1 Timothy

Lorin Friesen, May 2024

Introduction

I just finished writing an essay on 1 Thessalonians. I had written a brief analysis on 1 Thessalonians back in 2016 but it was quite inadequate. My goal was to take a closer look at the classical passage in 1 Thessalonians on the second coming and place this within the context of the entire epistle. Paul talks extensively in that epistle about his desire to visit Timothy. Timothy combines ‘value’ with ‘God’. Value is a core concept of economic activity while a concept of God emerges when a sufficiently general theory in Teacher thought applies to personal identity. Thus, the essay on 1 Thessalonians interpreted Timothy as a global economy based in universal principles of value. Saying this another way, Timothy represents the paradise on earth that new technologies repeatedly promise but only partially deliver. Paul, in contrast, means ‘little’. Paul was an apostle and an apostle is defined as someone who makes a major breakthrough at great personal cost.

The ultimate goal of an apostle is to personally enjoy the benefits of this breakthrough. However, making a transition from being an apostle who is a source of truth to someone who lives within this truth alongside fellow believers requires going through a process of becoming ‘little’. Some group has to apply the breakthrough achieved by the apostle and the apostle then has to descend from the exalted heights of being the Great Apostle to being merely a ‘little’ person. This interpretation applies also to the real Paul who made the major breakthrough of inventing theology. ‘Timothy’ in this context represents the group that is applying the breakthrough of ‘Paul’ and Paul’s desire to come to Timothy expressed in 1 Thessalonians represents the desire of the apostle to live within the group of ‘Timothy’. The path of Paul is primarily a personal, internal struggle. Timothy, in contrast, involves the group and external interaction. The transition from Paul to Timothy happens because the lessons that were learned internally and personally by Paul also apply to society as a whole. Going the other way, Timothy looks to Paul because society is starting to crumble, making it apparent that a more solid, internal foundation is required to preserve society.

Looking at the larger picture, both 2 Thessalonians and 2 Timothy appear to be describing a future era when there is a backlash to the new society introduced by the breakthrough of Paul. Using the language of biblical prophecy, both 1 Thessalonians and 1 Timothy describe the preparation for what is traditionally referred to as the second coming or the rapture. The analysis of 1 Thessalonians makes it clear that a major transition will happen, but it will not be a ‘rapture of Christians to heaven’. 2 Thessalonians and 2 Timothy are dealing with a future time known as the ‘kingdom of the beast’. The so-called ‘Great Tribulation’ actually refers to the current era, because the word tribulation means ‘internal pressure that causes someone to feel confined’ and the technical specializations of modern society have created a world of extreme internal pressure and confinement, a feeling that became multiplied during the global covid lockdown.

Titus means ‘honorable’ and the essay on Titus interprets Titus as a new type of society that emerges from transformed mental networks. Putting this together, Timothy represents applying the breakthrough of Paul to the male technical thought of economics and academia by adding the emotional components of God and personal identity that are currently lacking. Titus represents an entirely new system of economics and academia that emerges out of transformed mental networks of female thought. Saying this more simply, both Timothy and Titus appear to represent a spiritually revitalized economy, but with Timothy ‘spiritual’ is an adjective modifying ‘economy’ while with Titus ‘spiritual’ is the noun and ‘economy’ is the adjective.

This essay will begin by using the Berean Standard Bible, which is an updated version of the Berean Literal Bible that was used in previous essays. I tried using the NASB in the previous essay on 1 Thessalonians but found the slight inaccuracies to be annoying. Hopefully the BSB will be less annoying. Spoiler alert: I switched back to the BLB (Berean Literal Bible) in 2:7 because I found the BSB too annoying, and I found the BLB much less annoying than the BSB.

This essay will occasionally say that a word is ‘only used in Timothy’. This refers to both 1 and 2 Timothy. I have not written an essay on 2 Timothy because I think it refers to some future time associated with the kingdom of the beast. However, I have included 2 Timothy when checking where a word is used in the New Testament.

Table of Contents

1:1-2 The Apostle Paul

1:3-8 Remain attached to Ephesus

1:9-13 The Spread of Technical Regulations

1:12-14 Paul’s Personal Background

1:15-16 Paul’s Path of Salvation

1:17 A Meta-Kingdom

1:18-20 Moving from Personal to Social

2:1-4 Rebuilding Government and Economy

2:5-8 A Truly Global Economy

2:9-11 Civilizing Mental Networks

2:12-15 Educating Mental Networks

3:1-2 Looking Intently in a Fitting Manner

3:3-7 Surviving Success

3:8-10 Emissaries (Deacons)

3:11-13 Mental Networks of Marketing

3:14-16 Applying Paul’s Message

4:1-2 Technical Thought and Postmodernism

4:3-6 An Integrated Mindset

4:7-11 Beyond Myths to Spiritual Transformation

4:12-16 Building a Better Society

5:1-2 Reshaping Mental Networks of Society

5:3-8 The True Widow

5:9-16 Conservatism versus Wokeism

5:17-20 The True Expert

5:21-25 Preserving and Expanding Purity

6:1-2 Escaping Slavery

6:3-5 Rebelling from Slavery

6:6-10 Enjoyment versus Exchange

6:11-12 Pursuing Eternal Life

6:13-16 Salvation versus Domination

6:17-19 False versus True Security

6:20-21 Avoid Mysticism

The Apostle Paul 1:1-2

In verse 1 Paul declares himself to be an apostle. “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope.” Apostle means ‘to commission, send forth’ and is interpreted as someone who pays a personal price to make a major breakthrough in some area. Christ refers to the divine side of incarnation while Jesus refers to the human side of incarnation. A mental concept of incarnation emerges as abstract technical thought with its emphasis upon precise definitions becomes integrated with concrete technical thought with its emphasis upon cause-and-effect. Mentioning Christ first implies that the focus is upon looking at incarnation from the abstract side of general principles. By means ‘according to’ when followed by the accusative. Command is used once in Timothy and combines ‘suitably on’ with ‘arrange’ leading to the idea of ‘a structured command’. This describes the rational and structured thinking of abstract technical thought. This structured thinking is coming from God, and a mental concept of God emerges when a sufficiently general theory in Teacher thought applies to personal identity. In other words, abstract technical thought naturally fragments into different specializations. These fragments are being arranged and integrated by a concept of God. For instance, mental symmetry has been used as a meta-theory to bring unity to a number of different specializations within abstract technical thought. Savior means to ‘deliver out of danger and into safety’ and the name Jesus means ‘salvation of God’. A general theory in Teacher thought does not necessarily save people in Mercy thought. For instance, the law of gravity does not save a person who steps off a cliff.

However, verse 1 specifically refers to God as ‘our Savior’. God acts as a savior when specific fragments of salvation are ‘suitably arranged’ into a structure of mental wholeness. That describes the situation today in which people are locally rational. For instance, if one wants to save one’s teeth, one goes to a dentist; if one wants to save one’s car, one goes to a mechanic. The problem lies in integrating the various pieces of salvation provided by dentists, mechanics, and other technical specialists and professionals. That is because most specialists are locally rational, experts within their field while immature or even ignorant outside of their specialization. Mental symmetry addresses this problem by arranging these various forms of specialization within a general theory of mental wholeness. Arranging these specialized pieces of salvation into the structure of a concept of God leads to the ‘command of God our Savior’. One can tell that society lacks an integrated concept of incarnation because Christ Jesus is also described as ‘our hope’. Paul clarifies in Romans 8:24 that hope which is seen is not hope. Thus, hoping for Christ Jesus means having an internal integrated concept of incarnation that is not yet reflected in external reality. I know from personal experience what this means because the integrated concept of incarnation that has formed within my mind is quite different than the local rational thinking that I invariably find externally in society.

Verse 2 mentions Timothy. “To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.” Timothy combines ‘a valuing, a price’ with ‘of God’. The idea is that value is being interpreted from the Teacher perspective of a concept of God. Verse 1 described what this means. Instead of looking at the value of each item in an isolated and fragmented manner, items are being given value that bring integration and order to life. In other words, value is being assigned in a wholistic manner based upon total well-being.

Child means ‘anyone living in full dependence’. True is used once in Timothy and ‘referred to children born from a legitimate marriage’. For instance, mental symmetry could be used as a basis for giving business seminars, but I have always felt that this would be an ‘illegitimate offspring’ because most economic behavior tends to be locally rational without considering deeper value. However, I have written a 150 page paper that uses mental symmetry to examine introductory microeconomics and macroeconomics from an integrated perspective that includes both the personal and the universal aspects that an economics textbook invariably avoids. That illustrates what it means to examine value from the universal perspective of a concept of God in Teacher thought.

Faith means to ‘be persuaded’ while in means ‘in the realm of’. Being persuaded implies using rational thought. This means that looking for integrated value needs to be done ‘in the realm of rational thought’. What typically happens in economics is that a search for integrated value is done in the realm of marketing guided by mental networks that are not willing to be persuaded by rational thought. This kind of approach will lead to a ‘child’ but this will be an illegitimate child that is not the result of a legitimate marriage, because the mental networks of female thought that drive marketing have nothing in common with the male technical thought that characterizes economic analysis. Stated simply, these two are not married. Instead, economists will naturally despise as irrational the subjective thinking that guides feelings of value while the mental networks that marketing manipulates were probably formed by attempting to escape rational thought.

Verse 2 describes the benefits of bringing these two aspects of value together in a legitimate manner. Grace means ‘leaning towards to share benefit’ and is one of several related words that refer to Teacher thought. When marketing becomes separated from economics, then there is no guarantee that an integrated economy will lead to personal benefits. That is the personal cost of refusing to be persuaded by rational thinking when determining value. Mercy means ‘mercy, pity, compassion’. When economic value becomes divorced from subjective emotions, then business becomes run by bean counters who will abuse and abandon people in order to improve some monetary bottom line. Peace means to ‘tie together into a whole’. Being guided by irrational feelings of value will pit one special interest group against another, leading to fragmentation rather than wholeness. In contrast, an integrated economy starts from a concept of God the Father in Teacher thought, and then descends through an integrated concept of incarnation to rule as lord over personal identity. I have found through repeated experience that neither academics nor theologians want this combination. They may appreciate the feeling of a meta-theory but they will run away from an actual meta-theory that descends rationally from theory to specific content. That describes a mindset that is locally rational.

Remain attached to Ephesus 1:3-8

Verse 3 descends rationally from the first two verses to specific content. “As I urged you on my departure to Macedonia, you should stay on at Ephesus to instruct certain men not to teach false doctrines.” As means ‘just as’ and indicates that there is an analogical relationship between one situation and another. Urge means to ‘personally make a call’ and is usually translated as exhort or comfort. Stay means to ‘remain attached to’. Ephesus was a city in Asia Minor and probably means ‘city of the mother goddess’. Consistent with this meaning, Ephesus was well-known for a major temple to the goddess Artemis, a many-breasted figure of female fertility. Interpreting this cognitively, Paul is moving away from subjective mental networks in order to become more academically rigorous. Meanwhile, the integrated value of Timothy is supposed to remain attached to female thought with its mental networks. This advice makes sense if one understands how economics treats value. For instance, Tversky & Kahneman pointed out in about 1980 that economic value is not determined rationally as is stated in the typical economics textbook and Kahneman received a Nobel Prize in 2002 for this research. However, Kahneman did not recognize the role that subjective emotions and mental networks play in determining an economic value but rather received the Nobel Prize for coming up with mathematical equations that modeled the effect of mental networks upon value. This is an example of not remaining attached to Ephesus when becoming transported to an academic theory. Notice that verse 3 does not say that one should stay in Ephesus but rather that one should remain attached to Ephesus. For instance, mental symmetry recognizes the role that mental networks play in determining economic value (remaining attached to Ephesus) but uses rational thought to analyze mental networks (not remaining in Ephesus). This is described in detail in a recent paper on mental networks and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex.

Macedonia means ‘tall, slim’ and is a region in Greece. Greece is interpreted as academic thought because Greece was historically the source of modern academic thought. Tall and slim would presumably represent the individuals who stand tall within Macedonia, possibly referring to those within academia who are able to think for themselves and do not just follow established methodology. Departure means ‘to transport... emphasizing the personal meaning which is attached to reaching the particular destination’. This is interpreted in other essays as some movement that generates personal change. Thus, transporting to Macedonia would mean turning into an academic system. For instance, mental symmetry began as a system of cognitive styles based in Romans 12. But it has turned into an academic system as a result of using it as a meta-theory to explain many fields from a cognitive perspective.

Instruct means to ‘give a command that is fully authorized because it has gone through all the proper channels’. Certain men means ‘a certain one, someone’ and ‘men’ is implied. Teach false doctrines is a single word used only twice in the New Testament (the other occurrence is in 1 Timothy 6:3) that combines ‘another of a different kind’ with ‘to teach’. Technical thought is quite different than mental networks. Using the mathematical language of technical thought to try to model the emotional impact that mental networks have upon value would be an example of ‘teaching of a different kind’ because mental networks are being interpreted from the perspective of technical thought. Going the other way, using principles of marketing to manipulate feelings of economic value is also an example of ‘teaching of a different kind’ because mental networks of personal and social identity are being triggered in a manner that increases some objective economic bottom line. In both cases, human beings with feelings are being reduced to numbers and mathematical equations. That is, by definition, dehumanizing; it is not ‘remaining attached to Ephesus’. Notice that Paul is not merely responding in an emotional manner to this dehumanization. Instead, he is reacting in a structured manner that respects the order of an integrated Teacher understanding.

Giving a more personal example, my older brother did the initial research on cognitive styles and I started working with him in the early 1980s. In about 2004 he told me that I should stop attending church because he felt that church worship resembled the MMNs of irrational worship of Artemis carried out in Ephesus and as a Teacher person, he did not want his Teacher emotions to be clouded by irrational Mercy feelings. I agreed with his assessment but I felt that it was important for my mental wholeness to ‘remain attached to Ephesus’ and so I continued to attend church. He responded by secretly developing the new cognitive model of MBNI and I only found out about his new model when my mother informed me that my brother had published a new book. MBNI is ‘a teaching of a different kind’ because it describes many cortical loops in great technical detail, lacks any concept of mental networks, and downplays the role of emotions in human thought.

Verse 4 describes another possible error. “Or devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies.” Devote themselves means to ‘have towards’. The New Testament appears to distinguish between ‘having’ and ‘being’, with having indicating objective forms of ownership and being referring to personal character. A major flaw of the modern technical economy is that it focuses upon having while ignoring being. Myth means ‘a speech, story’ and may come from a word that means ‘shutting the eyes and mouth to experience mystery’. This is a strange juxtaposition of words. On the one hand, ‘have towards’ implies that one is paying attention to something in an objective way that avoids full emotional commitment. On the other hand, myths imply an emotional commitment that lacks rational objective analysis. Precisely this juxtaposition can be seen in academic research in the soft sciences. On the one hand, emotionally committing oneself to some religious system or collection of ancient myths is heavily frowned upon as lacking academic rigor. But on the other hand, spending years analyzing religious systems and/or ancient myths in an objective, technical manner is academically quite acceptable. Notice that this is another example of ‘a teaching of a different kind’ because one is applying the method of objective technical thought—which works well when analyzing natural law—to the emotional and subjective realm of mental networks.

Genealogy means ‘the making of a pedigree, a genealogy’ and is used twice in the New Testament. Endless is used once in the New Testament and adds the prefix ‘not’ to ‘complete, finish’. Both religious and secular academic thought place a great emphasis upon determining who came up with what idea, and great respect is given to ancient experts who acquired the appropriate academic or religious pedigree. For instance, the Catholic Church refers to 37 historical figures as doctors of the Church. The writings of the doctors of the Church are studied in great detail, while any words written by a relative or friend of one of these individuals is regarded as worthless. Secular academia also has its patron saints who are venerated in the textbooks. Verse 4 does not say that it is wrong to look at genealogy or pedigree but rather refers to genealogy that does not finish. Similarly, academic and religious research on subjective topics tends to get stuck at the level of determining who said what and comparing what one person with pedigree said with what another person with pedigree said. It never seems to move beyond this level to actually ask whether the words of these experts make sense or fit with reality.

I think that this is because the cause-and-effect of emotional topics happens emotionally. For instance, for decades I have pursued mental symmetry simultaneously as a theory of the mind and as a path of personal cognitive development. My ultimate goal is not to achieve a pedigree or to fixate upon pedigrees but rather to understand how the mind functions guided by the lessons that I have personally learned through following a path of character transformation. A mindset that approaches ‘myths’ with the attitude of ‘having toward’ will find it difficult to break through to the level of understanding cognitive mechanisms. That is because one must personally experience the subjective emotions in order to grasp the principles of moral cause-and-effect that are being described by myths and religious systems. This does not mean that one has to ‘live in Ephesus’ but one does have to ‘remain attached to Ephesus’ in some manner. One has to be traveling an emotional path that resonates in some way with the myths that one is studying. Without this emotional resonance, one will get stuck at the level of ‘endless genealogies’.

Verse 4 finishes, “Which promote speculation rather than the stewardship of God in faith.” Speculation means ‘a meaningless question to investigate a specific practice’. Promote means to ‘have close beside’. Both ‘devote’ and ‘promote’ use the word ‘have’ but devote is ‘have towards’ while promote is ‘have close beside’. ‘Have close beside’ suggests that one is becoming emotionally involved in objective knowledge. In other words, when one studies myths and subjective systems from an objective perspective, one will tend to become emotionally fixated upon obscure, irrelevant details, debating with great vigor over questions that are meaningless because they have nothing to do with personal character development. But one will spend years studying obscure manuscripts in order to compare what the various historical experts said about these meaningless questions.

Stewardship means ‘managing a household’ and is used once in Timothy. This stewardship is described as ‘of God’. A household relates to ‘being’ rather than just ‘having’ because one lives within a house. For instance, the research that I do in mental symmetry is guided primarily by a desire to live within the theory of mental symmetry. And I view mental symmetry not just as a technical specialization but rather as an attempt to gain a more accurate understanding of the character of God in Teacher thought. This relates to the idea mentioned earlier of descending from a concept of God the Father in Teacher thought through the rational thinking of incarnation to personal identity in Mercy thought. This is described as ‘in the realm of faith’ and faith means to ‘be persuaded’. Being persuaded means that I as a person am willing to be convinced by rational arguments. This goes beyond endlessly debating who said what about which myth to rationally evaluating myths and/or religious systems in order to build a home within which personal identity can live. When this is avoided, then the managing of a household of God that is based in rational thought will become replaced by functioning within some human institution, such as the Roman Catholic Church or some University campus. Instead of building a house for my ‘being’, my research will be limited to the level of ‘having’ while my ‘being’ will focus upon the pursuit and honor of pedigree within the human institution.

Verse 5 describes what the goal should be. “The goal of our instruction is the love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and a sincere faith.” Goal means ‘consummation, the end goal, purpose’. Instruction means a ‘fully authorized command’. Love is ‘agape’ which is interpreted as love that is emotionally guided by Teacher understanding. Is is explicitly mentioned and this is the first use of this verb in Timothy. Saying that the goal ‘is agape’ indicates that one should be guided by Teacher emotions of understanding at the deeper level of ‘being’. A ‘fully authorized command’ indicates that one does respect academic structure as well as academic expertise. But this is the starting point and the goal is to go beyond this to a love of God in Teacher thought that impacts personal ‘being’. For instance, education starts by learning approved information from official textbooks. But the goal of education is to go beyond rote learning to critical thinking guided by an internal understanding of general principles.

Heart is mentioned over 800 times in the Bible and is always used symbolically to refer to ‘the affective center of our being’. The heart is interpreted as personal identity and specifically mentioning the heart indicates a focus upon ‘being’. Pure means ‘without admixture’. Growing up in a physical body programs Mercy thought with many random emotional experiences leading naturally to an impure heart within Mercy thought. A pure heart means that all of the fragments of personal identity are pointing in the same direction. A pure heart has traditionally been interpreted as focusing only upon God and religious topics and never thinking about physical needs or desires. However, that actually describes an impure heart that is attempting to focus on upon religious thought by suppressing emotional experiences from the physical body. The heart becomes purified as an integrated understanding in Teacher thought brings unity to the various MMNs of personal identity. For instance, the goal of mental symmetry is for all seven cognitive modules to function together in harmony. This is an example of purity because all the cognitive modules are heading in the same direction of mental wholeness. Going further, I have found that other facets of human existence, including science, religion, physical desires, the spiritual realm, the supernatural, theology, economics, and culture can all be explained as different expressions of the integrated mind.

In contrast, academia avoids dealing with the impure heart by using technical thought in an objective manner. A mode of thought that suppresses subjective feelings is, by definition, an impure heart. Remaining objective works when dealing with the objective realm of physical objects, but it is a rotten strategy when attempting to study subjective topics like myths, social interaction, and religious systems. On the one hand, remaining objective will cause one to avoid topics that subjective identity finds meaningful, leading to a fixation upon meaningless questions. On the other hand, subjective MMNs that are being suppressed will become triggered by the topic being studied, causing one to instinctively respond in an irrational manner.

Conscience means ‘joint knowing’. Conscience is often viewed as ‘the little voice that stops me from having fun’ which means that MMNs representing various voices of authority are being triggered and are attempting to impose their likes and dislikes upon the mind. Similarly, a mindset which regards the Bible, or some other holy book, as the only source of absolute truth also bases conscience upon respect for voices of authority. ‘Joint knowing’ implies that Perceiver and Server thought are pointing out similarities between one emotional situation and another. In other words, one is discovering repeated connections of moral cause-and-effect. Clear means ‘intrinsically good’. A conscience that is intrinsically good is based upon inherent moral qualities rather than peoples’ opinions. Instead of asking what some authority or social group thinks about some behavior, one is examining the behavior itself in order to understand whether it leads to beneficial or harmful results. Obviously, these questions will not be asked if one is stuck at the level of ‘endless genealogies’ because one will never move beyond the opinions of experts to focusing upon the moral principles themselves. Mental symmetry defines moral goodness intrinsically as thought and behavior that satisfies all seven cognitive modules and I have found that this definition works well.

Faith means to ‘be persuaded’. Sincere adds the prefix ‘not’ to ‘act as a hypocrite’. In other words, it is ‘free from hidden agendas’. Academic thought claims to be persuaded by rational thought and this is generally the case. However, objective thought is, by definition, driven by hidden agendas, because objectivity hides the agendas being generated by personal MMNs. Mental symmetry, in contrast, suggests that it is possible to gain the confidence that is required to use rational thought in the presence of emotional agendas. This cannot be done by sheer willpower but rather requires the emotional support of a Teacher understanding. That is because the emotional pleasure of understanding within Teacher thought can counteract the emotional pain of acknowledging hidden agendas in Mercy thought. A mindset of absolute truth that ‘believes in the Bible’ also has ‘insincere faith’ because it claims to be persuaded by rational arguments from the Bible but is actually motivated by the hidden agenda of spiritual fervor, ecstatic experience, and respect for religious pedigree.

Verse 6 describes the result of following another path. “Some have strayed from these ways and turned aside to empty talk.” Strayed is used three times in the Bible, only in Timothy, and adds the prefix ‘not’ to ‘a target’. Sin means ‘missing the mark’ but this assumes that there is some target to aim at. ‘Stray’ conveys the impression that there is no target. Approaching social and religious behavior from an objective perspective is not immoral in the sense of deliberately violating some set of moral guidelines. Instead, it is amoral because it thinks that there is no moral target to aim at. An objective analysis does not evaluate various social or religious practices in order to understand whether they are harmful or beneficial. Instead, it merely observes and catalogues. The word ‘some’ suggests that not everyone falls into this error and it is possible to find academic papers on social issues that come to moral conclusions. But the general mindset is that one simply describes myths and religions without making any moral judgments.

The rest of the verse describes where this leads. Turned aside means ‘to turn away’. Empty talk is used once in the New Testament and combines ‘talk’ with ‘vain, useless’. Stated simply, if you do not have a target, you will probably hit it. If one follows a methodology that avoids meaningful questions, then one will naturally turn away to useless and trivial questions.

Verse 7 says what takes the place of meaningful questions. “They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not understand what they are saying or that which they so confidently assert.” Want means ‘to desire, wish’. ‘To be’ is explicitly mentioned which indicates that this is happening at the level of being. Teacher of the law is a single word used three times in the New Testament. On the bottom of the pecking order was the scribe. Above this was the lawyer or expert in law. Above that was the highest level of a ‘teacher of the law’. Thus, the motivation at the level of being is to gain sufficient academic pedigree to become regarded as a source of technical analysis by other academic experts. Notice how this perpetuates the ‘endless genealogies’. One becomes stuck at the level of quoting various authorities for so long that one’s ultimate goal is to become a quoted authority. When this point is reached then any content that threatens one’s academic status will be instinctively rejected.

This desire to be a quoted expert is combined with a lack of understanding. Understand means to apply ‘mental effort needed to reach bottom-line conclusions’ and comes from a word that refers to ‘the reasoning faculty, intellect’. Saying is the normal word for talking. Confidently assert is used twice in the New Testament and combines ‘thoroughly’ with ‘make sure, confirm’. Verse 7 says that they understand neither what they are saying nor what they confidently assert. ‘Saying’ implies that many words are being spoken and written. ‘Confidently assert’ suggests that statements are being checked carefully, which would include citing proper sources. However, what is missing is a rational understanding. Everyone is so busy quoting from accepted sources and attempting to become a quoted source that actually understanding the material rationally has taken a back seat. This sounds like an overstatement, but my personal experience in attempting to publish papers about mental symmetry backs up this conclusion. So-called experts in the field seem to have lost the ability to evaluate a theory from a rational perspective if this theory comes from an outside source that lacks official pedigree.

Verse 8 looks at this more generally. “Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it legitimately.” Know means ‘seeing that becomes knowing’ and is interpreted as empirical evidence. Good means ‘attractively good’ and law is the same word that was used in verse 7 in ‘teacher of the law’. ‘Law’ refers to a system of law rather than just a single rule. Legitimately is used twice in the New Testament and is a variation of the same word ‘law’. Use means ‘to use, make use of’. Thomas Kuhn addressed the topic of using law in a lawful manner in his seminal book on paradigms and paradigm shifts. “The scientific enterprise as a whole does from time to time prove useful, open up new territory, display order, and test long-accepted belief. Nevertheless, the individual engaged on a normal research problem is almost never doing any one of these things. Once engaged, his motivation is of a rather different sort. What then challenges him is the conviction that, if only he is skilful enough, he will succeed in solving a puzzle that no one before has solved or solved so well. Many of the greatest scientific minds have devoted all of their professional attention to demanding puzzles of this sort” (Kuhn, 1970, p. 38). On the one hand, science gives the impression of being a search for scientific law, and this mental concept of scientists performing experiments to discover laws makes science attractive to the average person. But on the other hand, most science is composed of technical experts using technical thought to solve technical problems motivated by a desire to achieve academic recognition.

The Spread of Technical Regulations 1:9-13

Verse 9 draws a moral conclusion. “We realize that law is not enacted for the righteous, but for the lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinful.” Realize is the word for empirical knowledge. Righteous means ‘conformity to God’s standard’ and is defined as Server actions that are guided by a Teacher understanding of how things work. That is because Teacher thought feels good when it encounters behavior that expresses some general theory. Law is the same word used in verse 8. And enacted means ‘to be laid, lie’, which is interpreted cognitively as a solid fact within Perceiver thought. Verse 9 is comparing two ways of enforcing rigorous standards. One way is to lay down rules in Perceiver thought, such as rules of proper methodology. However, following such rules does not guarantee that there is any actual understanding. The other way is to be guided by Teacher feelings of structure and order. This leads naturally to what could be called the ‘cringe test’ because one will instinctively cringe at material that is presented in a non-rigorous and non-rational manner. The cringe test works best when one has an understanding in Teacher thought of ‘how things work’ because one will then instinctively reject ideas that are impossible. A similar principle applies to an integrated economy. One way to keep the economy functioning properly is to pass a new set of regulations whenever some new abuse occurs. The end result is a system of law. But a better way to keep the economy functioning would be to be emotionally guided by a Teacher understanding of integrated value. One would then naturally recoil emotionally from economic abuse. One might initially think that this is utopian thinking but I have found that mental symmetry can provide the role of an integrated Teacher understanding. Going further, the rest of verses 9 and 10 will describe the results of constructing a system of rules and regulations. I should add that emotional self-policing guided by Teacher understanding is unthinkable for those whose motivation is to become ‘quoted authorities’, because the Teacher understanding is based upon universal principles of ‘how things work’ that can be discovered by individuals without having to quote from authorities. Instead, those who want to become quoted authorities will insist that societal systems need to be policed by quoting from authorities.

This is followed by a list of characteristics. As usual, this list will be interpreted as a cognitive sequence. We will look at it as the growth of ‘policing’ within academic disciplines and we will also look at it as the growth of laws to regulate a global, technical economy. The first eight terms are in pairs connected by four ‘and’s.

Lawless is used once in Timothy and adds the prefix ‘not’ to ‘law’. In other words, most regulations are instituted in response to some abuse, because some lawless person or group takes advantage of the system and a regulation is then enacted to ensure that this abuse does not happen again. Rebellious means ‘a defiant attitude towards duly-appointed authority’. ‘Lawless’ implies not knowing the rules while rebellious suggests knowing the rules and rejecting them. Lawless implies inadequate technical thought while ‘rebellious’ implies excessive mental networks. This first pair describes what happens when technical thought emerges within some new area. Initially, there are no regulations and everyone does what they want. However, it soon becomes apparent that this new area needs to be regulated. For instance, AI is currently in this initial stage of lawlessness and everyone is saying that AI needs to be regulated. The establishment of rules will naturally lead to a backlash from those who do not want to submit to any set of rules. A similar transition happens when some new technical specialization is established, because rules and procedures will be established to bring technical rigor to the field. Researchers within this field will have to learn the new rules and some will rebel from the new rules.

Ungodly means ‘failing to honor what is sacred’. Sinful is the normal word for sin that means ‘missing the mark’. Once regulations are instituted then two kinds of errors become possible. The first error is to take technical thought too far by questioning social and religious MNNs. For instance, rules of property ownership and sale make it possible to transfer the ownership of land that has traditionally belonged to some group or is regarded as sacred. Thus, rules need to be set up that ensure that technical thought is not taken too far. The second error is breaking the rules. Once a set of regulations have been set up, then it is possible to miss the mark by falling short of these regulations. Thus, more rules need to be set up to punish those who violate the rules. A similar policing happens in a new specialization. The specialization will become characterized by a set of unspoken assumptions that everyone is supposed to follow and becoming a member of the specialization will include learning to respect these unspoken assumptions. Going the other way, journals will be established that police new content through peer-review and official methodology will be determined to ensure that all research is done properly.

Verse 9 continues, “For the unholy and profane, for killers of father or mother, for murderers.” Unholy is used twice in the New Testament and adds the prefix ‘not’ to ‘what is sanctioned by a higher law’. Once a new set of regulations are set up then conflicts may emerge between the new rules and existing rules. For instance, some new industry will have to learn how to function within the larger economy. Similarly, a new specialization will have to learn how to function with academia. Ensuring that this happens will require more rules. Profane means ‘profane because of improper entrance’. Becoming an established industry or a recognized academic specialization also requires setting up a process by which one can become a member of this specialization. This means setting up systems of education that are officially accredited. A similar kind of accreditation can be seen in business in the iso-9000 standards. The goal of these entrance requirements is to ensure that the new industry or specialization is not ‘profaned because of improper entrance’.

Killers of father is a single word used once in the New Testament that means ‘murderer of fathers’. Similarly, killers of mother is also a single word used once in the New Testament that means ‘murderer of mothers’. Once a new specialization has been set up with technical standards and technical entrance requirements within a larger technical system, then these technical standards and requirements will be applied retroactively to the originators of this specialization and they will be found wanting. The cognitive principle is that technical thought is always built upon a non-technical foundation. Saying this another way, the male Contributor person likes to think that he is ‘the president and founder’ who is the source of his ideas and does not need any help from anyone else. But Contributor-controlled technical thought emerges when Exhorter thought comes up with ideas guided by either Mercy experiences or Teacher theories, and then Contributor thought improves these ideas using a limited collection of facts and sequences from Perceiver and Server thought. These are all the ‘fathers’ and ‘mothers’ of the technical specialization. Once the technical specialization has been established, then these fathers and mothers will be ‘killed’ because they fail to meet the technical standards. Similarly, once some new economic specialization becomes technically established, then the mom and pop stores that gave rise to this technical establishment will be put out of business either for failing to meet the technical standards, or because they lack the efficiency to compete in the new market. Notice that this killing applies to both male technical thought and female mental networks. There will be both a limit on new ideas and content as well as a loss of culture and emotional diversity. This will lead to a new set of rules that try to protect these small establishments from getting swallowed up by large entities.

The rest of the terms are not connected by any ‘and’s. Murderer is used once in the New Testament and literally means ‘a man slayer’. Looking at this symbolically, once all the small players are eliminated, then all that remains is large industries, corporations, and specializations competing with one another. Attention will turn from developing new ideas to gaining a larger share of the market. A new set of rules will have to be enacted that limit corporate takeovers. Similarly, rules will have to be established governing the interaction between various academic disciplines.

The list continues in verse 10. “For the sexually immoral, for homosexuals, for slave traders and liars and perjurers.” Sexually immoral means ‘to sell off’. The idea is that one is ‘selling off’ value at the deeper level of ‘being’ in order to gain value at the shallower level of ‘having’. For instance, the sexual prostitute sells sex in order to make money. A similar ‘selling off’ happens with the employee who sells his soul to the company in order to get ahead in his career. Placing this within the context, the ‘killing of fathers and mothers’ eliminated subjective and personal MMNs, while ‘man slaying’ caused a new destructive form of motivation to emerge. This creates a corporate and academic environment in which those who sell their souls will get ahead. As usual, a new set of regulations will be enacted to deal with this problem.

Homosexual is used twice in the New Testament and combines ‘a male’ with ‘a mat, bed’. Cognitively speaking, this would describe male technical thought interacting at a deep emotional level with male technical thought. Normally, the goal of male technical thought is to express itself through some collection of female mental networks. For instance, one develops a new gadget in order to make life better. ‘Homosexual’ keeps the interaction at the level of male technical thought. One finds emotional gratification in developing technical theories and interacting with others at the level of technical thought without ever feeling the need to go beyond the realm of technical thought to some sort of application that brings value to personal existence or society. One can see this, for instance, in corporate executives and MBAs who do not care about employees or products but merely see business as a way of playing with numbers and statistics. This is also a form of ‘sexual immorality’ because employees and products are more fundamental than the numbers and statistics that describe these employees and products. Focusing upon numbers and statistics while ignoring employees and products is an example of pursuing peripheral value while ignoring core value. The academic analogy is being more concerned about publishing papers in journals than doing research.

Slave trader is used once in the New Testament and literally means ‘bringing men to his feet’. This describes cognitive homosexuality in which various experts in male technical thought (which might include women) vie for dominance in order to be able to step on one another. When those who are in leadership focus upon numbers and statistics while being ignorant and dismissive of employees and products then all that remains is the dog-eat-dog world of corporate executives stepping upon one another. Similarly, when publishing papers becomes more important than doing research, then the only way to get ahead is by stepping on other researchers because one is not coming up with new ideas.

Liar means ‘to falsify, lie’. When those who focus upon numbers and statistics ignore the source of these numbers and statistics while attempting to assert dominance over others who work with numbers and statistics, then the appearance of numbers and statistics becomes more important than their validity. Similarly, when publishing papers becomes the primary goal, then there will be a natural tendency to falsify results in order to get published.

Perjurer is used once in the New Testament and combines ‘upon’ with ‘fence, enclosure’. The New Testament uses two words for ‘oath’. One word means to swear by a higher power, while the other word means to place a limit or a fence. ‘Perjurer’ uses the second term which means that those who are inside will erect fences to ensure that no one from outside is allowed to come in. These fences must be erected because those who are inside have lost the ability to come up with new ideas. Therefore, any ideas that come from outside will be automatically and systematically rejected. These fences will often take the form of laws that tilt the playing field in favor of established entities. More generally, the laws that were enacted to prevent abuse will eventually transmogrify into a system of law that perpetuates abuse.

Verse 10 finishes, “And for anyone else who is averse to sound teaching.” Else means ‘another of a different kind’ and anyone can mean either anyone or anything. Averse means to ‘place fully against’ which would mean finding Perceiver stability in opposing something. Teaching means ‘applied teaching... as it especially extends to its necessary lifestyle’. Sound means ‘healthy, working well’ and is the source of the English word hygiene. In other words, the very idea of evaluating information from the viewpoint of mental and societal wholeness is being rejected on principle. Applying this to the list, notice how the original goal of developing new and better products or doing better research is no longer being followed. Instead, those who control corporations and technical specializations have lost the ability to come up with new ideas and will naturally oppose those who come up with new ideas because this threatens their position at the top of the pecking order. The end result is a loss of applied teaching and a system that is not healthy or working well.

This can be illustrated by two strikingly similar examples from two different eras. The Roman writer Petronius relates that “An inventor brought a drinking bowl to the Roman emperor Tiberius made of vitrum flexile - translated as either flexible or unbreakable glass - which did not shatter but merely dented. Tiberius asked if anyone else was aware of the invention. When the inventor replied that he was the only person who knew the secret, Tiberius had him killed. The motivation, according to Reynolds, was to protect the livelihood of the glassmakers.” Similarly, East Germany in 1970s also developed a form of unbreakable glass which it produced until 1990. However, no Western companies were interested in the product. “With Coca Cola, for example, they said: Why should we use a glass that doesn't break? We make money with our glasses. […] The dealers said understandably: Who would saw off the branch he was sitting on?” And “In April 1992, the patent was abandoned by the inventors.” (I should add that modern gorilla glass applies similar principles of chemically hardening glass.)

Verse 11 describes what is being rejected. “That agrees with the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.” Agrees with means ‘according to’. ‘Agrees with’ conveys the impression that some person is dispensing approval while ‘according to’ indicates conformity to some standard. Gospel means ‘good news’. Glory describes some external expression of internal character. Blessed is the same word used in the beatitudes and means to ‘become long, large’. A ‘blessed God’ would refer to a concept of God in Teacher thought that is growing in generality. A religious believer might respond that everyone knows that God is universal, but there is a huge difference between verbally declaring that God is universal and coming up with a general theory of God’s character that brings order to a complexity of specific situations.

For instance, pursuing mental symmetry has formed a concept of God within my mind that is deeply consistent with the God of the Bible and I have found that this is a blessed concept of God that can be used as a meta-theory to explain many different topics. ‘The glory of the blessed God’ would mean that the concept of God in Teacher thought goes beyond explaining many subjects to generating beneficial physical results. For instance, the laws of science go beyond explaining many different kinds of natural processes to generating many useful and desirable gadgets through technology. This plethora of technological gadgets is ‘the glory of a blessed God’. ‘Good news’ suggests that these beneficial results have not yet occurred. Instead, Paul is announcing the good news of this kind of society based upon the breakthroughs that he has achieved personally as an apostle. Entrusted is simply the word ‘believe’ which means to ‘be persuaded’ and ‘I’ is explicitly mentioned. Thus, Paul is using rational thinking as an individual to develop the framework of a Teacher-based system of value.

Applying this to current society, academia and the technological economy have followed the framework of verse 11 in the realm of the objective. However, verses 9-10 described the process by which focusing upon technical thought to the exclusion of mental networks has led both academia and the economy down a path that has destroyed the benefits of the system.

Paul’s Personal Background 1:12-14

Paul then describes his personal journey. Verse 12 begins, “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me.” Thank is actually the word ‘grace’ which ‘is pre-eminently used of the Lord’s favor’ and refers to help from Teacher thought. Strengthen means ‘to empower’. Strength refers to Server ability while empowerment indicates power from Perceiver thought, as illustrated by power tools which multiply the effectiveness of Server actions. This empowering is coming from ‘Christ Jesus our Lord’, which describes being governed by an integrated concept of incarnation. For instance, technology does not make people stronger in Server thought. Instead, technology empowers people through various integrated systems of technical thought that are based in the Teacher laws of nature. More specifically, most power tools use electricity, which is generated and distributed through an extensive infrastructure of electricity transmission. However, enjoying the benefits of electricity requires functioning in a technically proficient manner that treats electricity in a safe manner. These rules of safety were not known in the early years of electricity. Notice that safety regulations are not enacted to prevent abuse to some human technical institution but rather to prevent people from being harmed by violating natural law. Similarly, the goal of mental symmetry is to pursue human well-being through an understanding of cognitive mechanisms. In both cases, the goal is to go beyond human institutions to be guided by how things really work. The personal benefit of pursuing mental integration is also an empowering rather than a strengthening. Strengthening implies strength of will and the ability to impose conscious thought upon the rest of the mind. Empowering describes the multiplying of thought that happens when one stops imposing conscious thought and gives subconscious modules the freedom to function independently. This can only be done if one submits to a general theory of mental wholeness.

