The business of expanding your consciousness is not an option. Either you are expandable or you are expendable. Many people are mislead into thinking, as popular reports sometimes suggest, that neurophysiologists have found many answers to the problem of human behaviour. Most scholars in the field of the neurosciences, on the contrary, have a very different attitude. Our knowledge and concepts of the central neural organization of aggressive behaviour are constricted by the fact that most of the information has been derived from animal experiments, hence almost nothing is known about the relation of the central nervous system to the “feeling” or “affective” aspects of emotions. We are entirely confined to observation and experimental analysis of the expressive or behavioural phenomena and the objectively recorded peripheral bodily changes. Obviously, even these procedures are not entirely reliable, and despite extensive research efforts it is difficult to interpret behavioral on the basis of these clues alone. Those who hope to solve the problem of the neurophysiology of the mind are like people at the foot of a mountain. They stand in the clearings they have made on the foothills, looking up at the mountain they hope to scale. #RandolphHarris 1 of 20

However, the pinnacle of neurophysiology is hidden in eternal clouds and many believe it can never be conquered. Surely if the day does dawn when a human reached complete understanding of one’s own brain and mind, it may be one’s greatest conquest, one’s final achievement. There is only one method that a scientist may use in one’s scientific work. This is the method of observation of phenomena of nature followed by comparative analysis and supplemented by experimentation in the light of reasoned hypothesis. Neurophysiologist who follow the rules of the scientific method in al honesty will hardly pretend that their own scientific work entitles them to answer these questions. Not only the neurosciences and psychology but many other fields need to be integrated to create a science of humans—fields such as paleontology, anthropology, history, the history of religions (myths and rituals), biology, physiology, genetics. The subject matter of the “science of humans” is human: human as a total biologically and historically evolving being who can be understood only if we see the interconnectedness between all one’s aspects, if we look at one as a process occurring within a complex system with many subsystems. #RandolphHarris 2 of 20

The behavioural sciences (psychology and sociology), are interested mainly in what people do and how one can be made to do what one does, not why one does what one does and in who one is. They have to a considerable extent become an obstacle to and a substitute for the development of an integrated science of humans. The brain is more and more understood as a whole, as one system, so that behaviour cannot be explained by referring to some of its parts. Impressive data supporting this view have been presented by E. Valenstien, who has shown that the supposed hypothalamic “centers” for hunger, thirst, pleasures of the flesh excreta, are not, if they really exist, as pure as previously thought—that stimulation of a “center” for one behaviour can elicit behaviour appropriate to another if the environment provides stimuli consistent with the second. Aggression (actually, nonverbal communication of threat) elicited in a squirrel monkey will not be believed by another monkey if the threat is made by the second monkey’s social inferior. These data are consistent with the holistic view that the brain takes account, in its reckoning of what behaviour to command, of more than one strand of incoming stimulation—that the total state of the physical and social environment at the same time modifies the meaning of a specific stimulus. #RandolphHarris 3 of 20

However, the skepticism regarding the capacity of neurophysiology to explain human behaviour adequately does not means a denial of the relative validity of the many experimental findings, especially in the last five decades. These findings, while they might be reformulated and integrated in a more global view, are valid enough to give us important clues for the understanding of one kind of aggression, that of defensive aggression. Neurophysiologist have concentrated their efforts on finding the brain areas which are the substrates of the most elementary impulses and behaviours needed for survival because Dr. Darwin propositioned that the structure and functioning of the brain is governed by the principle of the survival of the individual and the species. There is general agreement with MacLean’s conclusion, who called these basic brain mechanisms the four Fs: feeding, fighting, fleeing, and the performance of pleasures of the flesh activities. As can easily be recognized, these activities are vitally necessary for the physical survival of the individual and the species. (That humans have basic needs beyond physical survival whose realization is necessary for their functioning as a total being will be discussed later.) #RandolphHarris 4 of 20

