1-7
8-14
15-21
22-28
29-35
36-42
43-49
50-56
57-63
64-70
71-77
78-84
85-91
92-98
99-105
106-112
113-119
120-122
1-7
8-14
15-21
22-28
29-35
36-42
43-49
50-56
57-63
64-70
71-77
78-84
85-91
92-98
99-105
106-112
113-119
120-122
of
certainty. The knowledgeof our ignoranceis wisdom.
whether we call it the Principle of Non-Allness, the Principle of
Uncertainty, the Principle of Indeterminacy, or the Principle of Tolerance,
leads us to the conclusion that to error is human, and there is no need too ask
forgiveness. All mistakes are innocent.
centuries. Religion and the objective scientists were wrong. The physics of relativity
and quantum mechanicsdescribe a Universe in which things are not and cannot be
perfect. A Universe in which, we humans are constrained to make all our choices
without ALLthe information. Mistakes are simply holes or gaps in our knowing—
lapses in our understanding.
mistake. Isn’t that the result of stupidity. If I knew better, but still made an error,
then surely that is my fault and not the result of ignorance.
claiming to be a maintenance worker, who then attacked and raped her. The attacker
has stolen a hotel uniform from a laundry hamper and so seemed legitimate. However,
something about his appearance disturbed her, but on second thought, she assumed
she was just being silly and so unlocked her door. When I saw her several months
later she was still struggling with guilt.
something was wrong. I was so stupid. I knew better, but I opened the door anyway.”
Chapter 2
TrustMark 2001 by Timothy Wilken
one simple question. She looked deep into my eyes desperate to know what I meant.
you have opened it?”
a mistake. Even when we humans repeat our mistakes, it is because we assume the
mistake will not happen this time. We are ignorant of what will happenthis time. As
I have stated, the only cause of human error—the only cause of human mistakes is
ignorance.
humilitywhen we stand before the totality of Nature.
is a fundamental law of Nature. And the first corollary
to the Principle of Non-Allness is what I call the Principle of Error Innocence.
Principle of Error Innocence
made without all the information. We are always acting and choosing
without ALL the information. What we don’t know we must ignore and what we
ignore may hurt us. Therefore all errors and and all mistakes are made in innocence.
that since the cause of mistakes is ignorance and the proper response to ignorance is
education, then we can learn from our mistakes.
present world and work to correct them. This is good news. It will make it infinitely
easier to build a better world.
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TrustMark 2001 by Timothy Wilken
our mistakes in a synergic manner. The human who understands that mistakes are a
natural part of life does not investigate the mistakes like a detective, he analyzesthe
mistake as a scientist. He does not blame when a mistake occurs, he seeks to learn
from the mistake and to learn he must accept responsibilityand seek responsibility
in others for their mistakes. Once he knows who is responsible for the mistake he
educates.
alternative to adversary punishment and guilt.
worth keeping. It is certainly not the badness, it is certainly not the blame, and of
course it is not the punishment.
always regret. In the adversary world where there is blame and punishment of course
I might regret being blamed and punished. I also might regret being considered bad by
those who are blaming and punishing me. But there is almost always another
component of regret. When I make a mistake that hurts someone else, I regret that as
well. This is the regret worth keeping.
mistake. We regret injuring others. We can solve this dilemma by moving regret over
Chapter 2
TrustMark 2001 by Timothy Wilken
means to restore, to repairthe damage caused by the ignorance of our behavior.
ignorance injured other. As a synergist, he will freely try to repair things. He will
freely offer restitution.
regret —
—> RESTITUTION
adversarily we get pain and no learning. If we process our mistakes synergically, we
get learning and no pain.
tolerate the pain of blame, punishment, and guilt. We will deny that we make a
mistake. We will project the blame for the mistake onto others. “I didn’t do it.”—“It
wasn’t my fault.”—“And, if it isn’t my fault, why should I have to learn anything.”
real force behind what I call the “anti-learning barrier”. If I am to learn from my
mistake I am trapped into accepting responsibility for my error. If I am adversarily
processing the mistake, I cannot accept responsibility without feeling guilty. To avoid
guilt I must deny responsibility. And if I wasn’t responsible then I have nothing to
learn.
Chapter 2
TrustMark 2001 by Timothy Wilken
occasion to treat a young woman in the early stages of her fifth pregnancy. She
informed me she had had four abortions previously and was pregnant and planning to
abort this pregnancy as well. I thought to myself, why can’t she learn to use birth
control?
use birth control, she would have to admit that it is her responsibility to prevent
unwanted pregnancies. That admission would lead her to the further conclusion that
she was then also responsible for her previous unwanted pregnancies and their
abortions.
pregnancies and abortions were far too painful for her. She opted to deny any
responsibility. “My boy friend got me drunk, and made me pregnant. It wasn’t my
fault, so I don’t need to take birth control. Besides using birth control is a sin, I would
never do that.”
program it to believe mistakes are bad, it will function to prove it does not make
mistakes. The human brain rebels at the idea that mistakes are bad. It will defend
itself in any way possible, it will defend itself by lying. When I am accused of badness,
I must lie to protectmyself—to protect myself from blame and punishment—to
protect myself from guilt.
leads to distrust—“I assume you are my enemy”. Thus, the processing of mistakes
as bad always leads to conflictand adversary behavior.
ignorant– choices made without all the information, then I must tell the truth to
protectmyself – to protect myself from repeating the mistake—to protect myself and
others from further injury—to protect myself from paying unnecessary restitution.
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TrustMark 2001 by Timothy Wilken
as ignorance leads toco-Operationand synergic behavior.
> RESTITUTION
to protect myself.
to protect
myself.
Distrust
Trust
is a fundamental ‘knowing’ derived from the
Principle of Non-Allness. And, its first corollary—the Principle of Error
Innocenceis a ‘knowing’ of great importance to understanding ourselves and the
human condition.
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TrustMark 2001 by Timothy Wilken
stupid or incompetent. Humans always actwithout ALLthe information. They make
mistakes because they are ignorant—they ignorewhat they don’t know.
examining those mistakes, we can learn from them and move on. In the preceding
chapter, I discussed the error of identityas originally discovered by Alfred Korzybski.
Here we will examine four additional sources of scientific error—reductionism,
exclusion, mixing levels of organizationand either/or thinking.
the history of science. What is reductionism? How does it work? Lawrence
Krauss1993explains:
dairy farm whose production has been below par. Each is given time to inspect
the details of the operation before making a report.
cattle should be decreased. Efficiency could be improved if the cows were more
closely packed, with a net allotment of 275 cubic feet per cow. Also, the
diameter of the milking tubes should be increased by 4 percent to allow for a
greater average flow rate during the milking periods”.
should be painted green. This is a more mellow color than brown and should
help induce greater milk flow. Also, more trees should be planted in the fields
to add diversity to the scenery for the cattle during grazing, to reduce
boredom”.
Chapter 3
TrustMark 2001 by Timothy Wilken