Verse 12 continues, “That He considered me faithful and appointed me to service.” Faithful is related to the word ‘faith’ which means to ‘be persuaded’. For instance, technology only emerges when people are willing to be persuaded by the laws of nature. Similarly, mental wholeness requires ‘being persuaded’ by an understanding of cognitive modules. One is not just discussing some theory of cognition but altering the way that one thinks and behaves at the deepest level. Considered means ‘to lead the way, going before as a chief’. For instance, working with technology means placing rational thought at the forefront. The engineer, for instance, must place rational thinking about natural cause-and-effect before any concepts of tradition or personal status. The engineer who does not do this will make mistakes that cause people to get hurt or killed. Similarly, I have found that developing subconscious cognitive modules requires ‘leading the way’ and ‘going before as a chief’. One must use conscious thought to set a mental pattern of how cognitive modules interact. When this pattern has been set, then subconscious modules will begin to function according to this pattern. Similarly, developing the theory of mental symmetry required looking at science and technology as an example to follow that has ‘led the way’. Instead of using mental networks to run away from technical thought, one uses normal thought to find patterns within technical thought that are then applied to the emotional realm of mental networks. These essays continually refer to examples from science and technology while emphasizing that one must go beyond the objective and specialized mindset of technical thought.

Appointed means ‘to place, lay, set’ which is interpreted as Perceiver stability. Service means ‘service, ministry’ and is interpreted as behavior in Server thought. This combination of Perceiver facts and Server actions is critical for laying the foundation for incarnational thinking. That is because Contributor combines Perceiver and Server. Perceiver thought by itself will come up with static facts and connections. Adding Server thought turns these static facts into principles of cause-and-effect and concrete technical thought is based upon principles of cause-and-effect. That is why these essays continually refer to a Teacher understanding of ‘how things work’ as opposed to theological facts. Theology deals with static facts and beliefs in Perceiver thought. Righteousness goes beyond theology by looking for universal principles of cause-and-effect that reflect how God behaves. For instance, I mentioned earlier that my older brother and I separated paths in the early 2000’s. Our research interests started to diverge before that. My brother did the initial groundbreaking research of studying 200 biographies in order to gather facts about the seven cognitive styles. I initially helped him to clarify these facts but my attention was gradually drawn to looking at paths of cognitive development. Stated simply, if the diagram of mental symmetry summarizes how the mind is constructed, then how does one program this mental computer? What path needs to be followed to reach from the initial content that is acquired in childhood to a mature, integrated mind?

Paul describes in verse 13 what he used to be. “I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a violent man; yet because I had acted in ignorance and unbelief, I was shown mercy.” Formerly means ‘previously, before’. Was is explicitly included which means that Paul is referring to his ‘being’. Blasphemer means ‘to speak lightly or profanely of sacred things’ and ‘refusing to acknowledge good’. Persecutor is used once as a noun in the New Testament and means to ‘aggressively chase, like a hunter pursuing catch’. And violent man means ‘finding pleasure in hurting others’. Speaking literally, Paul is referring to his persecution of the church that he carried out before his Damascus Road encounter. However, these terms also describe my conservative, evangelical, Mennonite background. I am not suggesting that I had a horrible upbringing. But these elements were sufficiently present in my upbringing to require me to deal with these issues at a deep emotional level. The conservative Mennonite who avoids modern technology thinks that he is preserving a godly lifestyle, but he is actually blaspheming the benefits that come from following a partial concept of incarnation. The evangelical Christian who travels to the corners of the earth to gain converts thinks that he is leading people to God, but he is actually ‘aggressively chasing like a hunter’ in order to add more people to his particular group. I am not suggesting that missionary activity is wrong, but rather that it should never be regarded as the primary goal but rather as an enabler to building the kingdom of God. One believes as a Christian that ‘Jesus saves me from my sins’ in order to follow a path of allowing incarnation to save me from my inadequate thinking and lifestyle. One should not believe that Jesus saves me from my sins in order to embrace some inadequate thinking and lifestyle. As for ‘finding pleasure in hurting others’, conservative evangelical Christianity has turned into a zero-sum game in which the good news of Christianity has become replaced by attacking secular liberalism.

Mercy means ‘to have pity or mercy on’. Ignorant is used once in Timothy and adds the prefix ‘not’ to ‘mind’. Acted means ‘to make, do’ and is interpreted as Server actions. In is ‘in the realm of’ and unbelief adds the prefix ‘not’ to ‘be persuaded’. Evangelical Christendom can currently be described as ‘in the realm of unbelief’ because the word ‘belief’ has literally been redefined from ‘being persuaded by rational thought’ to ‘clinging to blind faith despite rational thought’. ‘Ignorance’ could be viewed as someone who is responding emotionally and has not used rational thought to justify or rationalize this emotional response. The original Greek is more literally, ‘because ignorant, I did in the realm of unbelief’. In other words, the ‘unbelief’ or lack of rational thinking was the result of not having thought about the subject, and not the result of thinking about the subject and then choosing not to be persuaded. Those who have never thought about some subject are capable of being persuaded when they encounter rational thought, while a person who has thought about some subject and chooses to respond in some manner becomes set in his or her ways and resistant to rational thought.

That brings us to the more general question of why God would show mercy to such an individual. I think that the answer is that developing an understanding of a better society requires a combination of intellectual innocence and moral conservatism. The intellectual innocence ensures that one is open to being persuaded by rational arguments while the moral conservatism means that this thinking will not be emotionally twisted by Mercy memories of rebellious or immoral behavior.

Verse 14 summarizes Paul’s journey. “And the grace of our Lord overflowed to me, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.” The Greek starts with the word overflowed which is used once in the New Testament and combines ‘beyond’ with ‘great in number’. Grace describes help from God in Teacher thought and ‘the grace of our Lord’ indicates personal submission to this grace. This is typically interpreted as religious hyperbole but it accurately describes my experience with mental symmetry. When I write an essay on some biblical book or write some academic paper on some field then most of the content comes effortlessly. That is because the theory in Teacher thought keeps reaching down and explaining one subject after another. The extent of analysis that has been achieved by mental symmetry at this point is ‘beyond great in number’.

There are several reasons for this. First, academia has become fragmented into many developed specializations that are just begging to be compared with one another. But this comparing can only be done by an outsider who steps away from the goal of career advancement in order to learn something about many fields. Second, comparing one specialization with another will trigger moral principles. Thus, honest evaluation requires a religiously conservative lifestyle that is willing to think about moral principles without having to deal with moral baggage. Third, recognizing and developing subconscious cognitive modules really has empowered my thinking. Fourth, comparing specializations requires the analogical thinking that tends to be used when studying the Bible as opposed to the technical thinking that is used within specializations. Fifth, one will only break through to recognizing that the Bible is a cognitive textbook if one starts by having respect for the content of the Bible.

Along with means ‘in company with’ when followed by the genitive. Faith means to ‘be persuaded’ and love is ‘agape’. These are ‘in the realm of Christ Jesus’. This refers to another primary reason why mental symmetry developed ‘beyond great in number’. I kept seeing people around me reach dead ends in their work because they neglected to apply their research to themselves. In other words, they failed to be persuaded by their own thinking. Thus, I knew that when I discovered some new cognitive principle I had to be willing to apply this principle personally no matter what the cost. And what drove me emotionally was ‘agape’ love—the positive Teacher emotion that came from discovering new aspects to the theory of mental symmetry. At times I would step back and literally feel freaked out by the concepts that I was uncovering. This positive Teacher emotion made up for the lack of approval, personal recognition, and social interaction that I was experiencing in Mercy thought. In addition, my training as an engineer caused me to approach the topic from the viewpoint of cognitive science. When I read the Bible or analyze moral issues, I do not feel that I am studying a holy book motivated by religious feelings. Instead, I approach the topic of Biblical doctrine and social analysis from the engineering perspective of programming a computer. That is what it means cognitively to be ‘in the realm of Christ Jesus’.

Paul’s Path of Salvation 1:15-16

Verse 15 is usually interpreted as a statement of religious self-denial. “This is a trustworthy saying, worthy of full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst.” Trustworthy is related to the word ‘faith’ which refers to persuasion. Saying is the word ‘logos’ which ‘is a broad term meaning reasoning expressed by words’. ‘Logos’ is interpreted as the Teacher paradigm that lies behind some technical specialization, guided by the description in John 1:1 of Christ as the ‘logos’ of God. Each technical specialization has its own ‘logos’ but the process of developing a meta-theory is also guided by a ‘logos’ and it is important to be persuaded by this meta-logos.

Worthy means ‘weighing as much as, of like value, worth’. Acceptance means to ‘gladly receive’ and full means ‘each part of a totality’. In other words, this meta-logos does not just apply to some limited context but rather has value and leads to positive results in many different contexts.

‘Christ Jesus’ refers to an integrated concept of incarnation, and mentioning Christ first suggests that one is starting with abstract principles and then applying these to concrete thought. (A concept of Christ is based in abstract technical thought, which is built upon precise definitions, such as the precise definitions of mathematics. A concept of Jesus is based in concrete technical thought, which is built upon principles of cause-and-effect.) Came simply means ‘to come, go’ and into means ‘to or into’. World is the word ‘cosmos’ which is interpreted as the structure of human society, guided by 1 John 2:16, which refers to the desires of the physical body, the desires of visible reality, and the boasting of biological life. Secular academia is an example of ‘cosmos’ because the starting assumption is that only physical reality exists. The modern economy is also an example of ‘cosmos’ because the focus is upon physical infrastructure and physical goods and services. Sinner means ‘to forfeit by missing the mark’. And save means to ‘deliver out of danger and into safety’. Putting this together, incarnation is not standing outside of the world system in order to take people out of the world system, as the doctrine of the rapture states or the typical conservative Christian assumes. Instead, incarnation is entering into the world system and saving people within that system. That is because the world system contains many good elements, such as academic institutions and an integrated global infrastructure. But we saw earlier that this system has become twisted by an overemphasis upon technical thought. Therefore, people need to be saved within the system, and that requires a meta-logos, a rational understanding that is compatible with technical specializations but brings unity to them and adds the subjective element. This salvation can only come to those who are sinners—who recognize that the system is inadequate and they need help.

The final phrase is “of whom I am the worst”. ‘I’ and ‘am’ are explicitly mentioned which means that Paul is focusing upon personal identity and being. Worst is a bad translation. Instead, the word means ‘first, foremost’. (This essay is using the Berean Study Bible as an experiment. My impression so far is that there is no compelling reason to use it rather than the NASB.) This is usually interpreted as Paul feeling bad for having persecuted the church, and Paul may have had this in mind when he wrote these words. However, there is also a cognitive meaning. A distinction needs to be made between committing sins and being aware of being a sinner. It is only possible to save someone who is aware of being a sinner. Current society is full of individuals and groups that are ‘missing the mark’ and experiencing painful consequences, but most of these people cannot be saved because they are too busy defending their personal shortcomings as lifestyles. Thus, what is really needed for salvation is a sensitivity to falling short of some standard.

For instance, mental symmetry began by studying the character traits of each cognitive style. If one puts together a composite picture of how the Contributor person uses Contributor thought, how the Teacher person treats Teacher thought and so on, one ends up with a reasonably good idea of how an integrated mind would function. It then becomes painfully obvious how far one falls short of this standard as a specific cognitive style who is only focusing upon conscious thought. Going further, if one recognizes that all cognitive modules within one’s mind have a right to exist, then the integrated mind becomes a moral standard to which one aspires. The average person is blissfully unaware of this moral standard which means that one becomes personally a ‘foremost sinner’, not because one is necessarily worse than others but because one has a much higher internal standard. And the moral standard of an integrated mind is a deeply personal standard that goes beyond the ‘having’ of performing good deeds to the ‘being’ of becoming personally transformed at the core of one’s being.

There is also the principle that one can only see a cognitive deficiency clearly to the extent that one has personally addressed this cognitive deficiency. Thus, one also has to be a ‘first sinner’ who develops a sense of falling short in some area personally before sharing this with others. Using the language of Matthew 7:5, one must take the log out of one’s own eye before one can see clearly to take the speck out of one’s brother’s eye.

Verse 16 expands upon this connection. “But for this very reason I was shown mercy, so that in me, the worst of sinners...” Mercy means ‘to have pity or mercy on’. For this very reason means ‘because of’ which indicates that the mercy is not being shown randomly but rather because of verse 15. Saying this another way, grace is often referred to as a free gift that is unmerited, but grace actually has a deeply personal cost. One can only receive grace to the extent that one recognizes that one is a sinner, and the average person is not willing to pay this cost. In fact, it has become taboo within current society to suggest that some group or individual is a sinner. In contrast, believing in the existence of sin will cause one to become condemned by society as a ‘sinner’ and this condemnation will use moral language. However, using moral language to condemn moral language is a contradiction.

In means ‘in the realm of’ and me is explicitly mentioned. While society is functioning at the peripheral level of ‘having’, Paul is functioning in the realm of ‘being’. Similarly, developing mental symmetry has caused me to function at the level of ‘being’ by asking questions such as ‘How can I become mentally integrated?’ and ‘What would it be like to live personally within mental symmetry?’ Worst again does not mean ‘worst’ but rather means ‘first, foremost’. This word is used 100 times in the New Testament and is never translated ‘worst’ by either the KJV or the NASB. In addition, the BSB adds the word ‘sinners’ which is not in the original Greek. Instead the Greek says, ‘that in the realm of me, first’. Thus, the mercy is starting with the identity of Paul. Similarly, mental symmetry started as a system of cognitive development that guided the programming of my mind and the rebuilding of my identity before it expanded to become a meta-theory that could be applied to many subjects.

Verse 16 finishes, “Christ Jesus might display His perfect patience as an example to those who would believe in Him for eternal life.” Display means ‘to make fully evident’. The Greek mentions Jesus Christ rather than Christ Jesus and this is reflected in both the KJV and NASB. Starting with Jesus suggests that the process started with saving me in Mercy thought before expanding to form a general concept of incarnation. That definitely describes the path that I followed in developing mental symmetry. Patience means ‘patience, long-suffering’ while perfect means ‘each and every one as a comprehensive unit’. This indicates a long process that will deal with many aspects in order to achieve a comprehensive solution. Looking at this personally, following the path of cognitive transformation has included many episodes of falling apart inside, occasionally losing my temper, and sometimes even screaming at God. However, whenever this happened, my understanding in Teacher thought would reach down and put me back together and I would end up stronger and more integrated. Unfortunately, each episode would only put me back together within some context, which meant that a comprehensive solution required falling apart and being reassembled in many different contexts over a long period of time.

Example is used twice in the New Testament and means ‘an outline, sketch’. When one is building upon personal experiences, the natural tendency is to amplify personal and cultural MMNs. The result is not rational thinking but rather rationalizing and not a theory but rather an ideology. An outline or sketch emerges when general theories are being applied, because personal experiences will be viewed as examples of general principles. For instance, I have learned that analyzing the mind requires personally applying what one discovers, but I have also come to the conclusion that theoretical breakthroughs can be applied personally in many different ways. Therefore, I have tried to be a good student and ask God to allow me to apply theory in ways that are less painful. That describes what it feels like to view personal experience as an outline or sketch.

Believe means to ‘be persuaded’ and would means ‘at the very point of acting’. For means ‘to or into’. Life refers to either natural or spiritual life, and eternal means ‘age-long, eternal’. Looking at this personally, I gradually realized that mental wholeness is the requirement for eternal life and that eternal life starts now with thinking in terms of long-term integration. A living organism is composed of many parts that function together in an integrated manner and physical life requires the integrated functioning of many biological components. But these biological components will eventually age and die. If the external will eventually fall apart, then all that remains is the internal. Thus, eternal life requires remaining internally integrated over the long-term. Eternal life by its very nature goes beyond having to being.

A Meta-Kingdom 1:17

Verse 17 is often quoted as a pastoral benediction. “Now to the King eternal, immortal, and invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” These five terms makes sense as a progression of growing realization. King means ‘a king, sovereign’. The first realization is that the principles that were learned in verse 17 rule over society. For instance, the basic principle of most academic research is that one can step outside of the limitations of the mind when studying some topic. Similarly, I have assumed that I just have to share the theory of mental symmetry with people in order for them to appreciate and apply the principles. But cognitive principles also rule how one learns about cognitive principles. Unlike computers, one cannot load the human mind with another operating system. Instead, a new operating system has to be installed one step at a time with each step being subject to the constraints of the existing operating system. In other words, mental symmetry is a king and not just a theory.

Eternal is the same word that was used at the end of verse 16. The principle here is that one will never become free of the mind and its inherent limitations. One will not become instantly perfect when dying and going to heaven because one will still inhabit the same mind. If the mind could be instantly transformed, then that would lead to personal annihilation, because I am my mind. (I view the mind as something immaterial that corresponds to the biblical word ‘soul’. The mind currently lives in the brain and the body and the mind is different than the spirit.) Thus, the kingship of mental symmetry survives death. Saying this another way, it is possible to use mental symmetry to make meaningful statements about eternal existence.

Immortal is used once in Timothy and means imperishable, incorruptible’. For instance, I mentioned previously that whenever I fall apart inside, the theory of mental symmetry puts me back together. That describes an imperishable theory. Going further, nothing is more fundamental to me than my mind. Using an analogy, what is the point of getting a good camera if I can no longer see? Similarly, what is the point of doing anything if my mind loses the ability to function? It is said that absolute power corrupts absolutely. But any attempt to corrupt the theory of mental symmetry will lead inevitably to some form of failure to which the theory will simply reply, ‘I told you so’.

Invisible means ‘not seen’. The previous steps created the internal concept of a system that rules over the mind. Following this path will lead to the gut feeling that the invisible is more fundamental than the visible, because pursuing some external goal will cause one to take some mental shortcut which will lead to some form of failure which will be followed by the theory reasserting itself. When this happens enough times, or is observed happening enough times, then one concludes that the eternal and immortal King is invisible.

Only means ‘alone’ and is followed by the word ‘God’, leading to the combination mono-theism. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam claim to be monotheistic religions that believe in one God. But there is a huge difference between saying that one believes in one God and constructing a unified concept of God that rules over everything. Mental symmetry suggests that a concept of God emerges when a sufficiently general theory in Teacher thought rules over personal identity. Going further, a Teacher theory acquires emotional power when it continues to be used and turns into a TMN. For instance, mental symmetry turned into a concept of God in my mind when mental symmetry started to explain moral issues, biblical doctrines, and provided a cognitive explanation for the concept of a Trinitarian God. This obviously led me to question which was the real concept of God: The concept of God I had acquired growing up in a conservative Mennonite culture or the concept of God that had emerged as a result of developing mental symmetry. This is not a trivial question because one cannot simply choose to ignore one’s childhood concept of God. That is because a concept of God is based in potent mental networks, and a mental network will generate strong painful emotions when it is threatened.

Threatening the mental network of a concept of God will lead to the feeling that one may end up in eternal damnation for blasphemy. The solution is to continue recognizing the difference between claiming to believe in monotheism and actually constructing the concept of a monotheistic God. What one acquired as a child was primarily a concept of God based in words and rituals. This may be an accurate starting point but it is still an inadequate concept of God. I gradually came to the emotional conclusion that my concept of God that was based in mental symmetry was a more adequate concept of a monotheistic God because: 1) It explains how the mental concept of a Trinitarian God is formed instead of regarding this as a mystery. 2) It explains many biblical doctrines that are regarded as mysteries by theologians. 3) It is more consistent with the Bible in the original language than historical theology. 4) It can be extended to secular thought and secular specializations as opposed to being limited to some religious ghetto. 5) It explains how the mind really works instead of imposing moral restraints upon the mind. 6) It leads to mental wholeness rather than religious self-denial. 7) It provides a rational explanation for the spiritual and angelic realms instead of treating them as mystery. 8) It reveals new facets of biblical interpretation, as illustrated by this essay.

When a meta-theory swallows up such a diverse range of fields, one eventually comes to the conclusion that there is no other concept of God. This does not mean that other concepts of God are necessarily wrong but rather that they are incomplete or transitional. Notice that this final step follows the concept of an invisible God. That is because internal conflicts between religious statements of monotheism and constructing a valid concept of God can only be reconciled if one realizes that a mental concept of God has to be constructed that does not lean upon any physical institutions or religious authorities. Otherwise, one will instinctively cling to physical institutions and/or religious authorities for one’s concept of God.

Honor means ‘a valuing, a price’. The goal of 1 Timothy is to construct a better economy. This requires formulating a better concept of value. A monotheistic concept of God has now been constructed that can form the basis for a better concept of value. Glory is portrayed in the Bible as an external expression of internal character. Saying this another way, glory is ‘having’ that expresses ‘being’. A mental concept of God that is based in universal principles of how things work is capable of being externalized from internal being to external having. In contrast, a mental concept of God that is based in the words of some ancient book and/or religious experiences is not capable of being externalized beyond some religious ghetto because there is no connection between the ancient book with its religious experiences and the normal, modern, secular world. The final phrase ‘forever and ever’ is literally ‘to the ages of the ages’, using two occurrences of the word that was translated ‘eternal’ earlier in verse 17. This conveys the idea of multidimensional stability. For instance, we just saw the various realms to which the theory of mental symmetry applies. When so many diverse fields become ruled by the same meta-theory, it then becomes possible to step from one realm to a totally different realm in a rational manner that a specialized mind is incapable of doing. The end result is a very stable, very interconnected concept of God. Amen comes from the Hebrew word for ‘verily, truly’. This expresses the certainty that has been acquired.

Moving from Personal to Social 1:18-20

Verse 18 turns to Timothy. “Timothy, my child, I entrust you with this command.” The Greek begins with ‘This the command’ indicating that the emphasis is not upon Timothy as a person but rather upon the command. Command means ‘something announced from close beside and therefore fully authorized’ and was previously used in verse 5 which said that ‘the goal of our instruction is love’. Entrust means ‘to place beside’ and is used once in 1 Timothy. Placing is interpreted as Perceiver stability. ‘Placing beside’ would indicate a similar set of Perceiver facts. Timothy means ‘value of God’ and is interpreted as an economic and academic system based in an integrated concept of value. Verses 9-10 described how a system of technical rules follows a path of corruption. Verse 17 described how constructing an integrated concept of God leads to a better sense of value. In verse 18 the sense of value that comes from an integrated concept of God is being laid alongside the concept of an integrated economy. This laying alongside will naturally happen. On the one hand, an integrated concept of God that explains many aspects of human existence will lead to the internal vision of a society that expresses this integrated concept of God. On the other hand, a globally interconnected, technological, computer-based economy will lead to a potent, implicit concept of God. The global interconnectivity will provide the Teacher generality, the technology will emphasize the dependence upon technical thought, the dependence upon computers will emphasize the connection with cognition, and living inescapably within this society will turn this into the concept of a monotheistic God. However, this implicit monotheistic concept of God will be an inhuman beast that imposes the machine upon human souls and human spirits.

Notice how verse 18 follows from verse 17. in verse 18, Paul comes to the realization that there is one God who needs to be given honor and glory. In the Greek, the word God (theos) is followed directly by the word honor (timé). The name Timothy in verse 18 combines these same two words: timé and theos. In other words, Paul followed a personal path of transformation that grew in generality to the level of forming a concept of God. This generalized plan can then be ‘committed’ to the Timothy of an economic and academic system of global value.

Child means ‘anyone living in full dependence’ and ‘my’ is implied. The previous verses have made it clear that the global economy is a ‘child’ who lives in full dependence upon an integrated concept of God. The global economy emerged from the integrated partial concept of God that was developed by science and technology. The global economy has become twisted as this foundation has become corrupted. Thus, the global economy has to be revitalized by a more adequate concept of God.

Verse 18 continues, “In keeping with the previous prophecies about you, so that by them you may fight the good fight.” In keeping with means ‘according to’. Previous means ‘to lead forth, to go before’. Prophecy means ‘asserting one idea over another’ and is in the plural. These prophecies were about Timothy. Applying this to the global economy, each new advance has been preceded by prophetic statements about how this new breakthrough would lead to human paradise. And, in each case, this paradise has been ruined by the corrupting process described in verses 9-10, in which some global elite took advantage of technical infrastructure to exert control over society. And a similar consolidation of power was happening within the Roman society in which Paul was living. Verse 18 is interesting because it provides a different response than what is commonly seen. The typical technological response to this decay is to sweep it under the rug and promise that the next technological advance will really, really deliver human paradise. This enthusiasm can currently be seen with AI, the current technological breakthrough. The typical subjective response is to reject scientific thought in order to find emotional and spiritual comfort in some alternate form of ‘knowing’. The typical consumer response is to become excited by the latest-and-greatest new-and-improved gadget while ignoring the larger implications. Paul neither embraces technological breakthroughs nor rejects scientific thought. Instead, he develops an integrated concept of God that provides a more adequate basis for the global economy.

Fight means ‘to make war, to serve as a soldier’. ‘By them’ is more literally ‘in the realm of them’. War is related to the word ‘fight’ and means a campaign, expedition. It is used one other time in the New Testament in 2 Corinthians 10:4 which says that the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh. Good means ‘attractively good’. These terms describe a form of holy war, but this is not your normal holy war. The Christian God is not rapturing true believers into heaven and then raining destruction down upon the secular global economy. Instead, the one and only universal God is demonstrating the inadequacies of the current materialistic, technical, global economy by producing the paradise that the technical global economy continually promises but does not deliver. And Paul himself is not doing the fighting. This is not an academic or religious war. Instead, Paul is developing a more adequate concept of God, this is being laid alongside the facts of the global economy, and the Timothy of an integrated, eternal system of value is waging warfare. Developing goods and services that are attractively good goes beyond marketing. Marketing attempts to manipulate feelings of value by triggering existing inadequate mental networks. ‘Attractively good’ generates products and services that themselves are attractive, helpful, and useful to the consumer. For instance, marketing often uses celebrity endorsement in order to associates the product with the MMN that represents the celebrity in the minds of potential consumers. But having a celebrity endorse some product says absolutely nothing about the product itself.

Verse 19 describes how this war must be fought. “Holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and thereby shipwrecked their faith.” Holding means ‘to have, hold’ and refers to ‘having’ as opposed to ‘being’. Faith means to be persuaded and there is no ‘the. Thus, one needs to be guided by rational thought when dealing with the realm of having and owning. Good means ‘intrinsically good’ as opposed to the ‘attractively good’ of verse 18. Conscience means ‘joint knowing’. Intrinsic goodness would refer to the quality and durability of a product. Thus, both planned obsolescence and emphasizing appearance are example of violating intrinsic goodness. ‘Joint knowing’ requires an integrated understanding of the principles of cause-and-effect, which takes time and experience to emerge. Attempting to fool quality inspectors or hiding deficiencies are obviously examples of violating conscience, but firing older employees who have an institutional knowledge of quality and durability is also an example of violating conscience. The current problems of Boeing provide an illustration of these principles.

Rejected means ‘to thrust away’ and is used once in Timothy. Their means ‘around’ when followed by the accusative. ‘Their faith’ gives the impression that some set of religious beliefs is being abandoned. But the Greek is more literally, ‘having thrust away around the being persuaded’. This describes deliberately moving away from the realm of rational thought. Boeing again provides an example of this because the problems of Boeing began when Boeing merged with McDonnell Douglas. Boeing had been led by executives with engineering experience, but after the merger executives from McDonnell Douglas without engineering experience who emphasized profit over quality took over the company and in 2001 the company headquarters was moved from Seattle where the planes were being produced to Chicago. Thus, Boeing literally ‘thrust away around the being persuaded’ by physically moving the headquarters away from the rational thinking of the engineers who were actually building the airplanes. Shipwreck is used twice in the New Testament and means ‘to suffer shipwreck’. A ship represents a company or institution that uses organizational structure to move across the ‘sea’ of human experiences. Thus, a shipwreck would describe organizational disaster. Boeing again provides an example. And Boeing also suffered two literal shipwrecks in 2018 and 2019 when two 737 Max aircraft crashed as a result of design shortcomings taken by managers who knew more about making money than building airplanes.

Verse 20 gives two specific examples. “Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.” Hymenaeus is mentioned twice in the New Testament and comes from ‘hymen’, the Greek God of weddings. Hymenaeus was ‘a heretical teacher at Ephesus’ and we saw earlier that Ephesus was a center of the worship of Artemis, a female deity. A ‘God of weddings’ would represent the corporate mergers that characterize a mature economy. For instance, the problems of Boeing began when Boeing got ‘married’ to McDonnell Douglas. More generally, a focus upon corporate takeovers will naturally happen when the focus of a corporation turns from encouraging employees and developing new products to competing with other companies. That is because such companies can only grow by swallowing up competitors, competitors that typically arose by encouraging their employees to develop new products. Alexander means ‘man-defender’. The goal of a ‘man-defender’ is not to use technical thought to develop new goods and services but rather to use technical thought to defend against various hostile forces. This was also seen back in verse 10.

Paul does not directly attack these adversaries. Instead, he hands them over to Satan. Hand over means ‘to give or deliver over, to betray’ and is the word used to describe Judas betraying Jesus. The underlying idea is that any major transition has to be enabled by some person or group. This can be done in a positive way by personally breaking through to the new system, or it can be done in a negative way by betraying the existing system. The late capitalistic emphasis upon corporate mergers and corporate competition is an example of betraying the global economy in a negative manner because it makes it clear to everyone that a better alternative is required. Satan means ‘adversary’. Thus, handing over to Satan would mean allowing something or someone to self-destruct through an adversarial mindset. For instance, evangelical Christendom is currently self-destructing through the adversarial mindset of opposing secular liberal thought.

Taught means ‘to instruct by training’. It comes from the word for ‘a child under training’ and is the root of the English word ‘pedagogy’. In other words, the corporate executives and academic experts who think that they are a superior breed of humans are actually little children who need to be trained. Blaspheme means ‘refusing to acknowledge good’ and the noun form of this word was previously used in verse 13 where Paul referred to himself as formerly a blasphemer. That was interpreted as a conservative religious mindset rejecting scientific and technological progress in order to preserve religious and social MMNs. In verse 20 corporate leaders are rejecting scientific and technological progress in order to pursue personal status. Notice that Paul is not descending to the level of arguing with childish corporate leaders, because they have the resources to fight such a battle, they have developed the skills to fight such battles, and the laws are tilted in their favor. This expands upon verse 18 which talked about coming up with a better and more attractive product for the consumer. If one has a better product then one can ignore the mega-corporations with their infantile child leaders and allow them to self-destruct by fighting each other. But this can only be done if one starts with a concept of long-term value that is based in an incorruptible, eternally valid, concept of God. Otherwise, one will become corrupted by the world instead of saving the world. The seven mountains of culture provide an example of evangelical Christendom attempting to save the world and becoming corrupted by the world.

Rebuilding Government and Economy 2:1-4

Chapter 2 begins by looking at the foundations for a successful economy. Verse 1 says, “First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be offered for everyone.” Then means ‘therefore’ which indicates that chapter 2 follows from chapter 1. First means ‘before, at the beginning’ and all means ‘each part of a totality’. Thus, many steps will need to be carried out, but these are the first steps that have to be done before doing anything else. Urge means to ‘personally make a call’. This is an emotional appeal but it is being guided by logic. Offered is the common word ‘to make, do’ which indicates actions within Server thought. This means that this first step needs to go beyond words and feelings to actions.

Petition means ‘praying for a specific, felt need’. Prayer means an ‘exchange of wishes’. Intercession is used twice in the New Testament, here and in 4:5. It means ‘intersection which literally hits the mark’ and ‘is used in classical Greek as the antonym of harmartia, to miss the mark, sin’. Thanksgiving means ‘thankful for God’s grace’ and is the source of the English word ‘Eucharist’. These four terms suggest that the first step in fixing the economy is to focus upon the consumer. One begins by providing what the consumer needs. This is different than providing novelty, giving what the consumer wants, or attempting to manipulate mental networks through marketing. Instead, one focuses upon meeting specific needs. Obviously, this requires a deep understanding of what people really need, which was developed in the first chapter. The second step involves interacting with the consumer at a level of wishes. This goes beyond what the consumer needs to what the consumer wants. But this is a two-way interaction that also educates the consumer into more intelligent wanting.

These first two steps lay the foundation for effectively meeting the needs of the consumer, which is the third step. For instance, mental symmetry began by looking at what each cognitive module requires to exist. This was followed becoming sensitive to the wishes of cognitive modules. This laid the foundation for being able to pursue effectively the path of reaching mental wholeness instead of missing the mark through mental fragmentation. The general principle is that existence is more basic than desire. The first step is to meet the legitimate needs of cognitive modules and mental networks so that they stop screaming. Once survival needs are taken care of, then it becomes possible to go beyond needs to desires. The third step replaces the negative goal of not missing the target with the positive goal of hitting the target. The fourth step recognizes that benefits come from an integrated concept of God in Teacher thought. For instance, science and technology have used an integrated Teacher understanding of physical reality to construct a functioning global infrastructure. The modern economy has not managed to go beyond physical infrastructure to social paradise because an integrated Teacher understanding of the mind does not exist. The goal of mental symmetry is to fill this void.

For means ‘in behalf of’ when followed by the genitive. Every means ‘each part of a totality’. And one is ‘the generic term for mankind’. One is not just focusing upon specific needs or wants. Instead, one is producing a product or service that fills some niche within the general plan. And one is focusing upon the needs of mankind, rather than playing corporate games led by leaders with big egos, small hearts, and childish minds.

Verse 2 turns to leadership. “For kings and all those in authority—so that we may lead tranquil and quiet lives in all godliness and dignity.” For is again the word ‘in behalf of’. King means ‘a king, ruler’. This term was previously used in 1:17 to refer to the eternal king. All means ‘each part of a totality’. Authority is used twice in the New Testament as a noun (and five times as a verb) and means to ‘hold above’. ‘Holding’ relates to the peripheral realm of having, and ‘above’ means that one is superior within the realm of having. This is followed explicitly by ‘being’. The phrase is more literally, ‘being in the realm of having above’. A rich person or a corporate leader is ‘in the realm of having above’. However, we just saw that these individuals to tend to be lacking in the realm of ‘being’. Thus, praying ‘for all those in authority’ would mean praying for the ‘big egos, small hearts, and childish minds’ of the rich and powerful. The next phrase provide the motivation.

Tranquil is used once in the New Testament and means ‘undisturbed, placid’. Quiet is used twice in the New Testament and means ‘calmly quiet’. Stated bluntly, one prays that one will be left alone by childish leaders. More generally, government needs to function invisibly and create an environment of law and order that allows the individual to function. The goal of government is not to be a source of handouts or to provide equity for disadvantaged groups but rather to create an environment that enables the individual and then step out of the way.

This definitely does not describe a socialist economy in which government provides everything. But I also think that it does not describe a libertarian system in which government plays essentially no role because those who call for libertarian government are typically Contributor persons with small hearts and large wallets who do not want others to stop them from exerting control over the population, and chapter 1 described where that leads.

The reason that government should step out of the way is because it is not the ultimate source of either natural law or meaning. The ultimate source of natural law is the laws of nature and government cannot legislate these out of existence. However, if government enacts too many laws, that these laws can prevent people from learning about natural cause-and-effect, leading to the mistaken impression that natural law does not exist. For instance, the postmodern activist can declare that all theories are merely the opinions of power groups, equate scientific progress with colonial oppression, and advocate alternate non-scientific ways of ‘knowing’ only because he or she lives a pampered existence within a natural world that has been civilized by science and technology. Going further, motivation, meaning, and satisfaction are generated by the mind, and the mind is governed by its own set of universal cognitive principles. Thus, government cannot cause some marginal or oppressed group to feel culturally or emotionally validated. But government can enact social programs that distract people from the real issue of reprogramming the mind. In a similar vein, academia should provide an environment for people to do research. That is because academia is merely discovering universal laws that already exist in the structure of the universe and the structure of the mind. However, academia and government now distract people from doing research by requiring researchers to publish papers in order to gain funding—usually from government. The underlying premise of peer-reviewed papers is that academic experts determine what is and isn’t true. But truth is ultimately determined by how the natural world functions and how the mind functions.

Continuing with verse 2, life means biological life and is used once in 1 Timothy. Lead is used twice in the New Testament and means ‘to carry over, to pass’. Government ultimately uses physical force to rule over biological, physical existence. ‘Carrying over’ indicates that biological existence should be regarded as temporary. Physical life is not evil, as Gnosticism suggests, but it should be regarded as temporary. However, government can use physical force to impose content upon people’s mind, preventing them from focusing upon deeper questions. Thus, verse 2 says that one should pray for government to function silently so that people can stop fixating upon temporary biological existence in order to focus upon lasting issues.

The final phrase ‘in all godliness and dignity’ suggests that one is adopting a certain attitude. But in means ‘in the realm of’, suggesting that one is functioning within a realm of godliness and dignity. Godliness is used several times in Timothy and combines ‘well’ with ‘venerate, pay homage’. Dignity is used three times in the New Testament and means ‘dignity, honor, gravity, seriousness’. Government demands veneration and homage. But if government only rules over existence that is temporary, then it is not appropriate to give total veneration to government. Instead, the government needs to take care of temporary physical issues in a way that allows people to venerate that which is more lasting and more permanent. The end result is the dignity and gravity of giving honor to that which really deserves honor. Similarly, academia uses empirical evidence to come up with scientific theories of materialistic reality. But mortal humans, by definition, are merely passing through physical reality before their bodies fail. Thus, academia also needs to teach its theories about physical reality in a manner that makes it possible for people to think and explore deeper questions of personal existence.

The grammatical structure suggests that the four stages of verse 1 also apply to government. The first stage is to provide for legitimate needs. These would include national security, public safety, rule of law, some form of medical assistance, and help for the infirmed and aged. The second stage involves an exchange of wishes. A two-way exchange of wishes implies some form of democracy and also implies that government can play a role in educating the populace. The third stage is ‘hitting the mark’. This indicates examining government programs to see if they are reaching the target as opposed to continuing programs because they provide employment for some group or meet the expectations of some special interest. The final stage is to recognize the benefits that government provides. This sounds obvious but the covid crisis provided an illustration of violating this fourth principle. During this crisis, governments had to intervene actively at a national and global level through lockdowns and vaccine programs. Many citizens were not thankful for this intervention. In each of these steps the goal of government should be to help the individual in a quiet way to live a quiet life.

Verse 3 adds a religious focus. “This is good and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior.” Good means ‘attractively good’. Acceptable means ‘what is gladly welcomed because pleasing’. In the sight of means ‘before the face of’ which implies social interaction. Savior means to ‘deliver out of danger and into safety’. Normally, Jesus does the saving, but in this case the salvation is coming from God in Teacher thought. Teacher thought deals with general theories. Teacher thought is saving people by providing an environment of quiet order-within-complexity that enables the individual.

Verse 3 says that God is personally pleased with an economy that runs well. This is quite different than the evangelical Christian who is waiting for God to rescue Christians from the secular economy. It is also quite different than the conservative believer who viewed government interference during the pandemic as humans stepping in to take the job of God. Verse 3 indicates that God works through human organization. God does not find human government intrinsically repulsive but rather welcomes public law and order and finds it pleasing. One will only come to this conclusion if one constructs a concept of God that is based in universal principles, as described in the first chapter. This does not mean that God finds all forms of government equally pleasing. Instead, what God finds pleasing is the kind of government described in the first two verses. Notice also that God is not saving people by taking them out of the secular world system but rather by fixing the existing political and economic system.

Verse 4 says what God wants. “Who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Everyone is the generic word for mankind. And the word all is added which means ‘each part of a totality’. This describes the order-within-complexity of individuals functioning within some group. Desire means ‘to desire, wish’. Save is the verb form of the word ‘savior’ that was used in the previous verse. To means ‘to or into’. Knowledge adds the word ‘fitting’ to ‘experiential knowledge’. Truth means ‘true to fact, reality’. And come is the normal word for ‘come, go’. Facts come from Perceiver thought and ‘true to fact, reality’ indicates that truth acknowledges the facts of reality as opposed to attempting to come up with a form of truth that is different than the facts of reality. Experiential knowledge comes from Mercy thought. ‘Fitting experiential knowledge’ means acquiring Mercy experiences that are consistent with the facts of reality and appropriate for the situation. Putting this together, the goal of a global economy is to improve everyone’s well-being and not just help some global elite at the expense of everyone else. Similarly, God wants everyone to be capable of approaching reality in a rational manner and not just some academic elite. Looking at this cognitively, Teacher thought feels good when a universal theory of human well-being applies to more people while feeling bad when some people are left out of the prosperity. This does not mean that everyone will go to heaven but I suggest that it does mean that even hell can be made a little better for those who end up there. Using an earthly example, there will always be poor people but what is regarded today as poverty is much richer than what was regarded as poverty two centuries earlier.

A Truly Global Economy 2:5-8

Verse 5 provides the basis for this universal spreading of wealth. “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” The first phrase is more literally ‘one indeed God’. We saw in 1:17 that constructing the mental concept of a monotheistic God is much different than proclaiming belief in a monotheistic God. ‘One indeed God’ describes the emotional impact of a universal concept of God in Teacher thought. As was mentioned in the previous paragraph, Teacher thought feels good when a universal theory applies to more people while feeling bad when there are exceptions to the general rule. There is an emotional drive today to extend physical infrastructure to every corner of the globe guided by the universal understanding of science and technology. However, there is not a corresponding emotional drive to extend mental wholeness to all societies, because current society is not guided by a universal understanding of cognitive mechanisms. ‘One indeed God’ describes a realization that the same one and only God created both the physical universe and human minds.

Mediator comes from a word that means ‘in the middle’. Men is the word for humanity and the number ‘one’ is mentioned again. One mediator between God and humanity means that the implicit concept of incarnation that comes from science and technology is the same as the explicit concept of incarnation described in the Bible. This one incarnation is described as ‘human Christ Jesus’. This is an unusual term and I have found that very few people believe in a ‘human Christ Jesus’. Science and technology lead to an integrated concept of Christ Jesus but most scientists reject the idea of approaching this from a personal perspective. The cultural or religious advocate may believe in humanity but will reject the idea that the incarnation of science and technology can help humanity. The Bible-believing fundamentalist will proclaim Christ Jesus while insisting that this is unrelated to human thought or human society. Verse 5 is saying that these splits are all invalid. There is only one incarnation and this one incarnation deals with science, religion, and human society. In fact, the only way to construct a valid concept of incarnation is by including science, religion, and human society.