As far as aggression and flight are concerned—they are controlled by different areas of the brain, but the term “controlled” is quite inadequate. The response is one process going on in other parts of the brain, interacting with the specific area which is stimulated. Nonetheless, it has been shown, for example, that affective reaction of rage and its corresponding aggressive behaviour pattern can be activated by direct electrical stimulation of various areas, such as the amygdala, the lateral hypothalamus, some parts of the mesencephalon, and the central gray matter; and it can be inhibited by stimulating other structures, such as the septum, the circumvolution of the cingulum, and the caudal nucleus. With great surgical ingenuity some investigations were able to implant electrodes in a number of specific areas of the brain. They established a two-way connection for observation. By low voltage electrical stimulation of an area they were able to study changes of behaviour in animals, and later in humans. They could demonstrate, for instance, the arousal of intensely aggressive behaviour by the direct electric stimulation of certain areas, and the inhibition of aggression by stimulating certain others. #RandolphHarris 5 of 20

On the other hand, when emotions like rage, fear, pleasure, excreta were aroused by environmental stimuli, they could measure the electrical activity of these various areas of the brain. They could also observe the permanent effects produced by the destruction of certain areas of the brain. It is indeed quite impressive to witness how a relatively small increase in the electric charge in an electrode implanted in one of the neural substrates of aggression can produce a sudden outburst of uncontrolled, murderous rage and how the reduction of electric stimulation or the stimulation of an aggression-inhibitory center can equally suddenly stop this aggression. Delgado’s spectacular experiment of stopping a charging bull by the stimulation of an inhibitory area (by remote control) has aroused considerable popular interest in this procedure. That a response is activated in some brain areas and inhibited in others is by no means characteristic of aggression; the same duality exists with regard to other impulses. The brain is, in fact, organizes as a dual system. Unless there are specific stimuli (external or internal), aggression is in a state of fluid equilibrium, because activating and inhibiting areas keep each other in a relatively stable balance. This can be recognized particularly clearly when either an activating or an inhibiting area is destroyed. #RandolphHarris 6 of 20

Starting with the classic experiment by Heinrich Kluver and P.C. Bucy, it has been demonstrated, for instance, that destruction of the amygdala transformed animals (rhesus monkeys, wolverines, wildcats, rats, and others) in such a way that they lost—at least temporarily—their capacity for aggressive, violent reactions, even under strong provocation. On the other hand, the destruction of aggression-inhibiting areas, such as small areas of the ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus, produces permanently aggressive cats and rats. Given the dual organization of the brain, the crucial question arises: What are the factors that disturb the balance and produce manifest rage and corresponding violent behaviour? We have already seen that one way in which such disturbance of the balance can be produced is by electric stimulation or destruction of any of these areas (aside from hormonal and metabolic changes). Mark Ervin emphasized that such disturbance of the equilibrium can also occur due to various forms of brain diseases that alter the normal circuitry of the brain. Two kinds of changes affect the neural pathways. One kind is the momentary electrochemical change which is the physical means by which impulses travel along the nerves. This change depends on stimulation: when the stimuli cease, so do this process. This is how the environment—the source of many stimuli—controls the behaviour of the organism. #RandolphHarris 7 of 20

The other kind of change has to do with what happens at the synapse of neurons which frequently activate another. With use, more permanent structural changes take place which enable impulses to travel more easily through these synapses than others: facilitation. It is now generally believed that there are these two kinds of effects. There is a such thing as Phi elements which are concerned with momentary discharges, and Psi elements which bind nervous energy on a more permanent basis (cathexis). This difference, between fleeting and more enduring changes in the nervous system, makes it possible for more central dominance to emerge. Central dominance, from this perspective, accounts for the relatively slight effect made by feeling changes—particular messages being sent along at any moment of perception—on the more enduring structures which are slowly being built up in the course of facilitation, and confirmed by reverberation. This is how the organism controls its own behaviour, instead of being controlled by environmental stimuli only. Enduring changes in the pathways affect the reception and organization of subsequent messages, more than these later messages affect the existing organization. #RandolphHarris 8 of 20

