Mental Symmetry Forum

I was recently watching a series of videos by Elvira Bary on the Russian mentality when I realized that there is a cognitive symmetry between Protestantism and communism. Stated briefly, the essence of Martin Luther’s message was ‘salvation by faith alone’, while the essence of Marxism is ‘salvation by works alone’. I should add that I come from a Mennonite background which teaches that ‘faith works’. Using the language of mental symmetry, one starts by using Perceiver thought to internally construct a concept of God in Teacher thought. This is then followed by using Server thought to act in a righteous manner that is emotionally guided by this concept of God.

Looking at this parallel more carefully, both Protestantism and communism proclaim that following some Teacher theory will lead to salvation and paradise. Protestantism states that using Perceiver thought to believe in the message of the Bible will lead to an internal revolution of justification and that believers who use Perceiver thought to submit internally to the kingdom of God will be rewarded by going to heaven. Luther added that the believer must also recognize that Server actions do not lead to heaven; salvation is not ‘by works’.

Communism states that using Server thought to follow the message of Marxism will lead to an external revolution of seizing the means of production and that workers who use Server thought to submit externally to the central plan of the communist party will be rewarded by entering a worker’s paradise. Marx added that the worker must also recognize that Perceiver facts of private property, individuality, and the rule of law do not lead to worker’s paradise; salvation is not ‘by faith’.

As I was exploring this parallel, I realized that a further parallel can be made between Pentecostalism and Chinese communism.

I do not think that I would have written this essay a year ago. However, with American evangelical Christendom continuing to support Donald Trump, and Donald Trump brazenly heading towards dictatorship and openly admiring Vladimir Putin, it is time to analyze this parallel.

The 39 page essay can be found here.

I did a cognitive/historical analysis of the Gospel of Luke in 2023. That analysis stopped at chapter 12 because it corresponds to the present time. I recently realized that I could take this analysis further, and so I have posted a 90 page essay on Luke 13-15.

These chapters describe the sort of reaction that mental symmetry has received from secular academia as well as from evangelical Christendom. Chapter 14 ends with this question, “If even the salt becomes tasteless, with what will it be seasoned?” But the Greek literally says, ‘If the salt becomes moronic, in the realm of what will it be lifted up?’ Conservative Christianity has acted as a salt that has helped to preserve modern society from decay. However, those who used to act as salt have increasingly turned into morons. When evangelical Christendom descends to this level, then how can it be lifted back up?

The parable of the prodigal son in chapter 15 (which only appears in Luke) answers this question by suggesting that a cognitive reformulation of Christianity will enable the ‘prodigal son’ of materialistic science to return to the ‘father’ of Western Christendom, leading to jealousy from the ‘older son’ of religious scholasticism.

Timothy Snyder is a professor of history at Yale University. He speaks five and reads ten European languages. His specialization is Eastern European history and the Holocaust. I learned about him recently as one of three scholars who will be teaching at the Munk School in the University of Toronto in response to policies instituted by Donald Trump.

Timothy Snyder has written a book entitled On Tyranny which describes how one should respond to growing fascism. He has also posted twenty short videos about this book on YouTube. A 65 page essay has been uploaded which analyzes those videos in the light of mental symmetry.

Snyder’s statements are insightful and highly relevant. However, one can tell that Snyder is writing as a historian and not as a psychologist. He focuses upon describing the personal and political behavior that leads towards tyranny and fascism while spending less time examining the mindset that drives this behavior. The essay that I have posted uses mental symmetry to provide a cognitive explanation for the physical behavior that Snyder is describing.

Snyder also lacks a general Teacher theory within which to place his carefully researched statements. Instead, he keeps returning to the concept of ‘one person one vote’. The right to vote is fundamental, but what is even more fundamental is being able to choose between good political candidates. Being able to vote will not lead away from tyranny if all the candidates are promoting some form of tyranny. Cognitively speaking, the concept of ‘one person one vote’ is a Teacher overgeneralization: it is a sweeping statement that ignores factual details. An overgeneralization will generate the feeling of having a general Teacher theory, but it lacks the substance of a genuine Teacher theory.

Summarizing, I suggest that Snyder accurately describes the personal and political behavior that leads toward tyranny. Thus, On Tyranny is definitely worth reading and studying. But he describes external behavior as a historian rather than examining internal motivation as a psychologist. And the Teacher theory that he uses to bring unity to his descriptions is inadequate.

In 2019 I wrote an 85 page academic paper that maps mental symmetry in detail onto neurology. I just did a search of recent neurology papers to see what has been discovered since then. There are some minor updates but the only correction is that the 2019 paper refers to the orbitofrontal cortex as the location for mental networks, but evidence suggests that specific emotional memories are stored in the orbitofrontal cortex while mental networks are stored just above in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex.

