FID: The Mind

"The monsters of the mind: fear, doubt, greed, lust, jealousy and hate have enslaved people since the beginning of time."

In this blog post I am focusing on the mind. My research on this topic has been for the purposes of creating the villain in “Flight into Darkness”. The examples below are used to illustrate that when a mind is determined, it can be blind to logic, good reason, and concern for others.

The examples I have used range from humorous to horrific. It was not my intent to make any associations between the examples chosen, but instead to present a diverse group of examples: humorous, political, corporate, psychotic. It is all for the purpose of showing how our minds lead us to certain beliefs and actions.

Samael Janus (the villain in FID) suffers from a delusional disorder which seriously hinders his ability to think rationally. He has sporadic hallucinations related to the content of his delusions. Other than his delusions, he does not exhibit odd or bizarre behavior. He is intelligent, mild-mannered, soft-spoken and very calm. He is able to act cognitively, focusing on his end goal. He is a loner and does not find time for social interactions, largely due to his freakish appearance.

What makes us do what we do or believe what we believe? If I believe that I am right, does that make you wrong if you don't agree with me?

Non-bizarre delusions are fixed beliefs that are certainly and definitely false, but that could possibly be plausible. I want to show you a few examples of beliefs and behaviors that you might find bizarre, when in the mind of the person in question the belief or behavior is perfectly acceptable. Note: The mind does not tell you if you are delusional or not. In a sense, a delusion is a relative judgment made by others which may or may not be due to chemical imbalances in the brain. The judgments of others are often on a sliding scale, recalculated based on societal norms, as determined by the majority.

Before I begin, let me sidestep the gruesome and offer a bit of humor to help cleanse the palate, so to speak.

How do the brains of men and women differ?

Now for the intense issues. The first character I will introduce (although fictitious), possesses a mental condition that was extracted from the lives of real people. This character was first introduced in the thriller novel "Red Dragon" (1981), by Thomas Harris

When this fictional character was six years old, he witnessed both his parents killed by German deserters. His younger sister and other children were kept by the deserters to be slaughtered for food during the Baltic winter. He later saw his younger sister murdered. He managed to escape. He was later put in a government-owned orphanage where he lived for ten years. He tried to run away several times, but was caught after being caught for stealing food or clothes from the market. At the age of 16, he was made to leave the orphanage and lived on the street. He stayed with his aunt. There he went to school but could not get along well with other children. At 20, his aunt disappeared. He moved to Baltimore, Maryland and started his own psychiatric practice. He became very popular. He moved to New York where he worked in a mental institution that provided counseling and aid to patients.

My next example of a dangerous mind is Virginia Ironside. Virginia is a real person with a twisted view of life. I won't spoil it for you, but listen to Virginia's response to the comments made by the host.

Virginia started her career as a journalist after her book, “Chelsea Bird” (1964), was published when she was twenty. In the ‘sixties she wrote a rock column for the British daily tabloid newspaper, Daily Mail. But after suffering long bouts of depression, she decided to apply for the job of agony aunt at the U.K. mainstream weekly magazine, Woman. She stayed there for ten years and has since worked for other British tabloid newspapers. Here she is on a BBC 1's religious discussion program, Sunday Morning Live.

Moving right along, let’s look at a couple of political figures. Listen carefully and see if what they are saying is really what they meant to say. The mind is an interesting thing, but the minds of politicians can be spooky places.

The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme law of the United States. In accordance with Article II, Section I of the U.S. Constitution, each president recites the following oath:

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

In "The Audacity of Hope" (pg. 89-92), Barack Obama says this about the Constitution: “I have to side with Justice Breyer’s view of the Constitution—That it is not a static but living document and must be read in the context of an ever changing world.”

Our mind often sees things from a growing perspective that is sometimes fueled from years of conditioning. From Barack Obama’s college thesis titled “Aristocracy Reborn,” he says: “… the Constitution allows for many things, but what it does not allow is the most revealing. The so-called Founders did not allow for economic freedom. While political freedom is supposedly a cornerstone of the document, the distribution of wealth is not even mentioned. While many believed that the new Constitution gave them liberty, it instead fitted them with the shackles of hypocrisy.”

What was President Obama thinking when he said this about the U.S. Constitution: “…and imperfect document… reflects some deep flaws in American culture… the Constitution reflected a enormous blind spot in this culture that carries on until this day and that the framers had that same blind spot.”?

Remember, this entire blog post is about the mind and what’s behind it. How a person’s actions and beliefs are the result of how that mind is wired and conditioned.



On we go to the corporate world. This next person’s mind definitely had an interesting twist on what he considered to be acceptable behavior. Pay close attention, as you might see this again.

If you would like to know more about how a Ponzi (see Charles Ponzi) scheme works, watch the following short video.

Note: A few big-name victims of Bernard Madoff's "split strike conversion strategy" (as he called it): Kevin bacon, Kyra Sedgwick, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Larry King, Sandy Koufax, Jane Fonda, John Robbins (of Baskin-Robbins ice cream), and many more. Madoff's Ponzi scheme was the scam of all times, only to be outdone by our present-day big government's financing and administering of massive entitlement programs and wars, spending our nation into a quagmire of deficits, debts, and inflation. 

Now let's take a look at how far minds will go to try and make a point. I'm not sure whether to classify this as media, advertising, or special interest. Perhaps some of each.

WARNING: The following video has graphic and disturbing scenes. While the message may have backfired, many point out that it gives a scary glimpse into the mind of today's global warming alarmists. With its "No Pressure" campaign, writes the UK's Telegraph, "the environmental movement has revealed the snarling, wicked, homicidal misanthropy beneath its cloak of gentle, bunny-hugging righteousness."

The list would not be complete without the most twisted and evil minds our country has ever witnessed: The nineteen 9/11 hijackers (see details of the 19 hijackers). As you watch this short video, try to imagine what these 5 men were thinking as they proceeded to act on the convictions and beliefs in their minds. Believe it or not, the actions of these 5 men (and the other 14) on September 11, 2001 were supported by strong beliefs and convictions that they were doing the right thing.

The mind is a powerful thing—used for both good and evil. If you want to go deeper into some of the more gruesome minds of all times, check out the following people (just to name a few): Tomas de Torquemads; Vlad Tepes; Adolph Hitler; Ivan the Terrible (Ivan Vasilyevich); Adoph Eichmann; Pol Pot; Mao Tse-tung; Idi Amin; Joseph Stalin; Genghis Khan; H.H. Holmes; Gilles de Rais; Nicolae Ceausescu; Basil the Bulgar Slayer; Heinrich Himmler; Tallat Pasha.

For many helpful tips on the mind, I recommend you visit: http://www.litemind.com/ The blog author, Luciano Passuello (Brazil), explores ways to use our minds efficiently. He covers topics like creativity, problem-solving, visual thinking, self-mastery and more.