THE ART OF HUNTING

HUMANS
A radical and confronting explanation of the human
mind

Sidney Mazzi
 Book Title Copyright © 2019 by Sidney Antonio Mazzi Junior. All Rights Reserved.

Without limiting the rights under the copyright reserved, no part of this publication may be
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The moral right of the authors has been asserted.

This is a work of fiction.

Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s
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For the avoidance of doubt, the author and publisher disclaim any liability in connection with the
use of the information contained in this book.

HUNTINGHUMANS.COM
The Art of Hunting Humans presents key
aspects of the human mind. With
straightforward language, weird metaphors
and practical examples, it enables readers
to understand human behaviour and
evaluate their lives from an outsider’s
perspective.

Designed to challenge rather than comfort,

The Art of Hunting Humans sets itself apart
from anything else written in its field. The
result is a sceptical, radical explanation of
the mind that provides extraordinary
insights into the inner worlds of human
beings.
 CONTENTS

1 - Introduction - Exploring Human Ignorance & Flaws

2 - Roadmap & Warnings - A Guide to this Book

PART I - WARM UP - THE ISOLATED

CAPTAIN
3 - Just Codes - A Broken Communication System
4 - Alternative Realities - Inside the Cabin
Bonus - The Inner Fake-News Generator
5 - The Isolated Captain - First tips

PART II - DIGGING DEEPER INTO YOUR

PREY’S REALITY
6 - Haunted by Meanings - Hidden Associations
7 - The Extremes - Human Drawers

PART III - BETWEEN REALITIES & DESIRES

8 - The Brain’s Puppet - Emotions & Desires

PART IV - WHAT DRIVES THE ANIMAL

9 - Prelude to the Chapter ‘Personal Holy Grail’ - Perceived Lack of
Power
10 - Personal Holy Grail - Vanity
11 - Vanity - Practical Tips
 12 - Sceptical to the Bone - Self-interest Expanded
13 - Survival Mode - Fear
14 - Fear - Practical Tips

PART V - SECRETS BEHIND HUMAN

IGNORANCE
15 - Prelude - The four Characteristics
16 - Building a Cage - The Surveillance System
17 - Observe the Quarry - Time & Resilience
Bonus - Stigma on Earth - Another Reason for Human
Ignorance

PART VI - SUPERIORS
18 - Hunting Guide - Key Notes
19 - The Superiors - Piloting the Animal

FINAL WORDS
Counter-attack
1 - Introduction - Exploring Human
Ignorance & Flaws

Nothing compares to the thrill of chasing the perfect prey. Hunting socially
sophisticated primates, known as human beings, is the ultimate mission any
creature can pursue — the most challenging and fascinating journey one can
take. In this book, written by experienced hunters, we explore key aspects of
human behaviour. We also provide practical tips for how to use — to your
advantage — the ignorance that humans display about their nature.
Human beings are planet Earth’s smartest and most dangerous animals.
With superior intelligence, there is no doubt that they are formidable — far
more difficult to ensnare than the lesser of Earth’s creatures, such as lions or
bears. However, if you have the fortitude to complete this book, you will join
a select club of hunters who have the ability to exploit human behaviour to
their advantage.

BEYOND BIG-GAME HUNTING

Big-game hunting is the pursuit of large animals, such as lions and elephants.
Though not the largest of Earth’s creatures, humans present many challenges,
even for the most seasoned hunters. Have you ever observed humans in their
natural habitat? If so, you might have noticed that their behaviour is more
challenging to identify and predict than regular large terrestrial mammals.
Due to the complex human central- intelligence system, human behaviour is
more sophisticated than that of all other Earth-born creatures. Never forget,
though, that these ‘smart monkeys’ are animals, nonetheless, with instincts
and patterns of behaviour that you can exploit.
It is important to know that some humans are territorial, just like we see
with gorillas and kangaroos. Believe it or not, lots of them still think that
there is a need for a chest-beating alpha male within their group. Should you
step into their territory without putting some measures in place, beware; these
humans can be very dangerous. Yes, territorial humans can be violent, but, at
the same time, they are the easiest to trap.
Interestingly, some humans use sex to gain social acceptance and
protection, just as we observe in chimps. Then there are, of course, others
with needs and wants that are less apparent. What matters for now is that
there are several different types of humans, and some can also be tribal and
highly prone to delusion. So, you need to keep in mind that to hunt a human,
you must know what type you have in your sights. Then, you will possess the
necessary knowledge to select the tastiest bait.
In a nutshell, if you understand how to play with a human’s desires, he
should not be a difficult catch. In general, these creatures are also disinclined
to engage in rational analysis, even though very few of them are aware of the
fact. So, after reading this book, we hope you will be able to observe these
characteristics easily and understand how most humans, even their leaders,
continually embarrass themselves with weak behaviours that are plain to see.

SOME OF THE WEAKNESSES WE WILL EXPLORE

When hunting humans, there are many weaknesses you can exploit. Here are
two:

Just like dogs

A fundamental feature to play with is the trust that humans have in their
emotions, feelings, sensations — or whatever you want to call those things.
This trust provides a big opportunity.
Why? Well, because humans don’t realise that their brains train them
like a human would train a dog. Instead of a tasty treat or clip around the ear,
though, the brain uses good or bad emotions to train a human to do what it
believes he should. So, we will teach you how to mislead a human’s brain
into sending emotions that will cause your prey to ‘choose’ to do what you
want.
For almost every human, it’s hard to see that this manipulation is
happening; their understanding of which rewards a human brain recognises is
too narrow. For example, for most humans, any act carried out for anything
other than money, recognition or acceptance is usually seen as an act for no
reward. Humans have a weak understanding of the multiple kinds of rewards
their brains might seek. So, when used well, even minimal external stimuli
can do the trick. We will show you how to exploit this.

Fear is gold
To manipulate a human, you can intimidate him by using fear, or you can
enthral him by playing with his vanity. We will go deeply into both, but we
can tell you in advance that, of the two tactics, intimidation is the simplest
and most effective — especially as most humans behave like cornered,
starving beasts that see everything as a possible threat. It’s also usually more
fun playing with a human’s fear than his vanity.
As you probably can imagine, this reality again stems from the dreadful
understanding humans have of the workings of their minds and bodies. In this
book, we uncover the roots of human anger and hatred, and you will learn to
manipulate these feelings. To play with them successfully with your chosen
prey, though, you must understand (better than it) the origin and complexity
of a human’s emotions. You must know, too, why he feels and reacts the way
he does.
Finally, we will present several other flaws to explore. A human’s need
for social approval is one of the easiest to manipulate. His misunderstanding
of the meaning of uncertainty is also important. It all depends on the type of
hunter you are. What do you enjoy the most, to seduce or terrify?

IGNORANCE IS WIDESPREAD

There is no need to rush. Take your time to learn all the tricks and practise
them. Humans will not uncover this knowledge any time soon, and we will
tell you why.
First, almost all books designed to help humans understand themselves
are a joke — we recently cracked their codes of communication and read
some of these books. What we found is priceless. These books do offer some
interesting insights. The problem, though, is that in almost all cases, they are
either designed for ‘losers’, or they are too damned technical. Not
surprisingly, even the smartest humans don’t usually read these ‘tomes of
wisdom’.
Secondly, for humans, discussing human behaviour with each other is
usually problematic; more often than not, the discussion is tangled with
religion, superstition and supernatural fantasies. So, for humans, spreading
knowledge about how their species behaves is almost impossible, which, on a
positive note, makes your life easier.
Thirdly, humans are often deeply emotionally invested in preserving
their ignorance of unsettling truths.
So, most victims you will play with, even highly educated leaders, won’t
have a clue about what makes humans ‘tick’. Among humans, ignorance is
widespread. As a consequence, even today, humans still embarrass
themselves by doing obvious things that they could easily avoid. Throughout
this book, we expose and explore these embarrassments.

KNOW YOUR PREY

Finally, Sun Tzu, one of Earth’s most famous practitioners of war, once said:
“Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be
in peril.” Let’s repeat the most important part for this book: ‘Know the
enemy’. This is the key. You must take the time to observe your prey and
know it better than it does. In fact, once you finish this book, you will be able
to understand humans better than themselves. Then, you will be able to
manipulate your prey; ‘pull its strings’, like a master puppeteer. We will
show you how. Enjoy!
2 - Roadmap & Warnings - A Guide to this
Book

Over the following chapters, we will explore human behaviour from an

alternative point of view. It is essential that you alter how you view human
beings. YOU MUST make something of a paradigm shift, which can be
harder than you think. Forget everything you know about humans and start
from scratch. To help you to change your mindset and attitude, we will start
with some basic concepts.

THE GUIDE

Part I – WARM UP – THE ISOLATED CAPTAIN: To warm up (or sharpen

your blade) we will discuss two very basic ideas. First we will quickly pass
by the human communication system — which humans trust implicitly, and
that’s a mistake. Secondly, we will expose how (and from where) humans
perceive reality. You will start to see the difference between seeing and
projecting reality, which is crucial for understanding your prey.
Interestingly, this understanding will allow us, for example, to
demonstrate why humans are condemned to repeat the same mistakes time
and time again.
Note again that the ideas we present here are basic, but crucial — a
necessary foundation for you to build upon your understanding of the human
animal. Having this solid foundation will pay off. Additionally, the whole
thing will get more complicated as we move towards the end. Wait and see.

Part II – DIGGING DEEPER INTO YOUR PREY’S REALITY: To get

a firm understanding of humans’ inner worlds, we dig into their reality — an
essential theme of this book that permeates all parts. You will begin to see
why warming up (sharpening your blade) was necessary.
 Part III – BETWEEN REALITIES & DESIRES: After exposing the
chaos that is humans’ perceived reality, we demonstrate how it spurs them on
to act, one way or another, by delving into the roles of emotions and desires.

Part IV – WHAT DRIVES THE ANIMAL: You will learn to play with
what drives humans: fear and vanity — all while appealing to your quarry’s
self-interest. You will also see topics like How to choose your bait. Yes, here
you will start to become the master puppeteer.

Part V – SECRETS BEHIND HUMAN IGNORANCE: Step by step, we

demonstrate why humans are so clueless. You will discover that they build
cages and feed internal ‘enemies’, that their lack of self-understanding plays
into the hands of us hunters, and why it is nearly impossible for humans to
spend time fixing their problems. We reveal secrets to control the enemies
humans harbour within.

Part VI – SUPERIORS: Here you meet the SUPERIORS — creatures

like no other. You’d better be ready!

ADDITIONAL NOTES

It is NOT a complete mystery: Note that few of the features discussed will
come as a complete surprise to humans. Many will have heard about them at
some point in their lives. However, it is only when you clearly understand
these features and put THEM ALL together, while in the right frame of mind,
that you will make a difference. It takes practice, though.

Sometimes written like a summary: It is important to note that we will

pass over some parts quickly — summarise — because, as explained, a few
concepts are basic — like the one in the following chapter — and, whenever
we can, we aim to tackle more complex topics.

A wide range of examples: We also must warn you that we use many
examples. After all, for you to understand human nature thoroughly, we must
detail human characteristics and, at times, REPEAT ourselves using
examples to explain our point adequately. Otherwise, how could you possibly
understand why some humans who are about to speak in public, with heart
pounding, feel like a gladiator ready to fight in the Coliseum? Or, how could
you know that a simple conversation about who washes the dishes could be a
proxy for the feeling of acceptance called “love”? Weird, don’t you think?
So, we will be rather didactic. After all, we’re here to teach the craft of
human hunting, not to entertain you.

