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Prefatory Notes

You Are Extraordinary (1967)

What are real people like? How do they get to be the way they are? Can we hope to understand our society without understanding the real people who make it up? Maybe in our attempt to deal with the problems of government and society, we are too much like tinkers who have barely heard of electricity, yet try to repair a complicated television set. Probably our lack of understanding of real people has a lot to do with the fact that we inhabitants of this earth continually cry out for peace, yet do not know how to attain it.

This book presents new information about real people; it is of universal applicability and reveals new insight into what we human beings are like and why society isn’t as simple as a b c. It also outlines a strategy whereby we can learn to grasp our problems and those of our wives, husbands, children, neighbors and associates as well as those of a troubled humanity. No one who deals with real people (and who doesn’t?) can afford to remain unaware of the material contained in this volume.

Socrates taught about twenty-four hundred years ago that to "know thyself" was paramount. In our modern day we tend to spend extraordinary sums to learn about everything else. Outer space, which is as far removed from ourselves as possible, is a favorite target. In the interest of balanced good sense and self-preservation, especially in view of the material presented in this book, this interest in everything besides ourselves should dampen. We should employ the tools of modern science now, to heed Socrates’ teaching.

There are today among scientists many strong advocates of basic research. What can be more basic than understanding real people? A quest for such understanding cannot be narrow; it must involve many kinds of experts. Yet our society and our institutions are stacked against such efforts. Nowhere in the world are groups of people competent in human biology, including biochemistry, genetics and psychology, doing this basic research. Those who talk about such endeavors chronically miss the crucial ingredient in the recipe--as presented in this book--without which they cannot make the cake.

The idea of freedom has been rated by penetrating students of human philosophy as the number one "great idea" of all time. This book gives, for the first time, a comprehensive and conclusive picture of why this idea exists and why it is inevitable that it shall continue to be held in high regard by all men everywhere.

Albert Einstein is reverenced by a multitude of people today--often from afar. He was noted for his intellect rather than for his religious devotion; yet he said, "The cosmic religious experience is the strongest and noblest driving force behind scientific research. And again, "Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind." The writer presents in this book a view of science that is not lame and a concept of religion that is not blind--nor is it so diluted as to be meaningless.

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