Guard your children. Weigh wisdom of intervention if such is possible. Ponder question of inevitability. Facts are the only reality and only knowledge possible is the knowledge of facts, which consists in placing one fact in relation to others either immediately or by means of those mental formations that constitute ideas, categories, and principles. When these relations are established, the fact is explained. Science, therefore, is the only kind of knowledge possible; and philosophy itself is a science that, like all other sciences uses induction and does not have at its disposal privileged principles or procedures. Metaphysics, which claims to start from principles independent of facts and to use deduction, is a fictitious science. Yet philosophy is not just a synthetic discipline. On the one hand, it is a complex of special disciplines that is left after the natural sciences have gone their way. As such, it encompasses the disciplines that are concerned with the phenomena of thought and finds articulation in two spheres: psychology, which includes logic, gnosis (epistemology), and aesthetics; and sociology, which includes ethics, dikeika (doctrine of justice or of law), and economics. Other the other hand, to philosophy belongs the field of the indistinct, which lies outside the realm of the distinct, which constitutes the object of the individual sciences (matter, for physics; life, for biology; society, for sociology mind, for psychology, etc.). #RandolphHarris 1 of 13

This realm of the indistinct constitutes the unique and common origin of all the realms of the distinct, and it is the object of philosophy as peratology. Peratology is the study of the indistinct which lies outside the subject matter of science, the distinct. The indistinct in the philosophy are distinguished from the unknowable in that the indistinct is not that which is not known but that which is not yet known distinctly. It is a relative concept, because the distinct that emerges from some knowledge is in its turn indistinct with respect to further knowledge insofar as it is that which produces, solicits, and explains that knowledge. This indistinct-distinct relationship is used to explain the natural formation of every known reality. We can also have widely different attitudes toward our (self-)constructed Worlds, investing them with different kinds of pathos: for example, we can regard them either with various degrees of satisfaction and pride, as the biblical God did at the beginning of the Book of Genesis, we may either reshuffle them or turn away from them altogether and construct other Worlds that are incommensurable with the first ones. We can continue to affirm life while acknowledging that unrestricted population growth can put women, children and men at risk. Mass starvation and other calamities are going to be the result of overpopulation. The prospect of billions more people threaten the future healthy and well-being of many. #RandolphHarris 2 of 13

The World’s population is approaching eight billion, and that is twice as high as many experts believe it should be. The number of people making demands on you and your resources is increasing at alarming proportions. Formerly, a human being stood tall and alone, partly out of choice, partly out of necessity. Today, time to be alone is at a premium. Individualism is a word that puzzles many of us. We hear the cry from all sides: “Stand up for your individualism!” We also hear the word contrasted with the concept of conformity. Individualism is the idea that the individual’s life belongs to that person and that person has an inalienable right to live it as one sees fit, to act on one’s own judgment, to keep and use the product of one’s effort, and to pursue the values of choosing. It is the ideal that the American Founders set forth and sought to establish when they drafted the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution of America and created a country in which the individual’s rights to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness were to be recognized and protected. We are to put America and Americans first in the Country of America. The number one job of any government is to protect its own citizens and land first. If you see your own unique qualities, your own unique abilities and tastes no matter how much they are conditioned by culture, you are recognizing your individuality. #RandolphHarris 3 of 13

As an individual, one has uniqueness and stand apart in distinctive ways from the nameless, faceless masses. Attaining this recognition is a vital task in the search for significant identity, and most of us accomplishing it to some degree. Individualism, however, is a different matter, though the difference may be difficult to appreciate. Individualism is the attitude that holds individuality to be more important than sociality, group memberships. Some people, out of fear that they will lose their identity by group membership, de-emphasize any allegiance or membership in social groupings and go to dramatic extremes to emphasize their solitariness. They may disavow any need for anyone else and may even go so far as to alienate themselves completely from any relationship and become hermits or isolates. These people have made solitariness or uniqueness a new religion. Who else loves to judge? Even though say we strongly dislike doing it, many times we have to remind ourselves not to judge people. When we judge people, the way we judge is very critical. In general, judgment tends to be a negative interpretation, which is why we need to understand how can we use judgment as a strength correctly. Basically, judgment is thinking things through and examining them from all sides; not jumping to conclusions; being able to change one’s mind in light of evidence; weighing all evidence fairly. #RandolphHarris 4 of 13