“Tell a human this story:” As you know, humans are more complicated
than other Earth-born creatures. Therefore, to explain their features and
behaviours, we make comparisons to other animals and apply a range of,
sometimes weird, metaphors. We show examples from a human’s perspective
through illustrations called “Tell a human this story,” which show how
skewed humans’ understanding of reality is. These illustrations will help you
comprehend human behaviour and solidify the knowledge you’ve learned.
Our illustrations will always be followed by a more practical explanation
called, “How does this apply to humans? And how can you use it against
them?”

No! It’s NOT just hunting experience: As a final note for this book,
humans’ minds are so grotesque that there will be moments when you might
question whether we are talking from real hunting experience, or just putting
forth wild theories. Well, indeed, we have decades of experience hunting
humans, which has helped a lot, but the knowledge we share is based on
more than experience — human ‘mind specialists’, too, hold similar
knowledge.
Don’t believe us blindly. Whenever you read something you struggle to
accept, test it. Yes! Try it out on a human. After all, you must surely have a
pet human or know someone who does! And, don’t worry: Tell the pet’s
owner that you’re conducting a mind-and-behaviour test, and it won’t hurt a
bit.

THE ODDS ARE AGAINST YOU

It’s also important to highlight that we aim to accomplish a task that no
human has yet achieved: To explain how the human mind works on a large
scale. Don’t underestimate the challenge.
You are welcome to quit this book at any time. Why not now? Do it! It’s
probably not for you anyway. We encourage you to leave.
Yes, we designed this book for large-scale reach (in the tens of
thousands), but, still, in our experience, just a tiny fraction of readers will
have the necessary qualities to understand it fully. Hence, the chances that
you have what it takes are slim.
So, as said at the start, you need fortitude to complete this book. It’s not
for all, and we don’t intend it to be.
PART I - WARM UP - THE
ISOLATED CAPTAIN
3 - Just Codes - A Broken Communication
System

If we fully understand how inefficiently humans communicate with one

another, we can use this knowledge against them.
To show you how important this is, during wars, one side will often
target its opponent’s communication channels to isolate, divide and mislead.
So, when hunting, understanding the intricacies of your prey’s
communication is vital.
As you know, many of Earth’s animals communicate through sounds and
gestures. Humans, however, use more complex sets of codes and symbols
that seem efficient, which is the inaccurate perception we will explore.
Let’s first start with a weird metaphor that exaggerates the problem.

Tell a human this story: Flags & smoke signals

Imagine an ancient sailing ship with a bank of oars, several cannons and
hundreds of crew. To communicate with other vessels, the captain uses
several flags to send coded messages (stating the country his ship comes
from, its purpose, if it is a merchant or warship, etc.), which receivers
then decipher using a codebook.
Or, picture villages that are miles apart communicating using smoke
signals.

How does this apply to humans? And how can you use it against them?
Now, no human would expect recipients of the messages to understand all
that is happening on the other end. How could they? And, humans know full
well that using a set of codes, such as flags or smoke signals, to communicate
would be extremely limiting. This is obvious. For some reason, though,
humans struggle to understand that their everyday language, too, is
inefficient; it is just a system of codes and symbols that are ripe for
misinterpretation.

WORDS, FLAGS & SMOKE SIGNALS

ALL ARE JUST INEFFICIENT SETS OF CODES

Ask a human to speak a foreign language (that he knows quite well, but it is
not his native tongue) to explain what’s going on within his head, and he will
soon realise how cumbersome his words are for speaking his mind. It’s easy
to see that he would feel limited in his capacity to express himself. And, he
wouldn’t be at all surprised, either; after all, it’s not his first language! What
humans don’t realise, though, is that even the words they grew up with are
clumsy vehicles for self-expression — just a set of codes.
Language is merely a translation into words of the images inside a
human’s head. However, because communicating in one’s ‘mother tongue’
feels natural, humans have a hard time accepting that words are vague
facsimiles of what they want to express. Humans often think that they are
explaining themselves completely because it feels natural — they are
accustomed to the code.
Let’s be very clear. If a human states something simple, like “I want an
apple,” obviously the other human will understand. What we are saying,
though, is that the imagined apple could have a slightly different shape,
colour and size to what the receiver understands. You see, apple is just a
word representing a thought. The gaps between meaning and interpretation
become bigger when humans discuss topics that are subjective, like
hierarchy, power, money, relationships, expectations and success. It is the
bigger gaps that we want to explore.
As if the inefficiency of human language isn’t enough, humans filter
these codes and symbols depending on factors such as their past experiences,
mood, insecurities and knowledge (but this is a topic for a later chapter).
What matters for now is that misunderstandings can become much worse
because, as you will see, in complex situations a code can have multiple
meanings.

CONCLUSIONS
The codes humans use to communicate are highly inefficient, like old
submarines that transmit Morse code to each other. Of course, one craft
won’t be able to express everything that is happening inside its shell. So, in
the same way, no human can express himself fully, even though they all like
to think they can. So, when humans filter rough codes from other humans,
it’s easy to understand why there is so much confusion on planet Earth.
For you, knowing this simple truth about the inefficiency of humans’ sets
of codes is valuable. Wait and see. You can use it to your advantage in
situations where misunderstandings take place, and even create
misunderstanding for your benefit.
In the next chapter, we show how each animal creates its own reality. By
exposing how humans perceive (and distort) the world around them, we will
start to demonstrate how isolated within themselves they are and how their
codes give away tips for how to manipulate them.
4 - Alternative Realities - Inside the Cabin

Let’s look at another example. And, yes, we’ll stick with the captain and ship
examples — it’s essential that you have a solid and natural understanding of
the separation between a human’s Captain (consciousness) and his Crew.

Tell a human this story: The Captain inside his Cabin

Again, imagine the ancient sailing ship described in the previous chapter.
The captain, due to his importance and desire to avoid possible attacks,
spends his days working in isolation inside his cabin.
Of course, the captain needs to know what’s happening on and around his
ship — he’s in charge, after all — and, when necessary, he relies on
messengers to keep him informed. And inform him they do; although, it’s
important to understand the limitations of the messages they deliver.
So, here is the sequence: First the lookout sees something. Then, he
explains his sighting to the messenger, who then explains to the captain.
Simple. Now, consider this:
A lookout, perched high in the ship’s crow’s nest, spies an approaching
vessel. Now, this lookout’s knowledge of ships is minimal — he’s young
and has been a sailor for only a few weeks. Consequently, he can’t
distinguish between an ancient frigate, caravel or galley — they all look
the same to him.
If this young lookout knew more, he would probably notice features such
as the number of sails, oars or cannons the ship has. But, to discern and
describe those features, and the difference between the vessels, first
requires a basic understanding of ships.
It’s not surprising that when the young lookout reports his sighting to a
messenger below, he can’t explain the details very well — he hasn’t
noticed them. The lookout makes ‘best guesses’ about the object he has
seen based on what he knows and his past experiences.
When the messenger eventually reports news of the approaching ship to
 the captain, can you understand how compromised the message might be?
In the same way, the description of the surroundings will also be
compromised because the lookout will never be able to explain precisely
the shape of the clouds, the waves, the wind. He will just state general
weather conditions, without significant details, unless the captain really
pushes him.
You see, the integrity of a message depends on what the lookout saw (or
didn’t see) — the amount of information he can translate into words
compared to the picture he sees — and his ability to explain his sighting to
the messenger. And finally, how the messenger then explains it to the
captain.

How does this apply to humans? And how can you use it against them?
What humans don’t realise is that when their central system (brain) receives
information (from eyes and ears), like the lookout and messenger, it makes
‘best guesses’ about what the information means and what to send to their
Captain.
As expected, not all best guesses or translations are the same. In fact,
they are slightly different. So, what a human sees and notices is slightly
different to the others around him. This is because what a human sees, hears
or smells isn’t reality; instead, it is a hugely filtered best guess of what is real.
Consequently, every human being’s interpretation of reality is different. It is
interpreted and replayed inside his head, like a hallucination. This may all
sound crazy, but you will get what we mean. You will also learn how
different points of view change how you observe human behaviour.
For example, if a human knows about fashion, he will notice subtle
nuances between items of dress — the material, the thread — that others will
not — ‘non-followers of fashion’ will literally see no differences between the
clothes. Each human’s brain projects different images inside his head. The
same applies to those knowledgeable in pretty much anything, like types of
cars and houses. As weird as it sounds, images, sounds or tastes don’t reach
the Captain as you might think. He literally sees (or hallucinates) a standard
item of clothing without the details. If, however, you ask him to pay attention
and check it out again while you explain the differences, details will emerge
that he will swear were not there before. The same thing happens with new
car designs; one human will see the latest trend in shape, and the other will be
oblivious to it unless it is pointed out and explained. It is not just attention
differences; every human’s Captain sees different images.
The same applies to taste. Take beer (or wine, or even tea) for example.
Humans will each experience diverse sensations, depending on how much
they know and care about beer. Just like the captain must train his lookout
and messenger to differentiate types of ships, so they can provide more
accurate information, humans also must undergo a lengthy training process to
sharpen their sensitivity to develop the ability to differentiate between types
of beer. So, as mentioned before, attention plays a significant role here, but it
is not just that. The ability of humans to distinguish between types of beer,
dresses or cars will vary between them, and if a human’s Lookout doesn’t
translate accurately, he literally sees just a beer, or a dress or, like in the story
above, a ship. His brain (Messenger) decodes the message in a standard,
rudimentary way.
So, two humans in the same room seeing and tasting the same things
actually have different experiences, depending on their knowledge, culture
and past — as well as some other stuff. Each human lives in a different
reality because their brain translates information from their senses differently.
Of course, this feature doesn’t make much difference in simple situations,
like two humans seeing the same apple. However, it gets interesting when
things become complicated — and they always do. As you will see in Part II,
these differences can expand in unbelievable ways, and you can use them
while in pursuit of your prey.
A human hears a song in an unfamiliar language. If he learns the lyrics,
next time he listens, the music will affect him differently. The first time will
be a blur; second time around, though, the human will listen to the words —
the music will seem different. It is like a musician who hears songs
differently to non-musical humans. In his mind, he can clearly separate the
sound of each instrument or notice mistakes made by performers. So, a
musician and a non-musician will hear different music. It is not just attention,
but their brains translate the music differently. In effect, what they are
listening to is different.
Note: The idea is not (or should not be) new to humans. Take touch for
example: Humans are well aware that those who are blind can usually detect
tactile information faster and in more detail than seeing humans because the
brain of a blind human is better trained to collect information from touch.
However, very few humans realise that the same beer he and his allies drink
together tastes different to each of them.

DIFFERENT REALITIES CAN EXPAND TO SITUATIONS

Differing realities don’t only apply to objects or tastes, but experiences and
situations, too. Tell a human that in a movie, before the adventure starts, there
are usually two events. One is a hook, an opening scene to grab the viewer’s
attention, which often evokes an immediate emotion, piques curiosity, or is
funny, suspenseful or scary. In the second event, the protagonist usually can
be seen laughing with or missing his family (maybe looking at an old
picture). The viewer may also see him making a cute mistake or revealing a
weakness. What’s the point of all this? Well, it enables the audience to
connect and engage with and care about the protagonist, to feel like he is one
of them. So, once a human knows all this, he will start noticing a pattern in
the next movies he sees.
If a human reads about basic sales techniques, he will notice when they
are applied to him. The same happens if he learns about a sport’s tactics and
strategies and then watches a game. So, if simple information can change
how humans perceive a movie, sales transaction or sporting match, can you
imagine how differently they can perceive other situations in life?