I have uploaded a 20 page essay that summarizes the updated neurology. The essay discusses the vlPFC, dlPFC, vmPFC, pgACC, NAcc, and striosomes. If you want to know what these acronyms mean, then read the essay.

A friend recently gave me a copy of We Who Wrestle with God by Jordan B. Peterson. This 505 page book goes from the Garden of Eden through the patriarchs to the Israelites approaching the promised land, with a bonus chapter on Jonah.

There is a substantial overlap between Peterson’s analogical myth-based interpretation of the Bible and the cognitive-symbolic method used by mental symmetry. In fact, this is the first book I have encountered with such extensive overlap. Peterson also discusses many important topics that I have examined using mental symmetry. Thus, I have written a 160 page essay that takes a detailed look at what Peterson says in his book.

I suggest that Peterson’s book suffers from two systemic limitations: 1) He lacks the starting point of a cognitive theory and thus must begin with the less rigorous and more concrete foundation of myth and psychological experience. One byproduct is that he respects the biblical text but occasionally lacks precision in his treatment of the text. 2) He uses the analogies of normal thought to stretch forward from technical thought to include the subjective and universal realm of mental networks, but he does not recognize normal thought and mental networks as independent modes of thought. One byproduct of this is an inadequate concept of the ideal woman as mother-and-child. Mental symmetry, in contrast, views the ideal woman as the integration of TMNs of universal beauty and order with MMNs of sensitivity and nurture.

The 160 page essay can be found here.

The epistle of James suddenly made sense when I realized that it was not a prophecy about our future but rather a detailed prophecy of Protestantism, which occurred in our past. In all the other biblical books that I have analyzed prophetically, we are currently in the middle of the book. However, we currently appear to be in the last four verses of James, and these final verses talk about a major transition happening. Thus, it is imperative to analyze this epistle.

James starts with the Waldensians, looks at the mendicant orders, and then discusses the Renaissance and its corrupt papacy. The theology of Martin Luther and other Protestant movements are analyzed as well as the religious wars that followed. This is followed by the Enlightenment, Methodism, and Victorian morality, liberalism, and prosperity. The two World Wars are then mentioned, followed by post-war recovery and ending with the charismatic movement.

While James discusses the cognitive impact of these wars, it does not explicitly predict that wars will happen, implying that God is not the author of evil. Instead, it appears that the passages that were fulfilled as wars could have been fulfilled in a less destructive manner.

The 160 page essay can be found here.

Revelation was the first biblical book that I analyzed from a cognitive perspective back in 2016. I was reading the story of the Woman and the Dragon in chapter 12 and it suddenly made cognitive sense. That essay looked at chapters 4-22 while a follow-on essay examined chapters 10-21. These first two essays were both rather limited, but they still represented a major breakthrough in the understanding of Revelation. In 2021, I re-analyzed chapters 4-11 as a detailed prophetic outline of Western history. Ironically, I could not make sense of the seven letters to the churches, which are traditionally interpreted as a prophetic outline of Western history.

These seven letters now make sense, and I have posted a 75 page essay that interprets Revelation 2-3 in detail as a historic and prophetic sequence, guided by the theory of mental symmetry. This essay proposes the following correspondence: Ephesus is the Roman Era, Smyrna is the Medieval era, Pergamum is the Renaissance era, Thyatira is the current scientific era which is now coming to an end, Sardis is the next era in which existing science and technology will be spiritually enhanced, Philadelphia will rebuild society from a spiritual foundation, and Laodicea describes a future uber-consumer society that will trade in spiritual and genetic enhancements.

The discussion of the first four letters quotes heavily from Wikipedia. Unfortunately, it is not possible to quote from Wikipedia when discussing the last three letters because Wikipedia neglects to include any articles about the future. However, it is still possible to gain an understanding of what the future might be like by looking at similar situations in the past. For instance, one can imagine what the uber-consumer society of Laodicea might be like by looking at characteristics of today’s consumer society. It is also possible to compare these letters with what other New Testament books say about these final three societies. I think that the final era will either be followed by or culminate in the Millennium of Revelation 20.

The 75 page essay can be found here.

2 Corinthians 7:13 refers to ‘the Titus joy’. Looking at this literally, Paul was happy to see the joy of Titus. Symbolically, Titus means ‘honorable’ and joy refers to Teacher emotion. The end of 2 Corinthians 6 describes a new intimate relationship between God in Teacher thought and humanity in Mercy thought. ‘The Titus joy’ gives the impression that a new form of honorable Teacher emotion is being experienced.