 We all have our favored beliefs and it requires the ability to thin through and find all the evidence without bias. One could ask oneself to think of various ways about particular situation, not be limited to only one perspective, then weight it fairly. Others perceive a threat in the headlong rush to join and to belong. They see it as a repudiation of individual identity. Without denying their need for others, they attempt to maintain that in addition to their group identities—the Winchester boy, Mrs. Winchester’s oldest kid, Annie Winchester’s brother, employee Winchester, citizen Winchester, and so forth—they also have their individual identity: William Wirt Winchester II, human being. This is not individualism in the sense we have described it above. It is more an attempt at individuation, at saying that a person is many things, that one has several identities, and that one does not want to lose one’s personal identity in the group push. And that makes sense because every human being has an eternal identity, existing from the premortal state and continuing forever. “Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the World was; and among these there were many noble and great ones; and God saw these souls that they were good,” reports Abraham 3.22-23. #RandolphHarris 5 of 13

Moreover, all individuals are responsible for their own choices, and will stand before the Lord to present an accounting of their lives that the Judgment Day. “And I exhort you to remember these things; for the time speedily cometh that ye shall know that I lie not, for ye shall see me at the bar of God; and the Lord God will say unto you: Did I not declare my words unto you, which were written by this man, like as one crying from the dead, yes, even as one speaking out of the dust?,” reports Moroni 10.27. This, however, does not mean that individuals are autonomous nor alone. All individuals are spirit children of God the Father, who organized them into relationships in order to maximize their growth and happiness through the loving and serving of one another. It shows a stronger characteristic of individuality to bring the self into harmony with God than to be separate from him. Any individual must voluntarily obey God’s will to achieve righteousness and God’s will requires service to others in one’s family and the community. Individualism, when it takes the form of denial of sociality, of standing alone and often against the masses, when it ignored the needs and rights of others, is a luxury. It is a selfish attitude that leaves the person out of the important social roles one can and must play. It cheats the society of the benefits of knowing one and interacting with that individual. #RandolphHarris 6 of 13

Conformity, the process of submerging some desires and wishes for the sake of a larger benefit, is often a necessary act. Yet, some people actually lose their personal identity by overcomforming to group norms and behaviors. Some of these people want to lose it; others find it taken away. However, it is important to remember that even if we cannot see it, there may be come benefits coming to a person from one’s [participation in certain conforming behaviors. A person who gives up most of one’s personal preferences and consistently goes along with the crowd may very well be meeting a greater need, like being accepted or avoiding rejection. People still tend to do what meets their important needs because a person’s duties to oneself and to one’s fellow people are indissolubly connected. The Church of Latter-day Saints cannot force individuals to become one with God and others. That must be done only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned; by kindness. Love of learning involves mastering new skills, topics, and bodies of knowledge, whether on one’s own or formally; obviously related to the strength of curiosity but goes beyond it to describe the tendency to add systematically to what one knows. #RandolphHarris 7 of 13

The ultimate objectives of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are as inclusive and extensive as can be imagined, both individually and collectively-namely, to attain eternal life for all individuals and eternal continuity for families and to maintain a supportive, unified community of Saints on Earth who live the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The scale and profundity of these objectives are equal to the depth and commitment they require.  Love of learning does not have to be limited to only in a church, school, or a classroom. The World is the biggest classroom ever. One can enhance this strength by going out and engaging in new skills and experiences. It is the key to improving ourselves and it helps us tackle challenges and setbacks. People with high strengths in love of learning can maintain a sense of efficacy and motivation while learning longer than those who do not. Christ promises righteous men and women and children that they shall be joint-heirs with him. “And one that receiveth me receiveth my Father; and one that receiveth my Father receiveth my Father’s kingdom; therefore all that my Father hath shall be given unto you,” reports Docterine and Covenants 84.37-38. #RandolphHarris 8 of 13

Wisdom is viewed as a strength that is different from intelligence and is the higher form of knowledge. It is used for the sake of oneself and others well-being. People with this strength see things through a wider lens. In addition, perspective is all about the experiences. Perspective or wisdom could be developed through life tasks, adjustments, coming to terms with life choices, life changes, and stressful life experiences. Salvation is both an individual and a collective matter. Individuals are punished for their own sins, but the personal choices that foster growth and exaltation necessarily involved other people. People demonstrate their love for God by keeping his commandments. Christ affirms great diversity and individuality in gospel service. Each person has abilities to perform Christlike service that others may not be able to perform. Personal spiritual gifts and talents are to be cultivated and share. “For all have not every gift given unto them; for there are many gifts, and to every person is given a gift by the Spirit of God. To some is given one, and to some is given another, that all may be profited thereby” reports Doctrine and Covenants 46.11-12. Having the vision of God is the source of all patience because it gives us God’s true and proper inspiration. A person who has the vision of God is not devoted to a cause or to any particular issue—one is devoted to our Heavenly Father. #RandolphHarris 9 of 13

