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"Correlations" is a technique which enables
you to see life from another angle. Its value lies not in its 'truth', but in
its effectiveness at calming your mind. It does this by neutralizing one of the
deepest causes of stress: the biases that we hold so dear. As you might imagine,
this 'tool' is not very popular with most people, for deep down,
we want our biases to be reenforced, not neutralized.
Correlations: Do It Yourself Word List
Print this list out and then, with pencil in hand again, consider each word/antonym pair from the un-correlated list below. Correlate each pair using the previous correlations and procedures (vertical, horizontal, circular reading, etc.) for guidance. Simply circle which word you think is Passive. Whenever you get stuck, set the word aside, let your sub-conscious ponder it, and choose another. When you finish, compare your results with the "completed" word sheet . . . but correlate these words first!
| agitate | sedates |
| anger | fear |
| artificial | natural |
| beauty | ugliness |
| biases | balances |
| black | white |
| bliss | anguish |
| blurs | defines |
| certainty | doubt |
| civilized | primitive |
| clarifies | confounds |
| clouds | clears |
| compels | coaxes |
| complies | resists |
| confronts | evades |
| constraint | spontaneity |
| contends | yields |
| counterfeit | authentic |
| cynicism | faith |
| decides | deliberates |
| detaches | adheres |
| deters | invites |
| diverges | converges |
| elite | riffraff |
| enough | need |
| expert | novice |
| extreme | conservative |
| flows | ebbs |
| future | present |
| gobbles | tastes |
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| hell | paradise |
| hesitates | acts |
| hosts | visits |
| human | animal |
| hunts | eludes |
| I | that |
| ignorance | awareness |
| indulges | tempers |
| inferior | superior |
| innocence | guilt |
| intensifies | mitigates |
| joy | sorrow |
| kindles | quells |
| knows | misunderstand |
| liberal | strict |
| local | universal |
| loss | gain |
| loves | hates |
| master | slave |
| moderate | radical |
| moves | stops |
| naive | sophisticated |
| neutral | impassioned |
| numbs | sharpens |
| objective | subjective |
| obscures | illuminates |
| order | chaos |
| pains | pleases |
| past | present |
| plant | animal |
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| proceed | pauses |
| rejects | accepts |
| remembers | forgets |
| replies | asks |
| repulsion | attraction |
| restrains | abandons |
| satiates | craves |
| seclusion | fellowship |
| shame | pride |
| sincerity | hypocrisy |
| skepticism | religion |
| slows | quickens |
| soils | washes |
| solidifies | liquifies |
| speaks | listens |
| specific | general |
| spiritual | worldly |
| stabilizes | wobbles |
| stagnates | grows |
| teacher | student |
| tightens | loosens |
| tip | base |
| transitory | perpetual |
| truth | fiction |
| vanishes | appears |
| vertical | horizontal |
| watches | shows |
| widens | narrows |
| wishes | has |
| worries | soothes |
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Note: the critical part of this process is the anchoring of words to each other vertically under the Active/Passive categories. Which category you place a word under is less important because each word is defined by all the others in its column. Thus, if you wanted to re-categorize dirty as Active instead of Passive, then dirty becomes synonymous with unique, success, transitory, shallow, illusion, famous, answer, angular, abrupt... and so on; you must now maintain that connotation for dirty. Thus, dirty brightens, awakens, divides, exposes, floats, promises, pushes, separates, wins... and so on. Such anchoring of basic words helps you avoid internal duplicity which only complicates mental life and increases emotional stress. If you must re-categorize any word pair, do so carefully; the Correlation Sets have been under consideration for decades.
Do you understand this process well enough to effectively explore your world view? Try it out. Select some word pairs from the Correlation Sets that pertain to a question, problem, or idea. It can be personal, political, scientific, religious... anything that you are curious or troubled about and would like deeper insight on. Also, use these Correlation Sets for guidance in classifying any new words and, of course, for broadening perspective in general.
Initially, if you are categorizing new words, use only those which have true antonyms . . . use a thesaurus! If the word you are considering does not have an antonym, find a word/antonym pair that is close in meaning. Studying the Correlation Set lists vertically can point you in the right direction.
Discuss this topic in the forums.
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