Verse 6 states the process and the cost of coming to such a conclusion of oneness. “Who gave Himself as a ransom for all—the testimony that was given at just the right time.” Give means ‘to give’ and is in the past tense. Ransom is used once in the New Testament and adds ‘instead of, exchange’ to ‘ransom-price’. (Ransom-price occurs twice in the New Testament and means ‘the ransom-money to free a slave.) For means ‘in behalf of’ when followed by the genitive. All means ‘each part of a totality’. This relates to 1:18 where Paul laid his universal concept of God that he developed personally alongside the prophecies regarding Timothy.

Looking at this symbolically, many experts have predicted over the years that ‘Timothy’, representing a global economy supported by science and technology, would lead to human paradise. For instance, Marx predicted that combining the theory of Marxism with the factory system would lead to a worker’s paradise. The history of communism shows that this did not happen. Similarly, all of the other predictions of paradise have not led to paradise, but rather have resulted—at least to some extent—in the enslaving of the average consumer. Paul has not developed a better theory of economics. Instead he has developed a mental concept of God and personal transformation that is being laid alongside economics and academia in an analogical manner. This is being used as an ‘instead of ransom money’ to free the populace.

Similarly, mental symmetry was developed at great personal cost as a theory of cognitive transformation as well as a reformulation of theology. This theory of personality was then laid alongside several academic disciplines, resulting in a meta-theory of academic thought. It has also been laid alongside introductory concepts of economics, leading to a 150 page academic paper that provides an integrated view of economics. I am conversant in these various fields, but I have not paid the price to become an established expert within any of these fields nor have I grounded my concepts in any set of empirical experiments. Instead, the personal cost that I have paid to develop a theory of personal transformation has provided me with an integrated collection of tested concepts that I use to analyze these various fields. This is an example of ‘instead of ransom money’.

Testimony means ‘a testimony, a witness’ and refers to evidence based in personal experience. Time refers to ‘opportune time’ as opposed to clock time. Just the right is the word ‘uniquely one’s own’. The Greek is more accurately ‘the testimony in their unique opportunities’. Major breakthroughs typically happen during some window of opportunity in which one fading quality temporarily coexists with another growing quality. Those who live within such a time of transition have a unique ability to think in an unusual manner that is not shared by outsiders. For instance, the apostle Paul lived in an era when Jewish religious thought was being replaced by Jewish nationalism, Roman Republic was being replaced by Roman Empire, and Greek city states were being replaced by client provinces of the Roman Empire. In each case, a new oppressive system was being imposed upon people who still had the memory of earlier times. Paul developed theology within this time of transition. Similarly, mental symmetry was developed in a time of transition during which postmodernism replaced modernism. Thus, I approach the emotional topics of postmodernism with the memory of the rational thinking of modernism. Similarly, I analyze moral issues from a cognitive perspective with the memory of my conservative Mennonite upbringing. And I analyze the social sciences and cognition with the memory of my training in electrical engineering.

Looking at this more carefully, a transition from old system to new system will go through a period of chaos and rebellion. Thus, the average person will reject the old without ever discovering the new. However, if the memory of the old is strong enough, then it can provide a framework for discovering the new. In contrast, the average person rejects the old, experiences painful consequences, and then tries to recover; that path leads to a mind that is filled with emotional baggage which makes it difficult to think clearly.

For instance, I grew up in the hippie era when everyone was throwing off social restrictions. However, my conservative Mennonite heritage prevented me from rejecting moral rules. This gave me a mind that was free of emotional baggage that could think rationally about moral issues. Similarly, I have a Master’s degree in engineering, but when the system turned on me for doing unusual research on cognitive styles, I responded by leaving the system and continuing to do research. This gave me a mind that was capable of thinking clearly without having to worry about publishing papers, getting funding, and playing the academic game. For me, the primary struggle has not been recovering from some form of personal disaster, but rather replacing the principles that I learned as blind faith and youthful enthusiasm with universal principles of cognition. The typical Mennonite scholar grows up in a conservative Mennonite household, enters academia, loses his or her faith, and then rediscovers some cognitive principles of meaning and faith. In contrast, I grew up in a conservative Mennonite household guided by a Mercy mother who encouraged me to think about moral rules as well as an older Teacher brother who was studying biographies in order to analyze Romans 12 spiritual gifts. I never lost my faith. Instead, my cognitive research has forced me to rethink and reformulate my faith.

Paul applies this passage to himself in verse 7. “For this reason I was appointed as a preacher, an apostle, and a faithful and true teacher of the Gentiles. I am telling the truth; I am not lying about anything.” For this reason means ‘to or into’. Appointed means ‘to place, lay, set’ which is interpreted as some source of Perceiver stability. ‘I’ is specifically mentioned indicating a focus upon being. A preacher is ‘a herald, a town-crier’. Apostle means ‘one sent on a mission’ and is interpreted as someone who pays the personal price to make a major breakthrough. Verse 6 talked about an integrated concept of God and incarnation. The apostle Paul integrated Greek rational thinking with Jewish religious concepts and a cross-cultural Roman Empire to develop theology. Similarly, mental symmetry makes it possible to treat academic thought, religious doctrines, personal identity, and social interaction as a single unified concept. The end result is a meta-theory that can provide stability for analyzing many different aspects of thought and existence

In the Greek the phrase about telling the truth comes next. Truth means ‘true to fact, reality’. Telling is the normal word for speech. The phrase ‘I am not lying about anything’ is simply the two Greek words not and ‘to falsify, lie’. ‘Lie’ is the source of the English word ‘pseudo-’. Telling the truth means using Perceiver facts that are consistent with the facts of reality. One of the major criticisms of mental symmetry is that I do not gather my own experimental data. But I am not making up facts because I am continually comparing what I am saying with the experimental facts that have been gathered by others. Plus, I continually find that mental symmetry is consistent with the facts of reality that I observe around me. Starting from a subjective foundation usually leads to self-deception and disconnection from reality. Similarly, treating the Bible as an authoritative source usually leads to a system of understanding that has no connection to the facts of reality. But I have found so far that building upon an understanding of how the mind works makes it possible to analyze the Bible in a way that remains consistent with the facts of reality. This correspondence is especially vivid in the two essays on Matthew and Luke because the sequence that emerges from analyzing these Gospels from a cognitive perspective corresponds in detail with the historical facts of Western civilization.

The final phrase in verse 7 is “a faithful and true teacher of the Gentiles”. This gives the impression that Paul has the attributes of being faithful and true. But the original Greek says ‘a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth’ indicating that Paul is functioning within the realm of faith and truth. Teacher is the normal word for ‘an instructor’. Gentile means ‘people joined by practicing similar customs or common culture’. This describes a community of people guided by some collection of common cultural MMNs. Biblically speaking, a ‘gentile’ was someone who was not a Jew, but millennia of Jewish history have caused Judaism to turn into a culture that is held together by common MMNs. Similarly, academia views itself as a group of researchers who are looking for rational understanding as opposed to the semi-rational common sense of the average person. However, academia has also developed a culture composed of MMNs which summarize how an academic is supposed to behave, and each specialization is also guided by its own set of cultural MMNs. Likewise, a corporation does not just follow some bottom line in a rational manner but is also heavily influenced by the cultural MMNs of that corporation. Paul refers to himself as a teacher of Gentiles because he reformulated the core aspects of Judaism into a form that could be taught cross-culturally. Similarly, mental symmetry takes the theology and path of biblical Christianity and reformulates this as a cognitive system that can be applied cross-culturally by groups that are governed by cultural mental networks.

Faith means to ‘be persuaded’ and truth means ‘true to reality’. In means ‘in the realm of’. Most cultural MMNs do not function in the realm of faith and truth. Instead, they suppress rational thought and ignore the facts of reality. Mental symmetry, in contrast, analyzes mental networks while remaining within the realm of rational thought and the facts of reality. Faith and truth are not just personal attributes possessed by Paul. Instead, there is a realm of faith and truth that is independent of Paul and his personal opinions within which Paul is functioning. This is an important distinction.

At this point I am going to stop using the Berean Study Bible and start using the Berean Literal Bible. The BSB claims to be a new and improved version of the BLB but I am frankly disappointed because I am encountering too many cases of words being added, words being changed, and sentence order being altered. In simple terms, the BSB feels sloppy. The BLB is a little rough around the edges, but in most cases it uses the same words that are used in the biblehub interlinear translation. It has also just been placed into the public domain. For instance, the BLB renders verse 7 as “In regard to which I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am speaking the truth; I do not lie—a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.” This maintains the sentence order, does not add ‘about anything’ to ‘lying’, uses the more accurate ‘herald’ as opposed to ‘preacher’, and says ‘in faith and truth’ as opposed to ‘a faithful and true teacher’. Thus, this one verse in the BLB has four less translation problems than the BSB.

Verse 8 (in the BLB) concludes, “Therefore I desire the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands.” ‘Therefore’ means that verse 8 follows from verse 7. Desire means ‘to plan with full resolve’. This goes beyond some desire in Exhorter thought to a fully developed Contributor plan guided by Exhorter desire and maintained through Contributor decision. Pray means ‘to exchange wishes’ and this is the only use of this fairly common verb in Timothy. Man is the word for ‘man’ and does not refer to humanity in general. The rest of chapter 2 is typically viewed as proof that Paul was a misogynist. However, this passage makes sense if one interprets references to men and women as referring to male and female thought. Male thought emphasizes technical thinking while female thought focuses upon mental networks. Both academia and the global economy strongly emphasize the technical thinking of male thought while avoiding the female realm of mental networks. The end result is a system of knowledge and commerce that has physically transformed the world while leaving mental networks of culture, identity, and religion untransformed. This suppression of mental networks has led to a backlash from mental networks such as postmodernism with its focus upon power groups, women’s studies, and the pursuit of spirituality without content. Putting this together, Paul says that he is carrying out an integrated plan for male technical thought to acknowledge the emotional interaction between MMNs of personal desire and the TMN of a concept of God. That describes the plan of mental symmetry which is to extend the technical thinking of science and technology to include subjective MMNs of personal identity and the TMN of an integrated understanding. (Titus, in contrast, describes a different path of starting by transforming mental networks and then extending from this to a new form of technical thought.)

In means ‘in the realm of’. Every means ‘each part of a totality’. Place is used once in Timothy and refers to ‘a place’. Cognitively speaking, a place is some location within a general Perceiver map of connected locations. Thus, male technical thought is not just recognizing mental networks in some vague manner but rather in a way that acknowledges details and places each detail in the appropriate location within a general map of understanding. I have discovered through repeated experience that male technical thought is unwilling to do this. Economics acknowledges that value is a subjective emotion and then replaces MMNs of value with an objective number. Academia recognizes that people have subjective feelings and then proceeds to ignore these feelings by performing objective research. Economics talks about economic systems while treating economics as a technical specialization that is disconnected from any larger context. Academic specializations recognize that they function within an academic system but will reject a meta-theory that brings theoretical unity to academic specializations.

Lifting up means ‘to lift up’ and is interpreted as heading in the direction of Teacher generality. It is used once in Timothy. Hands are used to perform detailed manipulation and thus are interpreted as the use of technical thought. Holy is not the normal word for ‘holy’ but rather occurs once in Timothy and means ‘what is sanctioned by a higher law’. Thus, ‘lifting up holy hands’ would mean using technical thought to explore Teacher generality in a way that is sanctioned by laws that are higher than the laws of some specialization. Each specialization is governed by a specific set of laws that apply to that specialization. Going beyond the specialization to generality does not mean abandoning technical thought in order to embrace some sort of mystical cosmic unity that provides the feeling of a meta-theory. Instead, interdisciplinary thought is guided by its own set of higher laws and technical thought needs to recognize these higher laws when looking beyond the tree of some specialization to the entire forest. And mental symmetry has found that cognitive principles can be applied in a reasonably technical manner at the theoretical level of meta-theories.

The final phrase is “apart from anger and dissension.” Apart means ‘separately, separate from’. Anger is used once in Timothy and means ‘settled anger’ as opposed to a sudden burst of anger. Settled anger tends to be driven by Teacher thought based upon fundamental theological and theoretical differences. Each technical specialization is guided by the Teacher theory of some paradigm. Settled anger implies that a specialization is either attempting to extend its paradigm beyond the realm of that specialization or protecting its paradigm from attacks from outside of the specialization. Dissension is also used once in Timothy and means ‘back and forth reasoning’. It is the source of the English word ‘dialogue’. ‘Back and forth reasoning’ implies that different disciplines are interacting with each other by dialoguing between the specific rules of each discipline. In other words, one realm of technical thought is interacting with another realm of technical thought by using technical thought. For instance, I have found that both academia and economics are willing to acknowledge and discuss the subjective realm of mental networks—but only if one discusses mental networks using the objective and specialized language of technical thought. This is like recognizing the language of French and being willing to discuss French as long as one discusses French in English and does not speak French. Verse 8 is saying that one needs to recognize that French is a different language than English and be willing to speak French. I have found that mental symmetry makes it possible to discuss mental networks in a way that recognizes the existence of mental networks while discussing the topic in a rational manner that is consistent with technical thought. This can be seen in two academic papers that I wrote on mental networks and the vmPFC. Verse 8 does not say that the ‘anger and dissension’ of interdisciplinary interaction or corporate competition should stop but rather that one should use technical thought to evaluate mental networks in a manner that is separate and distinct from normal interaction between technical specializations.

Civilizing Mental Networks 2:9-11

The rest of chapter 2 contains a series of supposedly misogynistic comments by apostle Paul the bachelor. These will be interpreted as the role that mental networks should play within academia and the global economy.

Verse 9 begins, “Likewise also women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control.” The verse begins with the word likewise which means ‘in the same way’. Thus, verse 9 is talking about the same topic as verse 8 which is the relationship between male technical thought and female mental networks. Women is the normal word for woman which is interpreted as the mental networks of female thought, whether being used by biological men or biological women.

Apparel is used once in the New Testament and literally means ‘a lowering, letting down’. Moving down is interpreted as heading in the direction of specific Mercy experiences. Thus, ‘women’s apparel’ would mean descending from general theory to specific, subjective Mercy experiences. Respectable is used twice in the New Testament and comes from the word ‘cosmos’ and means ‘ordered, properly organized’. 1 John 2:15-16 points out the inadequacies of the ordered system of the cosmos, but while the cosmos may be materialistic it still treats physical matter in a structured way that exhibits Teacher order-within-complexity. In other words, descending to specific subject experiences does not mean abandoning Teacher concepts of order and structure. With means ‘with, in company with’ when followed by the genitive. Modesty is used once in the New Testament and means ‘a sense of shame’. Modesty implies conforming to some set of conservative guidelines that typically govern how much of the female body is permitted to be uncovered. A sense of shame, in contrast, describes an emotional sensitivity that feels uncomfortable about sharing personal details inappropriately in a public context. What is being described is a feeling of privacy as opposed to social walls of taboo. For instance, this means discussing intimate topics in a delicate manner that acknowledges the facts while remaining sensitive and discrete.

Self-control conveys the impression of placing boundaries around personal urges but the word combines ‘sound, safe’ with ‘the midriff, the parts around the heart’. The heart represents personal identity, but neurology has found that mental networks of personal identity within the ventromedial prefrontal cortex are influenced by a sense of physical identity that is formed within the insula based upon internal sensations such as gut feeling. Thus, self-control means having a safe and sound gut sense of self. Notice that ‘self-control’ is an aspect of ‘respectable apparel’. Thus, when one descends from Teacher generality down to Mercy specifics, one allows understanding to guide and protect the gut sense of self. This relates to the concept of embodiment. The standard psychological view of embodiment is that the internal sense of self is heavily affected by physical sensation, and the insula does play a major role in initially defining the self of the child. But what is being described here is the opposite direction in which rational Teacher understanding changes a sense of Mercy self to the extent of affecting gut level feelings. This does not mean ignoring the physical body but rather placing physical sensation within a larger context of rational understanding. This word ‘self-control’ is used a number of times in Titus.

Thus, the primary goal of self-control is not to prevent personal desires in Mercy thought from expressing themselves socially but rather to guide and protect self at a gut level. Self-control implies that MMNs of personal identity are inherently irrational and inferior to technical thought. A ‘sound and safe heart’ recognizes that personal MMNs use a valid mode of thought that can approach rational thought from an intuitive perspective. This assumes that mental networks can be analyzed by rational thought and be reprogrammed to be consistent with rational thought. That is one of the basic premises of mental symmetry. If the goal of using rational thought is to promote mental wholeness and well-being then it makes sense to use rational thought to reprogram mental networks to be consistent with wholeness and well-being. Mental networks then become an emotional shortcut to rational thought that functions quickly and usually accurately. Instead of having to rationally analyze every possible alternative, one can follow one’s gut response, because gut response has been reprogrammed to be consistent with rational analysis. This is related to the psychological concept of dual process theory.

Adorn is also related to the world ‘cosmos’ and means ‘to beautify, having the right arrangement’. ‘Themselves’ indicates that the focus is upon arranging one’s being and not just one’s possessions. And the terms that we have just analyzed all refer to personal identity in Mercy thought. One is expressing Teacher order personally in a manner that preserves Mercy sensitivity and protects Mercy identity. This would include laws of private property but not private property as expressed by surrounding one’s home with high walls and barbed wire; there is no sensitivity there, merely hiding behind walls.

Verse 9 continues by saying what one should not do. “Not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing.” Braided hair is used once in the New Testament and means ‘what is woven, plaited, twisted together’. Hair is implied. Hair is interpreted as intuitive thought. A hair is a string that emerges from the head. Similarly, intuition is a verbal string that emerges from the ‘head’ of thought. Female thought uses intuition to jump to conclusions guided by mental networks. Going further, Matthew 12:6-12 makes a connection between hair and intuitive thought. Braided hair would represent constructing a fabric of social interaction based upon intuitive thought. This is fairly common because many cultural traditions began as some random intuitive behavior which then became perpetuated. Intuitive thought is a useful shortcut and needs to be appreciated. But it is not a valid foundation for social standards.

Gold means ‘gold’. Money can be treated as a medium of exchange and or it can be treated as a way of storing up wealth. Silver is interpreted as using money to buy things because silver was more commonly used when purchasing than gold. Gold, in contrast, is interpreted as using money to store up wealth. ‘Adorning with gold’ would mean attempting to increase my value as a person by building structure upon lasting wealth. In other words, I am trying to be beautiful by surrounding myself with lasting beauty.

A pearl is a gem that is grown by an oyster in response to some irritation. The mental equivalent would be developing character as a result of responding maturely to hardship. It is important to learn from suffering and not get bitter. But this should not be made the primary goal. For instance, being a good Christian is typically interpreted as living a life of religious self-denial. This follows naturally from a mindset of absolute truth, because I will only believe in absolute truth if I feel that the source of absolute truth is far more important than I am. Similarly, people in secular society often attempt to redeem their reputation by performing charitable acts. Matthew 6 talks about performing righteous acts in order to get rewarded by God. But the passage warns that one will receive no reward from God if one performs acts of righteousness in public to be recognized by people. ‘Adorning with pearls’ would be acts of self-denial that are performed in order to gain status with people. The first problem is that this focuses upon the cost of some behavior rather than the beneficial result of carrying out the behavior. The second problem is that it provides an excuse for abusive behavior. That is because it is typical for the male Contributor person to spend the first part of his life getting wealthy by selling his soul in some manner, and then spend the rest of his life attempting to regain his soul by performing charitable acts. It would be much better if he did not sell his soul in the first place.

Clothing is the normal word for clothing and is interpreted as the fabric of social interaction. Costly means extremely expensive. This does not mean that the item is necessarily valuable but rather that it was very costly to make and/or purchase. Focusing upon clothing confuses social interaction with personal character while costly confuses value with how much something cost. In both cases the appearance of value is substituting for actual value. In summary, braided hair confuses intuition with determining a life of value, gold confuses hoarding value with gaining a life of value, pearls confuse the path of acquiring value with living within value, while costly clothing confuses the cost of value with enjoying a life of value.

Verse 10 provides a positive alternative. “But with what is becoming to women, professing the fear of God through good works.” Becoming means to ‘be conspicuous, especially in a way that is suitable’. Women means ‘woman’ and is interpreted as female thought. Professing adds the prefix ‘fitting’ to ‘announce’. Fear of God is used once in the New Testament and combines ‘God’ with ‘to hold something or someone in high respect’. ‘Fear of God’ conveys the impression that one does not want to violate social or religious mental networks for fear of being punished by God. ‘Holding God in high respect’ means giving emotional pre-eminence to the TMN of an integrated concept of God in Teacher thought. ‘Professing the fear of God’ would mean that public speech reflects giving pre-eminence to an integrated concept of God. This does not mean talking about God and religion all the time, but rather focusing verbally upon integrated well-being, order, and beauty. Going further, through means ‘by the instrumentality of’ when followed by the genitive. Good means ‘intrinsically good’. And work describes ‘a deed that carries out an inner desire’ which refers to internally motivated behavior. Thus, one is not just talking about integrated well-being but rather being internally motivated to pursue the intrinsic goodness of integrated well-being. Putting this all together, female thought is supposed to have a civilizing impact upon society.

Verse 11 sounds demeaning. “Let a woman learn in quietness, in all submissiveness.” Quietness means ‘quiet, stillness... This term does not mean speechlessness’. Learn means ‘learning key facts’ and is related to the word ‘disciple’. Submissiveness means ‘to place or rank under’. Verse 10 described the impact that mental networks should have upon society. In verse 10 society was learning from the mental networks of female thought. In verse 11, mental networks are being educated. Verse 11 says that this educational process should be characterized by calmness and not by emotional intensity. ‘Ranking under’ means that mental networks should not use emotional pressure to overwhelm rational thought. In means ‘in the realm of’ and all means ‘each part of a totality’. Thus, all learning in all contexts should be guided by the general principle of ranking rational thought above mental networks as well as avoiding mental networks from getting overexcited. This does not mean suppressing or belittling mental networks but rather not letting them run the show during education.

The educational method of Paulo Freire provides an example of violating these principles. In brief, Freire suggests that education should be made more appealing to the students by including examples that engage the cultural and personal MMNs of the student. This sounds good but what happens in practice is that education becomes emotionally hijacked by mental networks. Instead of learning educational content, students become politically radicalized.

Educating Mental Networks 2:12-15

Verse 12 makes this more explicit. “But I do not permit a woman to teach, nor to use authority over a man, but to be in quietness.” The Greek begins with the word teach, which means to ‘cause to learn’. And woman means ‘woman’. Thus the focus is upon education. Permit means ‘to turn to, entrust, hence to permit’. As usual, we are interpreting this in terms of the mental networks of female thought. Paul does not say that is wrong for women to teach or that God does not permit women to teach. Instead, Paul says that he does not permit women to teach. Chapter 1 described the process of Paul constructing an integrated concept of God and incarnation. I have learned from personal experience that constructing such a mental concept of God requires questioning every mental network. One cannot regard any mental network as an authoritative source of knowledge but rather must evaluate all mental networks to see if they are consistent with the goal of mental wholeness. Going further, Paul means ‘little’. Similarly, one is not questioning mental networks in order to impose male thought upon female thought but rather to become personally ‘small’ so that one does not impose mental networks upon one’s quest to gain an accurate understanding of how things work. When one encounters facts that bring discomfort to mental networks, one becomes small and allows the facts to rule. Thus, mental networks can be permitted to teach if the goal is to replicate existing knowledge and culture.

Authority over is used once in the New Testament and means ‘to unilaterally take up arms’. And man means ‘man’. This describes militant feminism, which unilaterally takes up arms against male technical thought. When one is following a path of Paul and attempting to rethink existing mental networks, then mental networks that are being questioned will naturally interpret this questioning as the imposition of male thought upon female networks. If one allows mental networks to ‘unilaterally take up arms against male technical thought’ then progress will come to a halt. I found that the solution is not to suppress inadequate mental networks, but rather to use a rational understanding of how the mind works to determine the legitimate needs of these mental networks, and then to show that pursuing mental wholeness meets these legitimate needs in a better way. We saw this principle earlier when looking at reformulating a concept of God. Instead of rebelling against a concept of God that is based in some holy book, one realizes that constructing a concept of God leads to a more adequate concept of God than merely using words to talk about a concept of God.

The final phrase is ‘to be in quietness’. Be means that this should describe ‘being’. Quietness means ‘quiet, stillness’ and was used in verse 11. Verse 11 talked about learning in the realm of quietness while verse 12 talks about being in the realm of quietness. In verse 11, mental networks of female thought were being educated. In verse 12, these mental networks are being reformulated. Mental networks that are being reformulated will naturally tend to ‘unilaterally take up arms against male technical thought’.

It is important to interpret this as referring to male and female thought rather than to men and women. This means that a woman who is emphasizing male technical thought when teaching should be allowed to teach while a man who emphasizes mental networks should not be allowed to teach. Having said that, I do not think that gender can be totally ignored. For instance, it will be difficult to ensure that male technical thought guides learning if all the teachers are women.

Women’s studies provide an example of what happens within academia when these principles are violated. This can be seen by quoting the first two paragraphs from the Wikipedia page on women’s studies. “Women’s studies is an academic field that draws on feminist and interdisciplinary methods to place women's lives and experiences at the center of study, while examining social and cultural constructs of gender; systems of privilege and oppression; and the relationships between power and gender as they intersect with other identities and social locations such as race, sexual orientation, socio-economic class, and disability.” Personal MMNs are the ‘center of study’ as opposed to universal theories. Everything, including gender, is interpreted as cultural MMNs imposing themselves upon one another. And notice that nothing is said about facts, reality, natural law, science, or rational thought.

Continuing with the second paragraph of the Wikipedia article, “Popular concepts that are related to the field of women’s studies include feminist theory, standpoint theory, intersectionality, multiculturalism, transnational feminism, social justice, affect studies, agency, bio-politics, materialism, and embodiment. Research practices and methodologies associated with women’s studies include ethnography, autoethnography, focus groups, surveys, community-based research, discourse analysis, and reading practices associated with critical theory, post-structuralism, and queer theory. The field researches and critiques different societal norms of gender, race, class, sexuality, and other social inequalities.” Mental networks of social approval determine which ‘concepts are popular’, as opposed to reality determining which concepts are true. The ‘popular concepts’ that are mentioned all focus upon mental networks and how they interact. The ‘research practices and methodologies’ also attempt to examine how mental networks react and interact by studying different societal norms. The goal is not to gain facts about these mental networks but rather to use personal mental networks to ‘critique’ these social mental networks. The rest of the Wikipedia article continues in the same vein.

The final paragraph in the Wikipedia article shows that women’s studies can be accurately summarized as ‘female thought unilaterally taking up arms against male thought’. “In the book Professing Feminism: Education and Indoctrination in Women’s Studies, thirty Women’s Studies academics came together to criticise the ‘unhealthy conditions and self-destructive tendencies that appear to be intrinsic to many Women’s Studies programs’. Professors spoke of being unable to ‘discuss their concerns about this belligerent anti-intellectualism with other faculty members in Women’s Studies’, with claims of a ‘constant emphasis on political purity.... from both students and professors.’” ‘Belligerent anti-intellectualism’ means attacking male technical thought. Professors who are supposed to be sources of knowledge are responding to unpleasant facts by demanding conformity with social mental networks.

In summary, the Wikipedia article on women’s studies makes it obvious that female gender is not a social construct but rather describes a mind that thinks in terms of mental networks. It should be clarified that science, technology, economics have traditionally emphasized male technical thought to the exclusion of mental networks. Thus, women’s studies did not appear in a vacuum but rather emerged from an academic environment that belittled mental networks by remaining objective and specialized. However, the solution to male thought that belittles female thought is not the promotion of female thought that belittles male thought. Instead, this passage is describing how to fix a society that has become fixated upon objective, specialized, male technical thought. The solution is not to rebel but rather to learn from technical thought and rebuild mental networks to be consistent with the rational thinking of technical thought.

Verse 13 turns to Adam and Eve. “For Adam was formed first, then Eve.” Adam was the first human and Adam is a Hebrew word that means ‘man, mankind’. Eve was the first woman and Eve comes from a Hebrew word that means ‘life’. First means ‘first, foremost’. Formed is used twice in the New Testament and means ‘to form, mould’. This does not say that men are better than women or that men should rule over women but rather that male thought emerges before female thought. Male technical thought will use some limited collection of facts and skills to pursue specific goals. Mental networks, in contrast, are collections of memories that function as a group. Male thought comes before female thought because one has to ‘form, mould’ the pieces before one can put these pieces together. But life only emerges when the pieces are put together. That is why Eve means ‘life’ and not Adam. The mind uses mental networks and not isolated memories to represent living beings. Similarly, the man can provide the information and foundation for life, but the woman brings life to birth and sustains life.

Verse 14 looks at the temptation of Eve. “And Adam was not deceived, but the woman, having been deceived, has come into transgression.” Deceived means to ‘lure into deception’. Having been deceived adds the prefix ‘out from’ to ‘deceive’ and ‘emphasizes the end-impact of deception’. Transgression means ‘a deliberate going over the line’. And come into means ‘to come into being’. Looking at this cognitively, mental networks are required to be mentally alive, but mental networks can be deceived because they jump to conclusions. Triggering a mental network will activate the entire mental network which will then impose its likes and dislikes upon the mind. Saying this another way, a mental network will impose some context upon a situation. Thus, the mind can be lured into deception if a mental network is triggered that is not appropriate for the situation. Going further, a mental network will generate negative emotions if it is triggered and not allowed to express itself. Thus, if an inappropriate mental network is triggered then this mental network will exert emotional pressure to respond to the situation in an inappropriate manner. In other words, the end impact of deception will be a deliberate going over the line. This is not because one is necessarily choosing to violate the rules but rather because one is mentally imposing an inappropriate context upon the situation. Male technical thought is not subject to this cognitive weakness because it is too limited to be aware of the larger context. The very fact that male thought is naturally unaware of the social context means that male thought is less susceptible to being deceived by the social context.

Verse 15 sounds misogynistic but makes sense when interpreted cognitively. “But she will be saved through childbearing, if they abide in faith and love and holiness, with self-restraint.” The Greek begins with the word saved which means ‘to deliver out of danger and into safety’. Thus, verse 15 describes a method of rescuing female thought from the inherent weakness of verse 14. Through means ‘by the instrumentality of’ when followed by the genitive. Childbearing is used once in the New Testament and combines ‘to come into being’ with ‘anyone living in full dependence’. Thus, the focus is upon raising a child rather than merely giving birth to babies. Raising a child makes a person aware of how mental networks grow and develop. This makes it apparent at the level of mental networks how mental networks function, how they grow, how they are protected, and how they can be deceived. It also gives female thought the ability to observe mental networks from an outside perspective. This obviously applies to the actual raising of physical children but it also applies to the process of developing some social or institutional system or to the process of developing subconscious modules of thought. Notice that female thought is teaching and exerting authority. Thus, it is appropriate for female mental networks to be in charge when dealing with some aspect of nurturing immature mental networks.

However, the second phrase indicates that this salvation will not happen automatically but rather has certain requirements. Abide means ‘to stay, abide, remain’ and in means ‘in the realm of’. Thus, female thought has to remain in the realm of these following qualities in order to derive cognitive benefits from raising immature mental networks. Faith means to ‘be persuaded’ which means being guided by rational thought instead of just being guided by triggered mental networks. Love is ‘agape’ which refers to love guided by Teacher emotion. Holiness is used once in Timothy and refers to ‘the process of advancing in holiness’, and holy means ‘different from the world because like the Lord’. This means following the TMN of a concept of God rather than MMNs of culture. With means ‘in company with’ when followed by the genitive. Self-restraint was seen earlier in verse 9 and combines ‘sound, safe’ with ‘the parts around the heart’. Thus, the primary goal is not to prevent personal desires in Mercy thought from expressing themselves socially but rather to transform mental networks to the extent of guiding gut level responses.

Verse 15 is typically viewed as a demeaning verse that condemns women to child-rearing. But it actually means that mental networks can experience transformation vicariously. Mental networks of female thought do not have to fall apart themselves but instead will experience transformation if they nurture immature mental networks within a rational, Teacher-based environment. This provides an alternative to the classic Greek cycle of arete-hubris-ate-nemesis. Arete means building mental networks upon successful behavior. Hubris means giving excessive emotional status to these mental networks. Ate describes the lack of judgment that results from imposing these mental networks inappropriately upon some situation. And nemesis describes the divine punishment that one receives when behaving in a manner that violates universal principles. The result is that success is inevitably followed by blindness and failure. But the mental blindness that comes from inappropriate mental networks can be cured by nurturing immature mental networks in an environment that is guided by universal principles. This means that I do not have to go through suffering in order to become mature. Instead I can learn maturity vicariously by helping others to become mature—if I recognize at an emotional level that maturity is based in universal rational principles that apply to everyone including me. And ‘with self-contraint’ means that I am being transformed by teaching others to the extent of affecting my gut level responses.

Notice that verses 13-15 are being described as universal principles while verse 12 specifically says what Paul permits. This does not mean that Paul hates women. Instead it means that verse 12 is talking about the process of reformulating mental networks, and brutal honesty is required during this transitional stage. Verse 15, in contrast, describes a way of ensuring that mental networks remain transformed which describes the problem faced by the next generation. The first generation had to go through a process of transforming mental networks. The next generation acquires these mental networks from childhood and will thus do the right things for inadequate reasons—causing the third generation to forget or reject the lessons that were learned by the first generation. Economically speaking, “It is estimated that 70% of wealthy families will lose their wealth by the second generation and 90% will lose it by the third.” Verse 15 describes what is required to ensure that wealth (of whatever sort) will get passed on to the next generation. And verse 15 is actually a universal principle that applies to everyone and not just to mothers and wealthy people. That is because everyone contains a mind in which conscious thought is faced with the job of nurturing immature subconscious modules.

Looking Intently in a Fitting Manner 3:1-2

Chapter 3 discusses overseering. Verse 1 says that it is good to want to be an overseer. “Trustworthy is the saying: If anyone aspires to overseership, he is desirous of a good work.” Overseership is used once in Timothy and adds the prefix ‘fitting’ to ‘look intently’. This passage is normally interpreted as the qualifications for being a church elder. However, a different word is used for elder and the KJV translates overseer as bishop the other four times that it occurs in the New Testament. Interpreting overseer as bishop is consistent with a mindset of absolute truth. First, absolute truth believes that Perceiver facts are based in some personal source that has Mercy status. For instance, ‘the Bible is true because it was written by God and God is a Very Important Person’. Thus, a bishop becomes naturally interpreted as someone with emotional status in the church who uses this emotional status to ensure that absolute truth and religious rituals are performed in the ‘correct’ manner. In contrast, mental symmetry has led me to the conclusion that the Bible is true because it describes universal principles. This means that the Bible was ultimately written by a universal being because it was written in an era in which humans had a very limited comprehension of universal principles. This views God as universal in Teacher thought rather than important in Mercy thought. And overseer becomes viewed from the Teacher perspective of an integrated economy, as opposed to the Mercy perspective of some holy system of absolute truth. An ‘overseer’ then become someone who is capable of ‘looking intently’ at some subject in a ‘fitting’ manner. The list of qualifications is introduced with the word ‘it is necessary’, which would describe the type of mindset that one must develop if one wishes to be able to look intently at some subject in a fitting manner as opposed to some list of prescribed qualifications. Using modern language, this describes the kind of thinking that must be used if one wishes to make some theoretical, practical, or societal breakthrough, such as developing some new product or service.

Trustworthy is derived from the word ‘faith’ which means ‘persuaded’. Saying is the word ‘logos’ which refers to a paradigm in Teacher thought. Thus, the first requirement is to use rational thought guided by paradigms, which is known as first principles thinking. One article explains that “First principles thinking is breaking problems down into fundamental truths and constantly questioning what you think you know.” ‘Trustworthy’ means that one uses rational thought to ‘question what you think you know’. ‘Saying’ means that one focuses upon fundamental truths and underlying principles rather than technical details. Designing from first principles is currently used as a way of coming up with major breakthroughs. The problem with designing from first principles is that the baby tends to get thrown out with the bathwater. For instance, Elon Musk has used designing from first principles to come up with reusable rockets, which is an amazing invention. But Musks’ Tesla cars have also become minimalistic to the point of being ridiculous and Musk also makes a point of rejecting conventional social wisdom. Verse 1 is describing a path that has the benefits of first principles thinking without the downside.

Aspire means ‘aspire, stretch towards’. Good means ‘attractively good’ and work means ‘a deed that carries out an inner desire’. And desirous means ‘passionate desire’. Thus, ‘looking intently in a fitting manner’ requires stretching toward being passionate about being internally motivated to generate results that are attractively good. One does not become complacent but rather continually aspires. One does not copy others but rather becomes internally motivated. One is passionate about what one is doing. And one focuses upon a positive goal that is attractive.

For instance, mental symmetry has turned into the paradigm of a meta-theory that can rationally analyze many fields. In other words, mental symmetry has enabled first principles thinking within my mind. But mental symmetry did not start out as a meta-theory. Instead, I began by looking at what was attractively good about each cognitive style. This gave me an internal concept of the ideal person who combined the good traits of each cognitive style. I then became internally motivated to aspire to this goal of mental wholeness and this became my passionate desire, because I kept seeing the painful results of those who were not stretching towards the goal of mental wholeness.

A list of requirements is then given. Verse 2 begins, “Therefore it behooves the overseer to be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach maintaining mental networks.” Behooves means ‘it is necessary’ which refers to requirements that are not a matter of personal opinion but rather based in how things work. Overseer is the same word used in verse 1 that combines ‘fitting’ with ‘look intently’.

Above reproach is only used in 1 Timothy and adds the prefix ‘not’ to ‘apprehended’, leading to the meaning of ‘without blame in light of the whole picture’. And ‘be’ is explicitly mentioned indicating that this should be a fundamental character trait. When one attempts to look at some issue clearly then one will end up questioning existing cultural mental networks and one will be blamed for violating the status quo. That is a given. However, examining the facts must reveal that these accusations are baseless. In other words, violating the status quo in order to exploit people is not permissible nor is helping people in some vague manner that cannot be factually verified. What is permissible is violating the status quo in order to help people in a way that can be factually verified. Notice that one is not violating cultural MMNs but rather submitting to a higher standard of rational thought.

‘The husband of one wife’ is more literally ‘of one wife husband’. This may lead to the conclusion that only a man can be an overseer. But this is not necessarily the case if one thinks in terms of male and female thought. Cognitively speaking, a ‘one wife husband’ would mean that male technical thought finds its expression in only one set of mental networks. This is not true for the average theologian who connects peripheral doctrines with mental networks of personal character while connecting central doctrines with mental networks of mysticism. It is also not true of the typical academic who connects research both with the mental networks of making progress in research and the mental networks of gaining money and prestige for research. And it is also not true of the businessman who is driven both by the mental networks of developing a better product and the mental networks of financial success. In each case, technical thought is being pulled into contrary directions by two incompatible sets of mental networks. This cognitive requirement for one wife applies to both men and women and to both those who are married and those who are single.

Interpreting this in terms of ‘looking intently in a fitting manner’, someone who is emotionally driven by two sets of incompatible mental networks will be incapable of ‘looking intently in a fitting manner’. For instance, if one wishes to design a rocketship, then one must focus upon the physics of rocketships without getting distracted by gaining funding for building rocketships or trying to market rocketships. For instance, I have always failed at marketing mental symmetry. Each failure has been very frustrating, but these failures have also prevented me from getting sidetracked into a ‘second wife’ of marketing allowing me to focus fully upon the ‘one wife’ of an integrated mind.

Sober means ‘to be sober, not drunk’ and this would include literally avoiding getting drunk. But there is also a cognitive version of getting drunk. One drinks to forget unpleasant facts. Thus, getting drunk can also refer to various forms of escapism in which one immerses oneself within some alternate reality in order to avoid facing reality. This does not mean that one never plays games, never reads fiction, or never watches a movie. But one does not practice suspension of disbelief when performing these activities. Instead, one views these alternate realities as ways of exploring some possible form of existence. Instead of identifying with some character and forgetting about reality, one thinks about whether one would like to be this character and what it would be like to live as this character within the world being portrayed. This also relates to ‘looking attentively in a fitting manner’, because such examination requires an accurate assessment of the facts that is not prone to escapism. For instance, rocketships have a tendency to blow up. The only way to stop a rocketship from blowing up is to examine facts about rocketships with brutal honesty.

Self-controlled is a version of the word self-control that was used in 2:9 and combines ‘sound, safe’ with ‘diaphragm, the parts around the heart’. The cognitive principle is that Exhorter thought will be attracted to what is improbable but not to what is impossible. Looking at the facts in a ‘sober’ manner will reveal what is actually possible and what is impossible. These solid facts must be allowed to penetrate personal identity to the level of gut feeling. For instance, Richard Feynman, the famous physicist, explained that “The game I play is a very interesting one. It’s imagination, in a tight straightjacket.” Similarly, my thinking about mental symmetry can also be described as using my imagination within the straitjacket of how the mind works combined with how the physical world works. I should add that my path towards being self-controlled was not a straight path. Instead, what typically happened was that I would manage to practice normal self-control for a while before responding at a gut level by losing my cool. Rational thought would then put my mind back together leading to a change in my gut response.