THE WORLD OUTSIDE IS TOO COMPLICATED,

SO HUMANS WORK WITH LIMITED INFORMATION

In truth, when humans know or care about something, they see more. The
volume of information humans continuously gather from their sensors is
enormous. So, inside the human head, there is no way the Messenger can
inform the Captain of everything. And so, humans see more of what they
know or what they want. For example, a pregnant woman is cognizant of
other expecting mothers. A criminal spies police around every corner.
As a result, the brain doesn’t inform a human of everything; it chooses
what to report and the amount of detail. If you don’t believe us, ask a
neuroscientist on Earth. Because the ratio is so staggeringly low — most
information captured is simply ignored — we prefer not to mention it here
due to the risk of discrediting our book .
In fact, the brain is pretty good at NOT informing its Captain. This is
also true in simple situations. For example, if a human sat down to read this
book, he wouldn’t feel his butt on his chair until he read this sentence.
As well as ignoring parts of reality, the brain can also mislead the human
by providing incorrect information when its best guess is inaccurate.
So, if a human who suffers from arachnophobia sees something
resembling a spider, his brain might place an image of a real eight-legged
‘terror’ in his mind and send him into a mad panic. In such a situation, for a
brief moment, the human really does see a spider! Yes, we know it’s that
crazy.

Note: Here, again, it is important to highlight that the idea that humans ignore
facts and are incapable of seeing reality is not entirely new to these animals.
For example, humans are well aware that during a stage, which they call
“being in love”, a love-struck human often alters his reality and, so, is unable
to spot defects in his partner (or he simply minimises their importance). So,
humans are sort of aware of this phenomena. However, what they fail to
acknowledge, and where an opportunity arises for us, is that humans distort
reality continuously and at much deeper levels than they think.

A trained eye matters:

Interestingly, how well-trained a human’s brain is at seeing something alters
how they see it.
Here’s a simple example: Humans from one part of the world generally
struggle to differentiate between humans from another. To illustrate this
point, humans from a place on Earth called Europe may be unable to
distinguish between two dark-haired humans from Asia (another place on
Earth) who generally feature facial characteristics unique to Asians. Of
course, there are exceptions. But, let’s say that, in general, a brain from
Europe is likely to be less adept at noticing details in an Asian face than a
brain raised in Asia. And, it works both ways: Many Asians find it tough
differentiating between two blonde-haired Europeans. Of course, this
example is also valid in many other parts of the world and situations.
Remember, every day a human is exposed to an avalanche of
information, and only a fraction will reach his awareness (the Captain). This
is because his ‘capable’ Messenger has the Captain all figured out and
removes what he thinks is irrelevant. Believe it or not, humans don’t realise
that this filtering takes place, which is unfortunate for them and lucky for
you. They are like a naive ship’s captain who believes that the lookout and
the messenger are telling him everything (every detail) that is happening
around the ship.

THE POWER OF THE MESSENGER

In the case described at the beginning of this chapter, with the captain always
inside the cabin, humans will understand that the captain relies heavily on the
lookout and messenger to decide which information is relevant and,
therefore, what to tell him. The captain must trust their capacity to understand
and describe what’s going on and question them whenever necessary.
With all that we have said, it is critical to note how important the role of
the Messenger (the brain) is. As you have just read, he is the one who
explains information to the Captain. Based on culture, knowledge and
experience, the Messenger decides what the Captain should be aware of (or
not) and how the message should get to him.
And, if you think about it, you will realise the enormous influence the
Messenger has; he controls which information the Captain receives, and he
chooses how it’s delivered. In effect, the Messenger can adjust the narrative
to influence the Captain’s decision. And one of the crucial elements of a great
deception is to convince your victim that he is in control.
Meanwhile, the daily life of a human is complicated, and it is impossible
to pay attention to everything. So, he will usually see whatever truth he wants
and even have arguments to support it.
Shall we complicate things even more? Yes, let’s. A human’s reality
isn’t shaped by just culture, knowledge or experiences. He also sees things
differently depending on his mood. The Messenger chooses what a human
pays attention to and how it is presented, depending on whether he is happy,
sad, confident or scared. Very strange. A human’s perception depends not
only on his mood but also on the hormones he produces (or lacks) as well as
the substances he consumes. All these factors play a role, and the Messenger
has a big influence.
For some of you, it may sound simple and obvious, but this information
will be valuable when things get more complicated. Hold your horses; we are
just warming up.

THE CAPTAIN IS ALWAYS INSIDE THE CABIN

Always

The key thing to understand is that every human sees the world from inside
his head — the Captain’s Cabin. Everything is a replication of what is going
on outside.
Basically, humans live in a constant hallucination — like they are
wearing virtual-reality goggles. This idea is a fundamental shift from thinking
that images come directly from outside and will enable you to understand that
what each human animal sees can be a different translation of what is actually
happening around them.
When a human touches another human’s hand, what he feels is his
brain’s translation of the sensation, not the hand’s. All emotions and
sensations are translations of what is happening outside the human’s body.
Yes, it sounds obvious and strange all at once, but there is a gaping chasm
between the two understandings. We will refer to this fact throughout the
book because, in the end, it’s the emotions inside their heads that matter to
humans. You can replicate these emotions to enthral your prey and lead it
into whatever trap you set.

***
 The previous paragraph is critical for understanding this book, so read it
again.
***

If a human loves something (another person or a status symbol, like a

luxury car), it’s not actually the thing or object he loves; instead, it’s the
sensation that the object gives him. This may sound like we are playing with
words and definitions (we did warn you), but we’re not. We’re just
explaining a different mindset. So, with this rationale, if you can manipulate
sensations that humans love by replicating them inside their heads, you will
have the power to shape them without needing the object.
And how can you do this? Well, you must understand why your prey’s
brain rewards him with some sensations, and punishes him with others.
As the hunter, you must understand what the object means, what need it
fulfils. And, you will see this meaning isn’t so obvious.
This is important. While many things can hurt a human, they are limited
by reality. The number of possible dangers, however, that a human is afraid
of is several times greater because of the magnifying power of his
imagination.

TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS CHAPTER

Everything happens inside out, like an in-built projector. If you understand

the difference between seeing and projecting the stuff around you, you should
find this book, and humans, easy to understand.
The misunderstandings about reality that we have mentioned seem small,
but, as you will see, they add up.
Before we jump to the next chapter, let’s look at how humans use blame
and denial to alter their reality.
Bonus - The Inner Fake-News Generator
Blame and denial are often used to distort a human’s perception, so he can
cope with reality. Both features are easy to observe and understand once you
look at humans with the right perspective.
But, first, check out this example.

Tell a human this story: The Weak Captain

Again, imagine the same sailing ship. Now, while navigating freezing
waters, the vessel hits an iceberg that punctures a hole in its hull.
Consider the fact that on this ship the captain is known to lose his temper
and blame others; in other words, he is perceived as a weak leader.
A weak or overly emotional captain will be of little use for solving the
problem of a damaged ship, so the messenger tries to protect the status
quo and avoid more problems by telling the captain an untruth. Yes,
instead of explaining that the hole is the result of a lookout’s failure to
notice the iceberg, the messenger claims that another vessel is
responsible.
In other words, the messenger says whatever necessary to avoid the
additional headache an overly emotional captain is bound to create.
Needless to say, no one will address the issue of why the lookout failed to
spot the iceberg, and there is a good chance that the ship will have
another collision in the future.

How does this apply to humans? And how can you use it against them?
The message contained in the above example would be obvious to almost any
human. Strangely, though, when it comes to their lives, they have a hard time
recognising good leadership. For many, ‘ranting and raving’ and refusing to
accept blame is often a sign of strength — of being a tough leader. No, we’re
not joking.
What we’re saying may sound stupid, but this is how the minds of many
humans work.
If a human is weak and in a situation he can’t cope with, he will often
say things like “It did not happen,” and “They are to blame,” and he will
BELIEVE what he says is true. You see, for a human being, his perception of
reality is often uncomfortable, so his ever-vigilant brain suppresses and alters
reality to protect his fragile Captain. Yes, the Messenger tricks the Weak
Captain to avoid additional problems.
The Weak Captain is not only present in a few humans, as you might be
thinking, but in the vast majority. To expose the depth of the problem, we
will share what we recently observed, not just with a regular run-of-the-mill
human, but with one of their world’s most powerful leaders, known by many
as “Mr Orange”. Recently, this world leader blamed one of his actions on an
advisor. To repeat, it was Mr Orange’s action, not his advisor’s; however, he
publicly blamed his subordinate. You see, Mr Orange thought he was
protecting himself by laying blame. Actually, to experienced hunters, he
revealed himself as a weak leader who can’t filter advice and choose the right
people. Why so? Well, it should be obvious that he is responsible for his
decisions (he is the leader, isn’t he?) and for choosing whom should advise
him. And, most importantly, Mr Orange showed the world that he can’t cope
with the consequences of his actions.
So, needing to blame others is usually a sign of weakness and very few
humans are fully aware of the fact. While on Earth, you will often see
humans attempt to protect themselves in this way, even though doing so
should be embarrassing.

Note: Obviously some humans who lay blame are simply lying. But, they’re
not whom we are discussing here. In many cases, humans steadfastly
BELIEVE what they say — they’re not faking. Like the ship’s messenger,
their brains create alternative information to protect the status quo. As bizarre
as it sounds, in lots of cases, these humans truly believe they are right. This
idea of humans creating alternative realities isn’t easy to accept, but it will
make it much easier for you to understand the curious and abnormal
behaviour of your prey.

As you will observe, a large portion of humans are immune to reason and
facts, and it is not unusual for them to deny problems exist if they don’t like
the consequences. And, if a human wishes to change another human’s mind,
providing more information to support an argument won’t help. The human
will usually ignore what he hears, and his Messenger will tell his Captain a
different, more palatable, story. It’s as simple as that.
For example, a human reads a health expert’s recommendations for the
daily consumption of proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, calories, alcohol and
caffeine — even the number of hours to exercise or work. The human will
usually agree with what he can comply with and question what he can’t. He
will say something like, “Nice research. I agree that we shouldn’t eat that
much, but, come on! This limit for alcohol is way too low. There are loads of
new studies about alcohol, and we can’t trust them completely.” And the
same happens if the difficult part to comply with is exercise, the amount of
eggs to eat per day, etc. As odd as it sounds, humans usually believe what
they are saying.
You can see a lot of this when humans discuss politics — good things
about ‘bad’ candidates and bad things from ‘good’ candidates are simply
denied. It’s fun to watch.