The epistle of Titus makes sense when interpreted as a new kind of society that emerges from a new set of ‘honorable’ mental networks that have been transformed by the Teacher mental network of an integrated understanding. 1 Timothy was interpreted as a revitalized global economy in which transformed mental networks are added to the existing economy. Titus appears to be describing something that goes beyond the revitalization of Timothy to a new spiritual economy emerging out of transformed mental networks. This more extensive transformation is also reflected in the list of qualifications in Titus for so-called elders and deacons, which has a more personal and emotional flavor than the list of qualifications given in 1 Timothy.

The final chapter of Titus appears to be describing the interaction between human society and non-human intelligent beings.

A 45 page essay on Titus has been posted.

My previous essay was on 1 Thessalonians where Paul talks repeatedly about wanting to visit Timothy. The name Timothy combines ‘value’ and ‘God’. Value is a core concept of economic thought and a concept of God emerges when a sufficiently general theory applies to personal identity. Therefore, Timothy would represent a global economy guided by universal concepts of value. And Paul wanting to visit Timothy would presumably represent a desire to apply the insights of Paul the apostle to the economy.

Applying this to current society, we live in a global economy that is driven by an inadequate sense of value. Mental symmetry examines lasting value in the light of personal transformation and mental wholeness. The current global economy desperately needs a ‘visit’ from an integrated theory of lasting value.

1 Timothy makes sense when analyzed from this perspective. It describes the development of today’s technical world with its excessive regulations as well as looking at Paul’s path of personal transformation. The rise of wokeism is also outlined in considerable detail. The principles of Paul are then applied to the economy, leading to a transformation of mental networks of society which is followed by an escape from today’s system of servitude to a global elite.

1 Timothy also discusses so-called overseers and deacons. The word overseer actually means ‘looking intently in a fitting manner’ which describes some form of research or development, and the list of qualifications given in 1 Timothy makes sense when interpreted from that perspective. Going further, an academic book that did “an exhaustive study of diakonia in Christian and non-Christian sources from about 200 BCE to 200 CE [found] 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.” Thus, deacon refers more accurately to advertising or marketing and the list of qualifications given in 1 Timothy makes sense when interpreted from that perspective.

A 110 page essay on 1 Timothy has been posted.

I wrote a brief essay on 1 Thessalonians back in 2016 when I was just starting to analyze biblical books. This epistle needs to be analyzed more carefully because chapter 4 contains the classical passage on the Rapture and that topic is very relevant today considering that much of evangelical Christianity has gone into apocalyptic mode. The result is a 60 page essay that places the verses on the Rapture within the context of the entire epistle.

The verse that describes the second coming in 4:16 outlines four stages: First, there is a voice of authority. Second, this voice is revealed to have great generality in Teacher thought. Third, the Teacher generality descends from the heaven of Teacher thought to impose itself upon human reality. Fourth, a new elite class of humans emerges who are familiar with this Teacher theory.

Four similar stages can be seen in a communist revolution: First, there is a new voice of political authority. Second, this political voice claims to be supported by the theory of Marxism. Third, the theory of Marxism descends from the heaven of political theory to impose itself upon human institutions and daily life. Fourth, a new class of party members emerges who are familiar with the theory of Marxism.

Alien disclosure would also follow the same four stages: First, aliens would reveal themselves as a voice of authority. Second, it would become apparent that aliens (and angels) live within a realm that is characterized by Teacher thought. Third, aliens would use psychic powers to impose their will upon humanity and human society. Fourth, a new class of humans abductees would emerge who were familiar with alien thought and practice.

I REALLY do not want this passage to be fulfilled either as a version of communism or as an alien disclosure. That is because neither Communist Party member nor aliens grasp what is required for human well-being. It is also becoming increasingly clear that evangelical Christianity has an inadequate grasp of what is required for human well-being. Therefore, I have been developing mental symmetry as a general Teacher theory of human well-being in order to search for a nicer way of fulfilling this passage.

1 Thessalonians is the only epistle where the author ‘adjures by the Lord’ (in 5:27) to have the letter read. I think that this is because 1 Thessalonians describes the process of going from apostle to fellow believer, from legislator to fellow citizen. Preaching some message, such as the message of the Rapture, does not guarantee that one will be able to enjoy the benefits of this message. Paul mentions this in 1 Corinthians 9:27. Instead, an apostle, legislator, or preacher has to go through a long and painful process of becoming small (the name Paul means ‘small’), experiencing personal rejection, and waiting until others apply the message, before finally being able to enjoy the fruit of the message along with others. Similarly, I would dearly love to live within a society that is guided by mental symmetry, not because that would make me and my theory well-known, but rather because I have become convinced that mental symmetry really does summarize key principles for maximizing human well-being.