Respectable is only used twice in the New Testament, both times in 1 Timothy. It means ‘ordered’ and is related to the word ‘cosmos’. ‘Cosmos’ is interpreted as the structure of human society; this structure is temporary and materialistic but it also brings order to human existence. ‘Respectable’ means that one functions within the structure of society and does not try to destroy societal structure. For instance, Donald Trump is not a ‘respectable’ leader because he attacks the system and he claims that the rules of the system do not apply to him. Applying this to ‘looking attentively in a fitting manner’, the previous steps came up with facts that were solid enough to survive gut responses. ‘Respectable’ assembles these solid facts into an ordered structure in an ordered manner. Putting this into the context, the previous steps led to personal clarity of thought. Respectable describes how one should interact with others. One should not break off from others or seek personal status in Mercy thought but rather help to build Teacher order for society.

Hospitable combines ‘phileo’ love with ‘strangers’. This would mean feeling comfortable around those who are different. This is the opposite of the normal response which is to feel uncomfortable around those who are guided by different cultural MMNs. Relating this to ‘looking attentively in a fitting manner’, one basic principle of careful examination is that no one person can have the total picture. Instead, ‘looking attentively in a fitting manner’ requires listening to other points of view, which means that one must be comfortable around those with different perspectives. ‘Respectable’ lays the foundation for ‘hospitable’. That is because Teacher order makes it possible to interact with different cultures in a non-threatening manner. Saying this another way, multiculturalism requires the rule of law.

The final requirement is able to teach which is used twice in the New Testament. This means that one can take concepts and present them to others in ways that are comprehensible. This relates to the previous point because interacting with others who have a different perspective is only possible if one can take one’s own ideas and communicate them successfully to others who have a different perspective.

As was mentioned, this list of qualifications is typically interpreted as the requirements for a church elder or bishop. And there is some validity to this, because a church elder needs to think clearly about emotional issues. However, the basic premise of absolute truth is that there is no need for further clarity because truth was revealed in the past and has been written down in a holy book. However, these essays are showing that even the revealed truth of the Bible requires clear thinking to understand adequately. And it is possible that those who come after me may regard my thinking as incomplete. For instance, when I was editing this essay, I found my initial interpretation of this passage to be inadequate and had to rewrite this section.

Surviving Success 3:3-7

Verse 3 continues, “Not given to wine, not a striker, but gentle, peaceable, not loving money.” Given to wine is used twice in the New Testament and literally means ‘staying near wine’. Wine is interpreted as the pleasant cultural experiences of civilized society. Thus, staying near wine would mean having cultured tastes that need to be continually satisfied. There is a difference between enjoying civilized culture and filling one’s free time with concerts, theater productions, social events, cocktail parties, and so on. The overseer who does this will lose emotional touch with the common person. Saying this another way, those who become successful should not turn into an elite who retreat to some special culture that is different than normal culture.

Striker is used twice in the New Testament and means ‘strike, smite’. This is contrasted with gentle which means ‘relaxing overly strict standards in order to keep the spirit of the law’. Notice that this follows from the previous characteristic. Following the spirit of the law requires being sensitive to the emotional struggles that others are going through. One will not have this sensitivity if one lives in a refined environment full of culture. Instead of empathizing with what the less fortunate person is going through, one will see someone uncouth and uncultured and respond with some form of striking.

Peaceable is used twice in the New Testament and adds a negative prefix to ‘a fight’. In other words, one does not deal with conflict in an adversarial manner. This trait also follows directly from the previous traits. If one thinks in terms of class distinctions between ‘we leaders’ and the common population, then this will naturally lead to a mindset that views ‘them’ as opposed to ‘us’. When ‘they’ rebel, then the instinctive response will be to fight them. In contrast, if one has cultural connections with the lower classes, then one will deal with class conflicts by trying to build bridges and form consensus.

The final trait is not loving money which adds a negative prefix to phileo and silver. ‘Phileo’ describes friendship while silver represents money as a medium of exchange. Thus, ‘loving money’ would mean feeling comfortable with continually doing business exchanges. 1 Timothy 5:10 warns that ‘love of money’ (which uses the same two Greek words) is a root of many kinds of evil. My father was a ‘lover of money’ because he was continually doing business deals. Both my grandfathers were storekeepers and my father also ran many small businesses. However, I think that a distinction should be made between running a business in order to help customers and being emotionally comfortable with continually doing business deals. Some of my father’s business deals were done to help others, but father felt that his money had to continually be invested in some opportunity or business deal. I am still trying to unravel some of his investments as the executor of his estate. The first problem is that such a mindset finds it difficult to enjoy things because everything is viewed as an investment to be traded rather than something to be enjoyed. The second problem is that such a mindset is vulnerable to scams. My father lost most of his wealth during his later years through bad investments. Some of these losses were not his fault, but many were. My father was vulnerable to scams because his expertise was in trading and not in determining the value of what was being traded. This also applied to his Christian faith because he went on numerous missions trips where he would go door-to-door and share his testimony in order to gain converts. Becoming a Christian convert is good, but this should be viewed as enrolling in God’s school of character development and not as an end in itself. Focusing upon gaining converts is a religious version of feeling comfortable with continually doing business exchanges.

Notice the parallel between this sequence and the sequence in 1:9-10. In both cases an elite is emerging and the temptation is for this elite to ignore the common person and live in a high-class, separate culture. However, retreating to such a refined culture will cause leaders to lose touch with reality, and all that will remain is competition between leaders, fighting the lower classes, and engaging in takeovers and mergers.

Verse 4 looks at family. “Managing the own house well, having children in submission, with all dignity.” House means ‘house, dwelling’ and is mentioned four times in this chapter. Own means ‘uniquely one’s own’. A house is the home for personal identity. ‘His own house’ would refer to how one deals with one’s own personal identity as opposed to how one treats others. This is important because I have found over the years that many systems of thought fall apart when they are applied to themselves. For instance, postmodernism says that theories should be rejected because they are merely personal opinions imposed upon society by groups that have social status. Applying this to itself, one concludes that postmodernism itself should be rejected because it is merely a personal opinion of some people who are using their social status as academic experts to impose their views upon society.

Managing means ‘to stand before’. ‘Standing’ is interpreted as providing Perceiver stability and ‘standing before’ would mean providing Perceiver stability for those who follow. Well means ‘attractively good’. In simple terms, what do children and followers feel about what you as a leader are standing for? Do they like your principles? This is not asking how a leader treats followers or how those who do not know the leader personally think about his principles. Instead it is asking what those who are close to the leader feel about his principles. For instance, the final paragraph on the Wikipedia article on women’s studies indicates failing this test because “Professors spoke of being unable to ‘discuss their concerns about this belligerent anti-intellectualism with other faculty members in Women's Studies’, with claims of a ‘constant emphasis on political purity.... from both students and professors’.” In other words, those who live in the ‘house’ of women’s studies do not find the principles of this house to be attractively good. Relating this to the concept of ‘looking intently in a fitting manner’, one sign that one has looked attentively in a fitting manner is that those who are close will be willing to live within the structure that one has created.

Child means ‘anyone living in full dependence’. ‘Having’ refers to ‘having’ rather than ‘being’. Submission means ‘to place or rank under’. With means ‘in company with’ when followed by the genitive. All means ‘each part of a totality’. Dignity means ‘real weight, dignity’. Putting this together, what is the attitude of the dependents when dealing with weighty issues? Are they rebellious? Are these issues ignored? Are leaders imposing their views upon followers? Verse 4 appears to be describing a system of order and delegated authority in which rules are clear and weighty matters are considered in a dignified manner. Notice that this verse is referring to the house of the leader where weighty issues need to be discussed and not to the business or organization where discussing such issues might be inappropriate.

This comparison is made in verse 5. “But if one does not know how to manage the own household, how will he care for the church of God?” ‘The own household’ is the same three words that were used in verse 4. And manage is also the same word that means ‘to stand before’. In other words, what do the pastor’s kids think about his principles? Are they willing to live under his authority? Similarly, what do the professors and graduate students think about working within the department of women’s studies? Know means ‘seeing that becomes knowing’ and is interpreted as empirical evidence. Thus, one is not looking here at feelings or aspirations or words but rather at reality.

How is not implied but is in the original Greek. Church means ‘people called out from the world’ and this is the first use of this word in Timothy. This is specifically referred to as a ‘church of God’. If ‘God’ refers to a concept of God constructed of universal principles, then a ‘church of God’ would describe some group of people attempting to extend universal Teacher understanding. This could refer to an academic community, it could refer to those who are developing global infrastructure and a global economy, it might refer to a religious church, and it could even refer to an organization that is trying to build rocketships. That is because travelling on a rocketship means leaving the comfortable realm of earthly existence in order to literally be ‘called out from the world’ to the ‘heavenly’ realm of outer space. Saying this another way, a church is a group of people that is attempting to follow first principles thinking, going beyond culture to be guided by fundamental principles. This may seem like a strange concept. That is because first principles thinking tends to be applied in an objective manner within science and technology, while church tends to focus upon maintaining the MMNs of culture and religion. But these essays are describing a totally different kind of Christianity that is on the cutting edge of research and development as opposed to a subculture that lags a generation behind secular culture and regards this as following God.

‘The’ is implied as indicated by the italics. Take care of is mentioned once in Timothy and means ‘to take care of’. This indicates a form of rule that shows concern for followers. The comparison of verse 5 is interesting because the order is unusual. One normally submits to God in Teacher thought rather than personal identity in Mercy thought. But in this case how one treats family in Mercy thought determines whether one is qualified to take care of the church of God in Teacher thought. This makes sense if the goal of an integrated Teacher understanding is to bring well-being to people and society. If this really is the case, then those who are personally closest to this Teacher understanding will find it attractive and will want to live under its rules.

This principle also applies internally to those who are pursuing mental wholeness. In this case managing one’s own household would mean guiding subconscious modules of thought. I have found from personal experience that the theory of mental symmetry provides a framework for my mind that encourages my subconscious modules to develop, behave, and interact and I have a strong internal sense that my subconscious modules like living within the principles that I have developed as a Perceiver person.

Verse 6 provides a warning. “Not a novice, lest having been puffed up, he might fall into the judgment of the devil.” Novice is used once in the New Testament and means ‘newly planted’. This does not describe someone who has just acquired the facts or is new to the theory but rather to one whose mental networks are immature and are only starting to develop. Puffed up means ‘to blow smoke’. Air is interpreted as words within Teacher thought. Smoke can be seen but has no real substance. This reflects the danger of starting from Mercy thought rather than Teacher thought because those who lack mature mental networks will be tempted to use Teacher thought to magnify immature MMNs leading to ideology rather than understanding.

Judgment means ‘to distinguish, judge... emphasizing its result’. Fall into means ‘to fall into’. Falling is interpreted as heading from Teacher generality to Mercy specifics while ‘into’ implies that one is heading into some realm of Mercy specifics. This describes an ideology in which certain specific MMNs become magnified by Teacher thought which then treats them as general theories to be applied everywhere. The result is an emotional feedback loop from which it is difficult to escape. Devil means ‘to slander, accuse, defame’ and this word is used three times in chapter 3. An ideology is by definition slanderous because it magnifies the feelings of some specific MMNs into a verbal theory which is then used to belittle other MMNs.

Verse 7 turns to the outside world. “And it behooves him also to have a good testimony from those outside.” Behoove is the word ‘it is necessary’ which refers to requirements rather than personal opinion. Testimony means ‘to bear witness’ and good means ‘attractively good’. This means having personal experiences that others find attractive. Outside means ‘from without’. Verse 5 examined how those who are close to the leader view him. Verse 7 looks at the opinion of the outsider who does not know the leader.

Elon Musk provides an example of violating this principle. On the one hand, Musk has come up with a number of technical breakthroughs that truly benefit society, including the electric cars of Tesla, the reusable rockets of SpaceX, and the worldwide Internet of Starlink. However, Musk himself has become the type of person that even techies who appreciate his technical breakthroughs find repulsive.

Verse 7 adds a warning. “So that he might not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.” Reproach is a different word than the ‘reproach’ of verse 1 and means ‘an insult aimed to damage reputation’ and the other four times that this word is used it refers to the reproaches of Jesus. ‘Fall into’ is the same phrase that was used in verse 6 which suggests entering some emotional state from which it is difficult to emerge. ‘Falling into reproach’ suggests that one is falling into a vicious circle of behaving in a way that others find unpleasant, receiving insults that are aimed to damage reputation, and then responding to these insults with more behavior that others find unpleasant. Several examples of this vicious circle can be seen in Musk.

Snare means ‘a trap set for animals’ and devil is the same word used in the previous verse which means ‘to slander’. In verse 6 ideology led directly to slander, while in verse 7 being publicly misunderstood leads indirectly to a snare of slander. For instance, Musk tends to respond to public disapproval in a slanderous manner, which means that Musk’s worthy goals have become overshadowed by his childish, petulant, and slanderous personal behavior.

Emissaries (Deacons) 3:8-10

The next section is normally interpreted as the qualifications for being a church deacon. The concept of a church deacon is consistent with a mindset of absolute truth because believing in absolute truth requires regarding the source of truth as far more important emotionally than personal identity. This leads naturally to the concept of religious self-denial. Therefore, a church deacon is regarded someone who performs selfless service on behalf of God and others. Biblehub states that deacon comes from ‘diá, “thoroughly” and konis, “dust”’ but then quotes Thayer’s as saying ‘of uncertain origin, but by no means, as was formerly thought, compounded of διά and κόνις, so as to mean, properly, “raising dust by hastening”.’ This is the first biblehub page I have encountered where one definition on the page literally contradicts another definition. However, an academic book on this Greek word did “an exhaustive study of diakonia in Christian and non-Christian sources from about 200 BCE to 200 CE. The book finds that in all such sources the word is used to mean ‘messenger’ or ‘emissary’, and has no implications of humility or of helping the needy.” Another paper concludes that “Most occurrences of the word are better understood to mean ‘the carrying out of a commissioned task’ than the more traditional ‘humble service’.” Within the context of economics, this would refer to a sales representative. Within an academic context, it would refer to education. More generally, it would refer to marketing.

One can tell that both ‘overseer’ and ‘deacon’ have been reinterpreted from a mindset of absolute truth because both lists contain the requirement of being the husband of one wife and refer to children. Absolute truth, in contrast, leads to the concept of celibacy, which equates following God with suppressing physical urges such as getting married and having children.

Verse 8 begins, “Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not being given to much wine, not greedy of dishonest gain.” Likewise means ‘in the same way as’ which implies that there is a similarity between overseer and deacon. Dignified means ‘to revere, be in awe’ and is related to the word ‘dignity’ used in verse 4. In verse 4, the household of the overseer had to portray dignity, while verse 8 says that the deacon has to be dignified. Double tongued is used once in the New Testament and combines ‘twice’ with the normal word for ‘speaking’. This means “Saying one thing and meaning another, and making different representations to different people about the same thing.” ‘Dignified’ and double-tongued’ do not make sense within the traditional context of viewing a deacon as ‘humble service’, but they do make sense within the context of messenger or emissary. ‘Dignified’ implies that one presents a product or service in a manner that encourages careful thought and consideration. In contrast, marketing typically downplays respect for the product itself in order to focus upon peripheral aspects of the product or else trigger mental networks that are totally unrelated. Double-tongued would refer to some form of bait and switch in which one promises one thing but actually delivers something else, or some other form of dishonest representation. Marketing is typically double-tongued because it talks about some product or service while simultaneously talking about mental networks that have nothing to do with the product or service. For instance, ‘Our product will make your life better’. No. The product may make the dishes cleaner or help the grass to grow, but such improvements are only a minor aspect of ‘making your life better’. Talking in the same sentence about the specific benefits of some product and the pursuit of mental well-being is an example of being double-tongued.

Verse 3 mentioned ‘not given to wine’ using a single word that meant ‘staying near wine’. Verse 8 uses three words. Wine means ‘wine’ and would represent the refined elements of culture. Much means ‘much in number’. And given to means to ‘have towards’ and is normally interpreted as either ‘beware’ or ‘pay attention’. The first condition of ‘dignified’ implies that there will be a focus upon the finer elements of culture. Thus, the warning appears to be against confusing the expression of fine culture with the personal value that is required to create and enjoy fine culture. Applying this to the sales representative, selling a product can often get sidetracked by enjoying the schmoozing and partying that typically accompanies such endeavors. Similarly, marketing often attempts to associate some product with a better or more refined life. A product should help to enable a better life which means that ‘staying near wine’ is permitted. However, the tendency is to go beyond this to equating the specific product with a better life. Hence the prohibition against staying near much wine.

Greedy of dishonest gain is a single word used twice in the New Testament that combines ‘shameful’ with ‘gain, profit’. This would refer to bribery or business collusion. More generally, it would describe various kinds of corruption. This is related to the previous point because corruption tends to be accompanied by partying and schmoozing. Similarly, marketing that focuses upon triggering desirable mental networks tends to forget about delivering a quality product.

Verse 9 continues, “Holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.” Holding means ‘to have, hold’ and is interpreted as the ‘having’ of ownership as opposed to the ‘being’ of character. Mystery means ‘a mystery or secret doctrine’. As the biblehub definition points out, a mystery ‘is not something unknowable. Rather, it is what can only be known through revelation’. Faith means to ‘be persuaded’. This is an interesting combination of terms because faith implies rational understanding while mystery implies a lack of understanding. This makes sense in the context of a sales representative or emissary. The representative usually does not have a full understanding of the product or service being sold. Similarly, products are usually marketed to customers who do not understand in detail how the product functions. When understanding is insufficient, then one cannot go beyond the ‘having’ of owning a device and knowing what buttons to press to the ‘being’ of having a deep grasp of the underlying principles of the device.

Conscience means ‘joint-knowing’ which implies being guided by similarities between one situation and another. Clear means ‘without admixture’ and is usually translated as pure or clean. Thus, a clear conscience would mean being guided by a consistent set of patterns and analogies. Most marketing provides an example of an impure conscience. On the one hand, the goal of marketing is to convey to the potential consumer what the product is like. A consumer or marketer may not have a detailed grasp of how the product functions but it is still possible to gain a lesser understanding of knowing what the product is like. For instance, electrical circuits involve technical concepts such as invisible electrons and quantum energy levels. But it is possible to understand electricity in an analogical manner by comparing current to the flow of water through a pipe and voltage to the pressure of water in a pipe. However, most marketing is also guided by patterns of social status and cultural relevance. The result is an impure conscience that is simultaneously being guided by two sets of incompatible patterns. Mental symmetry brings purity to these two topics by relating both to the functioning of an integrated mind.

Verse 10 refers to some form of apprenticeship. “And these also, let them be tested first; then let them serve, being blameless.” Tested means to put to the test to reveal what is good’. First indicates that this testing should happen before the ‘deaconing’. Serve is the verb form of the word ‘deacon’ which is translated as ‘serve’ based upon the traditional interpretation of the job of a church deacon. These could refer to both things or people but the context suggests that potential ‘deacons’ are being tested. Blameless is used once in Timothy and adds the prefix ‘not’ to ‘making legal charges against someone in a court of law’. Being is specifically mentioned, indicating that this needs to be a personal character quality. ‘Above reproach’ in verse 2 meant being blameless when the facts are considered. This standard makes sense because an overseer is attempting to think clearly in some area. Blameless in verse 10 means being legally blameless when the facts are considered from a legal perspective. A legal standard makes sense because an emissary does not have a complete understanding of the topic but rather is attempting to market some product. Having this quality at the level of ‘being’ implies that marketing is not trying to push the limits of legality but is genuinely attempting to pursue legally approved methods.

In summary, the qualifications of a ‘deacon’ do not fit the standard church interpretation of selfless service. For instance, it does not make sense to say ‘Do not drink too much wine or pursue dishonest gain when helping others selflessly.’ And the historical use of this Greek term also does not fit the standard church interpretation of selfless service. However, the qualifications do make sense when applied to sales representatives, educators, or marketing, and this application is consistent with the historical Greek meaning of ‘messenger or emissary’. And when one compares these qualifications with current marketing techniques, one concludes that these principles are being massively violated.

Mental Networks of Marketing 3:11-13

Verse 11 turns from deacons to women. Women likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, clear-minded, faithful in all things.” Woman is the normal word for woman and is interpreted as the mental networks of female thought. Verse 12 will return to the topic of deacons. This insertion of a verse on women in a passage on deacons makes sense if the topic is marketing because marketing functions by appealing to the mental networks of female thought. The insertion does not make sense if ‘deaconing’ is interpreted as selfless service. The same two words likewise, which means ‘in like manner’, and dignified, which means ‘to revere, be in awe’ are used at the beginning of both verses 8 and 11. This implies that both are describing a derived quality in which the mental networks of female thought are showing respect for some other source. The modern consumer society provides an example of violating this principle. That is because the typical consumer of technical gadgets does not show respect for technical thought but rather demands products that can be used without having to acquire any technical knowledge. ‘Just show me what buttons to press. I don’t care about learning how the device functions.’

Slander is the word for ‘devil’ and is translated as ‘devil’ 32 of the 35 times it occurs in the New Testament both in the NASB and the KJV. It was also translated as ‘devil’ the two previous times it occurred in this chapter in verses 6 and 7. Responding to some technical gadget by demanding simple controls and rejecting any technical knowledge is an example of slander, because the knowledge required to design, build, and maintain the device is being slandered by those who use the device. This may seem at first glance to be a trivial interpretation, but the abuses of modern social media show that this is a major problem. On the one hand, the Internet is an incredibly complex and integrated infrastructure requiring extensive technical thought and rational thinking. On the other hand, the users of social media feel free to share frivolous ideas and irrational conspiracy theories with like-minded idiots on social media. Thus, there is a total cognitive disconnect between how social media is constructed and how it is used.

That brings us back to the quality of a clear conscience mentioned in verse 9 as well as the double-tongued of verse 8. Mentally dividing between the medium of the Internet and the content being shared on this medium is an example of an impure conscience. This became enabled by double-tongued marketing in verse 8 that verbally distinguished between the technical details of the medium and the ease-of-use of the user interface. This does not mean that users must have a technical understanding of how the Internet functions. Instead, verse 9 described an intermediate form of comprehension in which one regards the technical details as a mystery based in rational thought while acquiring an analogical understanding that applies to both the structure of the Internet and the content that is shared on the Internet. For instance, the Internet goes to extreme links to ensure that every message is transmitted accurately and will ask for clarification if there is any confusion. Similarly, sharing on the Internet should also go to great lengths to ensure that every message contains accurate information and should also ask for clarification when there is confusion. Using another example, the Internet is composed of many different computers of many different makes that communicate with one another through common rational standards of communication. Similarly, sharing on the Internet should also include many different opinions from many different viewpoints that communicate with one another through common rational standards of communication.

The next term clear-minded is derived from the word ‘to be sober, not drunk’. Telling women not to be drunk should not be necessary. But telling the mental networks of female thought to avoid ‘drunk’ thinking that ignores uncomfortable facts is very necessary. For instance, most communication on social media fails this test because it reflects personal opinion driven by childish mental networks that is devoid of factual reasoning. And the purpose of much of social media is to forget about the uncomfortable facts of reality by sharing drunken dialogue. Social media illustrates why ‘not drunk’ is preceded by ‘not devilish’. In order to share on social media in a drunk manner one must begin by slandering the technical thinking that is required to construct something like the Internet.

Faithful means to ‘be persuaded’ and all things means ‘each part of a totality’. Modern social media again provides an illustration of violating this principle, because most social media is driven by mental networks and is utterly unwilling to be persuaded by rational thought. Verse 11, in contrast, says that a willingness to be persuaded should pervade every detail of interaction. However, one cannot reason with a person who is drunk. Thus the requirement for ‘not drunk’ precedes the requirement of being persuaded in all things.

Verse 12 then returns to the deacon at a more personal level. “Let deacons be husbands of one wife, managing the children and the own households.” Looking at this cognitively, the mental networks acquired in verse 11 are now acting as a ‘wife’ to the ‘deacon’ of marketing. Verse 12 uses the same phrase ‘of one wife the husband’ as verse 2, but in verse 12 the verb ‘be’ is in the imperative. This implies that marketing now has to straddle two kinds of incompatible of mental networks. On the one side are the mental networks associated with developing new products. On the other side are the mental networks of the uneducated users. Being ‘a husband of one wife’ means integrating these two disparate sets of mental networks in a unified fashion. And the use of the imperative indicates that the default will be to split mentally into being the ‘husband’ of two different ‘wives’.

Verse 4 applied ‘managing well’ to ‘house’ while verse 12 applies the same two Greek words to both children and houses. In verse 4, house was in the singular while children were in the plural. In verse 12, both children and houses are in the plural. Managing combines ‘before’ and ‘to stand’ which means to set an example of Perceiver stability for others. Well means ‘viewed as good’. And children means ‘anyone living in full dependence’. Applying this to marketing, the consumer is dependent upon marketing for content. The typical consumer sees the ad campaign and the spokesmen and not the design and building process. Thus, the decision to buy some product will be influenced by the consumer’s view of the spokesman for the product. For instance, many people have decided that they will not buy Tesla cars because of their distaste for Elon Musk as a person. The phrase ‘and the own households’ is added suggesting that one should also look at whether people like working in the advertising industry. For instance, one article opens by observing that “The advertising industry doesn’t have the best reputation when it comes to work-life balance. It’s notorious for its fast-paced, high-pressure environment, where tight deadlines and demanding clients are the norm.” This is ironic. On the one hand, marketing often claims that its products will bring a better life to consumers. But on other hand, marketing does not bring a better life to marketers.

Verse 13 looks at the relationship between marketing and the marketer. “For those having served well acquire a good standing for themselves and great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.” Served is the verb form for ‘deacon’ and we saw earlier that this word means ‘messenger or emissary’. Well is the same word ‘viewed as good’ used in the previous verse. The goal of marketing is to sell some product. But verse 13 points out a deeper goal, which is to do marketing in an attractively good manner rather than merely presenting a product in an attractively good matter. In other words, marketing should bring a better life to the marketer.

Standing is used once in the New Testament and means ‘a step of a stairway’. Good is the same word as ‘well’ in adjectival form. Acquire is used three times in the New Testament and means to ‘fully acquire’. In other words, the real goal is not for some product to gain public respect but rather for the marketer himself to gain public respect by performing marketing in an attractive manner.

Great means ‘much in number’. Confidence means ‘a proverb or statement quoted with resolve’. This confidence is ‘in the realm of being persuaded that is in the realm of Christ Jesus’. Christ Jesus refers to an integrated concept of incarnation. In a modern global economy, the products and services that are being marketed are all the result of a partial integrated expression of incarnation. Being persuaded in this realm would mean being able to use modern gadgets and tools in a rational manner. Notice that this follows after the imperative of having one wife. Stated succinctly, the marketer who identifies emotionally with the consumer will lack the technical knowledge necessary to use the gadgets that he is marketing. Thus, he will have to fake confidence in his products. In contrast, the marketer who is capable of using technical thought will be able to place real confidence in his products based upon his knowledge of how the products function. After all, what is the point of marketing wonderful products if you yourself have no clue how to use these products?

Applying Paul’s Message 3:14-16

In verse 14, Paul expresses a similar desire. “I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you in a short time.” Writing means ‘to write’ and is interpreted as establishing some written basis for technical thought. Hope means ‘to hope’ and this is the first use of this word in 1 Timothy. Paul clarifies in Romans 8:24 that hope which is seen is not hope. Come means to come, go’. Paul is hoping to come to Timothy, and Timothy means ‘value of God’ which this essay is interpreting as an integrated economy guided by an integrated Teacher-based sense of value. Paul just pointed out the undesirable state of a marketer being unable to use the products that he is marketing. Similarly, Paul himself does not want to be stuck in the situation of having developed an integrated concept of God while being unable to live within such a concept of God.

Paul describes coming to Timothy as hope, which indicates that this has not yet happened. Instead, Paul is functioning at the earlier stage of writing, which means using technical thought to formulate the principles that need to be applied. In other words, 1 Timothy so far is talking about theory rather than practice. Paul is describing the requirements for a better economy, but this economy does not yet exist. That is why Paul is hoping to come to Timothy, who represents this better economy. Similarly, I have spent many years developing mental symmetry as a meta-theory, guided by the internal hope of living within a society guided by these cognitive principles. But this currently remains hope that is not seen, and I too am writing essays and papers in order to lay a proper theoretical foundation for a better society.

In verse 15, Paul recognizes that it may take some time for this hope to turn into reality. “But if I should delay, so that you may know how it behooves one to conduct oneself in the household of God.” Delay ‘implies, besides delay, the idea of lateness with reference to an appointed time’. Know means ‘seeing that becomes knowing’ and is interpreted as empirical evidence. Behooves refers to what is necessary. Household is the same word that was used earlier in the chapter to talk about ‘one’s own household’. But verse 15 refers to a ‘household of God’. Conduct oneself means ‘to overturn, turn back’ and is used once in Timothy. In other words, even if a better economy does not emerge, writing principles down makes it possible to learn through observation how an economy that is guided by an integrated Teacher understanding should function. For instance, I have learned a lot about how a better society should function by using mental symmetry to observe how society around me actually functions and the results of functioning in such a manner. And I have found that writing my ideas down is essential for clarifying my thinking, making it possible to go further. Looking at another aspect of this, one can learn from the failures of others if one has a Teacher theory that is capable of explaining these failures.

Verse 15 finishes, “Which is the church of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth.” Is is explicitly stated, indicating a focus upon being. Church means ‘people called out from the world into God’. And God is explicitly mentioned. However, this is the first mention of a living God in 1 Timothy. (Life was mentioned once previously in 1:16.) A living God goes beyond a universal theory in Teacher thought to a theory that behaves. When a finite person behaves, then this usually has a local impact. God, in contrast, is a universal being, and when a universal being behaves, then this has a universal impact. Saying this more clearly, when people ask God to intervene, they usually want God to change some things while leaving most things unchanged. But when God intervenes then everything changes. That is what it means to encounter a living God. This has become increasingly clear to me as I observe society changing around me. I keep being struck by the totality, irrevocability, and completeness of changes to society. It is also becoming increasingly clear that those who claim to be the church are not functioning as the church but instead are responding with desperation and a lack of faith as the changes to society become more total and irrevocable. A church that is incapable of handling universal changes cannot claim to be a church of God, because God is a universal being who makes universal changes. This leads to the question of what is the real church of God, and the only answer seems to be those who are being guided by Teacher understanding to generate complete changes that lead to greater personal and societal well-being. This relates to the suggestion made earlier that the church is a group of people that is attempting to go beyond the status quo by using first principles thinking.

Pillar is used once in Timothy and means ‘a pillar, support, column’. Base is used once in the New Testament and means ‘a support’. And truth means ‘true to fact, reality’. In other words, the purpose of a church is not to escape from the world and live in some alternate reality based in the absolute truth of some holy book, but rather to provide both a foundation and a support for society that is based in the facts of reality. This has also become clearer to me as I have observed society. I see academia losing the ability to handle the facts of reality as it is overcome by postmodernism. I see evangelical Christendom self-destruct when faced with facts that do not fit into its worldview of absolute truth. I see educational systems replace a search for truth with alternate ways of ‘knowing’. I see social media turn into echo chambers filled with childish minds that are incapable of acknowledging the facts. I see marketing that plays emotional games while downplaying the facts. And I see politics holding on to ideologies regardless of the facts. In each of these cases, the Teacher theory of mental symmetry provides me with both a foundation upon which I can build my truth as well as a support for holding on to truth in the middle of these massive societal shifts.

Chapter 3 finishes with what appears to be a religious formula. As usual, we will analyze this from a cognitive perspective. Verse 16 begins, “And confessedly, great is the mystery of godliness.” Confessedly is used once as an adverb in the New Testament. It is the source of the English word ‘homologue’ and means ‘to speak the same thing’. This is the first use of the common word great in 1 Timothy. It means ‘large, great, in the widest sense’ and is interpreted as Teacher generality. ‘Confessedly great’ would mean achieving Teacher generality through Perceiver similarities because one situation is ‘speaking the same thing’ as another. For instance, what has struck me over the years is not that some segment of society has responded in a certain manner, but rather that all segments of society are travelling similar paths to the same end condition of having no foundation and support for truth. Going the other way, what strikes me about mental symmetry is not that it can explain behavior but rather that such a simple cognitive theory can explain so many different aspects of society. Notice that this relates to the idea of a living God. ‘Confessedly great’ means that this concept of a living God emerges in an analogical manner as one notices different areas ‘speaking the same thing’.

Godliness combines ‘well’ with ‘venerate, pay homage’. This goes beyond showing respect to showing respect in an adequate manner. This word was previously used in 2:2 which talked about praying to lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness. And mystery means ‘a mystery or secret doctrine’ and was used in verse 9. A mindset of absolute truth will naturally feel that I am too insignificant to be able to accurately understand the absolute truth that has been revealed by the awesome source of truth. Saying this more simply, I will feel that the source of truth is some person with Mercy status who has revealed some mystery and I need to respond by showing veneration in Mercy thought. Verse 16 is describing a realization of what it really means to ‘pay homage well’. One is not showing respect for some important person in Mercy thought but rather showing emotional respect for a universal being in Teacher thought. And this realization came from seeing similar patterns being displayed in many different aspects of society.

Verse 16 then describes a sequence of comprehending the mystery. “Who was revealed in the flesh, was justified in the Spirit, was seen by angels.” Who is a generic pronoun that can refer either to a person or to a thing. Revealed is used once in 1 Timothy and comes from the word ‘light’ and means ‘to illumine, make manifest’. ‘Light’ is interpreted as the light of Teacher understanding. In means ‘in the realm of’. Flesh refers to physical flesh which indicates physical action in a physical body. Thus, the mystery is not being revealed through words and explanations. Instead, the light of Teacher understanding is becoming apparent within the realm of physical action. One is looking at beyond what people say and what they claim to how things physically behave within reality. For instance, modern science began by observing the physical behavior of physical matter, such as the falling of a ball, the swinging of a pendulum, or the movement of the planets.

Justified means ‘to show to be righteous’ and righteousness means performing Server actions that are consistent with a concept of God in Teacher thought. Spirit refers to internal concepts of ideal perfection within Mercy thought. ‘In the realm of the spirit’ would mean that the righteousness becomes internally apparent. For instance, when scientific observation looked at physical movement, it became apparent that this movement could be described by general laws in Teacher thought. This is not immediately obvious when one looks at physical movement because physical reality is messy with many different factors interacting. However, the correspondence between Server actions and general Teacher laws becomes apparent the closer one gets to idealized reality. For instance, high school physics problems will usually ignore secondary factors like air resistance, friction, or irregular surfaces.

Seen means ‘to see with the mind’ and this is the first use of this common word in 1 Timothy. Angel means ‘angel, messenger’ and can refer either to an actual angel or a human messenger. My hypothesis is that real angels have the same minds as humans but live within a realm composed of messages as opposed to the human realm of physical objects. Applying this to the development of science, the previous step described the emergence of a scientific paradigm, which means realizing that some collection of natural behaviors can be described by a simple Teacher theory. As Thomas Kuhn mentions, paradigms enable science by allowing scientists to view reality from a different mental perspective. Notice that this new way of viewing reality only happens within the minds of those who live within the realm of messages. Applying this to science, understanding the laws of physics requires mentally living within the messages of mathematics. Similarly, recognizing that the Bible is a textbook of cognition requires focusing upon human behavior as well as living within the messages of the meta-theory of mental symmetry. The end result is to mentally view social reality from a new perspective

Verse 16 finishes, “Was proclaimed among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.” Proclaim means ‘to herald, proclaim’. In means ‘in the realm of’. Nation means ‘people joined by practicing similar customs or common culture’ and would refer to cultural MMNs. Applying this to science, the emergence of scientific paradigms was followed by an emotional struggle between TMNs of scientific theory and MMNs of culture. ‘Proclaim’ implies that this is a verbal struggle in which scientific theory is being verbally pronounced to people living within culture. This proclamation can be seen in the establishment of modern schools and universities.

Believe means to ‘be persuaded’ and in means ‘in the realm of’. World is ‘cosmos’ and refers to the ordered system of human physical society. For instance, the scientific revolution was followed by an industrial revolution in which the order of the physical world was restructured guided by scientific theory. This restructuring was guided by rational understanding. The underlying assumption was that cultural MMNs need to be restructured in the light of the Teacher paradigms of science.

Taken up means ‘to take up, raise’ and moving up is interpreted as heading in the direction of Teacher generality. Glory describes some external manifestation of internal character. Thus, being ‘taken up in glory’ would mean that the physical expression of internal character is increasing in Teacher generality. For instance, the industrial revolution began with a few machines here and there. But this increased in generality as massive railway and telegraph systems were constructed that physically expressed the Teacher order—that until then could only be mentally seen by those who lived within the realm of scientific messages.

In conclusion, verse 16 is an accurate summary of the scientific and industrial revolutions, written about 1700 years before they happened. And if one looks on the Internet for anyone else saying something similar about this verse, one discovers nothing. In other words, living as a messenger within mental symmetry has caused me to mentally view reality and the Bible from a different perspective. I often feel as if I am living on a different planet—or even in a different universe—than other people.

So why do I think that I am living on the real planet and others are not? First, I do not have to misinterpret terms such as overseer and deacon. More generally, I can use mental symmetry to explain the New Testament in the original Greek without having to misinterpret words and declare passages to be incomprehensible mysteries. Second, I do not have to block off the entire, interconnected global society and declare it to be a Satanic kingdom that will be destroyed during the Great Tribulation. Instead, I have a concept of God that is big enough to include science and technology, rather than some small tribal god of a religious subculture that claims to be universal while actually being nothing of the sort. Third, my mind is holding together while those who claim to know God and/or science are falling apart and turning irrational.

Technical Thought and Postmodernism 4:1-2

Chapter 4 starts by describing this third point. Verse 1 begins, “But the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will depart from the faith.” Spirit includes the definite article but does not mention the Holy Spirit. Spirit is interpreted as Platonic forms of ideal perfection that emerge within Mercy thought as a result of Teacher understanding. Mental symmetry also hypothesizes that there is an actual spiritual realm that interacts with human minds by empowering mental networks.

States is the normal word for talking. Expressly is used once in the New Testament and means ‘explicitly, in so many words’. Thus, this is a theoretical conclusion that can be described verbally which is based in mental concepts of ideal perfection. Times refers to ‘time as opportunity’. Later is used once in the New Testament and means ‘latter, later, coming after’. This combination describes something that occurs after something else has happened at some opportune time.

Some is a generic pronoun that can refer to something or someone. Depart from means ‘to make to stand away’. Standing is interpreted as some source of stability in Perceiver thought. ‘Standing away’ would mean to abandon the existing source of Perceiver stability in favor of some new source of Perceiver stability. Faith means to ‘be persuaded’. Standing away from the faith would mean refusing to be persuaded by rational thought and finding some alternate form of ‘knowing’.

This describes postmodernism which has rejected the rational persuasion of science in order to embrace non-scientific forms of knowing. Notice that this follows directly after the sequence at the end of chapter 3. 3:16 described a sequence that resulted in a global technological society. That describes the opportune time that sets the clock ticking. What happens then is that objective, specialized science and technology will transform the physical world while leaving the subjective realm of mental networks untouched. Verse 1 describes what ‘comes after’. The previous chapter described the gap that opens up between the technical thought required to develop and produce gadgets and the marketing used to sell and use gadgets. The end result will be dumb people using smart gadgets. Going further, the average dumb consumer will find the technological global society inhuman because it provides gadgets without addressing his or her emotional, religious, social, and personal needs. The typical dumb consumer will not respond by getting educated but rather by rejecting technical thought.

This rejection of rational technical thought is a spiritual issue because it involves the spiritual realm of mental networks. A Platonic form of the spirit emerges indirectly as a result of Teacher understanding. Using the standard example that I mention in other essays, Perceiver thought comes up with the category of round objects based upon experiences with many round things. Teacher thought then comes up with a simple theory that describes the essence of roundness. This Teacher theory of roundness indirectly creates the internal Mercy image of a perfect circle. Applying this to verse 1, those who have Teacher understanding will come up with Platonic forms of a more ideal society, and they will notice a major mismatch between this internal Platonic form and the average consumer. For instance, those who developed the Internet were guided by the internal Platonic form of an information society in which information enabled and educated the average person. What emerged instead is social media composed primarily of uneducated consumers sharing uneducated ideas over the Internet. Those who are educated will notice this discrepancy and sense that disaster is around the corner. Saying this more generally, dealing directly with physical nature forces the average person to learn some common sense. But when civilization protects people from natural harm, then it becomes possible for the average person to become really stupid because there is no need to learn common sense.

Verse 1 continues, “Giving heed to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons.” Giving heed combines ‘towards’ and ‘have’. Having indicates the peripheral realm of ‘having’ as opposed to ‘being’. ‘Having towards’ would mean gravitating to a new collection of possessions and gadgets. Spirit indicates the internal realm of mental networks that is not being satisfied by technological society. Deceitful means ‘wandering, leading astray’. This is not a case of heading towards some goal but rather no longer heading towards any goal. Verse 1 began by talking about ‘the spirit’ in the singular with the definite object, which described the mental network of a unified, internal goal, the sort of mental network that emerges from Platonic forms. This is being replaced by ‘wandering spirits’ in the plural with no definite article. In other words, people are no longer looking for an internal ideal, instead they are simply searching for anything that will fill the spiritual vacuum that has been created by technological society. This spiritual vacuum will be filled in a multiplicity of ways that have no internal coherence. This summarizes the modern quest for spirituality without content. The modern consumer wants spirituality but does not want any content to be added to this spirituality because content smells of technological thought and the goal of the spirituality is to fill the spiritual vacuum with something that does not smell of technological thought. Therefore, any sort of woowoo will do. And this woowoo will be treated as a gadget that can be bought or sold without any personal commitment, which explains the ‘having towards’ as opposed to any becoming.