***
As a rule of thumb, if your human prey doesn’t like the outcome of
something, he will usually question the problem and deny it existed in the
first place. This way he doesn’t have to deal with the consequences. Often,
his denial will be at the Messenger’s, not the Captain’s, level. So, he’ll truly
believe in what he says. We kid you not!
***

Tip: If you observe that your chosen human prey frequently presents
symptoms similar to the Weak Captain, he is probably easy to catch. Don’t
rush. Take your time. You can agree with him and deny a problem, help him
create an enemy to blame, or reinforce the blame he has placed on another
human or object. Doing this will usually bring the human relief and he will
link your presence to pleasure, which will make him easy to enthral later.
***

But, remember, don’t ever offer solutions for the problem your prey
complains about; if you do, it won’t help you manipulate him. In these cases,
humans are usually immune to reason and don’t want a solution; they'd prefer
to lay blame and express their criticisms and disappointments. If you offer a
solution, you will secretly remove a human’s excuse to ‘belly ache’. He will
most likely hate you, which will destroy a bond of confidence that you would
have been able to explore later. So, don’t offer solutions!
When you see a human in denial or blaming others, don’t interrupt.
Remember this quote by one of Earth’s greatest warmongers:

***
"Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake" — Napoleon
Bonaparte.
***

Of course, there are times when someone else is the root of a human’s
misfortune. However, those occasions are rare, and if a human digs deep
enough he will often realise that at least some of the blame rests squarely on
his shoulders. For example, when a human complains about his partner (too
picky, or jealous, or insecure, etc.) he should bear in mind that it was he who
chose the partner in the first place.
So, while hunting, always keep in mind that when humans deny or
blame, it is usually a sign of weakness and immaturity. In most cases, they
truly believe they are right. They are immune to reality. So, listen to a human
who often blames something else. He’ll reveal plenty of clues and be easy to
catch.
5 - The Isolated Captain - First tips

By now, we’re sure you are itching to hunt some human! They sound like
fascinating prey, wouldn’t you say? However, which bait do you plan to use?
Remember, every human processes information differently, so one ‘flavour’
most certainly does not fit all. To understand which bait is best for your
chosen prey, you must first study the mechanics of the human mind. It will
take time to learn the complexities and all the different types but, first, we
want to give you a glimpse of some things you can conclude by looking at
humans from the Captain’s perspective. What you are about to see is a
BASIC example — we’re preparing the foundations for major conclusions
that we’ll reveal later.

The first practical application

REPETITION

With the Captain-in-the-cabin mindset, it is easy to understand why humans

are usually condemned, fated — cursed — to repeat the same mistakes
endlessly.
When you begin observing and hunting humans, you will notice that they
often face the same problems time and time again. If a human has an angry
boss, he will quit his job and find another angry boss. If colleagues bully him,
he will be bullied wherever he works. The same dysfunctional pattern of
behaviour also occurs with humans who are often let down by friends or
move from one ‘batshit crazy’ partner to another. Jealous humans, too,
always seem to find something to be envious of. The same applies to
paranoid humans or those who continually get into arguments and can’t
explain why.

What makes humans so dysfunctional?

From what we have presented until now, a human’s filtered reality (his
ability to notice certain things and his selective attention) is a culprit.

First – Alternative Reality: Every individual human being will tend to

pay attention to things — objects and situations — that others may not be
aware of or care about. Also, based on each human’s background and
experience, they can notice different things and details while in the same
situation. So, as previously said, humans see reality differently. Remember,
reality is complex, so there is always something happening around humans
that allow them to reach the conclusions that they desire. No matter what the
situation, humans can always find some reason to be anxious, paranoid or
jealous, etc. The world really is unique for each of these creatures. Dare we
say, humans see what they look for and understanding this fact will help you
recognise the problems they face.
There are two other reasons for the problems humans grapple with. Let’s
look at them now.

Secondly – Desire: Each human has a pattern of desire, so he is attracted

to and finds pleasure in the same things. Without noticing, humans usually
chase the same type of humans over and over again. So, it’s often their desire
— what they chase — that creates the reoccurring problems humans
complain about. It is like a human with a partner that ignores him. He always
complains about being “invisible”, but it’s an inattentive partner he chased in
the first place. In this case, should the partner begin paying him more
attention, the human will lose interest and start looking for a new, less
attentive mate. And, the problem continues.

Thirdly – Behaviour: Without noticing, humans also create problems by

the way they behave. For example, some highly competitive humans take an
aggressive approach to others. Consequently, they appear confrontational,
even when they don't mean to be. Why? Well, it's their belligerent body
language, pronunciation of words and several other signals they can’t help
but project. Then, from time to time, they meet others who act the same, and,
naturally, these aggressive humans end up in conflict. Many have no idea that
they are part of the problem, that they created the fight, and so they blame
their opponent.

Strangely, for the cases above, these patterns are habitual, and humans
don’t notice the cause. For human beings, life is a mystery. They are like
creatures with shit on their foreheads that don’t understand why flies follow
them, no matter how many they swat away. Humans can’t comprehend that,
most often, they are the architect of their problems. And, like we said, the
same happens with humans who are anxious, jealous or paranoid.

***
Tip: Pay attention to the problems a human continually faces; by doing so,
you will uncover clues for preparing the tastiest bait. After all, given that
humans have a tenuous grasp of reality, imagine all the gaps you can fill and
buttons you can push with comments and innuendo.
***

Another practical application

LISTEN TO THE WORDS OF YOUR PREY

Note: Before we continue, it’s important to highlight that, as a hunter, you

mustn’t jump to conclusions based on single events. Instead, wait and look
for the consistency of any phenomena. For example, we will explore
criticism. Now, one disparaging comment isn’t enough to jump to a
conclusion; frequent criticisms, however, are a more reliable indication of
what’s happening in a human’s mind.

Now, let’s explore some of the communication features we just

explained. By knowing that the codes humans use to communicate are highly
inefficient, it’s easy to understand why words betray so much about them,
and why you can use what they say against them.
You see, given the limited amount of information a human can process
and express, you can learn plenty from what he says. A human’s words
expose the core of his reality and reveal a glimpse of what information he
pays attention to and how he filters it.
 If you are not convinced, follow the rationale in the following
paragraphs. It’s like a funnel. Imagine there are three levels of reality that get
filtered (smaller and smaller) in the process.

The 3 levels of the funnel:

1. The captured reality that is detected by each human’s sensors (eyes,
ears, etc.).
2. The perceived reality (a small part of level 1) that the brain processes.
This is the core — what he pays attention to.
3. The commented reality (a small part of level 2), which is the part
humans choose to talk about — the core of the core.
As mentioned, humans grasp but a fraction of what’s going on (captured
reality) and then filter it their own way (perceived reality). Then, they use this
small portion to make comments (commented reality). As you can imagine,
what humans talk about should expose the crumb of reality they pay attention
to. However, it gets better. Knowing what a human values is essential when
deciding which trap and bait to use.
We say that humans can “choose” to talk about their reality. Why? Well,
given human communication (words) is inefficient for expressing fully what
a human observes and thinks, he must choose which portion of his reality to
discuss. After all, it would be impossible to comment on and describe
everything in detail. Understand this: Words are just a means for
communicating to the world a slither of the information the Captain receives.
Therefore, hunters should pay attention to what their prey says because,
through their words, they are expressing the fraction of reality they see and
how they see it.
You can use your human prey’s words to understand what is important
enough for him to notice and comment on. Listen to what he says because
you will glean amazing clues for which bait to use to lure him — especially if
his words are loaded with emotions like anger.
Think about a human who talks incessantly about money or complains
about others flaunting their wealth. This human is usually unaware that he is
revealing that money seems extremely important to him, and the trap you
prepare should take this into account.
 You see, the human has noticed the wealth of another and, among all the
things happening around him, has chosen this particular thing to complain
about. You can use this rationale for pretty much anything a human criticises:
homosexuals, humans who are too tall or thin, humans who have had plastic
surgery or don’t wear certain clothes. What do these criticisms tell you about
the humans who speak of them?
As a rule, the things one human criticises another about reveal clues for
what you can use against him. When a human criticises something, he is also,
in an indirect way, saying he is not that. Or, in other words, he is better than
that. Beware, though: Indirectly, he is saying the topic is important to him.
He can also be revealing what he is interested in and what he is afraid of
being perceived as — “I hate homosexuals.” Really? Sure you do, buddy!
But don’t be mistaken. We are not saying a human who criticises a
homosexual necessarily wants to be one. You can’t immediately define your
bait based on just that. Instead, we are highlighting that homosexuality seems
important to him, to the point that he feels he should comment about it while
others would rather speak about other things. Of course, his commenting on
the topic can make you wonder why he finds it so important. The same
applies to humans who hate immigrants or humans of a different race. Why is
their attention directed to these things? As a hunter, this is the question to
ask.
When observing your prey constantly criticising something, take notes.
Only by gathering data can you determine the right bait to use; you must
understand what resonates with your human quarry. You need lots of data
because criticisms can lead you to false conclusions. For example, a human
can complain about his boss, but he is actually sad about his career. Or,
another human might complain about his partner, but, in fact, he is
disappointed with himself. So, you mustn’t take a human’s words at face
value. For now, think of complaints as clues to go with others to form a
complete picture.

***
Tip: Remember that human beings are aware of only a fragment of what
happens around them. So, whatever a human talks about reveals what he pays
attention to. Listen to what he says, and especially to what he complains
about, and you will discover the best bait for your hunt.
***

TAKEAWAYS

The Captain is ISOLATED inside the Cabin, receiving poor and tainted
information about the outside world, and he is unable to express himself
fully. After all, what a human says is a poor facsimile of everything
happening in his mind. So, the things humans frequently criticise reveal a lot
about them. Pay attention and keep notes.
Most problems humans experience are recurrent because of what they
desire, how they behave and how their minds filter reality. So, keep an eye on
the pattern of their reoccurring problems. Doing so can provide great insights.
So, whenever you interact with humans, bear in mind that they can’t
fully express themselves or grasp reality. And, when being hunted, ignorance
of this truth can be fatal.
Anyway, enough with the basics. Now, armed with a new mindset about
humans, you are ready to learn even more about this fascinating prey. In the
next part, we will now dig deeper into humans’ alternative realities.
PART II - DIGGING DEEPER
INTO YOUR PREY’S REALITY
6 - Haunted by Meanings - Hidden
Associations

So, human communication is a mess, and Earth’s smartest animals live in

different realities. One consequence (among many) is that each human
continues to face the same problems over and over again.
We will now explore another feature that affects how humans perceive
reality in a major way. As you will see in this chapter, the meanings humans
attach to things and situations vary widely among them and profoundly affect
how they perceive their surroundings. To complicate things further, humans
are unaware of the associations they make. We know it sounds strange, but
they really are oblivious. As you will see, associations are hidden, and so
humans don’t realise they ‘see’ different things. We will show you why and
how this happens.
As a result of this phenomenon, two humans exposed to the same
situation can interpret it in ways that are so unalike that you will be
incredulous, even when we explain why.

