External Technique
The External Technique is the transformation of the process of analysis into the field of activity and behavior, as the actions of the individual in everyday reality. By the use of the Internal Technique, one may have changed one's ideas and created new perspectives and values that one will assume to be true. The assumption of truth is termed Premise Suspension. In the real world one needs to make decisions based upon Operating Principles, as what the individual assumes to be true and thinks is best. Premise suspension is the acceptance of the validity of ideas which have been created abstractly, based on revisited memories of past events and logical analysis, but have not been tested and proven in reality, such as the conclusion that rich people are generous because they have a lot of money, may not borne out by the personal observation of real beggars and who gives them money.
Premises which are derived from the Internal method are produced abstractly. One may search the memory for verification from all the individual's past experience that can be remembered. Premises are supported by these remembrances, as the best as one can do without firsthand experience. One can also obtain verification from other persons in the form of verbal communication, books and movies. However one cannot know to what extent others are prejudiced by their own conditioning and experiences. The best evidence is firsthand, wherein it is assumed that the individual can determine one's own objectivity. If it should prove in time that one has not been objective, the individual can best determine what went wrong, and the information of real experience can be used at a later time when one has achieved a greater degree of objectivity. The External Method is primarily a vehicle, as a number of techniques, for the obtainment of firsthand evidence and substantiation for premises derived from the Internal Technique, and to gain new information discovered in the real world. These premises are termed
Transitive Concepts. They represent a context in which to observe reality, so that when situations and events occur that support or refute these concepts, the individual can recognize events and happenstance as relevant, that would otherwise have no significance as related and important.
The observation of reality can be influenced by the observer. This is like as if the observer were the only male in an otherwise all female group. The individual as an observer, must be capable of controlling how the self looks and acts in real circumstance, so as to affect and prejudice the event to the least degree. If the individual appears to others to be somewhat dense as opposed to say an authority figure, varying interactions will occur. Thus, for this reason and for the purposes of continuing the processes of discovering and changing conditioning, the first task in terms of the External Method, is the observation and evaluation of the self.
The purpose of the External Technique is to make changes that were discovered in the process of the Internal Technique, and to uncover new unconscious predispositions in the reality of everyday living experience. Some unconscious conditioning can be drawn out by the Internal method, but much of it has become locked into the mind's and body's automatic processes of thinking and doing, such that it can only be discovered through observation in the actuality of its manifestations, as specific situations and circumstances. The individual simply may not, in an abstract sense, think of all the many possibilities of conditioned thinking and action, that only varied experience can produce. For instance the individual may not know that one is socially or racially prejudiced. One may think that one is not, and consider it a matter of pride, as an egalitarian intellectual position. However, if one has no real experience in the living milieu of other cultures, then such experience may reveal hidden traits.
One of the primary techniques for the discovery of
unconscious mechanisms is the method termed the Watcher. This is the technique of watching oneself, as if one were watching another person. This is to see oneself as others do and to detect and discover unconscious behavior. For instance a person may have unconscious body movements and behavior which occur only in certain social situations as when one is uncomfortable and nervous, perhaps such as employing the use of a specific phrase, such as 'In no way, I have ever done that', that may be out of context to the social circumstance.
The concept of the Watcher employs the further technique of what is called Self-Remembrance, in which the individual has to remember to remember to watch oneself, which may be difficult to do in the beginning, especially when caught up in habitual patterns of behavior, in a hurry, or in stressful circumstances. However, this watching should not become compulsive, as an all the time activity, as it can lead to hyperactive thought processes and self-consciousness. It should be used like exercise, better reserved for specific times when it seems appropriate to do so, say in certain situations when the individual is interested in how they behave in some particular circumstance. When the analysis of specific circumstance is done, then there is no more need for it in that particular instance.
A further aspect of Self-remembrance concerns when one becomes aware that one is doing something they were not aware. For instance to change the way one speaks as specific words, by watching oneself, one may notice the use of words like 'gosh' or 'wild', which may be spoken automatically and by rote in specific instances. First, one notices or notes the object word, words or phrase. Then one may analyze the use of the word, the origin and purposes of how one began using it, although this is not necessary, and whether it is suitable to one's present purposes or changed identity. The object is not necessarily to eliminate the discovered trait, but to become conscious of its existence, and thus to have a choice as to whether one wishes to continue or discontinue its usage, or create the ability to make a spontaneous choice in the actual circumstance. One first notes its use by watching oneself. Then one must remember to watch for the use of the word in the same or other kinds of instances, and try to catch oneself before the word is said, so as to eliminate it or to substitute another word. This technique can be used to make many kinds of changes such as body movements, language, thought and speech patterns.
Unconscious patterns of behavior are conditioned over time and represent various aspects of the personality of the individual. When the individual seeks to alter elements and patterns of behavior, the changes will be based and conform to different ideas and models of what new personality traits should be like.
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