Teachings is a variant of the normal word that refers to ‘applied-teaching’. It was previously used in 1:10 to describe an executive elite opposing sound teachings. Demon is the normal word for demon in the New Testament and this word is used once in Timothy. Mental symmetry distinguishes between evil spirits and demons. An evil spirit enables a harmful Mercy mental network while a demon empowers a harmful Teacher mental network. Thus, a demon is like a bad habit. We saw earlier that righteousness describes Server actions that are being guided by the TMN of an integrated concept of God. ‘Teachings of demons’ combines some unhealthy habit with the TMN of some simple theory. This combination describes a lot of pop psychology, most post-Christian religiosity, and the various mindfulness techniques. The focus of each is upon establishing some habit and then combining this habit with some theory that sounds religious and/or scientific but is actually just pseudo-scientific woowoo. Mental symmetry is not pseudo-scientific woowoo because it maps in detail onto current neurological research, it is consistent in detail with historical Christian theology, it leads in the direction of mental wholeness, and it provides a foundation for rational scientific thought.

Verse 2 describes where this leads. “In the hypocrisy of liars, having been seared in the own conscience.” Hypocrisy ‘literally refers to someone acting under a mask’. Liar is used once in the New Testament and combines ‘pseudo’ with ‘logos’. A ‘logos’ is the Teacher theory that lies behind some technical specialization. A pseudo-logos acts like a general theory that will bring unity to technical thought but it is only a pretend theory that ‘is acting under a mask’. For instance, I took several months to write a paper that used mental symmetry as a ‘logos’ to provide an integrated explanation for language acquisition. I did this because the field of second language acquisition is theoretically fragmented and researchers in this field are looking for a paradigm that will tie the field together. After submitting the paper to several journals and receiving feedback from a professor in this field, I eventually realized that what they really want is not a meta-theory but rather the appearance of a meta-theory that will provide the Teacher feelings of an integrated theory. This is an example of the hypocrisy of a pseudo-logos.

Seared is used once in the New Testament and means to ‘sear with a hot iron’. Conscience means ‘joint knowing’ which implies comparing one situation with another in order to derive common moral principles. Iron is a metal and a metal is interpreted as solid facts that have been ‘tested and purified in the fire’. Searing takes this process of testing information and applies it to the subjective in order to eliminate personal sensitivity. For instance, scientific research eliminates subjective bias by requiring facts to pass statistical validation and peer review. The positive result is ‘information that has been tested and purified in the fire’. The negative result is to ‘sear the conscience with a hot iron’ because any attempt to use Perceiver and/or Server thought to compare one specialization with another in order to find similar patterns will be rejected as being insufficiently rigorous. That is because Perceiver and Server thought gain confidence in patterns as they are seen repeated. However, this confidence grows gradually and cannot be tested in a statistical manner. When specialized, objective scientific thought refuses to consider any legitimate meta-theories that bridge specializations, then the subjective vacuum will be filled by the pseudo-logos of intellectual woowoo.

Verse 3 describes the sort of taboos that emerge. “Forbidding to marry, commanding to abstain from foods.” Forbid means to ‘forbid, hinder, prevent’. Marry means ‘to marry’. Cognitive marriage means integrating male technical thought with female mental networks. The primary split of Western technological society is the split between male technical thought and female mental networks. On the one hand, objective, specialized scientific thought rejects MMNs by being objective and rejects TMNs by being specialized. The result is male thought forbidding any marriage with female thought. On the other hand, spirituality without content pursues mental networks as long as they remain disconnected from any rational thought. The result is female thought forbidding any marriage with male thought. A similar split exists within the economy. On the one hand, modern gadgets are constructed in hyper-technical factories ruled by male technical thought. On the other hand, these same gadgets are marketed to dumb consumers ruled by female mental networks. I am not suggesting that women are dumb, but our earlier look at women’s studies provides evidence that female thought which rejects male thought is dumb. This split has become an international split because most technical gadgets are now constructed in Asian factories while being consumed by consumers in America whose immature mental networks are being manipulated by marketing.

Abstain means to ‘have by separating from’. This means functioning at the peripheral level of ‘having’ while viewing ‘having’ as the opposite of something else. ‘Commanding’ gives the impression that this is the result of some order from authorities but as the italics indicate, this word is not in the original Greek. Food means ‘that which is eaten’ and is used once in Timothy. Drink represents experiences for Mercy thought while food is interpreted as intellectual food for abstract thought. ‘Abstaining from food’ would mean consuming peripheral intellectual food because it is the opposite of something else. For instance, this would describe consuming social media, where one consumes inconsequential intellectual food because it provides an emotional respite from the demands of technical society. Similarly, the endless flow of academic papers consists primarily of inconsequential experiments that are being published in order to satisfy the requirement for generating sufficient rigorous thought that is different than the non-rigorous thinking of normal society. One has to publish a regular stream of papers in reputable journals in order to prove that one passes the threshold of academic acceptability. Notice that each side of this split is defining itself primarily as not the other rather than pursuing anything of true value. I am not suggesting that all YouTube videos are meaningless fluff and that all academic papers are worthless. It is possible to find meaningful content but I think that one can safely conclude that most videos and most academic papers are meaningless fluff. And I am not the only one making this statement.

An Integrated Mindset 4:3-6

Verse 3 finishes by stating what the situation should be. “That God created for reception with thanksgiving by the faithful and those knowing the truth.” God is actually ‘the God’ which refers to an integrated concept of a monotheistic God. Created is used once in Timothy and ‘applies only to God who alone can make what was not there before’. All fifteen occurrences of this word refer to God creating. What this means in practice is recognizing that a universal theory in Teacher thought is the starting point and not personal subjective experiences or empirical facts. I have repeatedly found that the very idea of starting from a theory in Teacher thought will be instinctively rejected by academia, theologians, and the average person. This means that mental symmetry will be instinctively rejected because it starts with a general theory in Teacher thought and then makes predictions that are checked by examining the facts of reality.

Looking at this more carefully, civilization has transformed the physical facts of reality while postmodernism has belittled the traditional sources of authority. The end result is that everyone feels adrift without any source of stability either physically or emotionally. The solution is to find mental stability in a universal Teacher theory—a monotheistic concept of God—and view this universal theory as the source of both physical reality and subjective experiences. Making this transition is not easy. Instead, one has to develop an integrated Teacher understanding, become emotionally convinced that this understanding accurately describes God, submit to this mental concept of God, and then look to this concept of God for stability as everything else gets shaken.

Reception is used once in the New Testament in noun form and means ‘to lay hold of with initiative which prompts a change afterward’. Thanksgiving means ‘acknowledging that God’s grace works well’. Putting this together, recognizing that God is the ultimate source in Teacher thought does not happen automatically or passively. Instead one must choose to adopt this perspective and taking this perspective will lead to personal transformation. One will become a different kind of person. It also requires an attitude of thanksgiving which means emotionally recognizing that starting with a universal understanding in Teacher thought leads to good results for personal identity. The typical modern consumer is unwilling to take either of these steps. First, the consumer wants existing inadequate mental networks to be coddled and is unwilling to put in the effort required to construct an integrated concept of God or experience the personal change that results from starting from such a concept of God. Second, the consumer does not acknowledge that God’s grace works well. Instead, the secular consumer wants gadgets that make it possible to forget about technical thought and its source in the rational Teacher theories of science. Similarly, the religious consumer wants spirituality that makes it possible to forget about theology and its source in rational Teacher theories about God.

Faithful means to ‘be persuaded’. ‘By the faithful’ refers to those who are willing to acknowledge that the ultimate source is an integrated concept of God in Teacher thought. Knowing is a form used once in Timothy that refers to ‘apt experiential knowing’. This involves subjective Mercy experiences in an appropriate manner. And what is being experientially known in an appropriate manner is truth, which means ‘true to fact’. In other words, starting from a concept of God in Teacher thought does not mean ignoring subjective Mercy experiences. Instead, a universal understanding of ‘how things work’ provides a framework for subjective Mercy experiences that is true to the facts of reality.

Verse 4 describes what it means to start from an integrated, universal concept of God in Teacher thought. “For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, being received with thanksgiving.” For means ‘because’ which means that verse 4 relates to verse 3. Creature is used once in Timothy and means ‘a created thing, creature’. Verse 3 said that ‘God created’. Verse 4 refers to ‘creatures of God’ and ‘creature’ is the noun form of ‘create’. Good means ‘attractively good’. Looking at this cognitively, the mind uses mental networks to represent living beings. Verse 1 talked about fragmented mental networks, referring to the MMNs of deceitful spirits and the TMNs of teachings of demons. Objective and specialized science and technology have created an emotional vacuum. Verse 1 described this emotional vacuum being filled in an aimless, fragmented manner. Verse 4 also talks about mental networks of living beings. But in verse 4 these mental networks are all creations of God in Teacher thought.

For instance, mental symmetry says that the mind is composed of seven interacting cognitive modules. Developing these subconscious modules within my mind has turned them into ‘living creatures’ that interact intelligently with conscious thought. For instance, I sense this interaction as I am writing this sentence. These can be viewed as ‘creatures of God’ because they all function within the meta-theory of mental symmetry and I have found that these ‘living creatures’ are ‘attractively good’. If one asks the average person if he or she would like to ‘live within their mind’, the answer is generally negative. In contrast, I like the living creatures that have emerged within my mind and I find that they also like conscious thought and like each other. I also sense that the interaction that is happening within my mind is spilling over into actual spiritual and angelic realms. I cannot prove this but mention this to point out that focusing upon mental interaction with cognitive modules naturally extends into the spiritual and the supernatural. But this extension leads to spirituality with content, as opposed to the spirituality without content of verse 1. And it leads to an integrated understanding of many fields as opposed to the fragmented ‘teachings of demons’ of verse 1.

Nothing means ‘not one, no one, nothing’. Rejected is used once as an adjective (and twice as a verb) in the New Testament and combines ‘away from’ with ‘throw’. Throwing is interpreted as moving through the ‘air’ of Teacher thought. Thus, ‘throwing away from’ would mean developing a Teacher understanding that excludes certain aspects. For instance, the doctrine of the rapture is an example of ‘rejecting’ because it creates a theology of salvation that throws away secular thought and secular society. In contrast, I have found that mental symmetry can be used as a meta-theory for many fields and I have yet to find a field to which it does not apply in some manner.

This does not mean that one swallows everything wholesale in an unthinking manner. Instead, it must be ‘received with thanksgiving’. With means ‘in company with’ when followed by the genitive. Thanksgiving means ‘thankful for God’s grace’ and this word was used in verse 3. In verse 3 intellectual food created by God was being received with thanksgiving. In verse 4 this intellectual food has caused living beings to come into existence which also need to be received with thanksgiving. ‘Received with thanksgiving’ means that one places these ‘living beings’ within the framework of an integrated concept of God.

For instance, developing mental symmetry started as an intellectual pursuit of a theory of the mind accompanied by personal application. During this stage I theoretically respected subconscious modules. This has now turned into internal social interaction with living creatures that express this theory. The content of the interaction has not changed because I am still developing the theory of mental symmetry. But the nature of this interaction has changed dramatically because I am now interacting internally with intelligent living creatures and not just mental concepts. The natural tendency is to develop a theory and then reject aspects of the theory when it becomes apparent where that theory leads. The reception of verse 3 meant ‘an aggressive receiving which brings a certain result’. In verse 4, one is dealing with this ‘certain result’ and the word received means ‘an aggressive receiving’ without the prefix that means ‘which brings a certain result’. In other words, the theoretical receiving of verse 3 led to the result of giving birth to various mental networks and verse 4 says that these mental networks also need to be received. This is discussed in Acts 7, which gives the impression that people are allowing spiritual life to grow to a certain extent but then killing it when it becomes uncomfortable.

Looking at this purely from a cognitive perspective, most people find entertainment in fantasy worlds within which they would not really like to live. Thus, the fantasy is enjoyed until it becomes uncomfortable and then is killed. In contrast, my development of mental symmetry has been guided by a desire to live fully within mental symmetry, and my development of subconscious cognitive modules has also been guided by a desire to live with my cognitive modules. This relationship began many years ago when I made a mental covenant with my subconscious modules that they had a right to live and I did not have a right to kill them. This may sound trivial or even childish, but most people make a practice of using conscious thought to kill subconscious thought when subconscious thought comes up with uncomfortable concepts. However, if the goal is mental wholeness, then this means guiding, teaching, and living alongside the cognitive modules of subconscious thought.

Verse 5 adds in important clarification. “For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.” Sanctified is used once in 1 Timothy and means ‘to make holy’. Holy means ‘different from the world because like the Lord’. ‘It’ is not explicitly mentioned but rather is implied by the conjugation of the verb ‘sanctified’ which is in the third person singular. Thus, a ‘living creature’ of verse 4 is being sanctified. By means ‘by the instrumentality of’ when followed by the genitive. Word is ‘logos’ which refers to a paradigm of technical thought. ‘Word of God’ refers to Christ, the abstract side of incarnation, who is described as the ‘logos of God’ in John 1. Putting this together, each mental network needs to be examined individually in the light of an integrated concept of God. For instance, whenever I examine some system or theory, I look at the details of this system in the light of mental symmetry. I have found so far that all major aspects of a system can be explained but not necessarily in the same way. Some aspects of a system are consistent with mental symmetry and describe cognitive principles using different language. Other aspects of the system are inconsistent with mental symmetry but mental symmetry can still be used to explain the origin of these aspects.

For instance, we saw earlier that deacon means ‘emissary’ and not ‘selfless service’ and the qualifications of a deacon make cognitive sense when interpreted as an ‘emissary’. ‘Deacon’ has historically been misinterpreted as selfless service because that is consistent with a mindset of absolute truth which feels that I am nothing compared to my source of truth. Thus, even though the historical misinterpretation of deacon is inconsistent with mental symmetry (and with the Bible), it can still be explained cognitively using mental symmetry. This type of explaining ‘sanctifies’ historical Christian thought not by regarding it as the ‘voice of God’ but rather by placing it within an integrated Teacher understanding of ‘how things work’. A similar process is used when analyzing other systems. So far I have found that the New Testament in the original Greek is the only system where it is not necessary to go to the second level of explanation that uses cognitive mechanisms to explain why some system has gone astray. This leads to the conclusion that the Bible is a holy book, because it can be placed entirely within an integrated Teacher understanding without having to explain any shortcomings.

The final phrase is ‘and prayer’. Prayer is used one other time as a noun in the New Testament in 2:1. It ‘means to strike, hit the bulls-eye’ and is ‘the antonym of harmartia, to miss the mark, sin’. This describes the sort of analysis mentioned in the previous paragraph because existing systems are being redirected to ensure that they hit the target rather than sin and miss the target. As mentioned, the New Testament in the original Greek appears to be the only document that does not have to be cognitively redirected to hit the target. Scientific systems are accurate at a detailed level but miss the target when it comes to the bigger picture. (I suspect that the Old Testament can also be interpreted cognitively.)

Applying verse 5 to subconscious cognitive modules, giving subconscious modules the right to exist does not mean that one automatically accepts everything from subconscious thought as valid. Instead, subconscious thought needs to be ‘sanctified by the word of God and prayer’. Cognitively speaking, ‘a word of God’ is a universal paradigm. Mental symmetry is a ‘word of God’ for subconscious thought because it defines subconscious thought as specific cognitive modules with specific functions. Mental symmetry ‘sanctifies’ cognitive modules because it describes the ideal functioning of each cognitive module. Saying this more clearly, developing my cognitive modules has followed two parallel paths: The first path is to use mental symmetry to explore how each cognitive module would ideally function. This causes subconscious thought to be ‘sanctified by the word of God’. The second path is to internally interact directly with cognitive modules within the framework of mental symmetry. This provides subconscious modules with a target to hit. These two paths are symbiotic. On the one hand, theoretically exploring the ideal function of each cognitive module provides each module with mental networks of Platonic perfection that will guide the behavior of each cognitive module. For instance, studying Exhorter thought provides a guide for subconscious Exhorter thought within my mind. On the other hand, interacting with cognitive modules in the light of mental symmetry provides a rule of law within which each module can function without being overwhelmed by conscious thought or each other. For instance, internally interacting with Exhorter thought within my mind as an example of the mental symmetry category of Exhorter thought has gradually turned my subconscious Exhorter module into an intelligent agent that is capable of interacting with conscious thought.

Verse 6 looks at teaching others. “Laying before the brothers these things, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus.” Laying before is used twice in the New Testament and adds the prefix ‘under’ to ‘place, set’. ‘Placing’ is interpreted as a source of stability in Perceiver thought. Thus, ‘placing under’ would mean treating these Perceiver facts as foundational principles upon which one builds. These things is a generic pronoun that would refer to the previous verses. Brother means ‘born from the same womb’ which would refer to people of either gender who have gone through a similar process of cognitive rebirth. The implication is that those who have not experienced this kind of rebirth will not find this kind of analysis attractive, and that matches up with my personal experience.

Servant is the word ‘deacon’ which we saw earlier actually means emissary which we are interpreting as marketing. And ‘Christ Jesus’ refers to an integrated concept of incarnation. Thus, the way to market this new way of thinking is to share it with like-minded people in order to develop an integrated concept of incarnation. One does not market by trying to appeal to the immature mental networks of the consumer but rather by making a more compelling integrated theory. That summarizes the path that I have taken over the years. When mental symmetry has been rejected, I have responded by doing more homework because my ultimate goal is to market an integrated concept of incarnation, which requires constructing and living within such a concept of incarnation. My general hypothesis is that pursuing this path will eventually culminate in a theoretical return of Jesus that will be followed by an extension of the existing economy into the spiritual realm. When that happens, then the interaction that is currently happening personally within my mind will become external and social. On the one hand, the social rejection that I am currently receiving is the price that has to be paid to make a spiritual breakthrough. I know that this is true because whenever I respond maturely to rejection, then I sense that the spiritual door cracks open a little wider. On the other hand, the cognitive interaction that I am currently having with my cognitive modules is teaching me vital skills that will be required when a spiritual breakthrough happens. Saying this more generally, one focuses upon sharing with like-minded people because the goal is not to market some product to ignorant consumers, but rather to develop the product to the extent that it becomes attractive to even ignorant consumers. That is because one is developing a product in which one wants to live at the level of ‘being’ and not just developing some gadget or service to market at the level of ‘having’.

Verse 6 finishes, “Being nourished in the words of the faith, and of the good teaching that you have closely followed.” Nourished is used once in the New Testament and adds the prefix ‘in the realm of’ to ‘make to grow, to nourish’. Words is ‘logos’ in the plural which would refer to various paradigms of technical thought. These paradigms are ‘of the faith’ and faith means to ‘be persuaded’. In other words, following the methodology mentioned in these verses will lead to rational paradigms of technical thought as well as personal development. Consistent with this, I have found that using mental symmetry as a meta-theory leads to good paradigms and also encourages personal development.

Good means ‘attractively good’. Teaching means ‘applied teaching’ and the same word was used in 4:1 to refer to the ‘teaching of demons’. Closely follow is used three times in the New Testament and combines ‘close beside’ with ‘walking the same road’. Notice that Server actions are involved in both 4:1 and 4:6. In 4:1 the development of various habits in Server thought led to fragmented theories. In verse 6, placing various specializations within an integrated concept of God is being accompanied by the development of new habits, but instead of being fragmented these habits are attractively good. In verse 1, the starting point was specific habits in Server thought which were leading to the ‘demons’ of fragmented Teacher theories. In verse 4, the starting point is an integrated understanding in Teacher thought which is being ‘closely followed’ by corresponding actions in Server thought.

For instance, one might think that giving subconscious modules the right to exist as independent entities might lead to some form of schizophrenia or multiple personalities. My experience is that this is not the case. That is because personal well-being really does require all seven cognitive modules to work together in harmony. Therefore, cognitive modules will continue to work together in harmony even if they function as intelligent, independent entities. In fact, they will work together in harmony more intelligently, because each cognitive module will be convinced that it can function more effectively by interacting with other cognitive modules. For instance, Exhorter thought wants excitement and hates frustration. Exhorter thought will experience the most excitement and the least frustration if it follows advice from other cognitive modules. Similarly, Teacher thought wants order-within-complexity. Mental symmetry provides great order-within-complexity because it is a universal meta-theory of cognition. But this order-within-complexity can be increased even further if each cognitive module functions as an intelligent agent.

Beyond Myths to Spiritual Transformation 4:7-11

Verse 7 presents two alternatives. “But refuse profane and silly fables. Rather, train yourself to godliness.” Starting with the negative alternative, profane means ‘crossing a threshold which profanes because of improper entrance’ and was used previously in 1:9. Refuse means ‘to beg from, to beg off’. This suggests that one is not openly opposing something or attacking something but rather trying to avoid something in a way that does not create an emotional crisis. When one is re-analyzing theories in a major way, then it is tempting to let go of procedures, respect, privacy, and appropriateness. This describes the primary flaw of postmodernism which questions existing systems and existing authority without providing any positive alternative. However, the primary goal is not to question existing systems but rather to place these systems upon a more solid foundation. Using an analogy, civil rights need to be respected when there is a regime change.

For instance, technical specializations will naturally erect thresholds of training by which one enters properly into the specialization. Using mental symmetry as a meta-theory to analyze technical specializations does not give the right to belittle these entrance requirements. While it is humanly impossible to go through the years of technical training that is required to enter each specialization, it is still possible to respect these entrance requirements and attempt to analyze a field in an intelligent manner that does not profane these entrance requirements.

Silly is used once in the New Testament and means ‘characteristic of old women’. Fable means ‘a speech, story’ and was previously used in 1:4 to warn against paying attention to myths. References to women are interpreted as mental networks of female thought. Thus, ‘silly fables’ would refer to ancient myths based in the mental networks of tradition and/or previous societies. Studying such ancient myths has become popular recently within academic circles. That is because a mindset of absolute truth will naturally respond to questioning principles by looking for more authoritative sources. For instance, it is common for Bible-believing Christians who lose respect for Protestant sources of authority to turn to the ancient church fathers or to Orthodox Christianity for more authoritative sources who were closer to the ultimate source of absolute truth. Similarly, it is possible to spout all manner of intellectual nonsense if this can be packaged as ancient wisdom. The general assumption is that one can only learn about spirituality by looking at times and cultures that were untainted by modern science and technology. But if these ancient sources were so flawed when it came to concepts of science and technology, then why would their thinking be any more rational when dealing with spiritual topics? One can learn some lessons from these ‘silly fables’. Thus, one should not attack them as stupid or evil. But I have found that it is far more helpful to look to science and technology for analogies. Therefore, one should ‘beg off’ from getting diverted in this direction.

Looking at the positive alternative, train is used four times in the New Testament and means ‘to train, naked or wearing a loincloth’. Yourself is explicitly mentioned, which means that the focus should be upon personal development rather than studying what others have experienced personally. For instance, postmodernism critiques the personal opinions of others while ignoring personal application. Similarly, looking at ancient wisdom examines the mental networks of other cultures while ignoring the mental networks of current society. Clothing represents the fabric of social interaction. Thus, ‘train yourself’ would mean focusing upon cognitive development in a manner that looks beyond social interaction. Postmodern academic research does precisely the opposite, regarding personal identity as a social construction, assuming that studying clothes will reveal everything about the person within those clothes. Mental symmetry, in contrast, tries to look beyond social convention to determine the personal cognitive training that each person has to follow as an individual in order to reach the goal of having an integrated mind.

Godliness adds the prefix ‘well’ to ‘venerate, pay homage’ and was used back in 2:2. To means ‘motion toward a place’. In other words, the goal is not to question existing spiritual and societal authorities or to fill the spiritual vacuum with respect for ancient authorities but rather to head in the direction of appropriate respect for spiritual authority. And heading in that direction requires focusing upon personal cognitive and spiritual development. That is because the ultimate standard is how the mind functions. If one heads in the direction of mental wholeness, then one will become attracted to systems and spirits that are also heading in the direction of mental wholeness. Saying this more clearly, many techniques have been developed over the millennia to make spiritual breakthroughs. But my goal is not to make a spiritual breakthrough but rather to break through to spirits that exhibit godliness. The spirits that I sense as a result of following mental symmetry are polite spirits that respect personal identity and appreciate content, beauty, and excellence. Interacting with such spirits is totally different than being possessed by evil spirits.

Verse 8 emphasizes that this training should focus upon the spiritual rather than the physical. “For bodily exercise is of a little profit, but godliness is profitable for everything.” Exercise is used once in the New Testament and is the noun form of ‘training’ used in verse 7. Bodily means ‘of the body’ and is used one other time in Luke 3:22 to describe the Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus in bodily form during his baptism. Of is the same word ‘to’ that was used at the end of verse 7 in the phrase ‘to godliness’. Little means ‘few, little, small’. Profit is used twice in verse 8 and means ‘useful, profitable’. And ‘be’ is explicitly mentioned. A more literal translation would be ‘physical exercise toward little being profits’. Such physical exercise would include all of the various physical techniques that are practiced to achieve spiritual growth. These do emphasize the individual and they do involve training but there are only marginal beneficial results at the core level of being. Existing businesses and academic institutions tend to like these sorts of physical self-improvement programs precisely because they do not change employees at the level of being. A company or institution does not want an employee to start questioning the assumptions of the company or institution. Instead, what is desired is an employee who will function better with the company or institution.

Godliness is the same word used at the end of verse 7 which combines ‘well’ with ‘venerate, pay homage’. Godliness implies rethinking respect for existing companies and institutions in order to respect what really needs to be respected. For is again the word ‘to’ that was used earlier. Everything means ‘each part of a totality’. And ‘is’ and ‘profitable’ are the same words that were used previously in the verse. Thus, the goal of rethinking respect is to become better in all aspects of life including the realm of being. One may not be a better employee or member of an institution, but one will become a better person who has greater personal well-being and can function better in all aspects of life.

Verse 8 finishes by combining two goals. “Holding the promise of the present life and of the one coming.” Promise is used once in 1 Timothy and means ‘an appropriate promise’. Holding means ‘to have, hold’ and indicates functioning at the level of ‘having’. Life refers to both physical and spiritual life. Present means ‘now, in light of what is going before’ and coming means ‘about to happen’. Verse 3 talked about receiving intellectual food with thankfulness. Verse 4 talked about receiving creatures of God with thankfulness. Verse 6 talked about constructing an integrated concept of incarnation. In verse 8, this theoretical, personal, and technical progress has developed to the point of being able to conceive of a different way of life that is better and more integrated than current life. On the one hand, because this spirituality was not acquired by escaping from current society but rather by rethinking all aspects of existing society, it can be applied within current society. On the other hand, because this rethinking was guided by an integrated Teacher understanding, it leads to the mental concept of a new and better society. Additionally, because it has been expanded into an integrated concept of incarnation, it is ‘an appropriate promise’ that is not based in wishful thinking.

Verse 9 emphasizes this third aspect. “Trustworthy is the saying, and worthy of full acceptance.” Trustworthy is ‘faithful’ which means to ‘be persuaded’. And saying is ‘logos’ which refers to a paradigm. Thus, this is not escapist, irrational thinking but rather is a Teacher paradigm based in rational thought. Acceptance means ‘full-welcoming acceptance’. Worthy means ‘of weight, of worth’. Precisely this same sentence of seven Greek words was used back in 1:15 to refer to Christ Jesus coming into the cosmos to save sinners. 1:15 described the realization that incarnation wants to save existing human society rather than pull people out of existing society. The same realization is now happening at a more global level by recognizing the promise of a better life that applies to both present and future reality. For instance, mental symmetry can be treated both as a cognitive theory in which one pursues mental wholeness within present society and as a spiritual theory in which one pursues spiritual wholeness within some future society. Thus, one can commit fully to this paradigm knowing that technical thought guided by this paradigm will lead to results that are compatible with a future spiritual society. The description of the overseer in 3:1 began with the phrase ‘Trustworthy is the saying’ but did not add ‘worthy of full acceptance’. The implication is that rational understanding was being followed but not to the extent of being worthy of full acceptance. This makes sense because an overseer is attempting to examine only some aspect of the whole picture.

This leads to integrated goal-oriented action in verse 10. “For to this we toil and strive, because we have hope on the living God.” Toil means ‘exhausting labor’. Strive means ‘to contend for a prize, struggle’ and is the source of the English word ‘agonize’. This relates to the concept of training mentioned in verses 7 and 8. However, notice that one is not fighting some enemy. Instead, one is being emotionally exhausted by the toil of rebuilding mental networks. And the struggle comes from attempting to break through to new ways of thinking and behaving. For instance, writing these essays is emotionally exhausting because I am being forced to re-evaluate my existing mental networks of culture and religion. And each essay that I write widens the distance between my thinking and that of the culture around me. However, each essay also clarifies my internal concept of a better society as well as making the ‘living creatures’ with whom I mentally interact feel more lifelike.

Hope means ‘to expect, to hope for’ and was used once previously in 3:14 where Paul was ‘writing these things’ hoping to come to Timothy. This was followed in verse 15 by Paul recognizing that there might be a delay and that his writing would describe how to live within ‘the church of the living God’. In verse 10, Paul is hoping ‘on the living God’. The impression is that a delay has happened and that this delay is having a personal an impact upon Paul himself. Instead of merely writing about a living God, Paul is now hoping ‘on the living God’. As mentioned earlier, a living God is scary, because when God moves then everything changes. However, verses 8-9 described training for a way of life that was beneficial both now and in the future. This bridging of present and future makes it mentally possible to ‘hope on a living God’. What is being described is the difference between pain and existence. Pain generates unpleasant emotions, but existence deals with mental networks. A mental network will fall apart if it continues to be triggered and experience input that is inconsistent with its structure. A mental network that is falling apart will generate a mental pain of annihilation that goes beyond normal pain. Thus, we typically ask God to rescue us from painful experiences but do not want God to cause our mental networks to fall apart. But when God moves, then everything changes, which means that mental networks will fall apart. However, if one builds upon mental networks that apply to both present and future society, then one can hope for a living God to intervene because this intervention will not cause one’s mental networks to fall apart.

The final phrase of verse 10 emphasizes this universality. “Who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.” ‘Is’ is explicitly included, which means that this refers to the inherent character of God. Savior means to ‘deliver out of danger and into safety’. All means ‘each part of a totality’. And man is the ‘generic term for mankind’. Especially is the adverbial form of ‘very much’. And believer means to ‘be persuaded’. On the one hand, God’s intervention leads to a universal change that saves all humanity. But on the other hand, not everyone is saved to the same extent. Instead, this salvation of God is most beneficial to those who are willing to be persuaded by rational thought. A similar principle applies to the current computer revolution. Everyone is benefited by the spread of computers because almost everyone carries around with them a smart phone that is capable of calling, texting, and messaging from almost any location. But the people who are really benefited are those who have a rational understanding of computers. This is different than saying that ‘everyone will go to heaven’. Instead, it is saying that even hell will become a little better. One might think that it is a stretch to jump from smart phones to heaven and hell, but that is precisely what one continually does when being guided by a paradigm that covers both now and the future.

Verse 11 concludes, “Command and teach these things.” Command means to ‘give a command that is fully authorized because it has gone through all the proper channels’. It was previously used in 1:3 when telling Timothy to ‘warn certain men not to teach other doctrines’. In both cases, the emphasis is upon functioning in an ordered manner rather than being driven by random, immature mental networks. Teach is just the normal word for ‘teach’. The Greek is more literally ‘Command these things and teach’. Thus, Paul is providing a framework for the teaching of Timothy but is then giving Timothy freedom to teach within this framework. In other words, Paul is not micromanaging. Similarly, if Timothy represents an integrated global economy, then it is important to place this economy within the right meta-theory but then give individual aspects freedom to function within this framework.

Building a Better Society 4:12-16

Verse 12 refers to Timothy. “Let no one despise your youth, but be a pattern for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” Despise adds ‘down’ to ‘the parts around the heart’ and is in the imperative. This is not an intellectual belittling but rather a gut response of minimizing something emotionally. Youth means ‘young, new’. Speaking literally, Timothy was a young person being asked to lead older people. Looking at this symbolically, the current economy is guided by experts who have used technical thought to develop rigorous mathematical models. Any new integrated concept of incarnation will feel non-rigorous and untested and the gut reaction will be to disregard it.

For instance, I mentioned at the beginning of this essay that my older brother developed a new cognitive model that included the MBTI categories. What happened was that my brother offered a monetary reward to anyone who could successfully challenge the theory and one person suggested that MBTI was a better model than mental symmetry. I responded by examining MBTI in the light of mental symmetry and I came to the conclusion that MBTI describes fundamental mental splits that occur naturally and are difficult to integrate but need to be bridged with the help of mental symmetry. In contrast, my brother responded to this ‘despising’ of the ‘youthful theory’ of mental symmetry by modifying the cognitive model to include the MBTI categories as a fundamental characteristic. Thus, my brother did not heed this imperative, but rather allowed others to ‘despise your youth’.

Pattern means ‘a model forged by repetition’ and is used once in Timothy. Be means ‘to come into being’. A model that is forged by repetition obviously requires repetition to come into being. This means that one will have to choose many times to respond to ‘despising your youth’ by choosing to behave in a proper manner until this behavior becomes part of one’s identity. Saying this another way, one will have to act as if one is already living within the future society for which one is hoping even when surrounded by others who are belittling this way of behaving. That is because one is setting a pattern for believers who are willing to be persuaded.

Verse 12 then mentions five areas where this pattern needs to be established. Each of these four terms is preceded by an ‘in the realm of’. Speech is the word ‘logos’ which refers to paradigms of technical thought. Conduct is used once in 1 Timothy and means ‘to overturn, turn back’. The idea is that paradigms are having a transformative impact upon behavior. Love is the word ‘agape’ which describes love guided by Teacher emotions. The idea here is that Server actions give mental stability to Teacher understanding. Having a new paradigm in Teacher thought is merely the starting point because a theory that is merely in words is not enough. Instead, this new Teacher theory needs to be given stability through a change in Server actions. This will transform a paradigm about which one talks into a new way of emotionally viewing reality. The next term is faith, which means to ‘be persuaded’. Following rational thought is easy when one is in an environment of rational thought. It is much harder when surrounded by supposed experts who are ‘despising your youth’. I have found over the years that ‘agape’ love makes it possible to continue to ‘be persuaded’. Even if I reach complete dead-end, I can still love how things fit together and this love of an integrated Teacher understanding makes it possible to continue to be persuaded. The final term is purity which means ‘free from ceremonial defilement’ which is only used twice in the New Testament, here and in 5:12. This term makes sense in the context of the current technological economy in which people disregard the core realm of being in order to get ahead in the peripheral realm of having. Purity implies living totally within the rules of the new society for which one is hoping without selling one’s soul to get ahead within current society. I know from personal experience what this feels like.

Paul returns in verse 13 to his coming. “Until I come, give heed to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.” Come is the normal word that means ‘to come, go’. Paul’s coming to Timothy would represent Paul the apostle being able to live within a new and better economy and this theme is developed further in 1 Thessalonians 3. Give heed means to ‘have towards’ which implies paying attention at the peripheral level of having. This follows right after Timothy setting a pattern to follow at the level of being. Public reading of Scripture is a single word used once in Timothy which is the noun form of the normal verb ‘to read’. ‘Public’ and ‘of Scripture’ are implied and not stated. Paul mentioned writing in 3:14. Verse 13 mentions reading. Putting this together, a written theoretical system is appropriate for those who are still functioning at the level of having. The goal of a new and better economy is to go beyond the existing system with its endless technical regulations. This does not mean that one should instantly get rid of all written regulations. Instead, these are still appropriate for those who have not progressed beyond having to being. Notice that this is being described as something transitional ‘until I come’. Thus, to quote Marxist propaganda, the hope is that the state will eventually wither away.

Exhortation means ‘a call done by someone close beside’ and it ‘has legal overtones’. This describes an emotional appeal that is consistent with the facts. Exhortation makes sense when one is attempting to go beyond a set of written technical regulations to internal motivation. Teaching means ‘applied-teaching’. This also makes sense because the goal of theory is not to develop technical thought but rather to transform motivation.

Verse 14 refers to the prophecies of Timothy. “Do not be negligent of the gift in you, which was given to you through prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the elderhood.” Negligent means ‘viewing something as being without significance’ and is used once in Timothy. Gift means ‘the operation of grace’ and this same word is used to refer to the seven spiritual gifts in Romans 12. Given means ‘to give’ and through means ‘by the instrumentality of’ when followed by the genitive. Prophecy is the same word that was used in 1:18 to describe the prophecies made about Timothy and is also used to describe the cognitive style of prophecy (or Perceiver) in Romans 12:6. This gift is described as ‘in the realm of you’ which suggests that the term ‘gift’ is referring to cognitive styles.

Thus, verse 14 can be interpreted from three related perspectives. First, there are the prophecies of a better society that been made over the years by advocates of new technology. It is tempting to view these as insignificant especially after reality has repeatedly fallen short of promise. Second, it is tempting to regard cognitive styles as insignificant especially when faced with decades of repetitive and almost universal refusal to discuss the subject or even acknowledge the concept. Saying this more clearly, male Contributor persons run the current global economy. However, I have found that male Contributor persons are the most resistant to acknowledging being Contributor persons while at the same time behaving in a manner that shouts ‘Contributor Person!’. Third, there is the cognitive style of Perceiver person. Postmodernism declares that Perceiver thought has no right to exist, academia declares that Perceiver thought has no right to build bridges between academic specializations, while religion declares that Perceiver thought has no right to analyze religious topics. It is easy to become overwhelmed as a Perceiver person when faced with such universal societal hostility. However, it appears that the Perceiver person has both a unique ability and a unique opportunity to make a breakthrough in this kind of society.

With means ‘in company with’ when followed by the genitive. Laying on is used once in 1 Timothy and means ‘to place upon’. Placing is interpreted as some source of Perceiver stability. Thus, ‘placing on’ would indicate adding some source of Perceiver stability. This noun is used four times in the New Testament, each time in the phrase ‘laying on of hands’. In Acts 8:18 the apostles lay on hands, in 2 Timothy 1:6 Paul lays on hands, while Hebrews 6:2 refers generically to the laying on of hands. In verse 14 the eldership is laying on hands. Thus, this is the only occurrence of elders laying on hands. Hands represent the use of technical thought because hands are used to perform technical manipulation.

Elderhood is used three times in the New Testament and refers to ‘a body of elders’. In Luke 22:66 Jesus is put on trial by the elderhood and in Acts 22:5 Paul is put on trial before the elderhood. Thus, verse 14 is the only positive reference to an elderhood. An elder is ‘a mature man having seasoned judgment’. This is the first reference to elders in 1 Timothy and chapter 5 will refer four times to elders. Putting this together, the concept of a better society is acquiring Perceiver stability from the technical thinking of established experts. For instance, on the one hand, technical experts are generally unwilling to evaluate mental symmetry. But on the other hand, mental symmetry has developed largely because of all the work that has been done by technical experts. I refer to this as being locally rational. Each technical specialization is rational within some specific region. Mental symmetry uses Perceiver thought to look for repeated patterns within different technical specializations. Saying this another way, technical specializations come up with clearly defined lego blocks and mental symmetry uses Perceiver thought to assemble these lego blocks into the structure of a meta-theory. Similarly, mental symmetry began with my older brother Lane comparing 200 biographies written by technical experts in order to find common patterns of behavior. Likewise, it is possible to understand why society keeps falling short of the prophecies of a better future by using Perceiver thought to look for common patterns. In each case, Perceiver thought is building upon ‘the laying on of hands of the elderhood’.

Verse 15 goes further. “Ponder these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress may be evident to all.” Ponder means ‘to care for, attend to’. Absorbed is the word ‘to be’. Thus a more literal rendering is ‘attend to these things, be in the realm of them’. This describes the principle that I have found to be both effective and necessary. How can I as an individual hope to succeed in my quest to discover a foundation for a better society when others who are much smarter than I have attempted and failed? I have found that the answer lies in using the ‘secret weapon’ of simulation. A primary aspect of simulation is to care about an answer. This is the opposite of taking an objective approach. However, I have consistently found that I get answers in my research when I really want and/or need them. Simulation builds upon caring because one is emotionally exploring what it would feel like to be within some situation. Simulation only works to the extent that one has constructed an inner world that is based upon how things work. That will happen if one follows verse 12 to the final stage of mental purity.

Mental simulation is related to the principle of giving freedom to subconscious cognitive modules. Richard Feynman, a Nobel prize-winning physicist, talked about performing the mental game of ‘imagination in a straitjacket’. Mental simulation is similar. Feynman placed his imagination within the mental straitjacket of the laws of physics. I have placed both conscious thought and subconscious cognitive modules within the mental straitjacket of the theory of mental symmetry. This turns imagination into exploring the theory of mental symmetry. Saying this another way, I have become the theory of mental symmetry. Becoming a theory usually means that the theory becomes emotionally twisted by existing inadequate Mercy mental networks and arbitrarily manipulated by conscious thought. But the starting point for mental symmetry is not my conscious thought but rather a Teacher understanding of how the mind functions and I now live within a mental landscape that expresses this Teacher understanding. This began many years ago as the realization that I had to personally apply mental symmetry in order to continue making progress. This has turned through repeated patterns into a mental landscape that reflects the structure of mental symmetry.

