In the beginning...
...when Gracies Dinnertime Theatre was nothing more than a catchy name for a hypothetical radio show, Robert MacKay shared an idea that has since grown very dear to me: the God file. Those of you who actually read the issues we printed for "Religious Marathon Week" last year may remember the concept. Well, as an introduction to various theological musings, here's a shortened, revised version. Enjoy.
In recent years there have been a deluge of self-help books dedicated to the concept of positive thinking. "Think yourself rich", "Think yourself to a better career." You get the idea.
The problem with all these books is the authors have simply cashed in on a very old concept. What the books call "positive thinking", religions call "prayer" and children call "wishing." They're all examples of the same phenomena.
The human mind, you see, is set up sort of like the desktop of a Macintosh computer (or maybe an IBM compatible running Windows '95... minus all the backward compatibility problems), with all the cutesy little icons representing rather complicated programs. That's how we think. We think in terms of abstract images which go together to make bigger, even more abstract ideas. One of the many programs that each human desktop comes installed with (including Instinct 7.5, which includes the same features as Instinct 1 through 7: Eat, Sleep, Run-When-Scared-Or-Punch-It, and Mating...though Instinct 7.5 lets the user multitask) is The God File.
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The God File is more like a program than a file, and it has many names; God, Jehovah, Brahmin, Allah, Santa Claus, whatever you may address your wishful thinking to. The God File is tied in with all of your subconscious inits that you have running all the time. Freud called them the super-ego. I don't think that there is a human alive that can justify everything they do all the time, and that's because of all the stuff we have running in the background. Little things we picked up as children which we aren't even aware of.
Anyway, The God File alters your everyday actions in subtle ways, according to whatever was sent to The God File. Let's say, for instance, you really wanted to do well on a test. That desire would be sent to The God File, which would alter your subconscious behavior and make you want to study more. "God helps those who help themselves."
Unfortunately, The God File can not distinguish between "good" and "bad" wishes. This is the "power of negative thinking." Every time you think badly about yourself, that concept is sent to The God File, which then does its job. Your behavior is altered so you really do act like a loser; its a self fulfilling prophesy.
On top of all this, everyone's God File is linked together. Not only is your behavior being altered in minor ways to help you achieve the goal you have sent to your own God File, other people's behavior is also altered to help you achieve your goal.
What this all boils down to is what the self-help books have been saying: it's all in your hands. If you want a life of depression and misery, go ahead and think about one. Think of the worst one you can...because it will come true; you'll make it come true. If, however, you want a life full of joy and childhood whimsy, think humorous thoughts, learn not to take things so seriously.
No one intentionally buys a faulty product, so why choose to live a shitty life?
Do you have a theological topic you'd like to discuss or simply have some thoughts on God? Send them to The God File c/o: diablo/gdt@ritvax.rit.edu
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