Comments on THE Interview

Hi Judy, at top of our FIX THE WORLD homepage, HumanCondition.com, it states ‘WHAT NEXT after watching THE Interview?’ and guides you through the steps to learn more. This includes subscribing to our mailing list, to receive one email per week (the Freedom Essay series) and occasional News Flashes. We also greatly encourage people to join our 100K member-strong Facebook Group to learn more about this amazing, human-condition-resolved new world.

Hi Dennise, thank you very much for your interest in this breakthrough understanding! THE Interview provides the ideal introduction to Jeremy Griffith’s work, so please share the FIX THE WORLD homepage (the homepage is the best place to send people for them to watch or read THE Interview, because that way they get the full context of the website). To share the homepage, simply click on the ‘share this page’ symbol at the bottom of the page. You may also like to read our How To Help page.

Hi Chris, we can now understand our behaviour has been driven by a deep insecurity about our fundamental goodness or worth and so now that our goodness is biologically established we no longer have to behave insecurely and selfishly and can legitimately return to a selfless way of living. Which means that no-one will have to “separate from” reality anymore. This understanding fundamentally ‘fixes it’! And it is a ‘legitimate’ fix because we have the first principle science which liberates us to be honest about our conflicted upset state instead of denying or transcending it.

    Thank you for your thoughts David. Essentially you are saying, if this is true, where is everybody supporting it?     Firstly, as FAQ 1.9 ‘Why people can have confidence in the bold claims made about biologist Jeremy Griffith’s work' explains, Professor Harry Prosen, a former president of the Canadian Psychiatric Association, has endorsed the significance of Jeremy Griffith’s treatise, saying “I have no doubt Jeremy Griffith’s biological explanation of the human condition is the holy grail of insight we have sought for the psychological rehabilitation of the human race.” So while initial scepticism is warranted about the astonishing claims being made about this work the amazing fact is that they all withstand scrutiny. A person can begin reading the book and the more they read into it the more they will realise the claims being made are actually true as is evidenced by the ecstatic responses at the top of our homepage and the outstanding commendations this work has received from eminent scientists and thought leaders, on our FIX THE WORLD homepage. Also see our Commendations and Reviews page.     In terms of why this critical new science isn’t yet mainstream Jeremy Griffith answers this question in Part 2 of THE Interview when he points out that the issue of the human condition has been such a denied and off-limits subject that confronting it represents the “biggest of all blasphemies”, and how “science progresses funeral by funeral” when it comes to supporting big paradigm shifts like this, see FAQ 1.4.     With regard to the question of how this can actually change what appears to be intractable behaviour, we suggest that when people appreciate just how psychologically ‘upset’ humans now are after 2 million years of unjust condemnation from our instincts, they begin to appreciate the depth of guilt and shame we carry and therefore the scale of the relief at long last being able to understand WHY we have been capacity for such seemingly entrenched behaviour, as individuals and as countries. What is so extraordinary about Jeremy Griffith’s treatise is that it logically and accountably defends human selfishness and egocentricity. And on reflection, it does become apparent that all the dysfunction and destruction in the world are manifestations of the psychologically upset state of the human condition. And so what is so powerful about the explanation of the human condition is that by solving our insecure state at its source, it brings an end to all the terrible, and seemingly overwhelmingly “complex” problems that beset the problem – indeed it is the only way to bring an end to all those symptoms of our psychologically upset condition. So in a world fast going crazy from the effects of the human condition, this is the now desperately needed reconciling understanding that brings about a new world for humans FREE of the agony of the human condition. This is the understanding that ends human suffering at its source, and unites the human race. See FAQ 1.5 and FAQ 1.6.     As Part 4 of THE Interview, titled ‘How does the psychological rehabilitation of the human race that the arrival of understanding of the human condition finally makes possible actually occur?’ explains it will take a number of generations for the upset within us to be completely healed but it also stresses importantly we can be immediately free of its effects. Certainly there is habituation to overcome and humans do find change difficult but now that our goodness is biologically established we no longer have to behave insecurely and selfishly and can legitimately return to a selfless way of living. ‘Legitimately’ because we have the first principle science which liberates us to be honest about our conflicted upset state instead of denying or transcending it. So instead of being focused on power, fame, fortune and glory, all our energies will be freed to truly work together on doing whatever it takes to end the suffering and save our world. See FAQ 1.40 which addresses the questions of ‘How can you hope to transform the world? — In particular, how are you going to change the behaviour of the rich and powerful? / How are you going to reach the bastions of power? / Won’t the greedy and power-hungry simply ignore this?’ and FAQ 1.38 ‘How does this explanation rehabilitate people capable of ‘evil’ behaviour?’.

