Good/Bad John
Read the following amusing tale of “evil:”
John takes a bottle of milk from a hungry baby.
A perverse dictator has ordered John to take away the bottle as a punishment (for both John and the child) for crimes that neither of them have committed.
However, John happens to be the dictator’s personal hypnotist and has given the dictator a posthypnotic suggestion that forced the dictator to order the strange punishment in the first place.
But, if John had not given the dictator the posthypnotic suggestion, evil enemy foreign agents would kill John’s wife and children who are being held captive.
Despite everything, John secretly enjoys taking away the bottle from the baby and even hopes that this relatively mild act has serious and deeply negative side effects on the child’s future psychological dynamics, and he is very glad that his family being held hostage is a pretty good excuse to do all this.
In actuality, John is asleep and is merely dreaming all of the previous events and actions.
But, John has detailedly self-hypnotized himself into dreaming this dream with instructions to himself that he will have a completely conscious total recall of the dream upon awakening.
Ask yourself:
Why did I continue to read when I was forewarned that this tale was “evil?”• When do I know enough to decide anything? How do I know I’ve collected enough information?
Why was I absolutely certain that reading this exercise was “okay?”
What is the basis of my daily confidence in the many actions I perform?
And “John” never really existed! Just now, using my brain and this exercise, I freely, willingly, and mentally created John and his twisted universe—with no guilt on my part whatsoever about “manufacturing” him, his environment, and his actions—breathing life into the potentiality of this exercise’s words. What is the value of this creativity on my part? Have I added to the “real” universe’s “total evil?”
No matter how small or abstract, does any manifestation of evil “still count?”
Why do I allow myself to experience and absorb (using Hollywood movies) incredibly negative emotions and experiences?
Are there sights and sounds that are “too much” for me? What are my personal limits?
Is the universe a movie that God watches?
Is my brain like a movie theater? Is it running the universe’s film? If so, who sits in the audience?
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