To establish more central control is a victory of the organism over the environment, enabling the individual to adapt the environment in its own interest. Past memories can then be drawn upon to evaluate current events, giving individuals the benefit of past experiences before they take action. The disproportionate fear of disapproval may extend blindly to all human beings or it may extend only to friends—although usually the neurotic is unable to distinguish clearly between friends and enemies. In the beginning it refers only to the outside World, and to a greater or lesser extent it always remains related to the disapproval of others, but it may also become internalized. The more this happens, the more the disapproval from outside becomes unimportant in comparison with the disapproval of the self. The fear of disapproval may appear in various forms. Sometimes it shows in a constant fear of annoying people; the neurotic may be afraid, for example, to refuse an invitation, disagree with an opinion, express any wishes, fail to conform to the given standards, be in any way conspicuous. It may appear in a constant fear of people finding out about one; even when one feels one is liked one’s inclination is to withdraw in order to forestall being found out and dropped. #RandolphHarris 9 of 20

It also may come out in an inordinate reluctance to let others know anything about one’s own private affairs, or in a disproportionate anger at any harmless questions concerning oneself, because one feels that such questions are attempts to try to pry into one’s affairs. The fear of disapproval is one of the outstanding factors that makes the analytical process difficult for the analyst and painful for the patient. Different though each individual analysis is from the other, all have in common the feature that the patient, while desiring the analyst’s help and while wishing to reach an understanding, must at the same time fight off the analyst as a most dangerous intruder. It is this fear that induces the individual to act as if one were a criminal before a judge, and, like the criminal, one is secretly grimly determined to deny and to mislead. This attitude may appear in dreams of being pushed to confession and reacting to it with agony. One patient of mine, at a time when we were close to uncovering some of one’s repressed tendencies, had a day dream which was significant in this respect. One imagined he was a boy who had the custom of finding refuge, every now and then, on a dream island. There the boy became part of a community governed by a law prohibiting any revelation of this island’s existence and demanding the death of any possible intruder. #RandolphHarris 10 of 20

A person whom the boy loved, and who represented the analyst in some disguised form, happened to find one’s way to the island. According to the law one should have been killed. The boy could save him, however, by pledging that he himself would never return to the island. This was an artistic expression of the conflict which from the beginning to the end of the analysis was present in one or another form, a conflict between liking the analyst and hating him because he wanted to intrude into hidden thoughts and feelings, a conflict between the patient’s impulse to fight in defense of one’s secrets and the necessity of giving them up. If the fear of disapproval is not generated by guilt feelings it may be asked why the neurotic is then so much concerned about being detected and disapproved of. The main factor that accounts for the fear of disapproval is the great discrepancy that exists between the façade which the neurotic shows both to the World and to oneself and all the repressed tendencies that lie hidden behind the façade. Although one suffers, even more than one realizes, at not being at one with oneself, at all the pretenses one must keep up, one has nevertheless to defend these pretenses with all one’s energy, because they represent the bulwark that protects one from one’s lurking anxiety. #RandolphHarris 11 of 20

If we recognize that these things he has to hide form the basis of his fear of disapproval we can understand better why the disappearance of certain “guilt feelings” cannot possibly free one from one’s fear. There is more that has to be changed. To put it very bluntly, it is the whole insincerity in one’s personality or rather, in the neurotic part of one’s personality, that is responsible for one’s fear of disapproval, and it is in this insincerity that one fears detection. As to the special content of one’s secrets, one wants in the first place to conceal the sum total of what is usually covered by the term aggression. This term is used to include not only one’s reactive hostility—anger, revenge, envy, desire to humiliate, and the like—but all one’s secret demands on others. Since I have already discussed these in detail it suffices here to say briefly that he does not want to stand on his own feet, that he does not want to make efforts of his own in order to achieve what he wants; instead he inwardly insists on feeding on other persons’ likes, whether by domineering and exploiting or by the means of affection, “love” or submissiveness. As soon as his hostile reactions or his demands are touched upon, anxiety develops, not because he feels guilty but because he sees that his chances of getting the support he needs are endangered. #RandolphHarris 12 of 20