Progress literally means ‘advancement by chopping down whatever impedes progress’. Evident means ‘to bring to light, to cause to appear’. Light implies the ‘light’ of some Teacher theory. All means ‘each part of a totality’. For instance, these essays are attempting to ‘chop down’ the mental networks of assumption that have grown from two millennia of approaching the New Testament from a mindset of absolute truth and religious self-denial. This ‘chopping down’ is bringing to light an entire landscape of biblical understanding. These essays are being posted and academic papers are being written ‘so that this progress may be evident to all’. But there is also the progress of causing one set of facts to become evident to other facts by building connections between one area and another. That type of progress happens when using mental symmetry as a meta-theory to bridge technical specializations, which requires ‘chopping down’ the various barriers that have grown up to separate one specialization from another.

Verse 16 goes from being to having. “Give heed to yourself and to the teaching. Continue in them.” Give heed combines ‘upon’ with ‘to have, hold’ and is in the imperative. ‘Yourself’ is in the singular and would refer to Timothy. Teaching means ‘applied-teaching’. Giving heed to yourself is quite different than a mindset of absolute truth which would say, ‘Forget about yourself and focus on God’. It is also different than an objective mindset that says, ‘Forget about yourself and focus on science’. But it follows naturally from the previous verses. ‘Have’ refers to the peripheral realm of having; ‘Having upon’ would mean basing having upon some foundation. This foundation is the ‘being’ that has been achieved in the previous verses. Verse 16 says to build ‘having’ upon the ‘being’ that has been achieved as well as the practical implications of the integrated theory that has been developed. In other words, don’t remain at the level of mentally simulating what a better society would be like. Don’t just think about what it would to live within such a society. Instead, use this as a starting point for interacting with the world of objects, gadgets, and possessions.

Continue is used once in Timothy, it adds the prefix ‘fitting’ to ‘remain, persist’ and is in the imperative. Verse 12 talked about becoming a pattern for others to follow which required repeatedly following the same principles. The goal of verse 12 was to become someone. Verse 16 also talks about repetition, but this repetition now involves the objective realm of having rather than being. However, this repetition is ‘fitting’ because it is emerging from transformed ‘being’. This is different than the building new habits of verse 8 which started with the physical realm of ‘having’ in order to try to change ‘being’. Verse 16, in contrast, builds new habits of ‘having’ based upon transformed ‘being’.

Verse 16 finishes by describing the goal. “For doing this, you will save both yourself and those hearing you.” Doing is the word ‘to make, do’ which refers to Server actions. Doing implies using Server thought to go beyond the internal realm of mental simulation to the physical realm of action. The result is salvation, which means ‘to deliver out of danger and into safety’. Hear means to ‘comprehend by hearing’. Normally, doing some action will save yourself and those who are around you. In this case the actions are saving yourself and those who comprehend your words. That is because the Server actions are an expression of an integrated understanding in Teacher thought. One is being saved from the realm of fragmented habits into the ‘safety’ of integrated, intelligent habits. In other words, the mental simulation of living in a better society guided by a mental landscape needs to be followed by establishing new habits that are based upon this mental simulation. These new habits will lead to personal salvation. One might think that this is a long and convoluted route to salvation, but one is dealing with an entire civilization that has become twisted by centuries of objective, specialized thinking as well as an entire Christendom that has become twisted by millennia of absolute truth and religious self-denial. The only way to escape such interconnected, deeply-embedded twisting is to rethink everything, build an entirely new internal landscape, and then start forming new habits based upon this internal landscape. For instance, we saw the type of rethinking that is required when looking at the requirements for ‘elders’ and ‘deacons’ because even the words themselves have become twisted from their original meanings. That is why the salvation also extends to those who ‘comprehend by hearing’ because escaping current twisted society requires an intelligent grasp of a new worldview in Teacher thought. This brings to mind an old Peanuts cartoon where Charlie Brown says, “Poor Linus, he’ll have to go to school twice as long as everybody else. It’ll take him twelve years to unlearn everything Lucy’s been teaching him.”

Reshaping Mental Networks of Society 5:1-2

Chapter 5 begins by mentioning elders. “Do not rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father; younger men as brothers.” The word older man is translated as ‘elder’ by the NASB and KJV about 60 of the 66 times it occurs in the New Testament. It is only used in Timothy in this chapter where it occurs four times. However, the term ‘body of elders’ was used in 4:14 which talked about the laying on of hands of the elderhood. The idea there was that Perceiver thought can find solid connections by building upon the technical specializations that have been developed by established experts. The proverbial shoe is now on the other foot and it is time for the established experts to start learning from the new, integrated theory. For instance, I read many academic papers and books when developing mental symmetry as a meta-theory in order to build upon a solid foundation of established research. However, my recent attempts to publish academic papers using mental symmetry as a meta-theory have made it clear that academic thought is only locally rational. Saying this more generally, the salvation of 4:16 is extending to those who comprehend by hearing. When one attempts to communicate with established experts, it becomes apparent that they are mentally incapable of comprehending by hearing, because their thinking has become twisted by years of functioning within current academia and the current economy.

Rebuke is used once in the New Testament, it combines ‘upon’ with ‘hit’ and means ‘to strike in a vulnerable place’. When it becomes apparent that established experts are only locally rational, then the instinctive tendency is to ‘strike them in vulnerable places’. Verse 1 says that this should not be done. Instead, one should ‘exhort him as a father’. Exhort means to ‘make a call from being close up and personal’ and has been used twice before in 1 Timothy. ‘Father’ recognizes someone as a source of male technical thought. Verse 1 does not say that these elders are fathers, but rather that they should be treated as a father. For instance, mental symmetry was not formulated within either academia or the global economy, but it did develop by learning from the technical thinking of both academia and economics. Thus, the ‘elders’ of society are like fathers and need to be treated as fathers. This means recognizing similarities between the concepts of mental symmetry and the technical thinking of the established experts. In contrast, postmodernism responds to the inadequacies of established technical experts by ‘striking them in vulnerable places’. I know that the previous essay on 1 Thessalonians referred frequently to these established experts as ‘insane people who are only locally rational’, but I think that this conclusion was necessary in order to understand the context for 1 Thessalonians and its teachings about the second coming. More generally, I try very hard to interact with others in a positive and civilized manner and not use my knowledge of cognitive mechanisms to strike them in vulnerable places. Verse 1 does not say that one should overlook insanity in the established experts but rather that one should address this in a positive and empathetic manner.

Younger means ‘new on the scene’ and ‘men’ is implied. A related word was used in 4:12 to tell Timothy to ‘let no one despise your youth’. Brother means ‘born from the same womb’. In other words, one should not despise other new theories because of their youthfulness. Instead, one should recognize that all new ideas face the struggle of becoming acceptable. The word as means that other new theories are not necessarily ‘born from the same womb’ but they should still be treated that way. Saying this more generally, one is interacting with other individuals and systems in a way that simulates how this interaction would happen in a new and better society.

Verse 2 extends this to the female realm of mental networks. “Elder women as mothers; and younger women as sisters, in all purity.” The term elder women is used once in the New Testament and is the normal word ‘elder’ with a feminine ending and, as before, the comparative as is used. ‘Elder women’ would refer to established cultural MMNs. These established mental networks are the ‘mothers’ of a conservative mindset. Verse 2 does not say that one should become a social or political conservative, but that one should treat these mental networks as mothers. Over the years, this distinction is become clear to me. On the one hand, I appreciate the value of preserving traditional mental networks of morality and social behavior and I find myself more comfortable in a conservative environment. But on the other hand, when I try to share the concepts of mental symmetry with conservatives then I invariably hit a brick wall. That is because what conservatives view as preserving the past, I view as attempting to protect what is valuable. I am being guided by the TMN of theory of mental symmetry to hold on to what is valuable, while the conservative is being ruled by MMNs of past culture and religion.

Younger women is the same word that means ‘new on the scene’ that was used for ‘younger men’ but has a feminine ending. Similarly, sister is ‘born from the same womb’ with a feminine ending. This would refer to mental networks of new culture as exhibited by the younger generation. The word as indicates that these are not actually ‘sisters’ but they should still be treated as sisters. For instance, I think totally differently than the typical postmodern, environmentally active, advocating-for-the-oppressed, smartphone-worshiping youth. But I do share with these individuals a deep emotional desire to move beyond objective specialized technical thought in a manner that recognizes the subjective, focuses upon sustainability, does not take advantage of people, and is comfortable with technology.

Purity is used twice as a noun in the New Testament and the previous occurrence was in 4:12 which talked about becoming an example in all purity. The term means ‘holy because uncontaminated’. ‘In all purity’ would mean interacting with these various groups in the realm of uncontamination in all areas. I think that the order is significant. One starts with established male technical thought before extending to new technical thought. This is then extended to include conservative mental networks before finally including youthful mental networks. This order needs to be followed because each stage provides a foundation for extending to the next stage. One cannot start with youthful mental networks because they really are bizarre. However, interacting with the stages in this order makes it possible to be open to others while remaining ‘holy because uncontaminated’. More generally, the internal purification of verse 12 comes first, followed by the building of new habits of verse 16. This provides a sufficiently stable and integrated internal landscape that is capable of remaining in the realm of being uncontaminated while interacting socially with others.

The True Widow 5:3-8

The next 14 verses talk about widows. A widow is a woman whose husband has died. Cognitively speaking, a widow is a mental network that used to be supported by technical thought but no longer is. Modern society contains many widows because a society that used technology in a manner that respected humanity has been replaced by an entirely new computer-based, robot-run, AI-driven, smart-phone-infatuated technological society that has no room for humanity. Thus, most of the MMNs of humanity have turned into widows whose husbands have died.

Verse 3 begins by defining widows. “Honor widows who are truly widows.” Truly is ‘the adverbial form of ‘to be’. Thus, the first principle is to approach the subject of mental networks at the core level of ‘being’. In other words, is some widowed mental network just complaining or is it going through an existential crisis? Honor means to ‘assign value’. Thus, mental networks that lack support need to be placed within a map of value.

Verse 4 clarifies what is and is not a true widow. “But if any widow has children or grandchildren.” Child means ‘anyone living in full dependence’. Grandchild is used once in the New Testament and combines ‘from out of’ with ‘to come into being’. In other words, one does not focus upon the mental networks that are screaming the loudest but rather one looks at relationships between mental networks. If other mental networks depend upon some mental network, then that mental network is not a widow. Similarly, a mental network is not a widow if other mental networks have come into existence as a result of this mental network. For instance, Canada currently places great emphasis upon supporting aboriginal culture and spirituality, viewing them as ‘widows’ whose husbands died as a result of the colonialism of modern technological society. But aboriginal culture is not a ‘true widow’ because it has given birth to an entire subculture of ‘alternate knowing’ within academia that uses aboriginal culture to justify its existence. In addition, an extensive system of government support has come into being from out of aboriginal culture. Similarly, American evangelical Christendom is also not a ‘true widow’ because it has given birth to an entire subculture of alternate knowing within the political realm that uses conservative Christian culture to justify its existence. In addition, an extensive system of judicial and legislative support has come into being from out of evangelical Christendom.

Verse 4 continues, “Let them learn to be devout first to the own household and to give recompense to parents.” Learn means ‘learning key facts’ and is in the imperative. It was previously used in 2:11 to talk about women receiving instruction silently. First means ‘before, at the beginning’. Household means ‘a house, a dwelling’ and refers to a home for personal identity. Devout combines ‘well’ with ‘pay homage, veneration’. And own means ‘uniquely one’s own’. What is happening is that other groups are looking to this supposed widow for emotional support and this emotional support is clouding feelings of value. For instance, aboriginal culture receives considerable emotional support from social, political, and academic groups. But saying that something is wonderful does not make it wonderful. Instead, aboriginal culture needs to be evaluated by those who live in that culture in order to determine value more appropriately. Instead of endlessly condemning the white man for destroying aboriginal culture, the focus needs to turn to examining how aboriginal culture is currently faring under local leadership. How are aboriginal communities doing? Asking this question makes it possible to ‘pay homage well’ rather than receive continual praise from outsiders who know nothing about the local culture. A similar principle applies to evangelical Christendom. What is the point of appointing conservative judges in order to support a conservative culture if one does not examine this conservative culture to see if it is worth living? Instead, evangelical Christians need to turn their attention to current evangelical Christian culture in order to decide if they want to really live in such a culture.

Recompense is used once in the New Testament and means ‘to repay’. Give means to ‘return, especially as a payment’. Parent is used twice in the New Testament and means ‘born before’. In other words, each cultural and religious mental network was born out of a previous set of mental networks and owes a debt to these previous mental networks. One pays such a debt by taking cognitive ownership of a mental network and making it one’s own instead of treating it as a tradition that one blindly receives from another source. For instance, the current mental networks of aboriginal culture came to birth out of previous mental networks of traditional aboriginal culture interacting with a colonizing culture. Regarding these cultures as either totally good or totally bad does not repay the debt because both of these responses involve blind receiving from another source. Similarly, American Christendom came to birth out of previous mental networks of Fundamentalist Christianity combined with the American consumer society. This debt needs to be repaid by examining this cultural foundation in order to make it one’s own. Equating Christianity with conservative American society does not repay this because it still involves blind receiving from another source. More generally, a shift in attitude is being described. Instead of feeling that ‘society owes me support’, these supposed widows need to feel that they ‘owe it to others for their existence’.

Verse 4 finishes, ‘For this is pleasing before God’. Pleasing means ‘what is gladly welcomed because pleasing’. Before means ‘before the face of’ and God is ‘the God’ which refers to an integrated concept of God in Teacher thought. In other words, instead of expecting approval and support from others, these supposed widows need to seek the approval of God. That is because a group will only experience lasting salvation to the extent that it respects and follows universal principles of ‘how things work’. If someone gives me emotional support for violating principles of cause-and-effect, then this emotional support actually condemns me to remain within my painful situation because it distracts me from focusing upon universal principles in Teacher thought. Thus, all of the societal, political, and academic support that the aboriginal community is receiving is actually damning the aboriginal community because it is distracting the community from focusing upon universal cognitive principles. Similarly, the political successes of evangelical Christendom are damning these Christians to seeking approval from people instead of looking for approval before the face of God. I know that damn is a strong word but I think that both examples have reached the level where eternal damage is being done to people’s souls. What really matters is not getting conservative judges appointed but rather submitting personally to the rule of God.

Verse 5 turns to the true widow. “Now she who is a widow indeed, and being left alone, has hope in God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day.” Indeed is the same word ‘really be’ used in verse 3. This is the adverbial form of ‘to be’ which means that we are looking at the core level of being rather than having. Left alone is used once in the New Testament as a verb and means to ‘leave alone, forsake’. This would refer to cultural and religious MMNs that have not been taken up as a cause by some group of advocates. One might find examples of these in the news—in passing, but the primary characteristic is that these group have no established advocates and are not being viewed as an inspiration by other groups.

Hope is interpreted as Exhorter thought focusing upon an unseen goal. In means ‘on, upon’ and God is ‘the God’ with the definite article. This relates to the principle of righteousness mentioned at the beginning of Matthew 6 which says that receiving a reward from people rules out receiving a reward from God. Relating this to the functioning of mental networks, a mental network will take ownership of any behavior that it motivates. This ownership will change if the existing mental network does not motivate the behavior and a new mental network does. For instance, human behavior is normally motivated by MMNs of societal approval. But the TMN of a concept of God will take ownership of this behavior if it motivates the behavior and MMNs of social approval do not. Similarly, a true widow can have hope in God because she has no hope from people.

Continue combines ‘interactively with’ and ‘abide, remain’. This describes interaction that continues. Supplication means ‘praying for a specific, felt need’. Stated cognitively, these MMNs are in distress because they are not receiving input that is consistent with their structure. This would include physical needs because the mind lives within a body and requires this body to continue existing in this world. Prayer is the normal word that means ‘exchange of wishes’. ‘Night and day’ means that this interaction is continuing regardless of the understanding within larger society. The false widow in verse 4 was getting distracted from focusing upon actual needs by the emotional support that was being received by various groups. The true widow in verse 5 is coming face-to-face with actual needs. Going further, the false widow was focusing upon external social interaction and looking for social support while the true widow is interacting socially with an unseen God and is placing hope in the unseen realm. Finally, the false widow was ignoring any debt owed to previous generations while the true widow is having genuine emotional interaction with a God who transcends the cycles of society.

Verse 6 gives a contrast. “But she living in self-indulgence is dead while living.” Living in self-indulgence is a single word used twice in the New Testament. Biblehub explains that ‘The modern term ‘fast,’ in which the notion of prodigality and wastefulness is more prominent than that of sensual indulgence, exactly expresses the significance of this word.’ ‘Fast’ refers to the modern consumer who pursues instant gratification through a continual flow of novel, cheap gadgets. Living is the normal word for life and dead means ‘to die’. Looking at this cognitively, modern impersonal technological society has created many mental widows—mental networks of subjective existence that are no longer supported by the technical thinking of society. The modern consumer society gives them emotional ‘life support’ by feeding them with an endless stream of trinkets. The continual excitement of ordering something on Amazon and receiving it the next day provides the illusion of life, but the mental networks are actually dead. Cognitively speaking, the modern consumer is a zombie. The English uses the verb ‘is’ but this is not in the original Greek. The implication is that looking beyond the realm of ‘having’ would reveal nothing.

Verse 7 continues, “Also command these things, so that they should be above reproach.” Command was used in 4:11 and means ‘to give a command that is fully authorized because it has gone through all the proper channels’. Above reproach means ‘not found wrong when censured or attacked’ and was previously used in 3:2 to describe the overseer. In 3:2 the misunderstood genius was being attacked. In verse 7 the true widow is being questioned for her unusual behavior. In both cases, there will be attacks because both are behaving in a way that is different than normal cultural MMNs. But in both cases, ‘above reproach’ means that these attacks are unjustified and do not have a valid basis. ‘Be’ is explicitly mentioned. In other words, it is necessary to educate ‘true widows’ in an ordered manner in order to ensure that their mental networks are above reproach. I think that this education involves creating a rational context. For instance, when cognitive widows start interacting with each other on social media, then the result tends to be wishful thinking and conspiracy theories. This needs to be counteracted by information ‘that is fully authorized because it has gone through all the proper channels’.

Verse 8 looks at the subjective realm. “Now if anyone does not provide for the own, and especially his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” Provide is used three times in the New Testament and adds ‘before’ to ‘mind, understanding, reason’. Thus, ‘providing’ means starting from rational thought. This means that responding to some emotional appeal on behalf of some needy mental network is not ‘providing’, because providing adopts a rational mindset before approaching the needy mental network. This does not mean ignoring emotional needs in an objective manner but rather means analyzing the mental network rationally in order to look beyond what it is screaming to determine what it actually requires. This ‘providing’ starts first with ‘the own’ and own means ‘uniquely one’s own’. Therefore, the first step before helping others is to approach one’s own personal mental networks from a rational mindset. Especially means ‘particularly so, especially so’. Household means ‘of one’s family’ which would refer to mental networks that are related to personal identity. Therefore, the second step is to apply rational thinking to one’s own cultural and religious mental networks.

Faith means to ‘be persuaded’ and refers to rational thought. Deny is the word used during Peter’s three denials of Jesus and means ‘to deny, say no’. ‘Denying the faith’ means refusing to be persuaded by rational thought. In other words, if one does not approach personal and cultural MMNs from a rational perspective, then one is refusing to be persuaded by rational thought. Unbeliever adds the prefix ‘not’ to ‘be persuaded’. Worse simply means ‘worse’ and ‘is’ is explicitly mentioned. Thus, having rational thought and refusing to apply this rational thought to personal and cultural identity leads to a worse state of being than not having rational thought. That is because the person who lacks rational thought is still in a state of mental innocence where mindsets have not acquired stability. In contrast, the person who refuses to apply rational thought has gained mental stability that cannot be easily altered. For instance, I noticed this when discussing controversial topics such as abortion or evolution in South Korea (I was there from 2002-2009). The typical South Korean person was in a state of mental innocence and could be convinced by rational arguments. In contrast, the typical North American has a hardened opinion about the subject that cannot be altered by rational arguments.

Conservatism versus Wokeism 5:9-16

Verse 9 returns to the widow. “Let a widow be enrolled, being not less than sixty years old, the wife of one man.” The description of the ‘true widow’ in verse 5 may give the impression that suffering groups need to be ignored so that they can call on God. Verse 9 describes a method of helping these groups that does not mentally harm them. Enrolled is used once in the New Testament and means to ‘lay down, to enrol’. Being means ‘to come into being’ and the final phrase is more accurately ‘coming into being of one man woman’. This relates cognitively to the three stages of expertise. The first stage is the beginner with immature mental networks. The second stage is the technician who uses male technical thought to practice and learn but lacks the emotional expression of female mental networks. The third stage is the expert who is guided primarily by female mental networks that have emerged as a result of male technical thinking. The expert uses trained intuition. A widow who is a ‘come into being a one man woman’ would refer to mental networks that were developed as trained intuition based upon a single system of technical thought which have then become transmitted as cultural mental networks. One could refer to this as being guided emotionally by the memory of rational thought. ‘Not less than sixty years old’ is explicitly mentioned in the Greek. I do not know how to interpret numbers and I try to stay away from attempting to interpret numbers in order to avoid heading down the rabbit hole of numerology. However, in this case sixty years may mean sixty years. That is because it takes about that long for an event to move from living memory to history. If the ‘husband’ of some ‘wife’ has died recently, then this will be viewed as a traumatic personal event both by the ‘widows’ of that group and by those who sympathize with this group. This empathetic response will not happen if the death of the ‘husband’ happened sufficiently long ago. Verses 11-13 will describe what happens if this principle is not followed, and that sequence corresponds to the rise of wokeism.

Verse 10 clarifies what it means to be a ‘true widow’. “Being borne witness to in good works: if she has brought up children, if she has entertained strangers.” Work is ‘a deed that carries out an inner desire’ which refers to goal-oriented action. Good means ‘attractively good’. Bear witness means an eye-or ear-witness’. The first phrase is more literally, ‘having been borne witness to in the realm of attractively good self-initiated behavior’. In other words, these mental networks came from personal experiences of people being internally motivated to generate good results. Many products and services start off this way but then become widows when the original company turns into a large, impersonal corporation.

Brought up children is a single word used once in the New Testament that combines ‘anyone living in full dependence’ with ‘to make to grow’. In other words, this culture is capable of reproducing itself through training the novice and teaching the next generation. This relates to 2:15 which talked about women being saved through child raising. The idea is that teaching one’s cultural MMNs to beginners makes one consciously aware of these cultural MMNs. 2:15 added the additional elements of abiding in faith, love, and holiness—which implied the existence of a cognitive ‘husband’. These are not mentioned in 5:10 which only talks about bringing up children.

Entertained strangers is also a single word used once in the New Testament that combines ‘foreigner’ with ‘to receive in a welcoming way’. This describes a mindset that does not respond to different cultures in a xenophobic manner. This would exclude the two examples of aboriginal culture and evangelical Christendom given earlier because both have responded to other cultures in a xenophobic manner. The basic premise of current aboriginal advocacy is that colonial culture is evil and needs to be rejected. Similarly, the basic premise of evangelical Christendom is that secular culture is evil and needs to be rejected. I am not suggesting that either colonial culture or secular liberalism are wonderful but rather that every culture needs to be evaluated on its own merits as mentioned in verse 4.

Verse 10 continues, “If she has washed the feet of the saints, if she has imparted relief to those being oppressed, if she has followed after every good work.” ‘Washing the saint’s feet’ sounds quaint and religious, but it did have a practical meaning in the Roman era when everyone wore sandals and the roads were dusty. Saint means ‘different from the world because like the lord’ which means following TMNs of rational understanding rather than cultural MMNs. One rests one’s weight upon the feet; therefore, feet would represent the mental networks that provide support for the mind. Wash means ‘to cleanse’. Putting this together, these mental networks provided emotional support for those who were attempting to follow Teacher thought in a cultural environment. This would include various professional associations. But I do not think that it would include unions, because the primary goal of a union is to protect the worker and not necessarily to support rational thought or professional expertise.

Oppressed means ‘to rub together, constrict’ and is the verb form of the word that means ‘narrowness’ which is typically misinterpreted as ‘tribulation’. Imparted relief is used three times in this chapter and does not occur anywhere else in the New Testament. It adds the prefix ‘on, fitting’ to ‘suffice, satisfy’. Modern society is governed by technical regulations and fragmented by technical specializations that lead to the feeling of narrowness. ‘Imparted relief to the oppressed’ describes mental networks that attempt to relieve these feelings of narrowness. This would include various groups that attempt to bridge technical specializations, and churches often provide this function of bringing together people who would not naturally interact. Again I do not think unions would qualify, because unions often accentuate technical narrowness by limiting which actions each specialization is permitted to perform.

Work is the same word used earlier in verse 10 and refers to goal-oriented behavior. Good means ‘intrinsically good’. Every means ‘each part of a totality’. Followed after combines ‘fitting’ with ‘walking the same road’. This means looking at intrinsically motivated behavior, seeing if the goal is intrinsically good and then following the path. On the one hand, behavior is being copied from others and there is no abstract understanding. But on the other hand, what is being copied is internally motivated behavior and the goal is being evaluated for intrinsic goodness. This would describe the typical cultural conservative who emphasizes personal initiative and looks for good goals but has no underlying rational theoretical basis for this behavior.

In summary, the characteristics of verse 10 describe doing the right thing for inadequate reasons. One is bringing up children, but not necessarily leading them to understanding. One is embracing multiculturalism, but not necessarily in an intelligent manner. One is supporting abstract research but not necessarily understanding this research. One is attempting to go beyond technical specializations but not necessarily having a meta-theory. And one is copying goal-oriented behavior that pursues good goals without necessarily understanding this behavior. When I was young, this behavior was referred to as ‘too good to get to heaven’ because it did not realize that it needed salvation. Postmodern, technical society has now cut this behavior adrift, turning it into a widow. This is the type of ‘true widow’ that needs to be supported by an integrated concept of God in Teacher thought. And this support is now possible because those who practice this behavior for cultural reasons now realize that they will only be able to continue their behavior if they receive some form of salvation.

Verse 11 looks at the younger widow. “But refuse younger widows; for when they might grow wanton against Christ, they desire to marry.” Refuse means ‘to beg off’ which was used in 4:7 to talk about avoiding research on myths. The implication is that younger widows have legitimate needs but focusing upon these needs is not a wise strategy—as this passage will show. However, responding in a brusque or emotional manner will give the impression that one is being insensitive to those who are hurting. Young means ‘new on the scene’ which would mean that the death of the husband has happened fairly recently. When means ‘whenever a specified condition is fulfilled’. Grow wanton against is used once in the New Testament and combines ‘down, against’ with ‘living in sensual, lustful behavior’. Christ is ‘the Christ’ and refers to the abstract side of incarnation. Marry simply means ‘to marry’ and desire means ‘to desire, wish’. The ‘true widow’ has no choice but to focus upon God in Teacher thought. The younger widow does have an alternative of being able to live within current cultural MMNs. Thus the temptation will be to descend from the more difficult task of understanding in Teacher thought to the easier task of enjoying current culture in Mercy thought. Instead of looking to an invisible understanding in Teacher thought for emotional support, the young widow will be tempted to look for a ‘husband’ of technical thought within current culture. This will naturally happen if the experiences of this ‘new widow’ resonate emotionally with segments of current society.

Verse 12 continues, “Incurring judgment, because they have cast off the first faith.” Incurring means ‘to have, hold’ which refers to having as opposed to being. Judgment means ‘to distinguish, judge, emphasizing its result’. ‘Judgment’ is used 28 times in the New Testament but this is the only time it is combined with ‘having’. Faith means to ‘be persuaded’ and ‘the first faith’ would refer to the original use of rational thought’. Cast off means to ‘un-place’. Perceiver thought determines place, thus un-placing would mean rejecting the facts of Perceiver thought. This describes what happens when the ‘recent widow’ of some cultural or religious group meets the potential ‘husband’ of some rational analysis of technical thought. The ‘distinguishing’ of judgment is a key aspect of abstract technical thought, which begins by clarifying words and concepts. ‘Having judgment’ implies that the technical analysis is being done in a peripheral manner that does not question the core mental networks of the ‘widow’. This will naturally happen if the potential husband feels an emotional attraction for these cultural mental networks. For instance, academia is currently looking for alternate ways of ‘knowing’ that are different than scientific knowing. This indicates that academia feels an emotional attraction to aboriginal culture. But the goal of this emotional attraction is to enjoy aboriginal culture at a sensual, experiential level, which means that the critical thinking of academic thought is only being applied at the peripheral level of having. Similarly, conservative society is looking for a way of restoring conservative culture that does not involve participating within secular liberal institutions. Thus, conservative society feels an emotional attraction to evangelical Christendom. But the goal of this emotional attraction is to bring back the culture of the prosperous and optimistic 1950s, which means that the critical thinking is only being applied at the peripheral level of having. In both cases this means that the original ability to think rationally is being ‘un-placed’.

Verse 13 adds, “And at the same time also, going about house to house, they learn to be idle.” Idle adds the prefix ‘not’ to ‘a deed that carries out an inner desire’. This means losing intrinsic motivation as opposed to simply being idle. Learn means to be ‘a disciple’. Using psychological language, verse 13 describes becoming disciples of social interaction. This happens naturally when rational analysis is applied to the peripheral realm of having while avoiding the internal and subjective realm of being. Instead of analyzing the mental networks of the ‘widow’, these mental networks are being treated as an undiscussable entity and the research is focusing upon how this undiscussable cultural unit interacts with other cultures. Going about is used three times in the New Testament and adds ‘all-around’ to ‘come, go’. And house means ‘house, dwelling’. This describes a focus upon social interaction that goes from one cultural group to another in a manner that ignores intrinsic motivation. This describes much of today’s social sciences, which have gone from analyzing cognition to studying the interaction between cultures. Instead of focusing upon cognitive principles, the mind is being treated as a social construct. This is like viewing the car as a ‘highway construct’. Cars do drive and interact on highways, but a car is composed of many interacting components and is not merely a construct of the highway system.

Verse 13 then describes the next step. “And not only idle, but also gossips and busybodies, speaking things not being proper.” Idle is the same word used earlier in the verse that refers to a lack of intrinsic motivation. Gossip is used once in the New Testament and means ‘to boil up, throw up bubbles of water; and since bubbles are hollow and useless things, to indulge in empty and foolish talk’. Water represents Mercy experiences. Bubbles would be pockets of Teacher air that are rising from Mercy experiences as a result of the heat of emotions. This describes female intuition that lacks the content of male technical thought. This kind of thinking emerges when technical analysis is not extended to the realm of core mental networks. Thinking is then driven by undiscussable core mental networks which are then given a veneer of technical analysis.

Busybody is used twice in the New Testament and combines ‘all around’ with ‘a deed that carries out an inner desire’. Thus, what began as ignoring internal motivation and focusing upon social interaction has now turned into a total fixation upon internal motivation. Speaking is the normal word for talking. And being proper means ‘it is necessary’ which is translated elsewhere as ‘behooves’ and refers to ‘how things work’. Thus, ‘speaking things not being proper’ means not talking about either the laws of nature or about universal cognitive mechanisms. Saying this more carefully, intrinsic motivation is now being driven by the mental networks of female thought, which is jumping to conclusions guided by untrained female intuition. Thus, internal motivation is not being used to develop and implement some rational plan but rather to guess at what people feel about various ‘widows’. The result is a form of thought police guided by emotional standards of political correctness that has nothing to do with reality, cognitive principles, or science. This describes wokeism.

Verse 14 describes a better alternative. “Therefore I want the younger ones to marry, to bear children, to manage their households.” Want means to plan with full resolve’ which goes beyond mere wanting, and one can see why Paul would say this given the destructive impact that wokeism has had upon modern society. Younger ones is the same word used in verse 14 that means ‘new on the scene’. Marry is the normal word for ‘marry’. Bear children is used once in the New Testament and combines ‘a child living in willing dependence’ with ‘to come into being’. A noun form of this word was used in 2:15 to describe women being saved through bearing children. Raising children is a good way of learning common sense but the basic premise of these essays is that one should look beyond a physical interpretation to underlying cognitive principles. Thus, ‘getting married and bearing children’ would mean applying mental networks in the real world and seeing what the results are.

Saying this more clearly, wokeist advocates can ignore natural law because they live in an artificial environment in which technology provides all of their physical needs in an invisible manner. For instance, the feminist railing against male privilege is probably doing so in an air-conditioned lecture hall within a concrete university building supported by government funding. Similarly, the conservative railing against modern secular thought is probably doing so on social media that was constructed by modern secular thought. This is brought out by the term manage their households, which is a single word that combines ‘house’ with ‘despot’. In other words, apply your words to yourself. Instead of ruling over the houses of others, rule over your own house. For instance, we saw earlier that women’s studies are unable to ‘manage their households’. Repeating an earlier quote, “Professors spoke of being unable to ‘discuss their concerns about this belligerent anti-intellectualism with other faculty members in Women’s Studies’, with claims of a ‘constant emphasis on political purity.... from both students and professors.’”

Verse 14 finishes, “To give the one opposing no occasion on account of reproach.” Occasion is used once in Timothy and combines ‘away from’ with ‘a violent rush’. Opposing means ‘to place fully against, constitutionally oppose’. Reproach means ‘to abuse, revile’. And on account is related to the word ‘grace’ and means ‘favor which furnishes the reason to take action’. Thus, I think that a more accurate translation would be ‘Not giving a “violent rush away from” to those who abuse and revile because of being constitutionally opposed.’ In other words, social research will become hijacked by those who are not interested in doing research but rather merely want to revile cultural groups to which they are constitutionally opposed, who will view social research as a starting point for ‘violently rushing’ at opponents. For instance, the quote in the previous paragraph describes research in Women’s Studies being hijacked by a belligerent anti-intellectualism that is just interested in ‘political purity’. Similarly, evangelical Christendom has also become hijacked by belligerent anti-intellectual radicals who are only interested in hurling abuse at the liberal establishment. Going further, evangelical Christians have the gall to think that God is going to rapture to heaven an evangelical Christendom that has been hijacked by belligerent anti-intellectual radicals.

In verse 15 this becomes openly satanic. “For already some have turned aside after Satan.” Satan means ‘adversary’. Turn aside means to ‘turn aside’ and was used in 1:6 to talk about turning aside to fruitless discussion. After means ‘back, behind, after’ and Satan is ‘the Satan’. This implies that only some will adopt an overtly adversarial approach. However, this satanic motivation of a minority will become a dominant theme of the entire group. One can see this happening in wokeism, women’s studies, Native studies, evangelical Christendom, and other groups. Instead of being raptured to heaven by God, these groups are being dragged down to hell by Satan.

Verse 16 describes a positive alternate of using rational mental networks to mentor widows. “If any believing woman has dependent widows, let her impart relief to them.” The word believing means to ‘be persuaded’ but is in the feminine singular which implies ‘believing woman’. Cultural MMNs learn through experience. The growing insanity of the ‘young widows’ will lead to the development of rational mental networks within the minds of some observers who will learn cognitive principles by studying and analyzing what is happening. Has means ‘to have, hold’ which indicates the peripheral realm of having. The word widow is the normal word and ‘dependent’ is implied. Impart relief adds the prefix ‘on, fitting’ to ‘suffice, satisfy’. It was used in verse 10 and only occurs in the New Testament in this chapter. The idea is that hurting mental networks need to be addressed from the perspective of mental networks. Therefore, those who have rational mental networks need to show ‘widows’ with their hurting mental networks how to bring relief to their emotional pain in an appropriate manner.

Verse 16 continues, “And let the church not be burdened, so that it may impart relief to those who are truly widows.” Burdened means ‘to weigh down’ which implies emotional weight. Church means ‘people called out from the world and to God’. The focus of the church is to develop an integrated understanding of God in Teacher thought without being distracted by cultural MMNs. This would include academia which—at least officially—is attempting to build an integrated Teacher understanding of natural and cognitive processes. Academia is being weighed down by all of the ‘widows’ of societal need that are being brought into academia as subjects of academic research. Similarly, the job of pastoring often becomes overwhelmed by caring for the needy. These ‘widows’ need to be mentored by rational mental networks of intelligent female thought and not by male technical thought. Saying this another way, the hurting groups need intelligent social workers and not academic research. Impart relief is the same word used earlier in the verse which means to satisfy in a fitting manner. We saw earlier that the ‘true widow’ is based in rational, professional thought. Those are the widows that need to be analyzed by academia because that analysis will lead to an understanding of how to build a better society and economy. In contrast, studying ‘younger widows’ will tend to get sidetracked away from a focus on Teacher understanding to an emphasis upon advocacy in Mercy thought.

The True Expert 5:17-20

The next verses turn to elders and the word that is used is different than the word ‘overseer’ that was used in chapter 3. Biblehub points out that the feminine singular of this word never occurs in the New Testament while the feminine plural is found only once in 1 Timothy 5:2. This has historically been interpreted as only allowing men to be elders. However, references to men are being interpreted as male technical thought. Thus, an elder would refer to an established expert in male technical thought. This expert could be of either gender and would be affected by cognitive style. For instance, Contributor and Facilitator persons tend to emphasize technical thought regardless of gender. I think that it is good to have elders of both gender as long as the primary emphasis remains technical thought. For this reason, I do not think that it is wise for a group of elders to be composed of only women.

Verse 17 begins, “Let the elders ruling well be counted worthy of double honor.” Elder means ‘a mature man having seasoned judgment’ and this word was first used in 1 Timothy in 5:1 which warned against sharply rebuking an elder. In verse 17 elders are being praised. Ruling was used three times in chapter 3 and combines ‘before’ with ‘to stand’. Standing is interpreted as Perceiver stability and ‘standing before’ would mean acting as a source of Perceiver stability for those who follow. Well means ‘attractively good’. Honor means ‘a valuing, a price’. Double means ‘twofold, double’. Counted worthy is used once in Timothy and means ‘matching value to actual substance’. It is in the imperative, which means that one must choose to follow this alternative.

The previous section described a detour away from established experts to a focus upon oppressed minorities. That section ended with a rediscovery of common sense and a refocus of research upon ‘true widows’. This will lead to a reappraisal of established experts guided by the cognitive principles that have been learned. The standard postmodern approach is to cancel established experts who fail subjective tests of political correctness. Verse 17 describes an alternative approach of giving double honor to traditional experts whose personal example lined up with the principles they were teaching. Instead of using political correctness as an excuse to ignore established expertise, one is using a knowledge of cognitive principles to determine which traditional expertise needs to be given greater emphasis. The first method blocks off offending experts in Mercy thought, while the second method gives greater Teacher generality to experts with personal integrity.

Verse 17 finishes, “Especially those laboring in the word and the teaching.” Laboring means ‘exhausting labor’ and was mentioned in 4:10. This describes the emotional weariness that comes from dealing with emotional topics in a rational manner. Word is ‘logos’. Thus, ‘doing exhausting labor in the realm of logos’ would mean trying to rethink the paradigms of technical thought. Teaching refers to ‘applied-teaching’ which means going beyond theory to practice. Rethinking paradigms and applying theory needs to be given double honor. That is because rethinking paradigms extends beyond specialized technical thought to generality while applying theory extends beyond objective technical thought to personal identity.

Verse 18 quotes two proverbs. The first parable is, “For the Scripture says, ‘You shall not muzzle an ox treading out grain.’” This proverb is from Deuteronomy 25:4. An ox is ‘an ox, a cow’. Treading out grain means ‘to thresh’ which means separating the wheat from the chaff. Muzzle means ‘to muzzle, to put to silence’. Scripture means ‘a writing, scripture’ and would refer to some form of written regulations. An ox is a domesticated animal. As far as the ox is concerned, threshing grain is merely a repetitive manual task performed by concrete thought. Grain represents intellectual food. Putting this together, an ox eating grain while threshing means acquiring knowledge by learning how to ‘separate the wheat from the chaff’ as a result of performing repetitive concrete tasks. ‘Muzzling the ox’ would mean rejecting and/or silencing this practical knowledge that emerges as a byproduct of normal everyday activity. Current academia tends to do this because any facts that are acquired in a non-official manner are instinctively rejected as mere hearsay. But this is precisely the sort of applied-teaching that deserves double honor.

Verse 18 continues with the second proverb which is from Luke 10:7. “The workman is worthy of his wages.” Worthy means ‘assigning the matching value’. Workman comes from the word that means ‘a deed that carries out an inner desire’. Wages means ‘a reward that appropriately compensates a particular decision’. Unlike the ox, a workman is being internally motivated to perform actions. The reward that the workman receives needs to match the value of the work that is being done. This relates to the exhausting labor of verse 17 because research that tackles difficult subjects needs to be given double honor. In contrast, current academia looks primarily at how much one publishes, which tends to reward those who focus upon easier topics and delegate the exhausting labor to their grad students.

Verse 19 turns to the elders who are not deserving of honor. “Do not receive an accusation against an elder, except upon two or three witnesses.” Elder is the same word used in verse 17 which refers to ‘a mature man having seasoned judgment’. Accusation means ‘accusation’. Receive means ‘to receive openly, welcoming with personal interest’. Witness means an ‘eye- or ear-witness’. This is the counterpart to verse 13 where ‘young widows’ were rejecting rational thought, which probably included bringing accusations against the elders of verse 19. ‘Two or three witnesses’ means that these accusations need corroboration, which suggests that one should not base one’s accusations solely upon the feelings of one specific cultural group. An eyewitness implies that one is not bringing up obscure emails from the past but rather looking at present behavior. For instance, most aboriginal advocacy fails these tests because it openly welcomes accusations being made by a single cultural group based upon past behavior. Looking at a more specific example, Canadian high school students must now take a class on Native Studies in order to graduate. Much of this class consists of being repeatedly accused of being evil, white oppressors. The child from an immigrant family will ask why he is being blamed for evil committed by someone else’s ancestors.

