WHAT IS A RED BALLOON?
What is a red balloon? Whatever one
thinks a red balloon is, is ones belief regarding
red balloons. The word "is" says allot about
beliefs. It shows that ones beliefs are fluid, changing
as one gathers new information and amends decisions, and
are a collection of observations. These observations are
really associations. One associates the observations with
a concept creating a belief. i.e. conceptualization.
Observations, or associations, define the belief. Without
observations, concepts are meaningless. Examine the
following observations regarding the concept "red
balloon":
The following associations are being made for the concept
"A red balloon":
Concept equals Observation
A
red balloon is round when filled and flat when
empty.
A red balloon is often filled with exhaled air or
with helium.
A red balloon is colored red (reflecting red light
frequencies).
A red balloon is made of rubber.
A red balloon is knotted where the air goes in to
keep the air from escaping.
A red balloon is often connected by a string at
the knot.
A red balloon is light as a feather and may float.
A red balloon is temporary as it can pop and will
eventually lose air.
A red balloon is something I can probably afford.
A red balloon is basically useless except as
decoration.
A red balloon is something signifying a
celebration.
There are formal rules to observations and propositions
made from associations which determine the validity of
the proposition. For example, it would not logically
follow to say "If it is made of rubber then it is a
red balloon". This proposition would be invalid
logically since there are many things which are made of
rubber that are not red balloons. There are four logical
possibilities when using the words like "is"
and "are" (making associations) in
propositions. These are the following:
LOGICAL POSSIBILITES
All "A" are "B"
No "A" are "B"
Some "A" are "B"
Some "A" are not "B"
The concepts, or terms, "A" and "B",
also must adhere to certain rules in order for a
proposition to make sense and in order for the logic to
be valid. These are as follows:
Law of Non-Contradiction: A term cannot both be and not
be at the same time. "A" cannot be equal to
"No A" or "Not A"
Law of Exclusion: A term either is or is not.
"A" must be defined so as to exclude things
which are not "A". A vague term is useless in a
proposition.
Law of Identity: A term is what it is. "A" must
indeed be "A"
If these formal rules are adhered to, any conclusion
which follows necessarily from them will be logical. If
one makes observations or associations that are not
logical, it follows that soon one will be making
illogical conclusions and thus have illogical beliefs.
A single observation usually is not enough to define a
unique concept. When one gathers enough observations
which together identify something unique, one creates a
concept which is in and of itself a belief in which the
observations are associated with the concept. For
example, if one just started listing the observations
above regarding the red balloon to a friend and asked
what it was one was describing, it would not take long
before ones friend would say "a red balloon".
Now suppose there was an additional observation which was
a part of ones belief on what a red balloon is. Suppose
the following observation and association was part of
ones belief on what a red balloon is:
A red balloon is painful and reminds me of the
time I got stung by a bee.
Now, every time one sees a red balloon, one remembers the
bee sting and feels the pain. Obviously, this association
contains error because it associates a painful
observation and a red balloon. It is not logical to
associate the bee sting with what a red balloon is. The
red balloon had nothing to do with the bee sting, but
perhaps at the time one didn't know that. It was the bee
that caused the sting, but one of ones observations at
the time was the red balloon.
How then to remove the pain from ones concept of what a
red balloon is? First, one has to want to remove it.
Think of how much pain one is going to have to live with
if every time one sees a red balloon one thinks of being
stung. Second, realize that the red balloon did not cause
the sting. It was the bee. Third, associate happiness
with the red balloon instead of sadness. Think of how
much joy the red balloon may have brought one before one
was stung. Take a red balloon in ones hand and see how
there are no bees around. Likewise, look at a bee and see
how there are no red balloons around. Next, learn to get
rid of the pain observation altogether by learning to
forgive the bee. Did the bee mistake ones balloon as a
flower? Did one step on the bee or threaten the bee in
some way accidentally? If one can understand why one was
stung, one can look at bees without feeling pain.
Of course, all this talk about a red balloon is just a
metaphor for all the beliefs one may have gathered. There
are painful observations you may have associated to many
of your concepts and beliefs. Look at each of your
beliefs, or concepts, and put the word "is"
after it and start listing your observations.
Observations and concepts which contain pain need to be
illuminated so that they no longer contain pain. Observe
truth not emotion.
If one had concluded everything one believes logically,
one would not have any invalid beliefs. Why then do we
have them? The mind is logical when left alone, however,
certain outside influence makes one wrongly throw logic
out the window. For example, when undue pressure from
threats and intimidation are put on a person, they may do
things that they would not normally do. Later, these
things are often wrongly rationalized. In this way, ones
logic, or ability to reason correctly, may become
compromised.