Hi Chris, it’s great you’ve watched THE Interview as it’s the ideal introduction to Jeremy Griffith’s explanation of the human condition. From there, at top of our FIX THE WORLD homepage at HumanCondition.com, it states ‘WHAT NEXT after watching THE Interview?’ and guides you through the steps to pursue your interest. This includes subscribing to our mailing list where you will receive one email per week and occasional News Flashes. We also encourage people to join our Facebook Group to learn more about this amazing, human-condition-resolved new world. We are a not-for-profit organisation and make all our material and publications free to read online, watch, listen to and even download and print!

Apologies for offending you Alcida. However, esablishing this understanding of the human condition is critical if there is to be a future for the human race – as well as liberating each of us at the personal level, so you will perhaps forgive our enthusiasm. The truth is that the astonishing claims being made about Jeremy Griffith’s work all withstand scrutiny as what he presents is 100% logic which has attracted the support of eminent scientists and thinkers - see our Commendations and Reviews. We recommend our FAQ 1.17 ‘Shouldn’t your website be toned down’.

“World Transformation Movement is built on a completely false premise—that humans are fundamentally defective and only he has the answer. There’s no science behind it, just a grandiose narrative packaged as biology, and scepticism is the only sensible response.

Great to have your interest Paula! To help you progress after watching THE Interview here are our recommended next steps: •Subscribe to our free Mailing List where you will receive one email per week and occasional News Flashes. • Watch the Main Videos where Jeremy Griffith (& others) talk you through the explanation of the human condition. Totally free, no registration required. • Read the Key Books by Jeremy Griffith. Totally free to download, no registration required. • Read recent reviews, interviews and articles written about Jeremy Griffith and his work. • Join and participate in our Facebook Group to learn about this amazing, human-condition-resolved new world. • Help this critical new science by sharing it! • Be sure to explore all our free material, including our popular free or cost price FIX THE WORLD products at HumanCondition.com.

    As THE Interview explains, the human condition is the most fearful of subjects because it’s the issue of whether we are fundamentally good or bad and our fear of this interface can make it hard to understand all that is explained in one viewing. Our FAQ 1.16 explains what is needed to overcome this initial ‘deaf effect’ isn’t a more simplified version but rather a preparedness to re-read and/or re-listen to what is being written or said. This process erodes our historic denial thereby allowing the compassionate and immensely relieving insights to become accessible.     With regard to applying this liberating understanding, Part 4 of THE Interview, titled ‘How does the psychological rehabilitation of the human race that the arrival of understanding of the human condition finally makes possible actually occur?’ explains that it will take a number of generations for the upset within us to be completely healed but it also stresses importantly we can be immediately free of its effects. Certainly there is habituation to overcome and humans do find change difficult but at last we can understand our behaviour has been driven by a deep insecurity about our fundamental goodness or worth and so now that our goodness is biologically established we no longer have to behave insecurely and selfishly and can legitimately return to a selfless way of living. ‘Legitimately’ because we have the first principle science which liberates us to be honest about our conflicted upset state instead of denying or transcending it. So instead of being focused on power, fame, fortune and glory, all our energies will be freed to truly work together on doing whatever it takes to end the suffering and save our world. How this healing is immediately open to us all is summarised in FAQ 1.5.

Yes, the great “scientific myth” has been that our angry, egocentric and alienated behaviour is the result of ‘savage-instincts’ within us. However, Part 1 of THE Interview begins with an exposition of the premier ‘alternative explanation’, which is that our competitive, selfish and aggressive behaviour is instinctive, the result of our genes need to compete for mating opportunities. But as Jeremy explains, “Surely this idea that we have savage competitive and aggressive, must-reproduce-our-genes instincts cannot be the real reason for our species’ competitive and aggressive behaviour because, after all, words used to describe our human behaviour such as egocentric, arrogant, inspired, depressed, deluded, pessimistic, optimistic, artificial, hateful, cynical, mean, sadistic, immoral, brilliant, guilt-ridden, evil, psychotic, neurotic and alienated, all recognise the involvement of OUR species’ fully conscious thinking mind. They demonstrate that there is a psychological dimension to our behaviour; that we don’t suffer from a genetic-opportunism-driven ‘animal condition’, but a conscious-mind-based, psychologically troubled HUMAN CONDITION.” He goes on to explain that “What’s more, we humans have cooperative, selfless and loving moral instincts, the voice or expression of which we call our conscience—which is the complete opposite of competitive, selfish and aggressive instincts. As Charles Darwin said, ‘The moral sense…affords the best and highest distinction between man and the lower animals’” And beyond, in Part 3 of THE Interview, Jeremy explains how our ancestors did acquire our instinctive cooperative and loving moral conscience.