Version 20 mentions punishment. “But those sinning, rebuke before all, so that the rest might have fear as well.” Sinning means ‘to miss the mark’ and ‘sinning’ implies that this is more than just a single event. Before means ‘before the face of’ which refers to the social realm. Rebuke means ‘to convince with solid, compelling evidence’. Fear means ‘to flee, withdraw’. And ‘have’ is explicitly mentioned. This would describe the typical current academic who is motivated by social feelings of academic approval and can be guided at the peripheral level of ‘having’ by a fear of academic disapproval. Such an academic usually misses the mark when it comes to doing research that includes the subjective. Notice that this rebuking comes at the very end after those who include the subjective are being recognized. Notice also that the standard of judgment is not personal opinion or political incorrectness but rather solid evidence. Thus, the technical expert who functions at the level of male technical thought needs to be judged according to the standards of male technical thought. For instance, my goal in repeatedly mentioning aboriginal advocacy is not to belittle aboriginal suffering but rather to present compelling evidence that those who claim to be academics and educators have descended to the level of ideology and indoctrination.

Preserving and Expanding Purity 5:21-25

Verse 21 returns to Timothy. “I earnestly testify before God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels that you should keep these things apart from prejudice, doing nothing out of partiality.” Earnestly testify is used once in 1 Timothy and adds the prefix ‘thoroughly’ to ‘witness, testify’. Thus, what Paul is about to say is backed up by extensive personal experience. Before is the same word that was used in verse 20. The elders who sinned were being rebuked before all, while Paul is earnestly testifying before ‘the God and Christ Jesus’, which refers to an integrated concept of God backed up by an integrated concept of incarnation that begins with Christ in abstract thought and descends to Jesus in concrete thought. I know from personal experience that constructing such a concept of God and Incarnation involves years of ‘exhausting labor’, which explains why Paul can ‘earnestly testify’. He is not just making a theological statement but rather basing his remarks upon extensive personal experience.

Elect means ‘chosen out, elect’. This word is used 23 times in the New Testament but this is the only reference to an ‘elect angel’. Angels are described elsewhere as choosing the elect but nowhere else are they described as being elect. Angel means ‘messenger’ and this word is used to describe both human and angelic messengers. An angel presumably lives within a realm of messages and academia could be referred to as an ‘angelic realm’ for humans. Paul’s strong statement makes sense within the context. The chapter started by correcting accepted technical experts. It then turned to the challenge of dealing with ‘widows’ of abandoned mental networks before returning to a new focus upon male technical thought that gave double honor to those who went beyond objective specialization to include Teacher generality and Mercy emotions. A technical expert who goes beyond having to being is like an angel because an angel does not just deal with messages but rather lives personally within a realm of messages. Giving double honor to such academic experts is like choosing certain angels as elect.

I suspect that this is also referring to actual angels. That is because this passage is talking about a major paradigm shift in academic thought and beings who live within messages would find paradigm shifts very difficult. Thus, an angelic paradigm shift would have to be led by elect angels who were unusually flexible as a result of personally embodying a message that was able to bridge the present with the future as described in 4:8. I know that the very idea of an angelic paradigm shift violates the mindset of absolute truth, because the basic premise of absolute truth is that ultimate truth has already been supernaturally revealed in the past, which implies that the supernatural realm does not need a paradigm shift. However, folklore provides strong anecdotal evidence that the supernatural realm has experienced at least one paradigm shift. Folklore used to talk about fairies who lived in Nature and could not handle the industrial thinking of ‘cold iron’. This has been replaced by UFO aliens who express themselves in ways that look like advanced technology. Notice that Paul is the one who refers to angels because Paul followed the internal struggle of developing an integrated concept of God and incarnation that is now being applied economically and academically by Timothy.

Keep means to ‘preserve by having an eye on’. It does not refer to doing something in Server thought but rather to continuing to focus upon some specific context. That is because the natural tendency is to stop thinking about a subject that is uncomfortable. In verse 20, academic experts were being taught to fear disapproval from their colleagues. In verse 21, Paul is saying that there is an invisible academic community that goes beyond the visible academic community and that one should continue to focus upon this context even if it becomes uncomfortable. Prejudice is used once in the New Testament and combines ‘before’ with ‘to judge’. Hence, pre-judging. Judging means ‘to separate, distinguish’ which describes the use of abstract technical thought. Apart from means ‘separately, separate from’. For instance, current academic thought will use abstract technical thought to filter out emotions. This is an example of pre-judging because one is using judging before examining the facts.

The reference to ‘chosen angels’ suggests that Teacher emotion is becoming involved. I have learned that academia can handle Mercy emotions to some extent by observing them objectively. However, academic thought tends to self-destruct when faced with Teacher emotion. For instance, Thomas Kuhn has been mentioned several times in this essay. However, Kuhn himself stopped talking about paradigms and paradigm shifts after writing the second edition of his book in 1970. That is an example of ‘not keeping’ because Kuhn refused to continue ‘having an eye on’ the idea of Teacher emotion and paradigm shifts. In contrast, I have continued to ‘have an eye on’ mental symmetry even when it has extended to include academically uncomfortable topics such as angels, spirits, aliens, fairies, and intelligent cognitive modules, none of which will be found in my older brother’s academically sanitized and technically detailed replacement model of MBNI. I mention this not to attack my brother, but rather because many who learned about mental symmetry from my brother consider MBNI to be a new-and-improved version because it is dense and difficult to understand, not realizing that it starts with ‘prejudice’ that avoids ‘keeping’. This is ironic, because my brother is a Teacher person and a Teacher person should value Teacher thought. But the typical Teacher person does not use Teacher thought to come up with general theories but rather to build intellectual refuges that make it possible to avoid emotionally uncomfortable topics—while at the same time claiming to build general theories.

Out of means ‘according to’ when followed by the accusative. Partiality is used twice in the New Testament and combines ‘towards’ with ‘incline’. This describes an ‘unlevel playing field’ in which there is no blatant bias but rather the requirements are tilted in favor of selecting one group rather than another. This is a more subtle way of rejecting uncomfortable topics because one never openly rejects the facts but rather ensures that accepting information has to go through certain prejudging which ensures that unwanted information will automatically get rejected. Speaking from personal experience, the initial rejections that I received from academia were a pre-judging that regarded my theories as failing to meet the standards of abstract technical thought. Eventually I did enough homework and wrote papers of sufficient quality to pass this threshold of technical acceptability. What then emerged was another barrier of an unlevel playing field in which those who attempt to publish from outside of an academic system automatically get rejected because they are not studying appropriate topics in an appropriate manner in an appropriate institution. Eventually it became clear that this rejection had nothing to do with either content or theoretical validity but rather was an emotional rejection of my attempt to go beyond objective specialized technical thought by including Mercy feelings and Teacher theories. However, even though my longer papers have not published, they are being read, suggesting that they are academically valid, and I just passed a total of 5000 reads on researchgate.net.

Verse 22 urges caution with using technical thought. “Lay hands on no one hastily, nor share in the sins of others; keep yourself pure.” Hands are interpreted as the use of technical thought. Hastily means ‘quickly, hastily’. Lay is used once in Timothy and combines ‘upon’ with ‘to place, lay’. It is usually found in the phrase ‘lay hands’. Placing is interpreted as Perceiver stability. Thus, laying hands on someone would mean placing someone within the Perceiver facts of technical thought. Instead of building technical thought upon Perceiver facts, using technical thought in the proper manner becomes the basis for Perceiver facts. For instance, getting a PhD could be described as ‘laying hands’, because the grad student learns how to use technical thought in an academically approved manner. Verse 22 warns against making a quick transition to technical thought. One of the primary reasons that I have not gotten a PhD is because it would require making a transition away from Perceiver thought to abstract technical thought. (Another primary reason is that getting a PhD requires a thesis supervisor and I do not know of any person who could act as my supervisor.) No one means that one also should not start one’s own academic specialization and become an officially approved PhD program. Paul is not saying that abstract technical thought is bad but rather warning against entering too quickly into abstract technical thought. That is because abstract technical thought starts by choosing some limited set of Perceiver facts and Server sequences that are regarded as sufficiently rigorous and then works with this limited set. This automatically shuts the door on any further major innovations and limits growth to incremental improvement.

Others means ‘another of the same kind’. Sin was mentioned in verse 20 and it was suggested that that sin involved using technical thought in a specialized, objective manner. Based upon the interpretation, sharing in the sins of others would mean falling into the trap of using technical thought in a specialized, objective manner. Notice that this sin is being committed by others who are ‘of the same kind’. Thus, the temptation is to set up a new technical specialization with colleagues. Verse 22 says that the ‘Timothy’ of looking for a better global society should not fall into the trap of becoming another technical specialization. I am not sure exactly where the line should be drawn. I know that interacting with academic colleagues and maintaining connections with academia are both important. I also know that it is impossible to pursue a meta-theory within some technical specialization. Thus, in some way one must interact with academia while not becoming part of academia.

The final phrase provides a positive motivation. “Keep yourself pure.” Keep means to watch over, to guard’. This is a different word than the ‘keep’ of verse 21 and I think that the focus of this ‘keep’ is to hold on to a certain collection of Perceiver facts as opposed to some paradigm in Teacher thought. These two are related because a Teacher theory is constructed out of a collection of Perceiver facts. Pure means ‘pure inside and out, holy because uncontaminated’. This relates to the ‘secret weapon’ mentioned earlier of being able to harness one’s entire mind to simulate societal development. Participating too closely with academia and economic experts would cloud this ability. Looking at this more carefully, Perceiver facts build connections between different specializations. Becoming part of some specialization automatically limits this ability to use Perceiver thought. ‘Keep’ is in the imperative and ‘yourself’ is in the singular which suggests that this is a choice that will have to be made by individuals who want to be able to go beyond technical specializations.

Verse 23 has generated a lot of controversy including unusual interpretations, such as rubbing wine on one’s stomach. “No longer drink only water, but use a little wine, because of the stomach and your frequent ailments.” Drink water is found once in the New Testament and combines ‘drink’ with ‘water’. Liquids represent the realm of Mercy experiences and water would represent Mercy experiences that lack the flavor of emotions. ‘Drinking water’ would mean avoiding experiences that are emotional. Speaking from personal experience, I have tried to avoid getting emotionally entangled in the world of experiences because I wanted to preserve my ‘secret weapon’ of mental simulation. Wine means ‘wine’ and refers to positive experiences of culture. This term was used in 3:8 which warned deacons (emissaries) from being given to much wine. Verse 23 tells Timothy to use a little wine. Little means ‘few, little, small’ and use means to ‘make use of’. Verse 22 warned Timothy against joining academic institutions. Verse 23 provides an emotional alternative of enjoying the wine of culture. ‘Using a little wine’ implies that the integrated mind is in control and the culture is the servant. For instance, I play violin at a professional level and I appreciate the emotional expression that playing violin gives me. But I treat music quite differently from those who view music as their profession.

Stomach is used once in the New Testament and means ‘an opening, the stomach’. Ailment means ‘without strength’ and ‘expresses the weakening influences of the illness’. These weakening illnesses are frequent, which means ‘close, frequent’. When one is attempting to reformulate an integrated understanding of society, then there will be ‘frequent weakening illnesses’. That is because one is attempting to reach an unreachable goal in Mercy thought. This is quite different than attempting to climb some corporate ladder where the goal exists in Mercy thought and one knows which Server actions have to be taken to reach this goal. Instead, one is trying to head in the vague direction of utopia, a place which simultaneously does not exist and is better than any real place. Trying to reach such a goal will lead to frequent episodes of giving up and having no strength to carry on. I know from personal experience what this means. However, my personal experience is that when this happens, then Teacher thought reaches down and gives me an emotional reason to continue. For some reason, I find I have enough strength to work for another day. The result of all of these episodes of weakness is a transformed personal identity in Mercy thought.

The effect that this process of transformation has upon the stomach is described in Revelation 10:9-10 where a strong angel gives a little book to a human to ‘eat’ and tells him that the book will taste sweet but give him a stomach-ache. A different word for stomach is used in Revelation but I think that the general principle is the same. For instance, developing mental symmetry leads to positive Teacher emotions because it feels good to discover new aspects to a theory. The stomach-ache arrives when the personal, religious, and cultural implications of the new theoretical aspect become apparent. Looking at one example, the idea that a concept of God the Father is based in a general Teacher theory and that a concept of incarnation results from integrated technical thought seems fairly obvious to me now. But this idea gave me a major stomach-ache when it first crossed my mind because I, a finite human, was daring to come up with a rational explanation for the Christian doctrine of the Holy Trinity.

Verse 22 finished by saying ‘keep yourself pure’. The implication is that the internal process of rebuilding personal identity in the light of a Teacher understanding is finished. The struggle will now turn from the internal to the external, which means that one must start interacting with the external. Symbolically speaking, one no longer drinks water but ‘uses a little wine’, which means getting used to interacting with culture. I can think of four reasons for doing this. First, the implications of research do not lead to such a stomach-ache if one can enjoy existing culture in some manner. Second, enjoying episodes of culture can be viewed as a new dimension of mental simulation. One is not treating culture as an escape from the internal landscape but rather looking for fragments of culture that express aspects of the internal landscape. Third, a negative reason is that each episode of weakness happens within a new context. My personal episodes of weakness varied from ‘getting up and not having enough energy for the day’ to ‘losing my cool and blowing up in front of someone else’. In each case, Teacher understanding would reach down and put my mind back together better than it was before—but only within the context of the episode of weakness. I would then be okay until some new context came along that caused me to lose strength to continue and/or lose my temper. Thus, using a little wine prepares one emotionally for a postmodern culture that vacillates randomly and abruptly between quality and trash, between meaning and insanity. Finally, using a little wine addresses the underlying assumption that ‘God hates me’. I mentioned earlier that following a path to a better society means traveling along a poorly-defined road toward a vague goal. This means in practice that existing doors of opportunity will continually slam in one’s face to the point where Teacher thought will come up with the general theory that ‘God hates me’, which will be emotionally backed up by the Mercy feeling that ‘I need to keep myself pure from the world’. When ‘Paul’ meets ‘Timothy’ then a lonely path of personal transformation becomes transformed into the theory of a better society, which means challenging these two assumptions. That is emotionally difficult to do and it is tempting at this point to wallow in self-pity. Using a little wine challenges the two ideas that ‘God hates me’ and ‘I need to stay pure by avoiding the world’.

Staying pure by avoiding the world is actually a contradiction in terms, because avoiding something implies that one has become aware of something that is different than internal purity, which means that one has become impure. This describes the purity of innocence which automatically becomes impure by merely becoming aware of other ways of functioning. In contrast, ‘keeping’ Perceiver facts preserves purity by integrating new situations into the existing mental structure of purity.

Verse 24 describes a time of transition. “The sins of some men are manifest, going before them to judgment; but of some also they appear later.” Man is the generic word for mankind which would refer to both men and women. Manifest is used three times in the New Testament and combines ‘before’ with ‘clear, evident’. Manifest is followed by the verb ‘to be’. Go before combines the prefix ‘before’ with ‘lead, bring, carry’. And judgment means ‘to separate, distinguish, judge’. The idea is that one can use the careful thinking of abstract technical thought to uncover these sins before they happen. Appear later adds the prefix ‘fitting’ with ‘to follow’ and was seen in 5:10 when describing the true widow. This describes a principle of cognitive sowing and reaping that emerges over time. In other words, the same vagueness and uncertainty that was experienced when internally following the path to the concept of a better society will also be experienced externally when starting to interact with humanity. In some cases, it will be obvious which people and options to avoid, but in other cases this will only become apparent over time.

Verse 25 applies the same distinction to good deeds. “Likewise also, the good works are evident, and even those being otherwise are unable to be concealed.” Likewise means ‘in like manner’ which suggests that similar cognitive principles are at play. Work means ‘a deed that carries out an inner desire’. Good means ‘attractively good’. Evident is the same word that was translated as ‘manifest’ in verse 24 which combines ‘before’ with ‘clear, evident’. Otherwise comes from the word ‘another of the same kind’. ‘Otherwise’ is followed by the verb have and not ‘to be’. Conceal means ‘to hide’. And able means ‘to be able, to have power’ and is interpreted as active Perceiver thought. Putting this together, some self-initiated behavior is immediately apparent while other, similar, self-initiated behavior can be temporarily concealed by those who function at the level of having, but eventually they will lose the power to do so. This redefines the concept of purity as something dynamic that will gradually—but inevitably—emerge. For instance, I mentioned earlier that developing mental symmetry involved frequent ‘stomach-aches’ which included occasional episodes of falling apart and losing my temper. Whenever this happened, then my Teacher understanding would reach down and put me back together. In contrast, I never saw my father (a Contributor person) lose his temper and he viewed every loss of control on my part as a fundamental character flaw. However, I eventually saw where his path of self-control led because he ultimately became a shell of a person unable to enjoy anything and unable to face himself. Verse 25 describes a similar principle applying to self-initiated action. Following an internal goal guided by understanding will not always lead immediately to attractively good results. But if one follows universal principles of ‘how things work’, then these principles will eventually become evident. That is because it takes effort and resources to fight the laws of nature and the laws of the mind. This can be done for a while but eventually people lose the power to do so. For instance, my father may have won the battle of self-control, but he ultimately lost the war of mental wholeness. I should add that even now, six years after my father died at the age of 97, I still encounter people praising my father for his many positive qualities. However, we are looking here at a version of 2:5, which asked what the children of the overseer thought about living within the system of the overseer.

Escaping Slavery 6:1-2

Chapter 6 turns to servants. Verse 1 begins, “As many as are under a yoke as slaves, let them esteem the own masters worthy of all honor.” As many means ‘how much, how many’. Are means ‘to be’ which means that we are looking here at ‘being’. A slave means ‘someone who belongs to another’. Yoke is used once in Timothy and means ‘a wooden bar placed over the neck of a pair of animals so they can pull together’. Master means ‘someone exercising unrestricted power and absolute domination’ and is the source of the word ‘despot’. A similar word was used in 5:14 to talk about ‘managing their households’ which combined the word ‘despot’ with ‘house’. Honor means ‘a valuing, a price’ and was previously used in 5:17 to talk about receiving double honor. Worthy means ‘assigning the matching value’ and was previously used in 5:18 to say that the laborer is worthy of his wages. Esteem means ‘what goes before, in front’ and is in the imperative.

Verse 1 may appear initially to be expressing support for systems of slavery but it is important to place this into the context. An integrated concept of God and incarnation has been developed and this is just starting to be externalized at the end of chapter 5. How should the average consumer who is in slavery to the existing economic system respond? Applying this to the current economy, explicit slavery has been abolished, but the economy keeps heading in the direction of the average consumer being caught in a system of slavery to an economic elite. Verse 1 contains an interesting combination of having and being. Slavery treats a person as an object that one can have. But verse 1 does not talk about being a slave but rather about being under a yoke as slaves. A yoke forces two animals to work together. Similarly, a system of economic exploitation yokes together slaves and masters. The slave is obviously a beast of burden, but a master is also a mental slave to a system of exploitation. A master is incapable of carrying out his own plans but rather requires others to implement his ideas. And a master must continually guard himself against the possibility of slaves revolting. The first step in transforming such a system is to realize that masters and slaves are in a symbiotic relationship. Unless one becomes consciously aware that both masters and slaves are imprisoned within a symbiotic relationship, any attempt to change the system will merely lead to a new set of masters and slaves without changing the system itself.

The next step is to mentally place masters within a system of value. The basic premise of a system of slavery is that laws only apply to slaves while masters are above the law. In modern society this is typically expressed implicitly as tilting the playing field in favor of masters. Thus, the law theoretically applies to everyone but in practice masters are able to use their resources to avoid most unpleasant legal results. One of the biggest dangers of Donald Trump is that he explicitly and repeatedly claims to be above the law. Verse 1 does not say that one should honor a system of slavery but rather that the leading concept of the slave should be to assign honor to his own master in all areas. This does not mean personally regarding that master as someone with special status but rather assigning honor that matches value. This places the master within an independent system of value. A master may be above the rule of law, but a master is still subject to the universal principles of value that were developed in the previous chapters.

Verse 1 finishes by describing the underlying reason. “So that the name of God and the teaching should not be blasphemed.” Name is used once in 1 Timothy and is “The manifestation or revelation of someone’s character.” Saying this another way, a name is the Teacher theory that describes the essence of some person. For instance, the name of engineer or pharmacist describes the essence of some professional individual. Verse 1 refers to ‘the name of the God’. The implication is that an integrated concept of God now exists that is being treated as an independent entity by people within society. Teaching refers to ‘applied-teaching’ which emphasizes that theory is now being applied in practice. Blaspheme means ‘to speak lightly or profanely of sacred things’. In other words, the ultimate battle is not between slaves and masters but rather between two systems of value. The existing system regards masters as important people in Mercy thought who are the sources of truth and ownership for slaves. The name of God, in contrast, regards all people as subject to universal principles of value guided by Teacher understanding. The slave should not rebel from his master or reject systems of value but rather submit to a higher and more universal system of value. This will not disturb the existing system if universal principles of value are expressed in an abstract and theoretical manner. That is why the slave needs to place his own master within a higher system of value, because this will bring the abstract Teacher concepts of value into direct contact with those with Mercy status who are the slave’s source of truth and authority.

Verse 2 describes another danger. “Now those having believing masters, let them not despise them because they are brothers.” Believing means to ‘be persuaded’. Master is the same word used in verse 1 which is the source of the English word ‘despot’. And have refers to the realm of having which implies that there is a deeper realm of being. Applying this to Roman society, this described a Christian slave whose master was also a Christian. Looking at this cognitively, a ‘believing master’ does not regard himself as above the law but also submits to rational thought. Brother means ‘born from the same womb’ which means that both have gone through a similar process of personal transformation. Despise means ‘to treat with contempt or disregard, devalue’ and refers to a gut reaction as opposed to a rational conclusion. This will happen if the slave does not mentally place the master within an independent system of value. If the master ceases to impose emotional status upon the slave, then the slave will lose emotional respect for the master and regard the master with disdain. If this happens throughout society then a new group of masters and slaves will emerge while the system of master-and-slave will remain intact.

Verse 2 continues, “But rather, let them serve them, because those being helped by the good service are believing and beloved.” Rather means ‘rather, more than’ which means that an alternative strategy should be emphasized. Serve is the verb form of ‘slave’ and is used once in Timothy. In other words, the actual meaning of ‘serve’ is close to what ‘deacon’ is typically misinterpreted as. Believing means ‘to be persuaded’. And ‘are’ is explicitly mentioned. The Greek presents two possible alternatives. The first alternative is ‘despise because being brothers’. The second alternative is ‘serve because being believing’. These two phrases directly follow one another in the Greek. The first alternative focuses upon similar identities in Mercy thought: ‘We are buddies’. The second alternative focuses upon rational thought: ‘They are being persuaded’. Beloved is used once in 1 Timothy and refers to agape love. Thus, one is submitting personally to the master not because one regards the master as an important person in Mercy thought but rather because one regards the master as an expression of Teacher understanding. The cognitive reason for this is that a mindset of slavery cannot be instantly changed. Instead, it has to be re-thought one situation at a time. If the goal is to replace Mercy emotions of status with Teacher emotions of universal understanding, then the existing relationship has to be rethought over time from a Teacher perspective without allowing Mercy feelings to get in the way.

Good service is used twice as a noun in the New Testament (and once as a verb) and adds the prefix ‘well’ to ‘a deed that carries out an inner desire’. Help is used once in Timothy and adds the prefix ‘in place of’ to ‘actively lay hold of to take or receive’. Thus, the goal is to actively take hold of good, internally motivated behavior. In other words, the real struggle is not the external struggle to escape slavery but rather the internal struggle to replace obedience to authority with internally motivated behavior. That is because becoming internally motivated makes it possible to permanently escape a system of slavery. The person who is not internally motivated is, by definition, a slave to someone else’s wishes. Notice that verse 2 applies to the believing master. Verse 1 extended a system of value to both slave and master while verse 2 replaces the obedience of the slave with rationally guided, self-initiated action.

Verse 2 finishes, “Teach and exhort these things.” Teach is the normal word for ‘teach’ and exhort means to ‘personally make a call’. These are both common words but this is the only time in the New Testament that they appear together. Consistent with this combination, this passage has talked about teaching abstract theory in a manner that involves changing personal motivation.

Rebelling from Slavery 6:3-5

Verse 3 looks at doctrine. “If anyone teaches another doctrine.” Teach another doctrine is only used in the New Testament here and in 1:3 and combines ‘another of a different kind’ with ‘to teach’. The reference in 1:3 was interpreted as using technical thought to analyze mental networks. Verses 1-2 described an unusual way of dealing with slavery. That is because normal teaching on slavery focuses upon Mercy status and thus is a teaching of a different kind. Saying this more clearly, slavery is usually interpreted as some group within society using its Mercy status to pass a set of laws that gives it ownership over slaves. Using modern language, the economic elite are viewed as a special group that uses its Mercy status to pass a set of laws that give it control over the rest of the population. Therefore, slavery is usually addressed by attempting to change the laws. Verses 1-2, in contrast, note that slavery is ultimately an entire internal landscape that has to be re-thought one aspect at a time by mentally replacing respect for authority with respect for value and then replacing submission to authority with self-initiated behavior. The ultimate problem is not laws of slavery that function at the realm of having and ownership, but rather a mindset of slavery that functions at the realm of being and has to be re-formulated at the level of being.

Verse 3 continues by adding details. “And does not draw near, being sound in the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching according to godliness.” This language is awkward because it is not clear what one is drawing near to. The BSB in this case is better (and is consistent with both the KJV and NASB): “and disagrees with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and with godly teaching.” While talking about translations, the BLB is leading to less frustration than other translations, primarily because the BLB generally corresponds to the interlinear translation given by biblehub. However, we are occasionally encountering situations where the interlinear translation itself is problematic. The downside of this increased accuracy is occasional grammatical awkwardness.

Draw near means ‘to approach, to draw near’. Sound means ‘healthy, working well’ and is the source of the English word ‘hygiene’. Word is ‘logos’ which refers to paradigms of technical thought. And these paradigms are of an integrated concept of incarnation. However, notice that the name Jesus comes first, suggesting that the starting point is personal salvation rather than an integrated understanding. And ‘of the Lord of us’ indicates a personal submission to the lordship of a plan of salvation based in incarnation. ‘Drawing near’ suggests that the struggle at this point is to move beyond abstract theory that applies in some vague manner to applying this theory to my personal situation. And the reason that one draws near is not to submit to authority but rather to practice mental and social hygiene, by submitting to an understanding of ‘how things work’. One is not replacing one group of slaves and masters with another group while leaving the mindset of slavery to authority intact. Instead, one is replacing submission to personal authority in Mercy thought with submission to an understanding of universal principles in Teacher thought. And the ultimate goal is to achieve societal wholeness and not just to submit to a new set of masters. Notice that ‘hygiene’ reframes this issue from becoming free of slavery to achieving mental and societal health. When heading away from some undesirable state can be reformulated as heading toward some desirable goal, then this is a sign that one is becoming mentally free of the undesirable state.

Godliness adds the prefix ‘well’ to ‘venerate, pay homage’. And teaching means ‘applied teaching’. Thus, respect remains but inappropriate respect for people in Mercy thought is being replaced by appropriate respect for a concept of God in Teacher thought. The applied teaching then descends from this appropriate respect for a Teacher understanding of universal principles.

Verse 4 explains where teaching ‘of another kind’ will lead. “He is puffed up, knowing nothing, but unhealthy about controversies and disputes about words.” Puffed up means ‘to blow smoke, cloud up the air’ and was used in 3:6 to talk about novice overseers. The idea there was that someone who is attempting to think clearly about some subject will spout hot air if speculation is not backed up by sufficient practical experience. Knowing is used once in 1 Timothy and adds the prefix ‘upon’ with ‘to stand’. Standing is interpreted as Perceiver stability. Stated simply, those who approach slavery and control by some elite class from a Mercy perspective are making up theories that are not based in solid Perceiver facts. It sounds good and loving to advocate for the oppressed, but the facts of history show that this is not an effective strategy. This became apparent in the path to wokeism described in 5:11-13.

Unhealthy is used once as a verb in the New Testament and refers to ‘a chronic disease, typically an incurable ailment’. Controversy was used back in 1:4 and means ‘a meaningless question to investigate a specific practice’ which was interpreted as studying myths from an objective perspective. Disputes about words occurs once as a noun in the New Testament (and once as a verb) and combines ‘logos’ with ‘to fight’. A ‘chronic disease’ indicates that this mindset is self-perpetuating and self-destructive. ‘Controversy’ indicates that one is asking the wrong kind of question. And ‘disputes about words’ means that one is arguing over the paradigms of technical thought. This describes postmodernism and wokeism. It is ‘incurable’ because any attempt to add facts to the discussion can simply be rejected as ‘that is merely your opinion’. It is an ‘ailment’ because viewing everything in terms of power groups imposing their opinions on others simply perpetuates a mindset of power groups imposing their opinions on others. In contrast, verses 1-2 followed the long process of re-thinking that mindset. Saying this as clearly as possible, the wokeist who incessantly attacks racism is thinking in terms of racism and is therefore incapable of escaping a mindset of racism. Going further, it is meaningless to fixate upon specific situations of ‘masters imposing themselves upon slaves’, because this takes attention away from the real question of internally replacing submission to authority in Mercy thought with submission to understanding in Teacher thought. Similarly, arguing over paradigms indicates a total lack of understanding of the nature of a paradigm. A paradigm is a Teacher theory that summarizes the essence of a technical specialization. A paradigm shift occurs when technical thought reveals inadequacies to the current paradigm. A new paradigm will then be chosen that explains the existing facts in a different way. Arguing over paradigms replaces this foundation of solid Perceiver facts and Server sequences with personal opinions in Mercy thought.

Verse 4 finishes, “Out of which come envy, strife, slander, evil suspicions.” Out of means ‘from out of’ which means that these traits emerge ‘from out of’ the misguided thinking. Come means ‘to come into being’, which means that people are not choosing to exhibit these traits but rather that these traits are naturally emerging. Envy is used once in Timothy and ‘conveys displeasure at another’s good without longing to raise oneself to the level of him whom he envies, but only to depress the envied to his own level’. For instance, wokeism attacks those who get ahead in society as oppressors while redirecting the attention of the disadvantaged away from improving their lot to attacking those who are ahead. The end result is envy. Strife is also used once in Timothy and means ‘a readiness to quarrel’. Thus, the natural tendency is to protest and condemn others rather than attempt to find a solution. Slander is the word ‘blasphemy’ which means ‘to speak lightly or profanely of sacred things’. This is also a primary characteristic of wokeism which focuses upon tearing down any established sources of respect in society. That is because all respect is interpreted as submission being demanded by some oppressive societal group. Evil means ‘pain-ridden, emphasizing the inevitable agonies that always go with evil’. Suspicion combines the prefix ‘under’ with ‘understand, think’ and means ‘to suspect, conjecture’. In other words, one is always suspecting others of being evil people who want others to suffer. This is another fundamental characteristic of wokeism which is always reading evil motives into the actions of others. Cognitively speaking, the idea that personal pain is the result of power groups imposing their personal opinions upon the population has turned into the TMN of a universal theory that is emotionally imposing itself upon situations. Thus, even if some person or group is legitimately and sincerely attempting to help some disadvantaged person or class, this behavior will be interpreted as a form of racism, because the wokeist is emotionally convinced that his universal theory of wokeism allows him to know what other people are thinking better than they do. Such suspicions of evil take the place of mental processing. This process is described in detail in an essay on wokeism.

Verse 5 continues the progression. “And constant frictions among men corrupted in mind and destitute of the truth.” Constant frictions is used once in the New Testament and combines ‘beside’ with ‘to rub hard’. Corrupted combines ‘thoroughly’ with ‘defile, corrupt’. Men is the generic word for mankind. And mind means ‘mind, understanding, reason’. Applying this to wokeism, the starting point was to advocate for the disadvantaged and the oppressed, guided by the underlying assumption that all personal problems are the result of being oppressed by some dominant group. But many personal problems are actually the result of violating cognitive principles. Therefore, advocating for the disadvantaged will turn into promoting deviant lifestyles that violate cognitive principles. This will result in a vicious circle because the more that one promotes such a lifestyle while ignoring cognitive principles, the more one will experience the negative results of violating cognitive principles. These negative results will be interpreted as oppression from society which will lead to further promotion of the deviant lifestyle. Using the language of verse 5, there will be ‘constant frictions’ because of being beside deviant lifestyles that ‘rub hard’. Continuing to advocate for these deviant lifestyles will lead to a mind that is thoroughly defiled and corrupt. And because this is being treated as a universal theory that is being examined academically, this defiled mind will twist rational thinking and this twisted rational thinking will be treated as a universal theory of humanity.

For instance, this essay has discussed extensively the technical thinking of male thought and how this interacts with the mental networks of female thought. Reaching mental wholeness requires developing both male and female thought and then mentally ‘marrying’ them. A man needs to develop both male and female thought while recognizing that both his physical body and his brain emphasize male thought. Similarly, a woman needs to develop both male and female thought while recognizing that both her physical body and her brain emphasize female thought. The influence of physical gender will be modified by cognitive style: A female Contributor person, for example, will place a greater emphasis upon male technical thought than a female Mercy person. What I have just said is the result of careful thought and can be backed up by empirical evidence. However, we all know that saying that there is any cognitive or biological basis to gender now leads to massive condemnation from wokeism. That is an example of promoting a lifestyle that violates cognitive principles, becomes rationally corrupted, and then imposes this mental corruption upon mankind. This can be seen in queer theory, which is described in the article on wokeism. As for corrupting the mind, even though women’s studies is a crystal-clear example of pure female thought that is setting itself up against the male technical thought of science and technology, those who are within women’s studies will insist that the very concepts of male and female are social constructs. That describes a mind that is literally incapable of looking in the mirror and thinking about what it sees.

Destitute means ‘taking away what rightfully belongs to someone else’. Truth means ‘true to fact’. Postmodernism says that all Perceiver truth is merely personal opinion backed up by mental networks of personal status. Wokeism goes beyond this by forcing all of society to stop acknowledging what is ‘true to fact’. The wokeist is personally offended if anyone dares to assert that something is ‘true to fact’. Thus, the common sense of reality that rightfully belongs to the average man is being taken away. If this sounds extreme, please read the essay on wokeism.

Verse 5 finishes, “Holding godliness to be a means of gain.” Holding comes from the word ‘law’ and means ‘to assume a prevailing custom’. Means of gain is only used in this verse and the next and means ‘a specific way that brings gain or profit’. Godliness combines ‘well’ with ‘venerate, pay homage’. ‘Means of gain’ and ‘godliness’ are connected by the verb ‘to be’, which means that these two are being regarded as equivalent. This summarizes the fundamental assumption of both postmodernism and wokeism. The concept that ‘bringing gain or profit’ could come from applying an understanding of how things work in order to meet legitimate needs is rejected. Instead, gaining profit is equated with manipulating how one ‘venerates and pays homage’. Going further, the fundamental teaching of critical race theory is that the way to bring gain or profit to society is by venerating and paying homage to certain disadvantaged groups. This is treated as a universal law that is supposed to become the prevailing custom of all societies. Quoting from the Wikipedia article, “Critical race theory (CRT) is an interdisciplinary academic field focused on the relationships between social conceptions of race and ethnicity, social and political laws, and media. CRT also considers racism to be systemic in various laws and rules, and not only based on individuals’ prejudices... CRT is also used in sociology to explain social, political, and legal structures and power distribution as through a ‘lens’ focusing on the concept of race, and experiences of racism... One tenet of CRT is that racism and disparate racial outcomes are the result of complex, changing, and often subtle social and institutional dynamics, rather than explicit and intentional prejudices of individuals. CRT scholars argue that the social and legal construction of race advances the interests of white people at the expense of people of color.” Notice how getting ahead in society is equated with manipulating veneration and homage and that this is treated as a universal law of humanity.

Some manuscripts add the phrase, “Withdraw yourself from such.” Withdraw combines ‘away from’ with ‘stand’. And ‘away from’ is explicitly added. In other words, look elsewhere for solid Perceiver facts. Do not build upon this type of thinking, either as a foundation for thought or as an enemy. That is because attacking wokeism ends up descending to the level of wokeism. This can be seen in members of the political and conservative right that attack wokeism. It is tempting to attack wokeism because it is so blindingly idiotic and so maliciously destructive. But attacking wokeism implicitly accepts the fundamental presupposition of postmodernism, which is that truth is based in personal opinion. Instead, the solution is to demonstrate the futility of wokeism by pursuing rational thought based in cognitive mechanisms and the facts of reality.

Enjoyment versus Exchange 6:6-10

Verse 6 describes this positive alternative. “But godliness with contentment is great gain.” Gain is the same word used in verse 6 which means ‘a specific way that brings gain or profit’. Great means ‘large, great, in the widest sense’ and is interpreted as Teacher generality. This common word was used once previously in 3:16 to talk about the mystery of godliness. The basic premise of postmodernism is that all apparent theories in Teacher thought are merely ideologies based in Mercy status. ‘Great gain’, in contrast, recognizes that the source of gain or profit is Teacher thought and Teacher understanding. Godliness is the same word used in verse 5 that combines ‘well’ with ‘venerate, pay homage’. Contentment is used twice in the New Testament and combines ‘self’ with ‘to suffice, be sufficient’. The basic premise of wokeism is that everything is socially constructed: Painful consequences are the result of other people imposing social disapproval upon me and these painful consequences will stop if other people ‘venerate and pay homage well’. Contentment focuses upon me rather than others, guided by the assumption that I can make progress myself without receiving government support or societal veneration.

For instance, this presupposition of self-sufficiency has guided me over decades of research into mental symmetry. This does not mean that I ignore others or stop interacting with others but rather that I recognize that the critical path to success is for me to face myself and become personally transformed. Going further, if one does the right thing without receiving approval from society, then one will acquire the character of becoming righteous, leading to ‘great gain’ that is based in Teacher understanding. Native advocacy and evangelical Christendom are both examples of not practicing contentment. The basic premise of Native advocacy is that Native society will only progress if it receives extensive, pervasive, and expensive homage and veneration from the rest of society. Similarly, the basic premise of current right-wing politics is that evangelical Christendom will only progress if it receives extensive and pervasive homage and veneration from the rest of society in the form of conservative laws, conservative leaders, and conservative judges.

Verse 7 looks at this further. “For we brought nothing into the world, because neither are we able to carry out anything.” Brought means ‘to carry in’. And into is explicitly added. World is ‘cosmos’, which refers to the structure of human society. Because means ‘that, because’. Neither means ‘neither indeed, nor indeed’. Carry out means ‘to carry out’. The word carry used in both ‘carry in’ and ‘carry out’ means ‘to bear, carry, bring along’, conveying the impression that personal effort and status in Mercy thought are carrying some ‘weight’ of truth in Perceiver thought. Able means ‘to have power’, which refers to active Perceiver thought.

This verse is normally interpreted as a newborn baby bringing nothing into the world and a dying person taking nothing out of the world. That is a valid interpretation but this can also be viewed cognitively. Going one way, the idea that social groups can arbitrarily influence the structure of human society is fundamentally flawed. Instead, society follows a cognitive progression guided by cognitive principles. The cognitively predetermined path of Western civilization is analyzed in detail in the essays on Matthew and Luke. Similarly, society is improved physically as individuals are guided by a knowledge of how the physical universe functions. The idea that people or groups can use societal approval to bring things into the structure of human society is wishful thinking. One cannot wish some invention into existence or wish that society will undergo some transformation. On the contrary, wishful thinking disables the form of thought that is required to truly influence society. Going the other way, the idea that approval from society can be used to solve problems is also fundamentally flawed, because focusing upon approval disables the form of thinking that is required to solve problems. A lack of power indicates an inability to personally impose Perceiver facts upon society.

Looking at this personally, I keep doing research and writing essays and papers because I hope that I can personally influence society. But I am not attempting to impose myself and my opinions upon society but rather gaining an understanding of cognitive mechanisms and becoming personally transformed by this understanding. Similarly, I am not attempting to impose my will upon the path of human history but rather seeing if my personal path meets the qualifications for the preordained path of history that has been written in Scripture. That is because human freedom can still affect how Scripture is fulfilled and through whom it is fulfilled.

Verse 8 concludes, “But having sustenance and coverings, with these we will be content.” Having refers to the peripheral realm of ‘having’. Sustenance is used once in the New Testament and combines ‘thoroughly’ with ‘fully developed because adequately nourished’. Covering is also used once in the New Testament and means ‘a covering, specifically, clothing’. Clothing is interpreted as the fabric of societal interaction. Content means to ‘assist, suffice’ and is preceded by the verb ‘to be’. Applying this to the context, the ‘Paul’ of an integrated concept of God and incarnation is starting to be externalized as the ‘Timothy’ of a better society. This provides a thorough foundation that is fully developed because it has been adequately nourished and it provides a sufficient covering of social status. Looking at this personally, mental symmetry has been fully developed into a meta-theory of society and it currently receives enough academic and social respect to act as a covering of social status. I sense that it is important for me to accept at the level of being that this suffices. There is no need for me to descend to the level of ‘having’ by seeking approval or attacking the various insanities of society because everything that is required to develop a better society already exists and continues to grow.

