CAPÍTULO V. SISTEMA MAESTRO DE PLANES IDEALES PARA SERVICIOS MULTIMEDIA
ANEXO 3. Tabla de Soluciones Técnicas Y Comerciales
The most serious social side effect of pathological work trances is the resulting reduced awareness and disabled communication. Communication of informa
tion is critical for any system to function. Human systems as well as computer systems, ecological, bio
logical, political and social systems and more all re
quire clear, accurate, timely communication of infor
mation in order to function properly. The lack of clear, accurate, or timely communication between in
dividuals is the basis for misunderstandings, disap
pointments, hurt feelings, resentment, and violence.
The human, economic, agricultural, industrial and social systems that rely on people who are in patho
logical trance will have and do have disastrous break
downs.
Pathological trance is unfortunately almost univer
sally encouraged within business, military and gov
ernmental organizations. The more an employee can with singleminded determination execute the orders and policies of his organization, the more that em
ployee is rewarded, promoted and respected. Single
mindedness, however, is indicative of trance and pos
sibly a pathological trance. And the existence of a trance always implies that there are areas where the employee is unaware. Therefore, the singleminded
ness that is rewarded in many large institutions ac
tually contributes to longterm organizational dys
function.
When organizations inadvertently encourage trance in their employees, and since trance disables commu
nication, then there can be no surprise why there are system dysfunctions in business, the military and in government.
When, unlike a yogi, we do not choose our trances, and we are unaware of the types and nature of the pathological trances in our lives, then there are things we are unaware of. What we are unaware of causes more human suffering than the sometimes painful knowledge of the truth. One goal of a robust life is to be as aware as possible of our real options.
When our unconscious pathological trances cripple our options the result is often disaster and tragedy in our personal lives, our society and in the environ
ment.
Related to work addiction is a phenomenon more akin to what people often appreciate as "artistic inspira
tion" or artistic drive. An artist may spend long hours with a project which consumes his energy, per
haps stresses his family and finally results in a cre
ation. What distinguishes this artistic drive from ad
diction is that the artistic drive is not a closed loop.
That is, eventually the behavior comes to an end.
However, if the behavior had no end, but repeated with an eventual decrease in response options, thera
pists would term the behavior dysfunctional and per
haps even "addictive." If the behavior had no end other than a "life style," for example, a therapist could readily identify the behavior as an addiction of a sort which does not end.
If the goal of therapists is trance termination and en
richment of reality, it is also interesting to consider the type of society that might become when we all wake up.
If you really want to get into a pathological trance and stay there, here's a general recipe. First, you must impoverish your reality by removing all distrac
tions and limit your awareness to a single, or at most a very few objects of attention. This narrowing of at
tention can be helped along by the passions inspired by drugs, trauma, by joining some religious or politi
cal movements or by staying at home and watching a lot of television or computer screen. It would be a good idea to get rid of distractions like kids, maga
zines or books _ especially books that give you options or make you think about other possibilities. Second, you must convince yourself that all options _ other than your chosen perfect ideal, of course _ are "evil"
and every attempt that your monkey mind makes to have variety must be crushed and that you must keep your mind "pure" and only allow thoughts about your chosen passion. This mental trick will serve to con
centrate your attention firmly on the object of your monomania. A second order loop which reinforces or rewards your monomania in such a regular and con
sistent way that even pain does not deter you, will 'fix' your trance. You will then be entranced in a pathological trance.
While pathological trances are not at all desirable, most people nearly all of the time are either in a trance or are engaged in trying to get others into trance. It is precisely pathological trance, not the yo
gic trance, that permeates most of our waking reality.
It seems to me that once we can identify these patho
logical trances on a personal level we can take steps to avoid them.
If trance is defined as fixated thinking, then nearly all human activities create some type of trance. The bounded circles of thinking that keep us in trances are countless. The entire "ordered universe" is a trance. But there is an escapists pleasure in remain
ing in trance and a deep human fear of the chaos which can result if there were no trance "order" to life.