A warning before we begin:

We know you must be anxious to start playing with humans’ fear, which is
fun, indeed. However, to really understand the source of humans’ conflicts
and struggles, we must delve into the reasons why they perceive different
realities.
So, this chapter and the next are more complicated than those so far.
Why? Well, let’s just say that a human’s thoughts and actions can be
compensatory substitutes for desires he doesn’t even know he has, which,
consequently, make them difficult to spot.
For this chapter and the next, therefore, resilience is the word. If it helps,
we assure you that this chapter’s topic, Hidden Associations, should be easier
to understand once read along with the following chapter, The Drawers. Both
are related. In this chapter, we explore the twisted meanings things and
situations have for humans, which, when understood along with the
categories (Drawers) of the human mind are powerful for understanding
human behaviour.
As usual, we will start with an exaggerated example to illustrate the idea:

Tell a human this story: Multiple and personal codebooks

Imagine two ships displaying flags. Lookouts on each vessel observe the
flags and report what they see to their respective messengers who each
have a list of flag codes and their meanings.
Or, imagine two castles communicating using smoke signals. In both
situations, the lookouts and messengers interpret the signals and explain
the meaning to their captains.
As already discussed, communication problems are inevitable. Overall,
though, the messages would be understood, right?
What would happen, though, if each ship or castle had different
codebooks and were not aware of the fact? “My God!” you say. “It would
be a mess!” Yes, any human can see the problems this system would
create — especially if the captains were oblivious to the codes' different
meanings.

How does this apply to humans? And how can you use it against them?
Do you know that every human has an inbuilt codebook to decipher his
environment? It’s true. And, like the messengers’ interpretations, each
human’s book of codes is different. Consequently, humans appear to be
talking about the same thing, but many times they are not. So, it is possible to
observe completely different behaviours between humans facing the same
situations.
It is important to point out again that, most of the time, the Captain is
oblivious to the fact that the information he receives is misleading or entirely
false. And, as discussed in previous chapters, when the Messenger
manipulates information en route to the Captain, anything can become
reality.
To understand, first we should demonstrate some simple examples of
how the same situation (or flag or smoke signal) can have alternative
meanings to different groups of humans.

DIFFERENT ASSOCIATIONS AT GROUP LEVEL

Let’s look at a few everyday situations:

In some parts of Earth, getting a tan is considered desirable and leads to
more social approval. There, white humans sunbathe or apply artificial
methods to darken their skin.
Meanwhile, in other places, chalk-white skin is considered more
attractive; some humans actually inject substances into their veins to achieve
this goal.
So, a human from one part of the planet (like China) will have an
opposing idea of desirable skin colour than one from another part (like
Brazil). Both humans share the same goal, but to look good or be sexy, one
hides from the sun while the other chases it.
Therefore, the same pallid skin can transform from not at all attractive to
‘drop-dead gorgeous’ when the information reaches the Captain. Yes, skin
colour can have opposite meanings for different groups of humans.
In another example, a human dines at another’s house. He eats
everything served, leaving not a solitary crumb on his plate. Depending on
the culture, his actions could be considered either polite or rude.
You see, in some parts of Earth, eating everything served is considered
polite; it means the food was good. Those of other cultures, though, would
think the human is implying that his host didn’t serve enough. Yes! The
meaning and potential for disappointments and misunderstandings of a few
missing crumbs at dinner can vary depending on the group of humans you are
dealing with and which codes they use to interpret the world.
In a last example, paying a restaurant bill can be viewed as a show of
respect and appreciation, or an attempt to dominate. It gets interesting when a
human tries to demonstrate one thing, and the other understands the complete
opposite. Often, the offended human can’t understand or believe that his
interpretation isn’t what the ‘offender’ meant.
Misunderstandings happen between cultures, despite humans knowing
that interpretations of things and situations can vary widely. Imagine how
intriguing it can get when humans don’t realise that different meanings occur
between close friends and family? Yes, what they usually don’t grasp is that
definitions also vary within the same community — even the same family.
And, most of the time, those who do understand this truth don’t appreciate
the depth of the issue.
The same applies to several other behaviours, and the broader the
meaning of a word, activity, gesture or situation, the wider the difference can
get.
For humans, money, a career, success, power, sex, marriage, fidelity,
intimacy, betrayal, family, friendships, freedom, change, uncertainty, the
forbidden, rejections, failures, death, religion and politics all have wildly
different meanings — even between family members.
When hunting, aim to know, better than your prey, what things such as
power or marriage represent to him. Always ask, “What does this mean to my
human quarry, and what does he associate with it?”
Let’s now explain how you can identify your prey’s associations.

HIDDEN ASSOCIATIONS

Check out the following examples. Keep in mind that they represent just
some possible meanings (that each human can associate with a situation),
and, depending on the human's interpretation, there are many others.

A discussion can be an exchange of ideas or a chance to see who is best:

If a human associates a discussion with a chance to see who is the best, like a
battle, it’s not surprising he will be defensive and refuse to change his mind,
even when presented with undeniable facts. In this case, he will listen to
arguments, not to reflect, but to identify flaws to attack, and he will be
immune to reason. This human is a ‘gladiator’, and finding a solution or the
truth isn’t his ‘thing’. At the same time, if the human associates discussion
with an exchange of ideas to discover the truth, he will act differently in the
same situation.
Once you recognise, what we call “Hidden Associations”, it’s easy to
understand some behaviours. Let’s look at some other examples:

A human gives advice that isn’t followed: In this situation, a particular

kind of creature will get extremely ‘pissed’ because refusal to heed his advice
is a ‘clear sign’ of disrespect. He doesn’t know, but for him, not having his
advice followed suggests he has no control over other humans or that they
don’t care for his guidance. For others, though, having their advice followed,
or not, has no association with disrespect or a lack of control. It’s just advice.
Consequently, not being adhered to is no big deal. “Hey, at the end of the
day, they can do what they want!”

Money can be a currency to trade, a measure of success or compensation

for a weakness: So, as expected, when faced with the possibility of losing
money, humans can react in many different ways — even two equally
wealthy humans. All due to the meanings each human associates with losing
money. For one, who uses money to compensate for some insecurity, even
losing a few dollars can be devastating.

Looking at the three examples above, a clueless human would think that
the topic of discussion, the advice provided, or the amount of financial loss,
is the problem. However, for humans, life is far more complicated than that.
In reality, what matters in the first example could be who wins; in the second,
who is in control may be what counts; and, in the third example, the
weaknesses or insecurities that a financial ‘hit’ exposes, and what winning or
losing means, could be the cause of anxiety.
And the list goes on and on.
A luxury item, like jewellery or a car, can represent a symbol of success
and social status to some humans. Alternatively, depending on how the owner
displays his ‘bling’, for others he can be seen as a needy individual begging
for social approval and recognition.
Also, a human might speak of his desire to own a business, but, in fact,
he longs for freedom and recognition, not to be an entrepreneur. Read
between the lines to understand what humans are really talking about.
Two humans spend months — even years — grieving the death of their
offspring. Eventually, the father starts ‘living’ again; however, the mother
continues to mourn. This situation causes tension between the couple. For the
father, the death is a tragedy that will linger for the rest of his life, but,
regardless, he wants to be happy again. For the mother, however, a return to
happiness could mean she doesn’t love her offspring enough, and, in this
case, if she starts enjoying life again, it wasn’t valuable enough to be
remembered — she’d be a terrible mother. Can you see how far things can
get? In this case, the mother views her partner’s perspective as disrespectful,
a threat to the worthiness of their child’s life. She, however, isn’t fully aware
of where her anger originates.

DIFFERENT MEANINGS IN HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS

A human can be considered attractive because he is fashionable (dresses

well) and has a muscular body. Alternatively, an unfashionable slob can be
viewed as a ‘good catch’ because he appears traditional, less influenced by
fads and more likely to be stable in a relationship. And, just like the other
cases, of course, humans are usually unaware of all the associations behind
whom they find attractive — they just know they find another either ‘hot’ or
not.
In the same way, a human can choose a partner because he (or she) is
charismatic and strong. Or, he can love her because of a weakness — some
disability or illness. How come? Well, to this human, a ‘flawed’ mate could
make him feel more important and safe; in his mind, she is less likely to
abandon him for another. So, he sees a weakness and is attracted to the
possibility of feeling important and powerful (being needed and able to help).
He might also relish the opportunity of being in a stable relationship. But, the
human won’t recognise his motivations; he just knows that he likes the other
human who just happens to have a weakness.
Generally speaking, you might presume that a human will be attracted to
another who treats him with respect and allows freedom in a relationship.
Some poor souls, though, are turned on by dominant, disrespectful partners
whom they see as superior to themselves. In these cases, a show of respect
could be perceived as a sign of weakness — a real turn off. Yes, it can get as
crazy as that. And, in both cases, fixing the ‘problem’ (curing the weak
partner or convincing the dominant one to show respect) could threaten the
relationship.
Here’s one more example that is a bit less obvious: A heterosexual
female human could be attracted to homosexual males because they don’t
desire her. Simple as that. We will show you two possible reasons:
First, deep down, she may believe that if she succeeds in her seduction,
she will feel more wanted and beautiful, which is intensely arousing to her.
After all, this guy doesn’t even like women! If she can ‘get into the sack’ a
man who isn't attracted to the opposite sex, what does that mean about her?
She must be mind-blowingly amazing, that’s what! Of course, she won't
admit, or even be aware of, her reason for pursuing homosexual men and may
make all kinds of assumptions about the reasons behind her desire.
Or, here’s another possible reason for the attraction: At Crew level, the
female may imagine that she will be able to be more aggressive during sex
and assume that her homosexual partner won’t respond with force. In this
case, she might find the fantasy of full expression, without the typical
consequences of aggressive behaviour, enticing. Here again, the human will
most probably be unaware of all her assumptions, unless she investigates her
thoughts at a deeper level — which almost never happens.
So, of course, we have used extreme examples to show the power of
Hidden Associations. As you can see, they can drive humans to make
significant life decisions without knowing the assumptions that lead to them.
Now, return to the last few paragraphs where we explained a female
human’s attraction to homosexual males and re-read them a couple of times.
Can you see any problems? Probably not. However, believe us, the fact that
we used a female, instead of, as usual, a male to explain our point can, for
some humans, mean we are misogynistic. They won’t just imply this
understanding, either; they will be absolutely certain. The thing to understand
is that Hidden Associations can be radically different from human to human,
but the outcome is usually powerful. Humans reach important conclusions
with a minimal understanding of the reasons why. They don’t treat it as a
possibility, but most often as a logical and certain conclusion.
In another example, a human’s partner could be a best friend with sex, a
housekeeper, a substitute for his mother, a trophy or the reason for living — a
saviour and guardian of happiness. With these alternative associations, how
different do you think human behaviour can be?
Let’s say that marriage can mean a contract that establishes the rules of a
partnership or, alternatively, a symbol of ultimate success — the source of
happiness. It is easy to see why humans react differently to the same
relationship problems. For one partner, the threat of breaking up is far more
distressing than for the other; therefore, each will react differently to a
troubled relationship.
There are countless examples, and all because humans think everybody
reads from the same codebook; they are confident that their, often erroneous,
conclusions are correct. Just like a human who reads the wrong map and feels
sure he is heading in the right direction, a wrong book of codes misleads a
human’s interpretation of the world. So, often, humans’ Captains are
receiving the wrong information and perceiving alternative realities.
Here is a funny situation: A female human asks her partner to wash the
dishes and a refusal, or him doing a poor job, could cause trouble. Why?
Possibly because, to her, the chore represents many other meanings, like how
much he still cares about their relationship and whether there is still love. So,
by refusing to wash the dishes or doing a poor job, her partner is secretly and
unconsciously sending a far worse message than he thinks.
The same happens if a human complains about his partner’s cooking.
Fair enough, no? Actually, she is livid for apparently no reason. And,
eventually, the couple discuss whether they still love each other, whether they
should remain together — all because of a meal! It is possible that the
human’s partner concludes that not liking the food is a clue to a much
broader meaning, which, again, both humans are unaware of. We kid you not.