    Thanks Daphne. We suggest that the more you digest Jeremy Griffith’s ‘instinct vs intellect’ explanation, the more you will realise how accountable it is in getting to the source of all humanity’s psychological upset, which in the extreme, produces people who are capable of what we have described as ‘evil’. Of course this breakthrough explanation doesn’t condone or sanction the horrendous atrocities humans can commit rather, through bringing compassionate understanding to the source of humans’ upset behaviour, it gives us the power to ameliorate and thus subside and ultimately eliminate it, see FAQ 1.38 ‘Aren’t some people just born psychopathic, or even ‘evil’? / How does this explanation rehabilitate people capable of ‘evil’ behaviour? / Does this condone ‘evil’ behaviour?’. As the late Professor Harry Prosen, psychiatrist and former president of the Canadian Psychiatric Association, said: ‘I have no doubt Jeremy Griffith’s biological explanation of the human condition is the holy grail of insight we have sought for the psychological rehabilitation of the human race.’     You may also find our FAQ 1.40 helpful titled ‘Aren’t the problems of the world too overwhelming to ever be fixed? / Isn’t it too late to save the world? / How can you hope to transform the world? – In particular, how are you going to change the behaviour of the rich and powerful?’. It is explained there that even those who are most committed to seeking validation through gaining power and wealth, including those entrenched in positions of power, will quickly realise how empty and obsolete that strategy is now that we have the fully accountable, psychosis-addressing-and-solving, biological explanation of the human condition that establishes our worth at the most fundamental level.

    Thank you for your comment Muhammed. We certainly respect people’s religious views and wanted to mention that Jeremy Griffith’s work doesn’t contradict a belief in religion or God. In fact Jeremy has a deep respect for religious scripture which he often considers to be a repository of extremely rare denial-free truth, containing all the truth about human life albeit from a pre-science view, which his work simply brings biological understanding to. This is explained in our FAQ 6.3 ‘Does understanding of the human condition undermine a faith in religion or God?’.     Ultimately we needed to find the scientific explanation for why when the universal ideals are to be loving, cooperative and selfless are we so angry, competitive and selfish. Answering this question required finding the clarifying difference between the way the intellect and instincts work, and that is the great biological breakthrough Jeremy presents in THE Interview and his book FREEDOM.

    What is explained in THE Interview is that our angry, egocentric and alienated behaviour is not caused by “caveman instincts” — they’re the result of a psychological problem. (The Iceman’s Inheritance is a book that argues that Ice Age survival conditions in Europe selected for more aggressive, competitive behaviour. As a result, modern Western societies supposedly carry a legacy of domination, violence, and expansion.) The real reason that our ancestors stopped living in harmony is because of the deeper clash between instinct and intellect that caused humans to become angry, egocentric and alienated. So it isn’t a racial or cultural issue, it’s a universal human condition.     Regarding the criticism of “Caucasians”, what is explained in Jeremy Griffith’s book Death by Dogma is that “everyone has intuitively been waiting for these white male developers of the Judeo-Christian Western tradition to solve the human condition. And, further, since everyone has been intuitively aware of the critically important task this group has, everyone has been prepared to tolerate a degree of extra material good fortune and colonising power that the exceptional functionality afforded this group. BUT THIS TOLERANCE HAS ITS LIMIT: if this group is seen to be failing to deliver the answers that it was especially tasked with finding, then disenchantment with it, and resentment of its good fortune, would occur. And this is exactly what has occurred, the ‘deepest hostility’ and ‘denigration’ ‘of the Western tradition’ Douglas Murray wrote about.” Thankfully the Western tradition has now delivered that explanation of the human condition.     Dismissing the explanation that is presented here as “intellectualizing insanity” misses the point. The aim is to identify the cause of why we broke down from living in harmony — because without understanding that, there’s no way to fix it.

