, emotional as well as mental, which is created among members of a group of people and is expressed in a particular way of feeling, thinking and overall behaviour. Thus, for each one of us, our family, our social standing, our nation, race, creed and education comprise so many ‘environments’, which have a definite way of expression.
All of these environments, whether large or small, were created on the one hand because of social necessity, and on the other because of perceptions and traditions, either good or bad, which people formed and adopted concerning various problems of common interest. We are imbued by them in our youth and we grow up within them. If, at any later time, our experience dictates different concepts, these clash with the accepted standards of our environment, standards that were deeply embedded within us as well. If our environment is not too conservative or rigid and has always allowed us to express ourselves freely and naturally, in accordance with our own reactions, then its influence will not be deeply felt when we express our personality, for we have grown free. Conversely, if the environment is conservative and rigid, it marks us deeply and almost always prevents us from expressing ourselves freely.
It is quite evident therefore that the environment has a more or less restrictive influence on the expression of one's personality.
According to the theorem “the affirmation of a personality depends upon the individual's experience”.
It would be easy to assume that affirming one's personality is imposing it. This is not the case. To affirm one's personality is to base it on personally acquired data and not on those borrowed from others. Which is the factor able to furnish us with personal data? Assuredly it is our particular experience from life and not a structured education whose aim is to imbue us with concepts that are mostly incompatible with our judgment.
Since we are dissimilar, no one else can observe the world and life for us or find solutions to its problems for us. Man is formed by Nature in a certain way and endowed with many faculties to be used for his own benefit, not to be ignored. We have been given the faculty of sight in order to see, the faculty of observation and comparison in order to observe and compare so as to judge and learn. No one else can do this for us as well as we can. Our natural faculties are not 'transmittable'.
The Theorem speaks about experience. We should not take experience to mean the number of happy or unhappy events in our life and the rather arbitrary interpretation we give them. It means the use of all of our natural faculties to get to know both the world in which we live and ourselves as part of this world. As such, we must abide by its laws and regulate our conceptions and our everyday life. Accordingly, this personal experience makes knowledge the foundation of personality. Our personally acquired knowledge, rather than another's view, is therefore a more edifying weapon for our behaviour and the basis of our personality.
This viewpoint does not mean that each one of us must re-discover gunpowder or re-invent the wheel. It means that we should exert ourselves so as to understand the problems that arise from what we have personally observed and contribute to their solution. This process is necessary since we are dissimilar and irreplaceable. Our personality will only be expressed when we have acquired knowledge through our own personal experience.
An individual needs more than mere classroom education in order to acquire and affirm a personality. Education is good; it is necessary, but it must be combined with one's own experience since experience alone permits the sifting out of fallacies and delusions and the retention of only the constructive elements. Education alone can be harmful and impractical if it turns one into a 'walking dictionary' echoing textbook concepts.
CONCLUSION
With the above, we have proved, by our own process of observation and deduction, that all the statements of the Theorem are absolutely valid and in accordance with reality. To recapitulate:
1st - Every individual has a particular personality.
2nd - This particular personality is due to the Law of Dissimilarity governing all things and beings in Nature.
3rd - The environment affects the expression of this personality in various degrees, depending on the freedom or restriction of thought in said environment.
4th - The affirmation of personality depends on the data and knowledge derived from the individual's personal experience.
This is all very well, but there would be no cause of satisfaction if our judgment were limited to a simple confirmation of the truths stated in the Theorem. Confirmation for its own sake is useless. It becomes useful in the degree that it benefits the individual. What benefit can we derive from the confirmation that we have just made?
In our opinion:
1st - Dissimilarity, a salient characteristic of all human beings, is not due to a behaviour of their own choosing but to a Law of Nature imposed upon them. Therefore, whenever Man does not express his own particular personality and does not affirm it through his own experience, he acts contrary to Nature.
No one would ever think - whatever the excuse - of acting contrary to Nature by not breathing or not nourishing one's self. What is more, one assiduously avoids going against Nature since, by doing so, one very soon submits to its destructive effects. The effects of some laws are sometimes direct and immediate whereas those of others are slower, though no less destructive to whoever violates them whether through ignorance or intent.
2nd - Since we have been created dissimilar, each one of us represents an irreplaceable monad. As a result, the lives we lead can be in accordance with our natural potential only in so far as our unique personality is made manifest.
3rd - All theories or tendencies that obstruct the free expression of personality are foredoomed by Nature and must be rejected.
4th - Because Man is a gregarious and social creature, the unavoidable inference derived from the findings of this Theorem is that humanity as a whole is a complex ‘form of life’, whose equilibrium and evolution can be ensured only by the dissimilar and conscious contributions of its members.
5th - Every violation of the Law of Dissimilarity, whether voluntary or through indifference, by the adoption of tendencies of uniformity, entails the deprivation of a factor that is necessary to our evolution. Our lives are then fruitless, for we have failed to perform our part as given us by Nature and have deprived humanity of a contribution that no other person could provide besides ourselves.
6th - By expressing one's unique personality one assumes one's natural responsibilities and honourably holds the place defined by Nature within the whole.
7th - Since the ‘law of life’ in society is Reciprocity, the necessary factor ensuring its application is the dissimilarity of its members.
By the above, we see that although we started off with very obvious truths, we have managed to derive both social and philosophic precepts of the utmost importance. Were these to be applied by each and every one, the direction of our efforts would change completely and would permit a hope for a better life, both individually and collectively.
However, we should not be too hasty in expecting this to happen soon because the task before us is not an easy one. Man has neglected far too long the importance of personality and has chosen a sham behaviour based on alien and erroneous premises; it will take time and great effort for him to 'find himself' and be able to benefit both himself and humanity. We intend to expound on this in the ensuing theorems.
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¤ Back to - Exposition of Theorem One
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Theorem 1