CONTINUALLY CHANGING UNCHANGEABLE TRUTHS

Interestingly, most humans are unaware that what they believe to be universal
truths have changed over time.
For example, among humans, dominance during sex is currently
associated with being on top; in days gone by, however, dominating meant
being beneath a partner. So, two humans who both want to be in the ‘driver’s
seat’ can do so in opposite ways: one can be on top, and the other can achieve
the same goal on the bottom.
In another example, currently, the size of a male human’s genitalia is
usually related to power; it is commonly desired to be longer and bigger. In
contrast, a large appendage was once considered something to be ashamed of
— a characteristic of slaves.
Desired body shapes have also changed throughout history. So, many of
the ‘truths’ humans believe are simply a product of their generation, and yet
they act as if they have always been so. As a result, it becomes even more
difficult for them to question the assumptions in their minds.
But, why don’t humans recognise that they interpret the same stuff
differently?
Let’s investigate why and where this phenomenon starts.

***
Tip: If your prey reacts unexpectedly, he probably isn’t crazy; instead, he
likely has an alternative interpretation of a situation. Rule of thumb, and
remembering the previous chapters, if a human overreacts to something, he is
probably linking it to other meanings.
***

AN ANCIENT & ESSENTIAL FEATURE

It is important to note that Hidden Associations (or simply inner Shortcuts)

are not all bad. In fact, many are necessary because they allow humans to
react quickly to things and situations without expending much cerebral
energy. For example, in the jungle, if a human sees a lion, he will most likely
(if he’s smart) associate it with danger — the human will feel fear, his heart
will pound, and he will run. Similarly, when a human sees an animal with red
skin, he may conclude it is poisonous.
Though often necessary, the problem with Shortcuts is that humans are
addicted to the fast, easy way of seeing the world, and they can’t kick the
habit.
 You see, a human who spots a red-skinned animal may not know for sure
that it is poisonous. However, he chooses not to touch it because determining
whether it is 100% safe takes more energy than making an assumption. The
red skin and the lion are facts; whether or not the two creatures are dangerous
are assumptions that can be true or false. And, humans struggle to
differentiate automatic assumptions from facts — during caveman days,
stopping to decide whether or not a creature is a predator could be fatal,
something of a health hazard.
The human brain assigns meanings to the stuff. Not just often, but
always. So, that is not just a lion; it is a predator and danger all at once.
It’s true that analysing a situation objectively is difficult and energy-
intensive for humans. In modern times, though, analysis at least avoids wrong
conclusions such as:
"He refused to wash the dishes today, so he doesn’t love me.”
"The human is poor, so he’s a loser.”
“He’s rich, so he’s a winner.”
“He’s gay, so he’s a freak.”

You can imagine, however, that analysis does bring complexity and
uncertainty into humans’ lives. And, these smart primates need assumptions
because of their limited view of the world.
Assumptions can be small, like a human walking and assuming the floor
will still be there when he takes his next step. Or, they can be more
complicated: “That guy is frowning at me; he must want a fight.”
Like the innate fear of lions and red-skinned animals, some assumptions
are essential for survival. For example, a human sees an angry dog and
immediately assumes he should find a place to hide. Or, if a human sees
another approaching wearing strange clothing and holding an axe, he
presumes that this odd character is trouble, so he crosses the street.
Humans make assumptions based on their experiences, which, when
fleeing from a lion or an axe-wielding weirdo, is a sound life-preserving
strategy. However, very few humans are cognisant of the assumptions they
make, and only awareness will enable them to ask questions such as, “Is
wealth really an indication of intelligence?” or “Is washing the dishes a
proxy for love?” Humans make so many incorrect assumptions that they are
not even aware of.
Assumptions often lead some humans to conclude that kindness is
weakness and brutality is power; a want is a need and something that is
common is normal, which then becomes the right thing to do. Some humans
even directly link uncertainty with danger. Most can’t see that all these
associations can be both right and wrong. For example, kindness can indicate
weakness, but, at the same time, a kind-hearted human can just as likely be
‘hard as nails’. By not jumping to conclusions you can uncover the truth.
One of the most intriguing and misleading conclusions humans come to
is that ‘ranting and raving’, and trying to impose one’s will on others, is a
sign of power. Most often, though, in a group of humans, the one who makes
the most noise is the weakest and the one who feels most vulnerable. It’s true:
Humans who feel compelled to demonstrate their power at higher decibels
usually doubt whether they have any power at all.
As you can see, a small sign can be viewed as related to strength or
weakness, depending on Hidden Associations.
In one last example, a common situation, especially in humans nearing
maturity, is doing ‘forbidden’ things often connected to feeling more free and
mature. So, not surprisingly, young humans do one thing when they actually
seek something seemingly unrelated. For example, sometimes, an obedient
human (good student) can fall in love with the ‘wrong’ type (troubled
student). Dating the troubled student (against the rules) makes the good
student feel more mature. Got it? Of course, the good student isn’t aware of
what’s going on, but most often what the animal is really in love with is the
feeling of adulthood, not the other human. In this case, to forbid the good
student from meeting the other (an object of love) will just ‘stoke the fire’ —
increase the animal’s ardour. After all, the more repressed a human animal is,
the more it will desire to be free, given the link it makes. Crazy, wouldn’t you
say?
So, as a hunter, you should always keep this in mind — that all things
that lead to assumptions should not be treated as conclusions. Not as
certainties, but as probabilities. The world is complicated, with infinite
possibilities.
 WHERE DO THESE CRAZY ASSOCIATIONS COME FROM?

In this book so far, we have often explained the reasons for problems to help
you understand the opportunities they offer. So, we will here, too. However,
we won’t spend much time on this; if we do, we run the risk of our book
looking like a self-help guide for losers. Nevertheless, you can’t
underestimate the power of Hidden Associations if exploited well, so it is of
paramount importance that you have a solid understanding of them.
After all, when it comes to a human’s mind, most of its ‘shape’ was
usually sculpted in his early years. His past flows within him and at a deeper
level than you might think.
Let’s start with an unusual metaphor:

Tell a human this story: Born on an alien planet

Imagine you were born on another planet. You are confused, and the
animal you are has two heads, eight paws, some weird extra sensors and
other peculiar appendages that you need to get used to. Not only is your
body alien to you, so is the planet that you call home. The gravity is
different, and it's hard to breathe — maybe you are underwater? You can
see other creatures like you, and they communicate using strange sounds
and gestures that you can’t comprehend.
In this situation, how lost would you be? And, how many wrong
conclusions would you make based on observing the strange creatures
and world around you?

Oh, wait. Maybe this example is too ‘far out’ for the human imagination.
Perhaps it is better to describe another example that humans can cope with.

Imagine a human who has never left his country. He accepts an invitation
to a ritual called a “wedding”, or some traditional festival in another
country, one of which he knows nothing about its culture (for example, an
American attending a wedding in China or India, or vice versa).
The human has zero knowledge of the foreign country’s language, so
 during the ritual, he pays particular attention to the local behaviours. He
observes the way the humans dress and how they greet each other. He
notices that these strange creatures drink hot water and tea, instead of the
cold water or beer with which he's familiar. They sit differently, too —
leaning forward like they are about to erupt into an argument — and this
posture gives him a weird impression. Slowly, the human begins to paint a
mental picture of how things work in this strange land — how to behave to
be accepted, how to win a partner, what he shouldn’t do.
Needless to say, the human will most likely reach many wrong conclusions
due to misinterpreting situations. Because he doesn't understand the
culture and language, he will continue making incorrect assumptions that
might lead to trouble for him later.

How does this apply to humans? And how can you use it against them?
So, as you know, humans are from Earth. But, at the time of their birth, their
planet is like an alien world to them. Everything is new. They must learn how
to breathe, eat — even come to grips with gravity. Humans underestimate
how they once were, and confusion lingers for many years.
Most Hidden Associations develop when young. You see, human infants
have enormous imaginations, mainly because they don’t yet understand
Earth’s rules. In a young human’s mind, one little thing can draw many weird
images and conclusions. He hasn’t even mastered his inefficient
communication system yet. Imagine the extent to which a lack of
understanding, blended with a full dependency on others, can shape a young
human’s assumptions about the world. This is how Shortcuts begin, and
human infants grow into maturity blind to their existence.
Some experiences and memories are suppressed during a human’s early
years, not intentionally, but because they are too hard to cope with.
Consequently, humans become masters of deception in order to avoid
unpleasant experiences, and they use the techniques of denial and blame.
They ignore problems (like the ones presented in the Weak Captain example)
or keep busy to avoid thinking about them.
However, the memories remain. And, during a human’s lifetime,
whenever a situation arises that resembles a bad memory, an internal
explosion occurs, which seems to come from nothing. He doesn’t really know
what’s wrong; he just loses his temper.
Suppressed memories offer enormous opportunities for hunters, although
it can be difficult to understand the full picture. Just to be clear, we are not
talking about significant trauma-causing childhood events (they are too
obvious). You wouldn’t believe how random these associations can be.
Siblings, for example, can have different perspectives on life. During a
human’s early years, small misunderstandings can snowball.
While in childhood, humans create assumptions that lead to Shortcuts
relating to social patterns for things like security, social acceptance, how to
treat others and what is success and failure — the basis of what shapes their
behaviours and desires throughout life. These early assumptions are the seeds
of the Hidden Associations mentioned in the previous examples.
Finally, it is also important to remember that all human parents were
once children, so they also have a legacy of strange associations from their
early years influencing them. As a result, throughout human history, there is a
chain of events with cause and effect passed from generation to generation.
You won’t need much time to observe how humans train their young (called
education) in their first years to see how bad it can get. After all, humans are
ill-equipped to manage their lives. But, if you do want to check it out, you
will see parents compensating for their sorrows by pressuring their offspring,
creating unreasonable expectations, lying for no reason and creating
unnecessary disappointments. You will also see absent, insecure or needy
parents playing a significant role in their kids’ education — all to your
advantage. So, having these kinds of ‘teachers’ during their early years, how
flawed do you think the associations that humans have can get? We think you
know the answer.
In summary, Hidden Associations are a big flaw to exploit. Just pay
attention to each human’s reactions to situations. Let’s check out a simple
consequence of an association that can haunt humans for life using an
example similar to one already described. Now, though, we will focus on the
possible source of the problem.
Let’s return to the human with a disrespectful partner. You may ask why
would he be attracted to a mate who ignores him and treats him like garbage?
Yes, for some human animals, a disrespectful partner feels familiar —
perhaps evokes memories of their parents. Or, maybe the human believes he'd
never win a valuable partner who also shows kindness, so a partner who is
‘easy to get’ seems less desirable.
Yes, it goes that far. And, this human will be blind to why he finds such
a partner attractive. If you recall the Repetition feature already explained, it is
easy to expect the human to jump from one toxic relationship to another.
Rather than bad luck, the reason he ends up with obnoxious partners is his
‘toxic’ attraction created in his early years by his parents and education.
Let's look at the source of the problem in another example.