In the second place he wants to hide how weak and insecure and helpless he feels, how little he can assert himself, how much anxiety he has. For this reason he builds up a façade of strength. However, the more his particular strivings for security are focused on dominance, and thus the more his pride is also linked with the notion of strength, the more he thoroughly despises himself. He not only feels that there is danger in weakness but also considers it despicable, in himself as well as others, and he classes as weakness any inadequacy whether it concerns not being master in one’s own houses, inability to overcome barriers within oneself, having to accept help, or even being possessed by anxiety. Since he thus essentially despises any “weakness” in himself, and since he cannot help believing that others will despise him likewise if they find out his weaknesses, he makes desperate efforts to hide them, but always with the fear that he will be found out sooner or later; therefore the continued anxiety. Thus guilt feelings and their accompanying self-recriminations are not only the result, instead of the cause, of a fear of disapproval, but they are also a defense against this fear. They fulfill the double purpose of inviting reassurance and of blurring the real issue. The latter purpose they accomplish either by diverting attention from what should be concealed, or by exaggerating so greatly that they appear untrue. #RandolphHarris 13 of 20

An illustration of the general pattern of personal transformation is provided by programs that teach people to refrain from doing something very harmful, something that could possibly lead to untimely death. A desirable state of being is envisioned, and an intention to realize it is actuated in decision. Means are applied to fulfill the intention (and the corresponding decision) by producing the desirable state of being. This includes a conscious involvement of God in the individual’s life because it is highly effective in brining about personal transformation. It works in terms of essential structures of the human self revealed by God through His people. When we stop to think about it, there is no such thing as unqualified freedom. Such “freedom” would not be freedom, it would be anarchy. It would be everyone doing what is right in one’s own eyes; and given our sinful nature, it would be total chaos. In the Untied States, we say we live in a “free country.” We understand that freedom to be political freedom: the right to have a say in our government. However, we all recognize we are not free to disobey the laws of our state or nation. We are not free, for example, to drive on the left side of the highway. My son observed a humorous example of freedom when he visited a country in which automobile drivers are undisciplined and “free spirited.” #RandolphHarris 14 of 20

He saw cars stopped at a railroad crossing for a passing train. Instead of lining up behind one another to cross in their proper turn, several cars lined up at the crossing guard accord the entire road. Each driver wanted to be the first to cross when the guard was raised. However, when the train had passed, lo and behold, cars were lined up completely across the road on the other side of the tracks. “Freedom” quickly turned to chaos! That kind of thing happens in a much more serious way when we insist on unqualified freedom from the law of God. We have indeed been set free from the bondage and curse that results from breaking the law. And we have been called to freedom from works as a means of obtaining any merit with God. However, we have not been called to freedom from the laws as an expression of God’s will for our daily living. Paul said, “For in my inner being I delight in God’s laws,” and “I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s laws,” reports Romans 7.22,25. A few verses before he had characterized God’s law as “holy, righteous and good” as reported in Romans 7.12. It seems inconceivable that Paul would want to be free, or urge others to be free, from what was holy, righteous, and good—that in which he himself delighted. #RandolphHarris 15 of 20

So, then, God’s law is not opposed to grace, nor is it an enemy of grace. Neither is the law of God opposed to us as we seek to live by grace. To live by grace means we understand that God’s blessing on our lives is not conditioned by our obedience of disobedience but by the perfect obedience of Christ. it means that out of grateful response to the grace of God, we seek to understand His will and to obey Him, not to be blessed, but because we have been blessed. When the Psalmist speaks of meditating on the Law of God day and night (Psalm 1.2), he uses a word which means “to mutter.” This word was used to describe the murmurings of kings in Psalm 2.1, and for the chattering of doves in Isiah 59.11. In fact, St. Augustine translated Psalm 1.2, “On his law he chatters day and night.” Meditation is intrinsically verbal. This means the Psalmist memorizes God’s Word—for one cannot continually mutter the Scripture without memorizing it, and vice versa. Personally applied, this tells us that along with our systematic reading of the Bible, we ought to select especially meaningful segments to reverently mutter over. Sometimes it may be a single verse—Philippians 3.10, for example, the four emphases of which I like to murmur in the NASB: that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being confronted to His death. #RandolphHarris 16 of 20

