Dr. Anatoly Ulianov: If we take a regular, traditional game, immediately a stereotype arises, the idea that it is a competition, and in the end one side will win and the other will lose.

When you talk about “winning” the global, integral game, what do you mean? What is the objective and result of the game?

Dr. Michael Laitman: The objective is not to act in a way that is doomed to fail because it is totally disconnected from the actions that are instilled in Nature, and which Nature will carry out anyhow.

If we act in even a slightly different direction from Nature, we will suffer to the extent of our deviation from Nature’s program. If I deviate 10 degrees from nature’s integral law of development, or if I stray 20 or 30 degrees, then there will be earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, financial catastrophes, or even wars.

If we started studying ourselves in relation to the integral governance under which we exist today, we could prevent many catastrophes and would gradually learn to feel and analyze our actions, to discern whether they are desirable or not. An old maxim says, “If you don’t know how to act, it is best if you sit and don’t act at all,” because by acting without knowing how, you stray from the right course, whereas by not acting, you just passively flow with the movement.

The above points were taken from the book The Psychology of the Integral Society by Dr. Michael Laitman and Dr. Anatoly Ulianov. Also available as eBook (PDF, Kindle & ePub formats).

Dr. Anatoly Ulianov: For some reason I just recalled a chance game that used to be popular. Where does the hope that people hang on games of chance come from?

Dr. Michael Laitman: When we cannot know exactly what the right decision is, we put ourselves in the hands of fate, hoping that there is a destiny, an unpredictable upper force that controls us, and we give ourselves over to it. Of course, in games we don’t take it seriously.

In life, however, we see that even when we plan ahead and want everything to go according to our plan, things unfold by different laws. That’s where a discrepancy between common sense, my established dogmas, and what really happens in life emerges.

How can I leave my dogmas and merge with the actions that are actually happening outside of me, under the influence of some external, higher force of Nature?

Humanity is entering a state of integral, global governance by Nature. Previously we did not notice it, but developed through the generations according to our egoism, changing ourselves, society, and the social orders.

But today we – individualists, egoists – are starting to find ourselves in a completely different format. We are included in a mechanism that operates integrally, like an analog system where all the parts are completely interconnected, mutually determining each other’s state, and no one has any free movement. A person influences the whole world with his thoughts and desires, not to mention the physical actions. This is called “the butterfly effect.”

There is a contradiction between how we were created, how we map out the world based on our nature, and how Nature actually works in reality. A discrepancy arises between the two systems. And that is when the desire to play emerges.

To play means to give yourself over to the will of the integral nature that controls us, which we cannot understand, and with which we cannot act in unison. Therefore, a person seems to give himself over to a force, a governance that comes from Nature. In a sense, he throws a dice, thinking, “The result does not depend on me. I am simply giving myself over to the whim of chance.” So what should we do?

If we tried to “team up” with Nature, we would win. Of course, we wouldn’t be thoughtlessly “throwing dice,” but we would try to penetrate the integral governance. And even though it contradicts our common sense, if we would try to come closer to this integral governance, we would see that sometimes it’s worthwhile to act in that integral manner, that the advantage of doing that is obvious.

The above points were taken from the book The Psychology of the Integral Society by Dr. Michael Laitman and Dr. Anatoly Ulianov. Also available as eBook (PDF, Kindle & ePub formats).