Test what you've learned

To stimulate your thinking about how your Master System works, let me ask you a few provocative questions that should open the floodgates of your thought and help you to identify how different portions of your system are used to make decisions.

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING FOUR QUESTIONS BEFORE YOU READ ON:

1. What is your most treasured memory?

2. If you could end world hunger today by killing one innocent person, would you? Why or why not?

3. If you bumped a red Porsche and scratched it, and no one was around, would you leave a note? Why or why not?

4. If you could earn $10, 000 for eating a bowlful of live cockroaches, would you? Why or why not?

Now let's review how you answered each of these questions. As you look at the diagram of your Master System, which of the five areas of evaluation did you use to answer the first question? Certainly you asked a question of yourself in order to begin to evaluate—you probably repeated the question I asked. The answer, though, was retrieved from your references, wasn't it? You picked through the myriad experiences you've had in your life, and finally selected one as your most treasured memory. Or maybe you failed to select one because you have a belief that says, " All experiences of life are treasured" or " Selecting one over another will be denigrating to some other life experience." Those beliefs would prevent you from answering the question. You see, our Master System of evaluation not only determines what we evaluate and how we evaluate, but even what we're willing to evaluate.

Let's review the second question, one that is more intense and which I read in The Book of Questions: If you could end world hunger today by killing one innocent person, would you? When I ask people this question, I usually get a rather intense set of answers. Some people say, " Absolutely, " their rationale being that the lives of the many outweigh the life of an individual. The way they see it, if one person were willing to suffer, and it would end all suffering on earth, the end would justify the means. Others are aghast[114] at this thought. They believe every human life is valuable. That's also based on a set of

beliefs, isn't it? Others have a global belief that everything in life is exactly as it should be, and that all these people who are starving are getting invaluable lessons for their next incarnation. And some people say, " Yes, I would do it, but I'd take my own life." It's interesting how individuals respond with such varying reactions to the same question based on which of the five elements of evaluation they use and the content they've stored.

How about the third question: If you bumped a red Porsche and scratched it, and no one was around, would you leave a note? Some people would say, " Absolutely." Why? Their highest value is honesty. Other people say, " Absolutely, " but the reason they would do it is that one of the things they avoid most in the world is guilt. Not leaving a note would make them feel guilty, and that's too painful. Others will say, " I wouldn't leave a note, " and when asked why they'll say, " Well, it's happened to me several times, and nobody left me a note." So they're saying they have personal references that made them develop the belief, " Do unto others as they've done unto you."

Here's the fourth question: If you could earn $10, 000 for eating a bowlful of live cockroaches, would you? Invariably I get very few affirmative responses. Why? Most people's references for cockroaches the images and sensations that they've stored in their bodies—are intensely negative. Certainly cockroaches are not something they'd want to put in their systems. But then I raise the ante: How many of you would do it for $100, 000? Gradually there is a shift in the room as people begin to raise their hands who previously had said no. Why will they suddenly do it for $100, 000? Well, what happened to their evaluation system? Two things: I asked a different question by changing one word, and second, they have a belief that $100, 000 could eliminate a lot of pain in their lives, maybe some of the long-term pain that would be more difficult to deal with than the short-term pain of live cockroaches squiggling down their throats.

How about $1 million? How about $10 million? Suddenly the majority of the people in the room are raising their hands. They believe the long-term pleasure that the $10 million would allow them to give to themselves and others would far outweigh the short-term pain. Still, some people would not eat live cockroaches for any amount of money.

When asked why not, they say things like " I could never kill a living thing" or " What goes around comes around." Other people say, " I kill cockroaches all the time, just because they're in my way! " One man even said he could eat them easily, and that he would do it for fun, not the money! Why? The reason is that he grew up in a country where cockroaches and other insects are considered a delicacy. Different people have different references and different ways of evaluating things—interesting,

isn't it?