Different reactions towards small mistakes: It can make a massive difference

to a human’s life if, in his early years, he believes his caregivers accept (love)
him unconditionally. You see, knowing he will be loved regardless of success
or failure gives him emotional security. On the other hand, a human who
believes his caregivers’ love is conditional, based on him meeting certain
expectations, will live in constant alert mode. Naturally for him, and most
often, even a small mistake can mean big trouble, and his insecurity will
usually lead to all kinds of strange behaviours, like blaming others and
denial. So, for this ‘conditionally loved’ human, there is much at stake with
every action he takes, and he gets nervous whenever he makes a mistake.
Even an innocuous critique can cause a flood of emotions due to all the
meanings it represents.
So, this is where crazy associations that lead to unfathomable
conclusions come from. Pay attention to a human’s behaviour in a particular
situation — you’ll get some useful clues.

***
Tip: Whenever you see your prey complaining about something, try to see
how similar the situation is to a problem from his past. For example, he
complains that his boss does something (it could be anything, something
small, like lack of attention or recognition) that irritates him profoundly.
Then, investigate whether one of his parents used to do the same thing. Many
times you will find striking similarities between both events. Why does this
happen? Well, in a case like this, what irritates the human most is not the
problem but the fact that he is facing it again — even though, as usual, he is
unaware of the connection.
***

Perhaps the human is super sensitive because the problem he experiences

with his boss reminds him how his father used to treat him. It’s like the issue
never goes away — remember the Repetition feature?
And, of course, another human who never faced the problem when
young probably won’t be bothered by the boss’s actions or behaviour.
In the same way, humans who are violent as adults usually faced big
challenges in their formative years. As one can expect, based on what we
explained, usually before becoming ‘monsters’, they were wounded children
haunted by, and fighting, problems of the past. Their associations are all
messed up.

THE HUMAN BRAIN’S ASSOCIATIONS CAN HAVE OPPOSITE &

UNEXPECTED MEANINGS

To complicate matters further, it is possible for your prey to have not just
slightly different, but totally opposite, meanings related to the same thing. As
usual, it all comes down to what something means to each human.
For example, feeling pain (which one would naturally expect should be
avoided) can lead a human to believe he is winning. And, so, he can enjoy it.
The way a human views pain can considerably change his perception of, and
interaction with, reality. You see, all kinds of links can happen. Suffering can
mean something to be avoided, or it can have a good connotation.
Consider the following examples:
Pain after exercising can feel good if the human links it to
improving his body.
Or, sacrifice (for religious purposes or some other cause) can be a
sign of achievement, leading the human to believe he is different
(better) than others who don’t forgo life’s comforts. Therefore, the
human abstains from eating something he loves (meat or dairy, for
 example), and he feels good.

So, humans can suffer and feel better — they can take pleasure from
sacrifice. In a simple example, the sacrifices of religion can be pleasurable if
a human links them to getting closer to his god or paradise (a concept of
afterlife for some humans).
Consequently, a religion can dictate that followers make sacrifices and
follow certain rules. These followers will feel good because the rules and
sacrifices have alternative and deeper meanings than just the pain you see on
the surface. Also, obeying makes them feel like part of a group with a
common cause that brings them a step closer to heaven, etc. Can you see all
the rewards attached to sacrifice due to the meaning some humans can link to
it?
So, these humans suffer and feel good, which sounds contradictory. As
you can see, humans will react to situations depending on how each interprets
things around them. Always dig deeper and ask yourself, “What does
something mean for my prey?”

IT TAKES A LONG TIME TO DEMOLISH A HUMAN’S DEEP-

SEATED SHORTCUTS

In the case of a human who links discussion to battle, it’s not too hard to
change his association. And, by doing so, it is possible to alter his attitude
and behaviour towards having a discussion. However, remember that most
associations are made by the Crew at a deep level, not the Captain. So, for
humans, a Shortcut is challenging to identify and fix because, even if their
Captain knows about it, he still must slowly explain it to his Messenger who
is strongly influenced by past experiences. Otherwise, the Messenger will
continue to send the Captain the wrong message.
Here’s an example of an association that is difficult to destroy.
Remember when we explained the Repetition feature, the human who is
attracted to partners who ignore him? Well, even if he understood the reasons
for his attraction, he would still need the strength of Hercules (one of Earth’s
mythical warriors) to change. Yes, it would take a huge amount of effort to
adjust, and the human will possibly never completely alter what turns him on.
However, he can compromise. You see, once the human becomes aware of
his unhealthy association, he could seek a human who, like previous partners,
appears to ignore him (he likes that) because she is introverted, quiet and shy.
However, unlike previous partners, she does care for him.
Given how difficult it is for humans to change their meanings, don’t
worry if some stumble upon this book; they will have difficulty questioning
or changing the meanings inside their heads. It would take a long time and
lots of effort for what we say to sink in. As explained, humans live with
Hidden Associations (and categories, as we will explain in the next chapter)
for so long that they become part of their identity.
So, for humans, questioning their meanings is like challenging their
identity and would lead to feelings of uncertainty, which the human brain
hates. Humans will fight ‘tooth and nail’ against uncertainty — they’ll even
ignore evidence that is contrary to their beliefs and cling to small truths that
indicate they are right. In almost all cases, humans are emotionally invested
in preserving their ignorance of inner, unsettling truths.
The similarities between these examples, and the Weak Captain using
blame and denial, are not a coincidence. Remember that the world is
complicated, so humans can find evidence for almost anything, from
religious beliefs to jealousy and how they choose their partners. Like we
mentioned before, humans become immune to reason.

TO CONCLUDE BEFORE WE JUMP INTO THE DRAWERS

So, humans’ multiple codebooks lead to many possible interpretations of the

same situations. Earth’s most advanced primates are oblivious to this truth
and often can’t separate assumptions from facts.
It’s like they view the world through sunglasses, unaware that every
single pair has different coloured lenses. One human wears blue, the other
pink. So, one will see blue stuff, and everything to the other will be rose-
tinted. Like most humans, these two wouldn’t be aware they see different
colours. It’s true that some humans are aware of the situation, but even they
usually have a hard time applying this knowledge to their lives.
 As if that isn’t enough, it gets more complicated or irrational (but also
useful from a hunter’s perspective) because there is an additional human
feature that alters their reality even more, one that can potentially multiply
the problem several times. We’re talking about the way humans process and
organise information. In the next chapter, we explain why some small
changes in meanings can catapult widely different and extreme conclusions
that lead humans to develop kinds of Allergies to certain words and
situations.
Lastly, remember that when you observe your prey doing anything
(especially if it’s odd and unexpected), always ask, “What does it mean to
this animal?”
7 - The Extremes - Human Drawers

As if the Hidden Associations aren’t crazy enough, here’s another reality-

distorting human feature: These creatures organise information within their
heads into categories — like drawers.
So, after assigning meaning to a situation, humans categorise it. Given
that they usually have very few categories (often just two to analyse a
specific situation, as we will explain), one small thing can transform a
situation from being perceived as excellent to awful.
In this chapter, we use Drawers as a metaphor for categories. Doing so
will enable us to demonstrate how an even slightly different meaning
between humans can lead to massive differences in how each perceives
reality. These Drawers multiply the problems that start with the Hidden
Associations. Also, using the Drawers metaphor will help you understand
why human perception can, in the blink of an eye, shift from good to bad, all
to nothing, and — winner to loser.
Yes, humans can instantly change how they label situations and how
they behave towards them. Wait and see.

CLARIFICATION

The human mind is so odd that we must remind you that what we are
about to explain is not based solely on our decades of experience in dealing
with humans. You can also find the knowledge we share in their books. What
we explain is a practical and simple interpretation, especially for hunters
while on Earth, of a highly complex concept.

THE EXTREMES

Let’s start with an exaggerated example that summarises features related

to both this chapter and the last:
 Tell a human this story: The prisoner
Imagine a human in a squalid, overcrowded prison. There is no middle
ground in this hell hole; either the human is a murderer, a rapist or a
victim of those kinds of criminals. As you can expect, being categorised
as a victim would be a nightmare. So, once confined to this prison,
even innocent humans (those wrongly sentenced) see no alternative but
to do whatever it takes to avoid being labelled as a victim — they
become real criminals.
Do you get the picture so far?
Now, imagine that in this prison, any hint of weak or loser behaviour
can lead to a prisoner being categorised as a victim by other inmates,
which is almost equivalent to a death sentence. Yes, within seconds, a
murderer to be feared can be reclassified as a victim to be preyed
upon. So, it is natural to imagine that those criminals perceived as
tough live in constant alert mode and feel unable to show any flaws.
They must always be the criminal; any sign of weaknesses can be fatal.

How does this apply to humans? And how can you use it against them?
Any human would shudder at this nightmare situation. It’s not only the
thought of incarceration that is chilling but the idea of being haunted day and
night by fears of being perceived as a victim.
If you told a human that in their daily lives the vast majority of his kind
live a similar nightmare, he wouldn’t understand.
How come?
Let’s start from the beginning.
Humans continuously categorise everything they see or pay attention to.
You see, labelling things and situations helps them understand quickly what’s
happening around them. But, for hunters, what’s most fascinating is that
humans usually have too few categories, or Drawers, as we describe them,
and so they must adapt. Yes, for many humans, their brain has minimal
Drawers, so they label things based on what they have. What other choice is
there? As expected, this feature causes extreme behaviour because things get
stuck in the duality of 0 or 100: good or bad, black or white; there is no
middle ground.
For example, if a human had just two Drawers (black and white) he
would have no choice but to place any colour he sees in one of the two. So,
anything that isn’t entirely white may be interpreted as black.
How does this all work in practical terms? Well, as mentioned, most
humans have too few Drawers, so they label everything as either “winner” or
“loser”. With only two large Drawers in their minds, these humans live in
perpetual fear of being perceived by themselves, or others, as a loser.

HOW DOES LABELLING HAPPEN?

Let’s look at another exaggerated example that explains how labelling

(putting things and situations into Drawers) works inside a human’s mind —
without him even knowing.
Labelling happens before humans receive information, so the message is
compromised by the time it reaches the Captain.
We warn you that the following example, which explains the process of
putting information into Drawers, is rather long and complicated. However, it
needs to be to ensure you understand fully that categorising happens without
a human knowing.

Tell a human this story: The Drawers

Imagine that the messenger, on the previously described ancient ship,
relays information to the captain in his cabin. However, this time, for
greater security, he writes the information on paper and sends it to the
captain through a line-of-transaction drawer, also known as a pass-
through.
We know this sounds crazy, but you’ll get what we mean.
Now, on this ship, there are only two transaction drawers for the
messenger to choose: one for good news (safe, winner, friends, etc.) and
one for bad news (danger, loser, enemy, war, doomsday, etc.). Every time
the messenger uses the bad-news drawer to inform the captain, a warning
alarm for battle mode starts to ring — the ship is in danger and, therefore,
vulnerable.
 Note that the alarm rings BEFORE the captain reads the message.

As expected, the drawer in which the message is placed determines

whether conditions are good or bad, whether the crew thinks the ship is in
a winning or losing situation.
Now, let’s say that the messenger, based on all his mind’s past
experiences and crazy associations, must decide whether news of an
approaching ship should go into the good-news (safety) or bad-news
(danger) drawer.
Interestingly, sometimes a small detail can determine which drawer the
messenger sends the message through. If the messenger judges the
approaching ship as a possible threat and chooses the bad-news drawer,
even before the captain receives the message, the war-mode alarm will
reverberate throughout the ship. The crew will become agitated and run to
their positions. Sails and oars will be adjusted for battle and artillery
(cannons and ammunition, etc.) prepared. All this will happen before the
captain can even read the message. And, there is no middle ground; the
ship will be full throttle into war mode.