Slowly and prayerfully turning over Scripture in this manner engages the eyes, the ears, and the mouth, and drills through the serpentinite to the heart—maximizing internalization and devotion. “And thus Laman and Lemuel, being the eldest, did murmur against their father. And they did murmur because they knew not the dealings of that God who had created them. Neither did they believe that Jerusalem, that great city, could be destroyed according to the words of the prophets. And they were like unto the Jews who were at Jerusalem, who sought to take away the life of my father (Lehi). And it came to pass that my father did speak unto them in the valley of Lemuel, with power, being filled with the Spirit, until their frames did shake before him. And he did confound them, that they durst not utter against him; wherefore, they did as he commanded them. And my father dwelt in a tent. And it came to pass that I, Nephi, being exceedingly young, nevertheless being large in stature, and also having great desires to know of the mysteries of God, wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did visit me, and did soften my heart that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father; wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto my brothers,” 1 Nephi 1.12-16. #RandolphHarris 17 of 20

Grant us, we beseech Thee, O Lord our God, ever to rejoice in devotion to Thee; because our happiness is perpetual and full, if we are continually serving the Author of all good; through Jesus Christ our Lord. We beseech Thee, O Lord, let Thy faithful people rejoice evermore in Thy benefits; that being ordered by Thy governance, they may please Thee in their lives, and happily obtain the good which they pray for; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Grant, O Almighty God, that we may attain to the fulness of joy, and be the more earnestly devoted to Thy Majesty; through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Lord, pour into our hearts Thy servants that joy of the righteous which is in Thee; that the praise of Thee, which becometh well the upright, may purge out all unholiness from our minds; through They mercy. O Merciful God, when I hear of disagreeable things amongst Christians, it brings an additional weight and burden on my spirit; I come to thee in my distress and make lamentable complaint; teach me how to take reproofs from friends, even though I think I do not deserve them; use them to make me tenderly afraid of sin, more jealous over myself, more concerned to keep heart and life unblameable; cause them to help me to reflect on my want of spirituality, to abhor myself, to look upon myself as unworthy, and make them beneficial to my soul. #RandolphHarris 18 of 20

May all Thy people know how little, mean, and vile I am, that they may see I am nothing, less than nothing, to be accounted nothing, that so they may pray for me aright, and have not the least dependence upon me. It is sweet to be nothing and have nothing, and to be fed with crumbs from Thy hands. Blessed by Thy name for anything that life bring. How do poor souls live who have not thee, or when helpless have no God to go to, who feel not the constraining force of Thy love, and the sweetness of communion? O how admirably dost Thou captivate the soul, making all desires and affections centre on thee! Give me such vivacity in religion, that I may be able to take all reproofs from other people as from Thy hands, and glorify Thee for them from a sense of Thy beneficent love and of my need to have my pride destroyed. A competent teacher puts oneself behind one’s pupil’s eyes, inside one mind, and starts instruction from what one finds there. The prudent teacher will reveal what will best help people, not necessarily what they like to hear or all that one knows. One must give people what is best for them, must first evaluate how much truth they can take in. It is utterly impracticable and imprudent to give all people all the spiritual truth at all times. The prudent teacher will give out only slightly more than the seeking enquirer is able to receive. #RandolphHarris 19 of 20

Covenants entered into by fear, in the condition of mere Nature, are obligatory. To further highlight the illustration, if I covenant to pay a ransom, or service for my life, to an enemy; I am bound by it. For it is a contract, wherein one receiveth the benefit of life; the other is to receive money, or service for it; and consequently, where no other law (as in the condition, of mere nature) forbiddeth the performance, the covenant is valid. Therefore prisoners of war, if trusted with the payment of their ransom, are obliged to pay it; and if a weaker prince, make a disadvantageous peace with a stronger, for fear; one is bound to keep it; unless (as hath been said before) there ariseth some new, and just cause of fear, to renew the war. And even in all common-wealths, if I be force to redeem myself from a thief by promising him or her money, I am bound to pay it, till the civil law discharge me. For whatsoever I may lawfully do without obligation, the same I may lawfully covenant to do through fear: and what I lawfully covenant, I cannot lawfully break. A former covenant, makes void a later. For a person that has passed away one’s right to one person today hath it not to pass tomorrow to another: and therefore the later promise passeth no right, but is null. #RandolphHarris 20 of 20

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