    Thank you for your comment Tommy. The world certainly is in a terrifying endgame situation and this breakthrough has arrived at the 11th hour. However, at last we have the greater understanding and solution to our selfish and destructive human condition. We can know we actually have loving moral instincts but, as a result of our conscious mind having to search for knowledge, we humans unavoidably and necessarily become angry, egocentric and alienated, and as a result we are more than capable of destroying each other and our environment. The relieving news is we can turn this doomed situation around quickly and give ourselves a future!     As to what that future will be like, now our upset state is explained and defended, we can safely stop denying the human condition in ourselves and the world and bring love or forgiveness to our dark side because we can understand that becoming upset was an immensely heroic state, not a shameful one. To quote Jeremy from Part 4 of this interview: “the good news, and this is very important, is that while it will take a number of generations to heal all the upset in us humans, everyone can immediately live free of their upset…In fact, to continue using the old artificial defences of retaliation, denial and the search for relieving power, fame, fortune and glory when our fundamental goodness has been established is not only clearly pointless but also unnecessarily destructive of ourselves, everyone around us and our planet. That way of living is now completely obsoleted, finished with.” And as Craig Conway then summed it up “our artificial ways of reinforcing ourselves are obsoleted by the real reinforcement of ourselves. One way of living ends, a new one begins, free of the human condition—phew, thank God for that!!”     Finally, as Jeremy explains in chapter 9.9 of his book FREEDOM: “Although this new world for humans, which the World Transformation Movement has been established to facilitate, will, as has been stated, have a slow beginning because humans initially find it difficult even taking in or ‘hearing’ discussion about the human condition, once the WTM is discovered, word of it and what it offers every human and the world will spread like wildfire.’” And so even though we haven’t yet reached the tipping point in terms of awareness of this great breakthrough, you can see from the excitement and relief in our ecstatic responses to THE Interview, we are well on our way! Also, oyou can see the rapidly growing appreciation and support for Jeremy’s work with outstanding commendations from thought leaders and WTM Centres all over the world!

    We certainly respect people’s religious views however we felt it was important to mention that Jeremy Griffith’s work doesn’t contradict the Bible. It simply brings biological understanding to all those pre-scientific concepts. In fact Jeremy considers the Bible to be a repository of extremely rare denial-free truth, containing all the truth about human life albeit from a pre-science view. The real issue is if people prefer a more literal fundamentalist interpretation of scripture rather than our more biological, science-based interpretation.     Ultimately we needed to find the scientific explanation for why when the universal ideals are to be loving, cooperative and selfless are we so angry, competitive and selfish – in your terms, ‘why do we consciously do things that are immoral’. Answering this question required finding the clarifying difference between the way the intellect and instincts work, and that is the great biological breakthrough Jeremy presents in THE Interview and his book FREEDOM. For instance, Jeremy explains that the prophet Moses went as close as you could possibly go in those pre-scientific times to actually explain the human condition when he said “we took the fruit from the tree of knowledge [became conscious] and were disobedient [obviously meaning we developed a conscious free will that defied our already established instincts that had been controlling our lives] and became perpetrators of sin [sufferers of psychologically upset, divisive behaviour]”. We recommend our FAQs on religion.

    Thank you for your comment Robert. For those who are not aware, Dialectical Behavior Therapy is a therapy that helps people regulate emotions, tolerate distress, and improve relationships — essentially teaching practical skills to manage difficult thoughts and behaviours.     Where Jeremy Griffith’s explanation differs is in the level it’s addressing. Therapies like DBT are focused on helping individuals cope with and improve behaviour within the current human condition. Jeremy’s work addresses and answers a deeper, long-standing question: why do these behaviours exist in the first place?     His “instinct vs intellect” explanation explains that the issue isn’t that we are a fundamentally bad or flawed species, but that we’ve been caught in a deeper psychological conflict — one that gives rise to the behaviours therapies like DBT are designed to manage.     So rather than replacing approaches like DBT, the idea is that this understanding provides a biological explanation for why such therapies are needed — and potentially points to addressing the underlying cause, not just managing the symptoms. You may be interested in FAQ 1.34 ‘How does understanding the human race’s condition help with an individual’s depression and psychosis?’, in which the highly respected psychiatrist Professor Harry Prosen, a former President of the Canadian Psychiatric Association, wrote: “the beauty of Griffith’s treatise is that the healing starts at the macro level of the universal human condition; the healing of the shame and blame that the whole human race has suffered from…It brings the greater context and love to all human psychosis and suffering, and then, from under the umbrella of that safe position, everyone can gradually work inwards to their particular experience of all the imperfections in human life that have now, finally, been made sense of.”

But the question screaming out to be answered is ‘Why are we are self-centred patriarchal world? Why have we demonstrated zero respect for Nature and our Earth? Why have we usurped it?’ Millenia of good intentions have not been able to change human behaviour, but what is so significant about the explanation of the human conditon is that this understanding defends our so-called ‘dark side’ and explains that despite all appearances to the contrary, all humans are ‘good’. And paradoxically, rather than perpetuating that behaviour, by explaining the very good reason why our intellect had to defy our instincts – by ‘redeeming’ ourselves – it makes redundant our defensive behaviours of anger, egocentricity and alienation, allowing us to end the destructive behaviour! We needed the artificial defences of anger, egocentricity, and alienation while we lacked the real defence provided by the ‘instinct vs intellect’ explanation for our behavior, however now that we have that real defence, those artificial defences are no longer necessary — and so they fall away.

Thanks Laurah! To help you progress after watching THE Interview here are our recommended next steps: • Subscribe to our free Mailing List where you will receive one email per week and occasional News Flashes. • Watch the Main Videos where Jeremy Griffith (& others) talk you through the explanation of the human condition. Totally free, no registration required. • Read the Key Books by Jeremy Griffith. Totally free to download, no registration required. • Read recent reviews, interviews and articles written about Jeremy Griffith and his work. • Join and participate in our Facebook Group to learn about this amazing, human-condition-resolved new world. • Help this critical new science by sharing it! • Be sure to explore all our free material, including our popular free or cost price FIX THE WORLD products at HumanCondition.com.

Yes, this book needs to get to all the world’s leaders! Regarding politics, in his book FREEDOM, Jeremy explains the twin political problems we have are the brutality of the right-wing’s need to continue the corrupting search for knowledge free from too much condemning idealism, and the left-wing’s dishonest and deluded dogmatic imposition of pseudo-idealistic politically correct values. However, as THE Interview explains, freedom of thought and individualism, sustained by the incentives of materialism and capitalism which right-wing constitutions uphold, are what maintained humanity’s heroic search for knowledge, ultimately for self-knowledge. And so paradoxically it was the right-wing that actually held the moral high ground and the left-wing that posed the real threat to humanity due to the fact that its dogmatically imposed pseudo-idealism gravely endangers freedom of thought and the search for understanding. Now the core mystery and problem about human behaviour of our so-called ‘good and evil’-stricken human condition has at last been solved we can understand the real merits and liabilities of both the left and right wings of politics and bring the whole necessary but ugly business of politics to an end (see our FAQs about politics).

Thanks Anthony. What is unique about Jeremy’s work is it gets to the original source of all the “wars”, “selfish” “self-glorifying” and fundamentally lifts the ‘burden of guilt’ from the human race for having “fallen” and allows us to forgive ourselves and others and finally end our psychologically troubled human condition. As the distinguished psychiatrist Professor Harry Prosen (who wrote the Introduction to Jeremy’s definitive book FREEDOM) said: “What Griffith is presenting is understanding of the source insecurity that the whole human race suffers from for having destroyed our species’ innocent soul. It is a universal self-blame that his understanding at last provides healing insight into. All human behavior is saturated with that universal insecure, depressing state and resulting anger, egocentricity and alienation that has developed from it, but we finally have the compassionate foundation insight needed to dismantle all that ‘upset’/psychosis. So the real psychotherapy of our collective and individual psychoses can begin”.

Thanks for your comment Tim. We are respectful of everyone’s beliefs, but do suggest that while religions contained extraordinary guidance, even truth about human life, it was all from a pre-scientific view, and that ultimately we needed to find the scientific explanation for why when the universal ideals are to be loving, cooperative and selfless are we so angry, competitive and selfish. Answering this question required finding the clarifying difference between the way the intellect and instincts work, and that clarifying difference means we can now understand that we had to defy our instincts, which is why this great breakthrough is described as ‘redeeming’. It follows that by finding the good reason we had to defy our instincts, we can reconcile ourselves with them, because all our defensive behaviours (our anger, egocentricity and alienation) are now redundant. We no longer need them because we have the real defense for why we had to defy our instincts. We recommend reading FAQ 6.3 ‘Does this undermine religion?’ where it is explained that, “The great founding prophets of religion actually looked forward to the arrival of the reconciling understanding of the human condition—which means supporters of religion shouldn’t see Jeremy’s scientific demystification of religious teachings as blasphemy, but as religious fulfillment!”

    Hi Richard, we very much appreciate your most enthusiastic response to THE Interview and Jeremy Griffith’s breakthrough biological explanation of the human condition! Your encouragement is very valuable. We did want to share with readers of this comment that, as is explained in Part 2 of THE Interview, Jeremy is always the first to emphasise that it is science that is the “saviour” or liberator of mankind. In that Part 2, you’ll hear Craig Conway summarise that “science’s discovery of the way genes and nerves work has finally made it possible for the liberation of humanity from the horror of the human condition”, to which Jeremy replies, “Yes, that is the essential truth: science is the liberator, the so-called ‘messiah’ or ‘redeemer’ of humankind, as we always hoped it would be!”     Richard, we very much hope you follow your enthusiasm by subscribing to our mailing list and joining our Facebook Group to learn more about the amazing, human-condition-resolved new world Jeremy’s treatise brings about.

    Thank you for your deep consideration Muhammad, we certainly respect your views. Yes, we are suggesting that with the benefit of a scientific understanding of why the intellect had to defy the pre-established instincts, we can re-interpret the Biblical story of Adam and Eve, in particular, that they were ‘right’ to take the fruit, and that it was a tragic misunderstanding that they were banished for this. As Jeremy explains in Part 2 of THE Interview: “the Biblical story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden that Moses wrote so long ago in about 1,500 BC actually perfectly describes the psychologically upsetting battle that emerged between our instincts and conscious intellect. It says Adam and Eve/we humans took the ‘fruit’ (Genesis 3:3) ‘from the tree of knowledge’ (Gen. 2:9, 17) and were ‘disobedient’ (the term widely used in descriptions of Gen. 3). In other words, we developed a conscious mind and free will. But in that pre-scientific story it says Adam and Eve then became ‘evil’ (Gen. 3:22) perpetrators of ‘sin’ (Gen. 4:7) because they became angry, egocentric and alienated, and as a result Moses said they were ‘banished…from the Garden of Eden’ (Gen. 3:23) state of cooperative and loving innocence.” With the benefit of science, thankfully we can now explain that they, we humans, weren’t bad at all; in fact, we are the heroes of the story of life on Earth!     With regard to the idea that the story really refers to knowledge ‘of innocence of morality’ rather than knowledge per se, it is worth pointing out that scholars have long interpreted ‘the tree of knowledge of good and evil’ to mean knowledge of everything rather than simply ‘knowledge of morality’. For example, in his book Genesis, the Old Testament scholar Claus Westermann wrote that the phrase “knowledge of good and evil” is: “… concerned with knowledge (or wisdom) in the general, comprehensive sense. Any limitation of the meaning of “the knowledge of good and evil” is thereby excluded. It can mean neither moral nor sexual nor any other partial knowledge, but only that knowledge which includes and determines human existence as a whole, [the ability to master]… one’s own existence.” Similarly, biblical scholars such as Cyrus H. Gordon (The Bible and the Ancient Near East), Harry M. Orlinsky (notes to the NJPS Torah) and Nicolas Wyatt (Space and Time in the Religious Life of the Near East) have written that the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” should be understood to mean a tree whose fruit imparts knowledge of everything, and does not necessarily contain a moral concept.     Which is not to say that the consciousness does not bring with it knowledge of ‘good and evil’. As Jeremy quotes in chapter 3:2 of his definitive book FREEDOM, Nicolai Berdyaev wrote in his 1931 book, The Destiny of Man, “Particularly bitter is moral knowledge, the knowledge of good and evil. But the bitterness is due to the fallen state of the world…Moral knowledge is the most bitter and the most fearless of all for in it sin and evil are revealed to us along with the meaning and value of life. There is a deadly pain in the very distinction of good and evil, of the valuable and the worthless.” (pp.14-16)     Again, we suggest that the meaning of the metaphor of eating the fruit from “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” is that we became conscious, and had to search for knowledge, with the ultimate knowledge being knowledge of our ‘good and evil’ afflicted condition. As Richard Heinberg wrote in the quote included in THE Interview: “Every religion begins with the recognition that human consciousness has been separated from the divine Source, that a former sense of oneness…has been lost…everywhere in religion and myth there is an acknowledgment that we have departed from an original…innocence…the cause of the Fall is described variously as disobedience, as the eating of a forbidden fruit, and as spiritual amnesia [alienation].”     You might be interested in FIX THE WORLD’s FAQs about religion which explain that religion deserves praise for being a repository of extremely rare denial-free truth, containing all the truth about human life albeit from a pre-scientific view.

    There is a lot to digest here, and so we hope you persevere, because what is so significant about the explanation of the human condition is the opposite of an idealistic ‘utopian’ dream that we all just behaving “lovingly”. What is so extraordinary about the ‘instinct vs intellect’ explanation is that it defends our so-called ‘dark side’ and explains that despite all appearances to the contrary, all humans are ‘good’. It explains the real reason for why humans’ competitive behaviour became an unavoidable, indeed necessary, part of human life. That is why it is so powerful: it actually allows us all to reconcile the selfish madness of the world, and in ourselves, with ideality. And by explaining the very good reason why our intellect had to defy our instincts, it makes redundant our defensive behaviours of anger, egocentricity and alienation, which is what makes it totally different to ‘pseudo’ idealistic demands that we all just behave cooperatively. See FAQ 1.40, which addresses ‘How can you hope to transform the world? — In particular, how are you going to change the behaviour of the rich and powerful? / How are you going to reach the bastions of power? / Won’t the greedy and power-hungry simply ignore this?’. See also FAQ 1.6, ‘Why does understanding of the human condition solve everything?’     The following is a passage from Part 3 of Jeremy Griffith’s book Transform Your Life that might be helpful: “We are rational creatures, and so when all the logic points to there being only one response we can make, namely the human-condition-resolved, upset-obsoleted, transformed new way of living, then that is the response the human race has to take. No revolution dogmatically, and even physically, imposed upon us by others, as has pretty much been the case with revolutions in the past, just a peaceful revolution through the power of logic, knowledge, understanding—the great ‘revolution of the mind’ that W.B. Yeats, and Sir Bob, yearned for. Of course, while it is the power of the logic, the rationale, that makes the new transformed way of living irresistible, the adoption of this way of living is also made irresistible by the absolutely wonderful transforming effect it has on people. Indeed, before long those still living in the old embattled, have-to-prove-your-worth, or deluded, do-good-to-feel-good pseudo idealistic ways of living will feel like they have been caught wearing last year’s fashions! There is such a stark difference between the free, authentic, expansive, enthralled-with-life, transformed existence and the old embattled existence, where your mind is narrowly focused and preoccupied working all the angles every second of every day, defensively seeking validation and reinforcement, that those living in the old ways will seem like a different species. Compared to the new expansive, all-exciting, free, transformed state, those still stuck in the old embattled paradigm will be like sad, forgotten ghosts trapped in an obsoleted state.”

Romans 3:23 states, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (NIV). Yes, without the scientific explanation of the human condition we could only conclude that our angry, egocentric and alieated state was ‘bad’ or ‘evil’ or ‘sinful’. However, as Jeremy Griffith explains in Part 2 of THE Interview with regard to the Adam and Eve story in the Bible: “You see, not knowing how naturally selected instincts differ from cause and effect-operating consciousness, this story of Adam and Eve becoming conscious could only conclude that the angry, egocentric and alienated condition that emerged when we became conscious was a bad, evil, sinful state, but this scientific presentation says, ‘No, no, that pre-scientific story got it wrong’. Adam and Eve are actually not just good but the heroes of the whole story of life on Earth—because surely the conscious mind is nature’s greatest invention and to be given the task of searching for understanding while the whole world’s condemning you was the hardest and toughest of tasks—because that condemnation was universal. All the other innocent storks are condemning the search for knowledge, and since all of nature—the rain, the clouds, the trees, and other animals—are all associated with our original instinctive self that was condemning us, the whole world, in effect, ganged up on Adam and Eve, i.e. us humans—and yet all the time we were good and not bad but we couldn’t explain why, but now at last through the benefit of science, we can.”

    Thank you very much, Scott, for your considered feedback. As you say, there is a lot of habituation to overcome, and in addition, Jeremy Griffith’s work is about confronting and solving the human condition, and given our historic way of coping with the human condition has been to avoid it at all costs, Jeremy’s REAL path to our species’ returning to our natural loving way of living is a tough one to initiate. However humanity’s uptake of the explanation of the human condition has a fast finish, because, as he explains in chapter 9 of his definitive book FREEDOM, once people start having the legitimate ‘change of heart’ that this information allows, the selflessness that it liberates will not only quickly solve all the problems on the planet including teaching other people about this redeeming information, but the excitement and joy it brings means everyone will want to get on board as quickly as they can! For example, Jeremy writes in chapter 9:9, “Although this new world for humans, which the World Transformation Movement has been established to facilitate, will have a slow beginning because humans initially find it difficult even taking in or ‘hearing’ discussion about the human condition, once the WTM is discovered, word of it and what it offers every human and the world will spread like wildfire—as the exceptional denial-free thinking prophet Teilhard de Chardin wrote, ‘The Truth has to only appear once…for it to be impossible for anything ever to prevent it from spreading universally and setting everything ablaze’” (par. 1236).     How this healing is immediately open to us all is summarised in FAQ 1.5 and FAQ 1.40 addresses the questions of ‘How can you hope to transform the world? — In particular, how are you going to change the behaviour of the rich and powerful? / How are you going to reach the bastions of power? / Won’t the greedy and power-hungry simply ignore this?’.

Hi RD. We are so appreciative of your interest and perseverance. If you haven’t watched it already, THE Interview is the ideal introduction to Jeremy Griffith’s explanation of the human condition. From there, at top of our FIX THE WORLD homepage at HumanCondition.com, it states ‘WHAT NEXT after watching THE Interview?’ and guides you study the human condition and Jeremy’s explanation of it. These steps include subscribing to our mailing list where you will receive one email per week and occasional News Flashes. We also encourage people to join our Facebook Group to learn more about this amazing, human-condition-resolved new world. Significantly, we are a not-for-profit organisation and make all our material and publications free to read online, watch, listen to and even download and print, so there is no limitation to you accessing all of our information.

    Thanks for your questions Paul.     Firstly, with regard to Christian metaphor of the ‘Tree of Knowledge’, we suggest that the more you consider the interpretation of the Garden of Eden story given in THE Interview, the clearer it becomes that the story is a metaphor for the emergence of the conscious mind in the presence of pre-established loving instincts, and how the conscious mind was in effect ‘condemned’ by those instincts, and as a result became angry, egocentric and alienated. With regard to the criticism that the metaphor really refers to knowledge ‘of innocence of morality’ rather than knowledge per se, it is worth pointing out that scholars have long interpreted ‘the tree of knowledge of good and evil’ to mean knowledge of everything rather than simply ‘knowledge of morality’. For example, in his book Genesis, the Old Testament scholar Claus Westermann wrote that the phrase “knowledge of good and evil” is: “… concerned with knowledge (or wisdom) in the general, comprehensive sense. Any limitation of the meaning of “the knowledge of good and evil” is thereby excluded. It can mean neither moral nor sexual nor any other partial knowledge, but only that knowledge which includes and determines human existence as a whole, [the ability to master]… one’s own existence.” Similarly, biblical scholars such as Cyrus H. Gordon (The Bible and the Ancient Near East), Harry M. Orlinsky (notes to the NJPS Torah) and Nicolas Wyatt (Space and Time in the Religious Life of the Near East) have written that the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” should be understood to mean a tree whose fruit imparts knowledge of everything, and does not necessarily contain a moral concept.     Epigenetics helps explain how the stress and trauma produced by the human condition can be carried forward biologically from one generation to the next.     Experiences of insecurity, conflict and upset can influence gene expression, meaning the effects of that stress may be inherited by subsequent generations. In terms of Jeremy Griffith’s instinct vs intellect explanation, this fits with the idea that humanity has lived for thousands of generations under the psychological strain created by the clash between our moral instincts and our truth-seeking intellect. That long history of stress would be expected to leave epigenetic marks.     However, as is explained in Part 4 of THE Interview, the significance of Griffith’s explanation is that once the human condition is understood and people are psychologically relieved of that conflict, the defensive, upset behaviour it produced is no longer needed. Humans can begin living cooperatively and selflessly, and over time the stress associated with the human condition would no longer be passed on. Eventually generations would emerge who are no longer burdened by that accumulated trauma. See our Transformation page for more.

Thank you for your comment, Richard. While this biological understanding of the human condition really is the universal solution to all the problems we face, it does have a slow start-up phase. It will take some time to break through fixed patterns of thought, as well as the bastions of power in the world, but once this information gets a foothold through enough people like you developing a deep appreciation and desire to support it, the selfless love and energy that will generated will solve our problems very quickly because instead of being preoccupied with seeking salvation, or seeking power, fame, fortune etc, all our energies will be freed to truly work together and focus on doing whatever it takes to end the suffering in all the corners of the world. The essential point is that all the dysfunction and destruction in the world, including conflict between nations, is a reflection of the conflict within us. What is so important about what Jeremy Griffith presents with the ‘instinct vs intellect’ explanation of the human condition, is that it actually solves that discord by reconciling instinct and intellect. By explaining the very good reason why our intellect had to defy our instincts (which is that genes can orientate but nerves need to understand) means all our defensive behaviours (our anger, egocentricity and alienation), are now redundant. You might be interested in reading more in FAQ 1.6: Why this solves everything.