How does this apply to humans? And how can you use it against them?
This example sounds complicated. But it shows that all decisions for which
Drawer to place information into (how to label and store it in a human’s
memory) are made before the Captain receives it. The message is biased,
tainted. Before a human truly understands a situation, his heart pounds, or he
becomes angry, and all these reactions are mostly beyond his control at the
time. Should the human have developed more Drawers, he would have better
control.
The example also shows that the Drawers are not easy to change. There
is a structural problem to overcome. The captain would have to work with the
messenger for months — even years — to construct new categories to receive
better information.
In the same way, for example, it would be difficult for a human to create
new Drawers overnight just by reading this book. It takes lots of time and
effort to perceive reality through new Drawers.

WHEN HAVING FEW DRAWERS AFFECTS HUMANS’

PERCEIVED REALITY

In a bar, a waiter ignores a male human for a couple of minutes. Though

unaware, deep inside the male thinks, “Do winners get ignored? No, they
don’t. So, this waiter is implying that I am a loser!” Be aware, that for this
human, “loser” is the only option for this situation. So, suddenly, a lack of
attention becomes a challenge to his manhood, and the male creates an ugly
scene. Yes, a few bad minutes have ruined a good night out. So, the male
human (at the Messenger level) concludes that the waiter is calling him a
loser and placing him in the Loser Drawer. And, he doesn’t even realise the
real reason behind his angst. He simply blames and hates the waiter.
In the same way, a minor traffic incident can be seen as a threat to a
human’s manhood and result in road rage — the guy who cut him off is
labelling him a loser!
In a class presentation, students can present very different behaviours
based on their interpretation of the occasion. Remember, as explained in the
last chapter, whether a human feels he is loved conditionally or
unconditionally can affect how he perceives a small mistake. So, a faux pas
can have different meanings, which are also multiplied based on the number
of Drawers a human has. You see, a class presentation can be an opportunity
for a student to show his knowledge or, alternatively, a task to prove that he
will be successful in life and justify his family’s love and acceptance.
You see, to a human with just two Drawers, success means he is a
winner, and a small flaw makes him a loser, afraid, unlovable and a social
pariah. One Drawer holds many meanings. Suddenly, a class presentation
becomes far more because there is so much to lose should the human happen
to jump from one Drawer to the other.
All conclusions humans come to can be based on tiny clues. It is easy to
understand why some step on stage for a presentation with their heart
pounding like a gladiator prepared to kill or be killed at the Coliseum; there is
so much at stake.
Drawers causing career troubles:
A boss might request something that the employee sees as too basic and
dumb but still involves twenty minutes of extra work. So, following the
rationale of the previous examples, the employee may become extremely
nervous, not because of the prospect of extra work, but of what the task
means. If he is doing something dumb — and winners don’t do dumb things
— he can’t be a winner. Based on a scrap of evidence, he feels like he has a
large “L” glued to his forehead. The employee doesn’t fully understand why
he is angry about something so small, but, regardless, he loses his temper.
Finally for this section, sometimes highly successful humans, like
wealthy executives or world champion athletes, suffer a rare defeat which
causes them to jump directly to the Loser Drawer — without ‘passing go’ —
leaving them devastated. Like the prisoner in the squalid prison, a one-off
failure can cause him to be reclassified from ‘hero to zero’ in an instant.
We know it is difficult to believe things can get so intense, so to illustrate
our point further, here’s a situation we once witnessed on Earth. There was a
world-champion female fighter, undefeated throughout her career, whom we
will call Rosa Reyna. With such a glowing resume, you would think that
nothing could rattle this fighter, right? Well, unbelievably, she considered
committing suicide after the inevitable happened: She finally suffered a
defeat. We repeat, after the first loss in her career — a record no other human
had achieved at that time — she contemplated suicide.
So, it’s not only regular humans who are prone to extreme reactions, but
also the crème de la crème — the elite. Rosa Reyna, after facing one ‘bump
in the road’, felt so devastated that she considered killing herself. And it’s
worth pointing out that despite her defeat, while she thought of suicide, she
was still considered the greatest female fighter of all time.
Do you get the picture? Can you see how destructive having too few
Drawers can be? Even for the most advanced human specimens, the effects
can be devastating. Now, imagine regular humans, the ones you will usually
hunt. How easy can it get?
There are other famous cases with executives and sportspeople. Of
course, not all reach the point of wanting to blow out their brains, but you
wouldn’t believe how often outwardly successful humans become
disproportionately devastated by small setbacks.
By now you might be thinking, “This is too crazy. How can I tell
whether my prey has a small number of drawers and if it does, how can I use
the fact against it?”
Well, understand this: An overreaction usually indicates a small number
of Drawers. You see, exaggerated emotions are often caused by extra
meanings that develop because of the winner/loser way of analysing things
— a small mistake meaning to a human that he is a loser. So, whenever a
human overreacts to a situation, like in the Rosa Reyna example, it usually
indicates that he has a poor grasp of reality and probably constantly fears
becoming a loser. As a hunter, however, like with the other features, only
after consistent observation must you reach conclusions about your prey —
one or two isolated events aren’t enough.
We will continue with several more examples and stick with the Drawer
metaphor because, to be able to manipulate humans, it is crucial that you
understand this concept. You may feel that the message is becoming
repetitive. However, we assure you that it needs to be.
Moving on…

Drawers causing trouble in human relationships:

A human believes he will end up in the Loser Drawer if his partner has an
affair. So, like a frightened animal, he is crazily insecure and obsessed with
every action his partner takes. As expected, he most often has no idea about
the root of his insecurity. At the Captain’s level, he just knows he is obsessed
with his partner.
Do you see how too few Drawers can cause problems before one even
exists? If the human believes being cheated on makes him a loser, his
relationship will be like a pressure cooker — even before his partner
considers giving another suiter the ‘glad eye’. For this fragile creature, there’s
much at stake, so he lives in constant fear of betrayal — even the faintest
whiff of infidelity will cause him to question the future of the relationship. To
this human, it’s as if an affair, or a marriage breakdown, is directly linked to a
threat to his life. Can you grasp how this daily nightmare is similar to what
the prisoner endures?
Here are two more examples:
One night, a male human can’t ‘get it up’ in bed (loses his erection). This
failure to perform leads him directly to the Loser Drawer. Suddenly, his
manhood is under threat, so he takes refuge in denial and blame: “It never
happened! She’s at fault.”
A couple has a good relationship, but after a brief period of no sex, one
of them begins to believe they are in trouble; their relationship is doomed.
By the way, of course, some of these conclusions could be true — no sex
could indicate cracks in a relationship. However, it can also mean many other
things: There could be an issue outside the relationship or, perhaps, no
problem at all. What is interesting is that when a human feels the threat of
heading to the Loser Drawer, he can hardly think straight. He can’t see the
difference between it can be a problem and it is a problem, a small clue and a
final statement.
Labelling and categorising affects humans all the time. Even a tardy
response to a text message can be interpreted as a threat to a relationship or
something equally ominous. Yes, humans continuously use small clues to
reach far bigger conclusions. Life for them must be truly exhausting.

AS USUAL, THIS CONCEPT ALSO RUNS DEEPER…

Do you see how Drawers distort reality? Here’s an example of how they
work in a more complex situation that isn’t easy to spot at first:
Sometimes, with a couple, the female may start to earn more money than
the male, and the relationship jumps into a crisis. If you ask the male to
explain the reasons for the fights and arguments, he may have clear,
straightforward issues to complain about. But, only by digging deeper can
you identify the real problem, which is his interpretation of the situation as
“unbearable” and him labelling himself as a loser.
How come?
Well, imagine two big Drawers:
1. Winner (successful, earn more money, dominance, etc.) — a big
package.
 2. Loser (everything that doesn’t fit into the Winner Drawer) — another
big package.
You see, on Earth, money and dominance are often placed in the same
Drawer (Winner), and many male humans think they have to be dominant in
a relationship. So, the rationale is that by earning less money than their
partner, their dominance is threatened, which could send them to the Loser
Drawer. Crazy, isn’t it?
And, most incredibly, these males often freak out and, despite having
strong feelings for their partners, end their relationships just to escape the
situation — without understanding why they feel so threatened.
Should a ‘threatened’ human explain his reasons for his relationship
crisis, few would question him. Sure, some advanced creatures will realise
that his partner’s superior earning power is probably the root of the problem.
However, almost none will realise that the issue runs far deeper.
How so? Well, the real problem is the male human’s low number of
Drawers, his interpretation of the world and poor understanding of life’s
complexities. An experienced hunter would know that, for this male human,
the correct remedy would be to change his definitions of money, dominance
and a male’s role in a relationship, and create new Drawers in between
Winner and Loser. Of course, this is easier said than done.
At all times, humans label things and situations; they confuse small
indicators with final statements and overrate the consequences. It is a form of
cognitive bias in which the brain allows a minuscule and specific trait to
influence a human’s overall evaluation of another human, an object or a
situation. While in prison, it is understandable that an inmate will be petrified
of showing a flaw. In real life, it shouldn’t be that bad. But, it can be. Pay
attention to overreactions or misunderstandings; they will provide valuable
clues to explore later.

***
Tip: If a human relies on small clues, you can fabricate them and let him
reach the big conclusions that you want. You can create a whole new image
of yourself based on minor details that are easy to arrange. So, can you
fabricate small conclusion-forming clues to enthral and intimidate a human?
You bet!

STRANGE HUMAN ALLERGIES

With Drawers — and the risk of being a loser — some humans develop, what
we call “Allergies” to certain words or situations. Yes, you read right. We are
not talking about an allergic reaction to a particular food, pollen, fur or dust;
no, we mean an aversion to certain situations — even specific words. When
exposed to their Allergies, humans display extreme reactions — a complete
rejection of any sign of disapproval is a good example.
As you can imagine, an Allergy should be perceived as a weakness or
vulnerability because the human has difficulty coping with something that is
harmless to most others. For example, some humans break out in
‘psychological hives’ when exposed to a situation that implies they are not
perfect. This kind of Allergy might seem positive and not a weakness. After
all, what’s wrong with being determined to avoid losing? This is not the case,
though. Make no mistake: For a human, his Allergies are a nightmare, and an
inability to cope with loss is different to not liking and avoiding losing.
We’re not talking about a creature who pursues success; no, instead, we mean
one who runs from failure and can’t afford to be imperfect.
Of course, to humans, striving to win or succeed in life seems like a
worthwhile pursuit. And it is. However, what we’re talking about is humans
who dread the smallest possibility of making a mistake and being sent to the
Loser Drawer. Day and night, they are tormented by the threat of not being
perfect. These kind of humans, my friend, you can use.
Here’s an example to clarify how serious the problem is: There are two
fighters. One can cope with a few punches to the face, while the other can’t
deal with the slightest touch. Who do you think will win? In the same way,
which prey do you think is easier to catch: one who avoids but can cope with
mistakes or another who freaks out with the smallest flaw?
An Allergy is a condition, an illness. It is a nightmare similar to that
experienced by the prisoner who can’t display any weaknesses for fear of
death. Some humans can’t cope with any loss — even losing a friendly game
of soccer or being rejected by a member of the opposite sex can be too much
to bear.
For most humans, