“Many believe that self-help and self-improvement is about rags to riches, failure to success, and so forth, when indeed it is the beginning of a journey into self- discovery . . . Inside every human being is an eternal truth and a life purpose. Using our mind power is simply starting the engine on that journey of self-discovery and highest self-actualization.”
Upon first impression, Dr. Eldon Taylor’s Gotcha! The Subordination of Free Will is a clever interplay between Michael Gazzaniga’s book, Who’s In Charge: Free Will And The Science Of The Brain and Robert Cialdini’s: Influence: Science and Practice. Gotcha! The Subordination of Free Will is a call to awaken humanity from its unconscious sleep. The book is an inner exploration of critical thinking which many of us give little attention to until thrust into our awareness.
I am drawn to Dr. Taylor’s passage in the book which states, “The journey of life is really about living into our authentic selves. The first big gotcha is to hide that fact from us, to enculturate us in ways that foster the interests of society as a whole or of an elite few, while organizing the rest of us to conform and thereby consume.” The book takes the reader into unsettling places where things aren’t as they appear until we dig deeper.
In order for mankind to evolve, we must step out of our unconscious dream to penetrate the truth of reality. Dr. Taylor’s research is thorough and revelatory, striking at the core of our being. I am reminded of Mel Gibson’s film Conspiracy Theory, with insightful facts interspersed throughout the book that left me reconsidering many assumptions.
Gotcha! The Subordination of Free Will offers a thought provoking quest into free will, which is nothing more than an illusion according to Dr. Taylor. You will question everything and take nothing for granted by the close of the book. This does not mean one becomes paranoid about everyday life. Instead, we give greater consideration to what we perceive, because of our conditioned past. There is always something lurking beneath the surface and Dr. Taylor’s book is can opener, peeling back the lid on that world.
Question everything and as Thomas Dewar reminds us, “Minds are like parachutes; they work best when open.”