The next two verses contain the infamous passage warning against loving money. Verse 9 begins, “But those desiring to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and many foolish and harmful desires.” Desiring means ‘to plan with full resolve’. Rich means to ‘be rich, having many resources’. Fall means ‘to fall in’ and going down is interpreted as heading from Teacher generality to Mercy specifics. Into means ‘to or into’ which means that one is falling into some kind of Mercy specifics. Temptation is the negative version of testing. The goal of testing is to put something under pressure to ensure that it will survive. The goal of temptation is to put something under pressure in order to get it to fail. A snare is ‘a trap set for animals’. This passage can be interpreted literally as a search for physical riches and resources. It can also be interpreted cognitively as a search for intellectual wealth. ‘Desiring’ goes beyond simply desiring in Exhorter thought to formulating and following a plan in Contributor thought based upon that desire.

What is being contrasted is constructing an adequate meta-theory in order to lay the foundation for a better society and constructing a meta-theory in order to gather intellectual wealth by explaining more topics. Verse 8 talked about being satisfied with having a sufficient foundation to follow the plan of building a better society. Verse 9 warns about the danger of not following a plan of building a better society. The danger of remaining at the abstract level of research is that one will descend to practical application in a way that attacks the form of thinking required to do research. If one does not continue all the way from theory to application, then the lack of application will itself threaten the ability to develop theory. And one will become snared by those who have perfected the skill of manipulating the naïve in unscrupulous ways.

Desire means ‘passionate desire’. Foolish is used once in Timothy and means ‘non-thinking... just plain stupid’. Harmful means ‘injurious, hurtful’. Verses 4-5 described the rise of such passionate desires that are both harmful and stupid.

Verse 9 continues, “Which plunge men into ruin and destruction.” Plunge is used twice in the New Testament and is related to ‘the bottom, the depth’. Men refers to mankind and is in the plural with the definite article: ‘the humankinds’. In other words, one is dealing with deep issues that go to the depths both in terms of emotional intensity and moral depravity. And these deep issues are impacting humanity in a global way. Ruin means ‘ruination with its full destructive results’. And destruction means to ‘cut off entirely from what could or should have been’. Looking at this cognitively, behavior that violates cognitive principles in major ways is being perpetuated and encouraged by societal approval and support. This means that when moral consequences are finally acknowledged, then these consequences will have reached a depth, an intensity, and a permanence from which it is difficult to emerge. Instead of experiencing the various futuristic promises of human paradise, what will be experienced instead is ruination and a ‘cutting off entirely from what could or should have been’.

Looking, for instance, at gender, the following quote comes from the official health website of the government of Alberta. “Gender is social and cultural. It’s how your identity relates to society’s idea of what it means to be a woman, man, neither, or a mix of many genders...Gender identity is your deeply-held inner feelings of whether you’re female or male, both, or neither. Your gender identity isn’t seen by others. Gender identity may be the same as the sex you were assigned at birth (cisgender) or not (transgender).” Notice that the physical facts of DNA or the physical presence of a penis or vagina is not being mentioned on a government medical website. Instead, these facts about reality are being dismissed as ‘the sex you were assigned at birth’. And what is being elevated above facts about physical reality is ‘deeply held inner feelings’ that cannot be ‘seen by others’. Going to the other side of the political spectrum, unrestricted economic growth now threatens the physical ecosystem in a fundamental way. For instance, it is estimated that the global cost of climate change will be at least $1.7 trillion dollars per year by 2050. That is also an example of ruination and a ‘cutting off entirely from what could or should have been’. In other words, the choice is not between building for a better society and doing abstract research, but rather between building for a better society or experiencing cognitive, moral, religious, social, economic, and physical ruination. The positive side of this is that this deep and pervasive level of societal need also provides an unusual opportunity for rebuilding society in major ways.

Verse 10 starts with the infamous phrase. “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.” The Greek begins with the word root, which refers to something hidden from which visible life emerges. All kinds means ‘each part of a totality’, which means that one can find many specific examples of this principle. Evils is in the plural and means ‘inwardly foul, rotten’. ‘Is’ is explicitly mentioned. Love of money is a single word that combines ‘philos’ with ‘of silver’. ‘Philos’ refers to friendship, which means feeling comfortable around someone or something because of compatible mental networks. Silver is interpreted as using money for economic exchange as opposed to the ‘gold’ of hoarding wealth.

One would think that the depravities of the previous verses would be associated with a nastier root than merely ‘loving money’. But what is happening is that technical thought is becoming mentally disconnected from both subjective value in Mercy thought and universal principles in Teacher thought. A ‘lover of money’ feels comfortable around the exchange of physical and intellectual wealth as opposed to gathering, organizing, understanding, or using such wealth. For instance, most economics textbooks qualify as ‘loving money’ because they focus upon economic exchange while ignoring what is being exchanged or why it is being exchanged. I have written a 150 page academic article that places the basic principles of micro- and macro- economics within a larger cognitive picture. Similarly, postmodern academia places a great emphasis upon the methodology of how intellectual wealth is gathered, tested, and propagated while generally ignoring the content that is being gathered or why this content is being gathered. Verse 10 does not say that this itself is evil but rather that being comfortable with the exchange of wealth is a root that leads to all kinds of inward foulness.

The reason for this connection became clear to me when writing the essay on wokeism and is discussed in the section on Marxism. What happens is that objective, specialized, technical thought creates its own enemy and then enables this enemy. Lenin infamously made the statement, “The Capitalists will sell us the rope with which we will hang them.” Looking at this more carefully, capitalism has brought great economic wealth through specialization and trade. Specialization is economically beneficial but it also leads to a society of individuals who are only locally rational because of focusing upon developing one specific skill while ignoring other skills. Capitalism also focuses upon physical goods and services, taking attention away from internal and personal growth and development. And capitalism makes it possible to acquire a plethora of goods and services in the market without having to develop any skills or knowledge. This is all economically beneficial, but it results in locally rational professionals selling to uneducated consumers. Going further, the focus upon economic wealth creates an emotional and spiritual vacuum that the consumer will attempt to fill in some fashion. And because the emotional vacuum was created by the rational technical thinking of capitalism, the consumer will think that the solution lies in rejecting rational thought, which will be reinforced by the fact that the typical consumer is uneducated or at best locally rational. The capitalist economy will respond by providing the uneducated consumer with uneducated, emotional escapism, otherwise known as entertainment and fun. Notice how all kinds of inward rottenness are growing out of the root of ‘a love of money’. Marxism takes this response one step further by rejecting the entire system of capitalism, to which the capitalist economy responds by ‘selling Marxism the rope by which Marxism hangs the capitalist’. The solution is not to reject capitalism but rather to extend rational thought to the subjective. And an integrated Teacher understanding can include specialization because universal principles in Teacher thought can be applied in many different ways. Thus, each specialization applies the same universal cognitive principles in a different manner.

This ‘love of money’ is now being extended to academia because researchers have to compete for jobs, funding, and grants. And the amount of money that one receives is strongly linked to the number of papers that one publishes. Those who get the funding are not necessarily those who do the best research but rather those who are talented at getting papers published under their names. Someone who is comfortable with this continual publishing of papers, is by definition, a ‘lover of money’.

Verse 10 finishes, “Which some, stretching after, have been seduced away from the faith and have pierced themselves with many sorrows.” Stretching after means ‘to stretch towards’ and was used in 3:1 to talk about aspiring to the office of overseer, which was interpreted as doing research and/or development within some area. Here, people are ‘stretching after’ being more effective lovers of money. Focusing upon publishing more papers would be an example of this, but examples can also be found in various ways that economic trade can be emphasized, such as the futures market in which one buys and sells the right to buy or sell something at some time in the future. High frequency trading (HFT) is a particularly egregious example because one gains economic advantage by being able to respond to market changes a few milliseconds before other individuals. Wikipedia summarizes that “HFT uses proprietary trading strategies carried out by computers to move in and out of positions in seconds or fractions of a second. In 2016, HFT on average initiated 10–40% of trading volume in equities, and 10–15% of volume in foreign exchange and commodities.” High-frequency trading is, by definition, an example of pure ‘love of money’ because economic exchange itself is being emphasized to the exclusion of all other factors.

Seduced is used twice in the New Testament and combines ‘away from’ with ‘wander’. ‘Away from’ is also added explicitly. Faith means to ‘be persuaded’ which refers to rational thought. This combination describes most modern marketing. The goal of marketing is to increase the sales of some product. Modern marketing ‘stretches after’ the goal of increasing economic trade; it does research in the realm of the ‘love of money’. Research in marketing has led many individuals away from rational thought, because the typical uneducated consumer is not motivated by rational thought but rather by irrational emotions. The principles of modern marketing were originally developed by Edward Bernays, a nephew of Sigmund Freud, and Bernays accurately described how to manipulate mental networks. One can conclude with certainty that Bernays’ methods were a root of all kinds of inward foulness because the Nazis used Bernays’ principles to market Nazism to the German people.

Looking at financial trading, some futures trading can be justified rationally as locking in the price of some item in order to avoid uncertainty. But when one is holding onto something for a few milliseconds, then one has completely lost sight of any concept of an economic system that brings well-being to people. Using an analogy, high-frequency trading is like driving in a car to some destination and then taking one’s eyes off the scenery in order to fixate upon how the shock absorbers are bouncing up and down as the car travels down the road. Such a fixation has lost sight of the scenery, the destination, and even the car in which one is travelling. Unlike wokeism, high-frequency trading does not deliberately embrace irrational thought. Instead, it gradually wanders away from any contact with the rational facts of reality.

Pierced is used once in the New Testament and means to ‘pierce through’. Sorrow is used twice in the New Testament and means ‘intense emotional pain’. This ‘piercing through’ is being done ‘to themselves’ many times. This summarizes what the marketer is doing, because the marketer is filling his or her mind with the typical consumer’s deepest emotional needs and longings so that these emotions can be manipulated more effectively in order to sell more trinkets and gadgets. And all the marketer receives in return is money.

More generally, I learned from observing my father the mental effects of a mindset that emphasizes economic trade. Stated simply, he lost most of his ability to enjoy things. That is because he felt that items always had to be in movement, making money in some fashion. We went on many trips—for which I am grateful—but we would often drive to some location without making significant stops along the journey. And what my father tended to remember about these trips was the special deals that he had gotten on various items. Even my father’s taste buds were linked to his wallet, because he seemed unable to enjoy a good meal if it cost too much. Going further, my father’s father was a storekeeper, and when I think back about the stories that my father told about his father, there is a similar common thread of being unable to enjoy experiences.

Pursuing Eternal Life 6:11-12

Verse 11 describes a better path. “But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness.” Man is the generic word that means humanity. As far as I can tell, the term ‘man of God’ appears only in this verse and in 2 Timothy 3:17. What one sees far more commonly is a conflict between humans and God. ‘Man of God’ means functioning as a human in a manner that satisfies God in Teacher thought. This is a significant statement. It contradicts a mindset of absolute truth which will feel that it is impossible for humanity to behave in a manner that God finds pleasing. Instead, absolute truth is convinced that one can only be ‘of God’ to the extent that one denies being human. Similarly, following a divinely ordained path will lead to the implicit conclusion that ‘God hates me’. ‘Man of God’ suggests that this training period is now over.

Flee means ‘to flee’ and ‘these things’ would refer to the system of marketing that has been described in the previous section. Pursue means ‘to aggressively chase, like a hunter pursuing a catch’. Thus, one is not simply running away from the system and hiding but rather pursuing another target instead. Looking at this personally, I have tried several times to get papers published in established journals. Writing and posting these papers has been both useful and necessary, and going through the process has been educational. However, I have found the process to be distasteful and have only been marginally successful. ‘Fleeing these things’ is not possible if no other alternative exists. ‘Pursue’ means that an alternative path now exists. A list of adjectives follows which will be interpreted as a sequence.

Righteousness is defined as Server actions that are emotionally guided by a general Teacher understanding. Thus, the first step is to perform Server actions that are guided by Teacher understanding. There is no guarantee that these actions will be successful, but the important thing is to be emotionally guided by integrated Teacher understanding rather than by a Mercy desire to participate or be successful in the economy of ‘loving money’.

Godliness combines ‘well’ and ‘venerate, pay homage’ and has been seen three times in chapter 6. That is because the real struggle at this point is not between people with emotional status but rather between ideologies. An ideology is a collection of cultural and personal MMNs that have been magnified by Teacher thought to create the appearance of an integrated Teacher understanding. Postmodernism claims that all theories are merely ideologies. Mental symmetry suggests that many theories, including the theories of postmodernism and wokeism, are ideologies. ‘Paying homage well’ would mean turning emotionally away from ideologies to legitimate Teacher theories. Instead of venerating fake theories proclaimed by people with emotional status, one venerates real theories. For instance, most Christian theology states various doctrines dogmatically and then declares them to be mysteries based in blind faith in the Bible. Mental symmetry replaces this with a real cognitive theory of theology that uses the structure of the mind to explain Christian doctrines. ‘Pay homage well’ would mean turning away from blind faith to a legitimate Teacher theory of God and theology. This does not mean that theological attempts to analyze Christian doctrine are wrong, but rather that they are incomplete. Similarly, ‘paying homage well’ would mean pursuing greater scientific understanding as opposed to paying lip service to science while actually playing the game of funding and publishing. And it would mean pursuing a global economy that helps the individual as opposed to paying lip service to globalization while actually playing the game of economic domination.

Faith means to ‘be persuaded’. One might think that faith should come earlier on the list, but faith is not just verbal assent and it is not a stubborn insistence. Righteousness ensures that faith goes beyond verbal assent, while godliness gives faith the emotional foundation of a Teacher theory, making it possible to go beyond stubborn insistence.

Love is ‘agape’, which refers to love that is guided by Teacher emotions. Love is expressed by Mercy thought. Agape love is love in Mercy thought that is guided by Teacher feelings of understanding. Agape love takes a Teacher theory of how things work and translates it into a Mercy feeling of well-being and wholeness. When everything functions together in harmony, when all parts of the mind work together, then this will lead to Teacher feelings of order-within-complexity. Agape love regards these Teacher feelings of order-within-complexity from the Mercy perspective of ‘You are experiencing wholeness and well-being’. Such a translation from Teacher to Mercy is only possible if one first follows the previous steps of righteousness, godliness, and faith. Righteousness translates a ‘God about whom one talks’ into a ‘God who behaves within the human world’. Godliness transforms a ‘God that one worships on holy days in holy places’ into a ‘God who is preeminent in all aspects of life’. Faith transforms an emotional respect for universal understanding into rational facts based in universal understanding.

Endurance means ‘remaining under’. One can only ‘remain under’ a situation if one is pursuing an alternate path that requires sticking with the situation. For instance, the only reason that I can ‘remain under’ by continuing to pursue mental symmetry as an individual while society goes insane around me is because I am pursuing the path of breaking through spiritually to another realm. The spiritual realm appears to be governed by the rules of mental networks, and one basic rule is that the mind will only follow a new mental network if it is frustrated from following existing mental networks. Therefore, ‘remaining under’ becomes interpreted as the blocking of existing mental networks that is required for pursuing the mental networks of a better society. Endurance happens after godliness and love because godliness establishes new Teacher mental networks while love establishes new Teacher-guided Mercy mental networks. Endurance allows these new mental networks to guide my behavior.

Gentleness is related to the word for meekness and means ‘gentle strength which expresses power with reserve and gentleness’. Gentleness is only possible to the extent that one becomes emotionally convinced that one is following a path that will lead to success. Otherwise, negative responses from others will trigger mental networks and cause these mental networks to feel threatened, which will express itself as some sort of emotional lashing out. Gentleness goes beyond this ‘fight or flight response’ to recognizing that growing mental networks are vulnerable and need to be treated gently.

Verse 12 talks about fighting. “Fight the good fight of the faith. Lay hold of the eternal life.” Fight means ‘to contend for a prize, struggle’. The second fight is the noun form of this word, which ‘refers to an athletic contest’. Good means ‘attractively good’. And faith means to ‘be persuaded’. Physical warfare is not ‘attractively good’ but rather creates hell on earth. However, there is legitimate honor in being willing to die for one’s principles or carrying out some task under extreme danger. This sense of honor is portrayed well in the Sharpe series of a fictional army officer who rises from the ranks to fight in the Napoleonic wars, because Sharpe usually behaves in a more honorable manner than his fellow officers. But this is still a war in which countless people are maimed and killed. An athletic contest, in contrast, is attractively good because athletes are striving to reach some positive goal rather than attempting to kill each other. And an athletic contest involves a similar honor of training to carry out some task under extreme conditions. However, an athletic contest is still zero-sum because if one person wins, then the others lose. Verse 12 describes a ‘good fight of faith’. This is an internal struggle to gain the ability to think and behave rationally in the presence of strong emotions. Succeeding in this struggle leads to legitimate honor and results in becoming a person who is attractively good. However, this is an internal, personal struggle against mental chaos that many people can win and not just one individual.

Lay hold adds the prefix ‘fitting’ to ‘aggressively take’. Thus, there is initiative, but it is being exhibited in an appropriate manner. Life refers to either natural or spiritual life. Eternal means ‘agelong, eternal’. ‘Eternal’ occurred once previously in 1:16 which talked about ‘believing on Him to eternal life’. ‘Life’ by itself was also used in 4:8 to talk about ‘the present life and also that to come’. Verse 12 goes beyond believing in eternal life and beyond living in the present in a manner that is compatible with the future to aggressively pursuing eternal life. Eternal life is usually portrayed as something that only God can give and some sort of supernatural intervention would be required to change the current situation of living in mortal bodies. However, giving people immortal bodies would not lead to eternal life. Instead, eternal life requires minds that are capable of rationally pursuing long-term wholeness. Thus, the ultimate ‘good fight’ is not to kill opponents in a brave and honorable way but rather to win the internal struggle of becoming a person who is capable of pursuing long-term goals without succumbing to various shortcuts. Applying this to the ‘Timothy’ of a better society, pursuing eternal life implies that there really can be a paradise on earth. However, reaching this paradise requires individuals who have become mentally capable of embracing eternal life.

Verse 12 continues, “To which you were called, and also did confess the good confession before many witnesses.” Called means ‘to call’. In other words, Teacher words are the starting point for following a path to eternal life. A verbal theory in Teacher thought may be insufficient, but it is also the starting point. Confess means ‘to speak the same, to agree’ and is used once in Timothy. ‘Confess’ describes the verbal assertion that is typically regarded as belief because one is verbally agreeing with some statement. Good means ‘attractively good’ and confession is the noun form of the verb ‘confess’. A confession implies making some definitive statement of agreement rather than merely agreeing in passing. Before means ‘before the face of’. Witness means ‘eye- or ear-witness’. Making a ‘confession before many witnesses’ is like the traditional evangelical Christian practice of making a public declaration of faith in Christianity.

Salvation versus Domination 6:13-16

Verse 13 goes beyond this public declaration of faith. “I charge you before God, the One giving life to all things.” Charge has been seen before in 1 Timothy and means to ‘give a command that is fully authorized because it has gone through all the proper channels’. Before is the same word that was used in verse 12. The confession of verse 12 was made ‘before many witnesses’. The charge in verse 13 is being made ‘before the God’. This turns the attention from MMNs of social approval to the TMN of a concept of God. Giving life is used three times in the New Testament and combines ‘life’ with ‘to come into being’. In other words, the TMN of a concept of God is more important than MMNs of societal approval because God can cause life to come into being. This is typically interpreted as God declaring life to exist by speaking divine words of creation, but ‘come into being’ indicates a process that is followed over time. This is not referring to the theory of evolution in which life gradually emerged over time as a result of random processes, because the basic premise of evolution is that the entire process happened apart from God. Instead, God causing life to come into being means that God begins by creating a system of Teacher order that is capable of sustaining life and then guides created beings along a path of cognitive and social development which results in a life that is characterized by the Teacher order-within-complexity of wholeness and well-being.

Verse 13 continues, “And Christ Jesus, the One having testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate.” ‘Good confession’ is the same phrase that was used in verse 12 to talk about making a ‘good confession’. Christ Jesus making a good confession indicates that words in Teacher thought are also the starting point for an integrated concept of incarnation. For instance, science begins by ‘verbally confessing’ that the sequences of nature ‘say the same thing’ as the words of mathematics. But the confession of verse 13 goes beyond the confession of verse 12. In verse 12 both noun and verb used the same word ‘confess’, but in verse 13, a confession is being testified, and testify means ‘eye- or ear-witness’. This can be seen in science which uses the testimony of empirical evidence to make the confession that the physical sequences of nature say the same thing as the equations of mathematics. This equating of the cause-and-effect of concrete technical thought with the precise mathematical definitions of abstract technical thought is key to the integrated (but incomplete) concept of incarnation that drives science and technology.

This confession was made ‘before Pontius Pilate’. Literally speaking, this refers to the trial of Jesus. Quoting from an earlier essay, the name Pilate means ‘skilled with the javelin’, and Pilate was the Roman ruler of Israel during the time of Jesus. A javelin is a weapon thrown through the air. This is cognitively interesting, because the three stages of personal transformation leave the human realm of Mercy experiences, travel through the air of Teacher thought, and then return to the human realm of Mercy experiences. The difference is that when throwing a javelin, only the object travels through the air while the human remains unchanged. In contrast, in the path of personal transformation, the person travels through the ‘air’ and becomes transformed. This similarity of path makes it possible to find partial illustrations of Christianity within science and technology. However, Pilate was a Roman governor, and government uses science and technology to impose force upon people. Similarly, a javelin travels through the air in order to impact people in a forceful manner. Pontius means ‘belonging to the sea’ and only occurs three times in the New Testament. The sea represents the realm of Mercy experiences. Putting this together, Pontius Pilate represents a mindset of using scientific laws and technical thought to function more effectively within the human realm of Mercy experiences and to exert more effective control over other humans.

A good confession before Pontius Pilate would mean holding on to a concept of incarnation that starts with an integrated concept of God in Teacher thought rather than the ‘sea’ of Mercy experiences and which brings well-being to humans rather than merely controlling them more effectively. Testifying before Pontius Pilate implies that this is not just a theoretical comparison between two different approaches but rather is being supported by the witness of personal evidence. In other words, starting from a theory in Teacher thought does not mean ignoring Mercy experiences but rather gives Mercy experiences the supporting role of confirming or refuting theories. Similarly, mental symmetry starts with the diagram of mental symmetry while using empirical evidence to ensure that this theory is developed in a manner that remains consistent with empirical evidence.

Verse 14 turns to a future transition. “For you to keep the commandment, without stain, above reproach, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Keep means ‘to watch over, to guard’ which is interpreted as holding on to certain facts in Perceiver thought. Commandment is used once in Timothy and means ‘injunction, order, command... focusing on the end result of a command’. Without stain means ‘without spot or stain’. Above reproach is only found in 1 Timothy. It means ‘without blame in light of the whole picture’ and was used previously in 3:2 and 5:7. Putting this together, a paradigm shift or regime change goes through two stages. First, the new general Teacher theory is introduced. Second, once the new theory becomes established, then any exceptions to the new theory are eliminated. A ‘commandment’ implies that a new system has now become established that is capable of issuing commands. ‘Without stain’ means that exceptions to the new system are being eliminated. ‘Above reproach’ indicates that there will be accusations against the new system but further investigation will reveal these accusations to be groundless. ‘Keep’ is not in the imperative but rather flows from verse 13. Thus, the new system will naturally be guarded as a result of the testimony before Pontius Pilate’. Stated more carefully, Perceiver thought gains confidence as facts become tested under pressure. The Perceiver confidence that was gained during the process of confession and testifying will also protect the new system as it grows and develops.

Until means ‘as far as, until’. Appearing adds the prefix ‘fitting’ to ‘bring to light, cause to appear’. This appearing is ‘of our Lord Jesus Christ’ which indicates an integrated concept of incarnation. ‘Appearing’ is not the word ‘coming’ that is used to describe the second coming. ‘Light’ indicates the light of Teacher understanding. Thus, ‘appearing’ would describe the appearance of a new Teacher system. This word is only used in 2 Thessalonians, Timothy, and Titus. I am not sure exactly which appearing is being described here. But because the word ‘appearing’ is used rather than ‘coming’, my guess is that it refers to a new economy that will emerge as a result of the second coming.

Verse 15 begins, “Which He will display in the own seasons.” The Greek begins with seasons, which refers to ‘opportune time’ and this word is in the plural. Display means ‘to show’. In the own means ‘uniquely one’s own’. This suggests that it is not possible beforehand to come up with a definitive timeline because various aspects will each arise in their own opportune time. This explains why it is uncertain where ‘appearing’ appears in the prophetic timeline. Saying this more clearly, the type and extent of ‘appearing’ will depend upon the extent to which individuals have gone through the process of laying the foundation for a new system as described in the previous chapters.

This is followed by a list of superlatives which begins in verse 15. “Blessed and alone Sovereign, the King of those being kings, and the Lord of those being lords.” Blessed means to ‘become long, large’ and is used in the Beatitudes of Matthew. ‘Large’ is interpreted as Teacher generality. Therefore, ‘blessed’ means being capable of achieving Teacher generality. For instance, mental symmetry is blessed because it is capable of being used as a meta-theory. Alone is the ‘mono-’ that is used in monotheism. Sovereign is used three times in the New Testament and is related to the word ‘power’ which is interpreted as active Perceiver thought. Humans have strength in Server thought, while angels have power in Perceiver thought. Technology gives power by taking advantage of the laws of nature, but technology does not have the power to change the laws of nature. Thus, ‘alone sovereign’ implies a unique ability to go beyond harnessing the laws of nature to altering the laws of nature in some manner. King means ‘king, sovereign’. ‘King of those being kings’ indicates an indirect form of kingship. For instance, a theory is a form of king because new theories replace old theories. A meta-theory is a ‘king of those being kings’ because it takes existing theories and places them within a larger structure. Similarly, a sovereign who is able to adjust the laws of nature would not overturn science and technology but rather would rule over various domains of science and technology.

Adjusting the laws of nature sounds like magic but I think that something more subtle is being suggested. Using a current example, the White House just directed NASA to come up with a standard for determining time on the moon and on other planets. The problem is that modern computers require very precise clocks in order to interact properly. Because of the laws of relativity, a clock that is on earth would appear to lose 58.7 microseconds a day to a person on the moon. This has nothing to do with the clock itself but is rather because the moon is moving at a different speed than the earth and has a different gravity than the earth. My guess is that adjusting the laws of nature would mean that these sorts of effects would happen on a larger scale that would be noticeable to normal human activity. Lord means ‘a person exercising absolute ownership rights’. ‘Lord of those being lords’ indicates that this is also being exerted indirectly. A king rules over some domain, a lord rules over people and possessions. A king of kings would be able to alter the laws of nature. A lord of lords would be able to influence interaction between people.

The list of superlatives continues in verse 16. “Alone having immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light.” Alone is the same word ‘mono-’ used in verse 15. Having means ‘to have’. Immortality means ‘without death’ and is used three times in the New Testament. The other two references are in 1 Corinthians 15:53-54 which both talk about ‘being clothed with’ immortality. Thus, all three references refer to immortality as something that one has rather than something that one is. This distinction was discussed earlier. Having immortality means having a physical body that does not die. Being immortal means becoming a person with an integrated mind who always thinks and behaves in terms of long-term well-being. Being immortal is the result of following an extensive process of personal transformation. Having immortality means having a body that does not die. ‘Alone having immortality’ means being the only source of a body that does not die. A meta-theory illustrates what it means to have a body that does not die, because a paradigm shift will merely illustrate another facet of the same meta-theory. For example, mental symmetry can be used to analyze current society, previous societies that were governed by older paradigms, and future societies being prophesied in the Bible that will be governed by new paradigms.

Dwelling means ‘to make a home’. Light means ‘light’ and is only used once in Timothy. Unapproachable is used once in the New Testament and combines ‘not’ with ‘toward’ and ‘to go’. Physically speaking, light is pure energy that travels at the speed of light. Only light travels at the speed of light and a particle that has mass is not capable of traveling at the speed of light. Cognitively speaking, this means being at home within a level of Teacher generality and understanding that others are incapable of approaching. This describes the essence of a meta-theory that functions at a level of generality that transcends specific theories.

Verse 16 finishes, “Whom no one of men has seen nor is able to see, to whom be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.” Seen means ‘to see with the mind’. The only other occurrence of this common word in 1 Timothy was in 3:16 which talked about being ‘seen by angels’. Men is the generic word for mankind. Cognitively speaking, the technical thinking of humanity can come up with specific paradigms of technical thought but is incapable of fully grasping the nature of a meta-theory that integrates various paradigms. This sounds like a strong statement, but that has been my experience after extensive attempts to interact with theology and academia. This does not mean that the human mind is incapable of grasping a meta-theory, but rather that one can only mentally comprehend a meta-theory to the extent that one lets go of the mindset of humanity that starts with specific experiences and empirical evidence. Able means ‘to have power’ which refers to active Perceiver thought. Abstract technical thought uses Perceiver thought in an active way to extend technical paradigms that have been gathered by examining empirical evidence. For instance, physical reality occurs within three-dimensional space. Abstract technical thought expands the concept of three-dimensional physical space to come up with multi-dimensional space. Verse 16 is saying that one cannot arrive at a meta-theory by merely using abstract technical thought to generalize the paradigms of humanity.

I am not suggesting that these superlatives have only a cognitive interpretation. However, I am suggesting that even if they are divine attributes, they still are not just vague, poetic superlatives but rather are terms that can be given precise definitions by looking at analogous situations within the mind.

False versus True Security 6:17-19

Verse 17 turns to the rich. “Instruct the rich in the present age not to be high-minded, nor to have hope in the uncertainty of riches.” Instruct is in the imperative and means to ‘give a command that is fully authorized because it is gone through all the proper channels’. Rich means ‘fully resourced, rich’ and could refer to either material or intellectual wealth. ‘In the present age’ indicates the current materialistic system where the ‘Lord Jesus Christ’ has not started to tweak the laws of nature and the laws of the mind. Again, I think that this tweaking would involve emphasizing certain aspects of the law as opposed to actually changing the laws, similar to the way that gravity warps the fabric of space-time. In a similar manner, the rich in current society warp the ‘social fabric’ of laws and government to tilt in their favor. High-minded is used once in the New Testament and combines ‘high’ with ‘the parts around the heart’. ‘High’ interpreted as Teacher generality. ‘High-minded’ would mean taking my gut feelings and regarding them as general within Teacher thought. This describes the primary way in which the elite currently warp the legal and economic system. This warping is not usually done for logical or rational reasons. Instead, it tends to be guided by the gut feelings of the elite. Gut feelings are not necessarily bad or wrong. The goal of personal transformation is to transform personal identity to the extent of changing gut feelings. However, the gut feelings of the current elite are based in the assumption of living within physical bodies in a materialistic world.

Hope refers to an internal motivation for Exhorter thought. In is more accurately ‘upon’. Riches is related to ‘rich’ and means ‘much in number, quantity’. Uncertain is used once as a noun in the New Testament. It combines ‘not’ with ‘self-evident’ and means ‘indefinite, uncertain; not evident, unrecognized’. Mental symmetry looks for connections that are definite and certain. ‘Uncertain riches’ means trying to generate this sort of certainty by taking connections that are uncertain and then replicating these connections. Instead of looking for facts that are really solid and then building upon these facts, the assumption is that stability can be achieved by gathering enough uncertain facts.

For instance, this assumption caused the subprime mortgage crisis of 2008 that led to a global financial crisis. A subprime mortgage is a housing mortgage given to those who have low credit scores and are at greater risk of defaulting on their loans. Mortgage-backed securities claimed that financial security could be achieved by bundling together many subprime mortgages into a single package. In other words, if enough unsafe investments were gathered together, then the combination could be treated as a safe investment. This assumption failed when an economic crisis affected all of the unsafe investments. Verse 17 is describing something similar.

Verse 17 continues, “But on God, the One richly providing us all things for enjoyment.” On is the same ‘upon’ that was used earlier. ‘Upon God’ means building upon universal principles in Teacher thought that remain the same even when global crises happen. Provide means to ‘have close beside’ which refers to the realm of having that is close to the realm of being. Richly means ‘much in quantity’. Notice the change in direction. A human mindset attempts to discover Teacher universality by starting from the empirical evidence of human material experience. Similarly, a human mindset attempts to acquire security by gathering more insecure material. A mindset that builds ‘upon God’ begins with universality in Teacher thought, recognizing that building upon universal principles will, by definition, lead to results that are ‘much in quantity’. But building upon God requires going beyond the mere ‘having’ of materialism to the deeper realm of ‘being’. All things means ‘each part of a totality’ which means that this is not just a vague generalization but rather a general principle that actually applies to many different contexts. Enjoyment is used twice in the New Testament and combines ‘away from’ with ‘enjoy’. It is preceded by ‘to, into’. Thus, the providing is ‘to away from enjoy’. This combination suggests an indirect result. The providing isn’t generating the enjoyment itself and it also isn’t directly enabling the enjoyment. Instead, the providing heads toward the ability to be guided by enjoyment. Saying this another way, an integrated Teacher understanding of how things work makes it possible to approach the experiences of life from a long-term perspective that leads to lasting enjoyment. Using the analogy of teaching a person to fish, it does not provide fish or fishing gear. Instead, it teaches a person how to fish, how to construct fishing gear, and how to recognize lakes that contain fish.

Verse 18 adds, “To do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous in distributing, ready to share.” Do good is used twice in the New Testament and combines ‘intrinsically good’ with ‘a deed that carries out an inner desire’. ‘Uncertainty’ built upon Perceiver principles that were not solid. ‘Doing good’ pursues goals in Mercy thought that are intrinsically good guided by internal motivation. Looking at this more carefully, when I go through a paradigm shift then one thing that survives the paradigm shift is me and my mind. If I do not survive the paradigm shift then what I will experience is not a paradigm shift but rather personal annihilation. Thus, reaching eternal life starts by becoming a person who is able to head rationally in the direction of long-term enjoyment. Developing such a mind means becoming internally motivated to pursue goals that are intrinsically good.

Rich means ‘having many resources’. In is ‘in the realm of’ and work means ‘a deed that carries out an inner desire’. Good in this case means ‘attractively good’. Note that the ‘attractive goodness’ happens after the ‘intrinsic goodness’. One starts by being internally motivated to pursue intrinsic goodness. This then expands to a multiplicity of attractive goodness. This order ensures that the attractive goodness remains internally motivated. Otherwise, one will become tempted to pursue appearance over substance by marketing items and services that appear good but are not intrinsically good.

For instance, many articles now complain that Google search has become worse. Google search was developed to provide the intrinsically good service of making it easier to find information on the Internet. However, many sites now deliberately structure themselves in order to appear more significant on Google search. The result is that it is harder to find useful information on Google search. Notice how attempting to be ‘attractively good’ to Google search is overwhelming the ability to find websites that are intrinsically good. That is because the primary goal of these sites is to make money rather than to add to the body of knowledge on the Internet. This is another example of the ‘love of money’ being a root of ‘inward foulness’.

Generous in distributing is found at once in the New Testament and combines ‘well’ with to ‘give over, impart’. This principle can also be seen on the Internet. The Internet connects many computers together. Most computer programs that are used on the Internet become useful to the extent that they are used by many people. For instance, it is useless for me to have a messaging app if no one else has the same app. That is like being the only one with a telephone. What is the point of having a telephone if there is no one to call? Instead, telephones, messaging apps, and social media become useful to the extent that many people use the same program. Thus, developing such a program will involve extensive ‘giving over and imparting’ in order to reach a critical mass of users. When a program meets an intrinsic need in an attractively good manner, then it is possible to ‘give over and impart well’. However, if this program does not meet a legitimate need in an attractive manner, then various tricks will have to be used to ensure that people are forced to continue using this program. That is an example of ‘giving over and imparting’ that is not ‘well’. This is the only item in the list that is preceded by the verb ‘to be’ suggesting that this characteristic proceeds naturally from personal character. For instance, the motto of Google used to be ‘don’t be evil’. This was changed to ‘do the right thing’ when Google was reorganized as Alphabet in 2015. The old model addressed moral character at the level of being, while the new motto applies more peripherally to doing and having.

Ready to share appears only once in the New Testament and means ‘ready to partner with’. The modern global economy also provides an example of this principle. A fundamental premise of the modern economy is that devices made by company A will interact properly with devices made by company B. Looking at two obvious examples, every room in a modern house contains many electric plugs that deliver standard voltages through standard plugs. Similarly, all cars and trucks can be driven on the same highways using similar controls. Such standards are a reflection of being ‘ready to partner with’. Apple Computer, in contrast, follows a limited version of this known as ‘the walled garden’. Apple devices partner readily with Apple devices, but Apple deliberately makes it difficult for devices made by other companies to interact with Apple devices.

Verse 19 looks to the future. “Treasuring up for themselves a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is indeed life.” Treasuring up is used once in the New Testament and adds the prefix ‘away from’ to ‘put away, store up’. This is ‘for themselves’. ‘Storing up away from for themselves’ gives the impression that one is hoarding wealth. However, verse 18 described the exact opposite of hoarding, which was being generous in distributing and ready to share. But what is being ‘treasured up’ is ‘a good foundation for the future’. Foundation means ‘belonging to the foundation’ and good means ‘attractively good’. Future means ‘at the very point of acting’. Verse 19 is describing the principle of getting in on the ground floor. Imagine, for instance, if one had bought stock in Apple Computer when it was still a small company, or mined bitcoins when they were first introduced. Something similar but much more worthwhile would happen if one prepared for a new and better society. The challenge is to get in on the ground floor while the new economy is still in its infancy.

Take hold of adds the prefix ‘fitting’ to ‘aggressively take’ and was used in verse 12 to talk about laying hold of eternal life. That which is indeed is a version of ‘to be’ and life refers to both natural and spiritual life. Thus, the goal is to look beyond current versions of global ‘having’ that give the appearance of life to actual life that is based in ‘being’.

Avoid Mysticism 6:20-21

Verse 20 is addressed to Timothy. “O Timothy, guard the deposit committed to you, avoiding profane, empty babblings, and opposing arguments falsely called knowledge.” Timothy means ‘value of God’ and has been interpreted as a global economy based upon lasting value. Paul has said a lot to Timothy but the last time that the name Timothy was used was back in 1:18. Guard means ‘preserve by having an eye on’ and was seen in 5:21. Deposit committed means ‘to place beside’ and was used as a verb in 1:18. Paul went through a personal process of developing and submitting to an integrated concept of God. Paul noticed in 1:18 that these same principles could be used to build a better economy and Paul is telling Timothy in verse 20 to guard these cognitive principles.

Avoid means ‘to turn away’. 5:15 talked about those turning away to follow Satan, referring to the antagonistic approach taken by wokeism. In verse 20, Timothy is being instructed to turn away. Profane means ‘crossing a threshold which profanes because of improper entrance’ and was used in 4:7 to describe studying myths in a way that does not respect authority. Empty babbling combines ‘empty’ and ‘voice, sound’. This goes beyond studying myths in a way that does not respect Mercy significance to verbal noise that lacks any Teacher meaning. Opposing arguments is used once in the New Testament and combines ‘opposite’ with ‘to place, lay, set’. This does not describe arguing but rather a form of thinking that treats opposing Perceiver principles as fundamental. Falsely called is used once in the New Testament and combines ‘lying, false’ with ‘name’. A name describes the character of something or someone in Teacher thought. A ‘false name’ refers to a Teacher label that is a lie. The word knowledge is used once in Timothy and refers to experiential knowledge.

The terms of verse 20 describe modern mysticism. Mysticism crosses fundamental thresholds by identifying personally with God in some manner. A finite human is not the infinite God and anyone who equates these two is making an ‘improper entrance that profanes’. Empty babbling is a fundamental characteristic of mysticism because one is filling Teacher thought with repetitive sounds and experiences that have no meaning. The basic premise of modern mysticism is that existence is fundamentally a paradox in which the Perceiver facts of reality are countered by the Perceiver ‘facts’ of transcendent union with God. Mysticism is also ‘falsely called’ because it claims that nothing can be said about ultimate reality and then spews an endless stream of words about this ultimate reality. Finally, mysticism claims to be based in an alternate knowing of experiential knowledge. But mysticism is actually a mental glitch that can be triggered by drugs such as LSD and psilocybin. I have come to the conclusion that mysticism has to be avoided if one wishes to follow an integrated concept of God and incarnation. That is because Perceiver thought cannot be simultaneously functioning and disabled. Constructing a ‘Timothy’ requires functional Perceiver thought, while mysticism demands that Perceiver thought be disabled.

Verse 21 adds, “Which some professing, have gone astray from the faith.” Professing adds ‘fitting’ to ‘announce’ and was used in 2:10 to talk about developing the mental networks of female thought in an appropriate manner. In verse 21, people are claiming that mysticism develops the mental networks of female thought in an appropriate manner. But in fact they have gone astray from the faith. Faith means to ‘be persuaded’ and astray adds the prefix ‘not’ to ‘target’. This word was used in 1:6 describe studying religious and societal mental networks in an objective manner. Studying emotional topics in an objective manner eliminates the very concept of a target. Similarly, mysticism replaces the target of rational thought with no target. The goal of mysticism is not to gain knowledge or to build a body of understanding but rather to empty the mind.

Verse 21 finishes, “Grace be with you all.” Grace is one of several related Greek words that all refer to help from God in Teacher thought. You all is ‘you’ in the plural. Mystical experiences convey the impression of encountering God but a God of mysticism cannot affect human existence in any meaningful manner, because mysticism is based upon the assumption that a concept of God in Teacher thought transcends all rational content. Paul finishes in verse 21 by referring to a concept of God that is capable of helping people.