Every natural formation, in the solar system as in the human spirit, is a passage from the indistinct to the distinct. This passage occurs necessarily and incessantly, regulated by a constant rhythm, that is, by immutable order. However, the distinct never exhausts the indistinct, which both underlies and transcends it; and since the distinct is the finite, then we must admit that, beyond the finite, lies the infinite. The infinite is a progressive development without beginning or end. All natural formations, including thought, which is a kind of meteor in the life of the Universe, emerge from and return to this infinite. Wisdom provides a great advantage to human beings. Development requires the process of thinking as the beacon to guide which way we should go. However, most importantly on wisdom, knowing oneself is the beginning of all wisdom. The I (self) and natural things are constituted by neutral elements, that is, sensation. The self and things differ, therefore, only by the nature of the synthesis, that is, by the connection that are established among the sensations. Those sensations that refer to an internal organ and have the character of continuity are associated in the autosynthesis, or the self. Those sensations that refer to an external organ and are discontinuous are associated in the heterosynthesis that gives rise to things. #RandolphHarris 10 of 13

Self-actualization is a process of discovering important needs and goals, both personal and social, and finding creative and enjoyable ways of meeting these needs, of reaching these goals, so that the individual is fulfilled and able to feel one is a significant person, without taking away the same satisfactions from any other person. We are life affirming itself in the midst of other lives affirming themselves. “Praise be to the LORD today,” reports 1 Kings 5.7. If we were driven by instincts alone, we would meet only out personal needs, heedless and unresponsive to those around us. However, because of being blessed with the higher centers of the brain, the massive network of thinking and learning we call the cerebral cortex, the sensitive and aware person will always experience a tension between personal needs and group needs. This is the agony and the ecstasy of being a human being. This is the struggle for significant selfhood. However, it is better to be a person in pain than a cabbage in ecstasy! It is a fact that humans are capable of disinterested or altruistic actions, but such actions can be explained by recourse to natural and social factors. The ideals and the prescriptive maxims that determine them derive from the reactions of society to acts that either preserve or damage it—reactions that impress the individual and become fixed in his or her conscience as norms or moral imperatives. #RandolphHarris 11 of 13

That which is called conscience, therefore, is the progressive interiorization accomplished by the repeated and constant experience of the external sanctions that the antisocial act encounter in society. Chance consists in the intersecting of various causal series that, taken together, constitute the order of the Universe. These intersections are unpredictable, through the events that constitute every individual series are not unpredictable. So-called human freedom is an effect of the plurality of the physical series, that is, of the multiplicity of possible combinations of various causal orderings that constitute human’s psychical life. Humans have an intimate involvement with their environments: prenatal, physical, social and cultural environments. There is a need for the complete, holistic view of humans-interacting-with-environment. The human social experiences provide an individual with a whole host of positions in the social structure (called statuses) and definite expected behaviors (called roles) that go with them. In addition, people are given a set of rules or limitation that are placed on their personal and social behavior. It should not be assumed that when resistance and reaction occur, it is always the fault of the authority person. Often the authority person may be behaving in a very appropriate manner but the subordinate has been so conditioned to resent and rebel against authority that, no mater how the superior acts, the subordinate always responds negatively. #RandolphHarris 12 of 13

Human’s selfhood is complicated by one’s social interactions and interconnections. Among the social processes that assist and hinder one is cooperation, competition and conflict. Sometimes this means that in order to achieve a new and more effective level of interaction, both subordinate and authority need to reexamine their attitudes and behavior and work out a change. The type of relationship that is both possible and desirable between authority and subordinates is called interdependence—the cooperative or collaborative using of each other’s resources. Dependence and independence, two more important parts of the biosocial nature of humans, must be integral elements of what significant selfhood is all about. We considered the matter of individualism, seeing it at times as a dangerous enemy of self-actualization. However, keep in mind, love of the individual is unconditional, although we may not love certain of one’s actions. People need to sit down and talk about their feelings of love and their concerns. Feelings of the heart need to be shared, no matter how awkward or difficult it may be. And it must be done now. Delay only increases the development of the relationship in negative directions. And, authority persons need to begin to display greater confidence and trust in those under them. #RandolphHarris 13 of 13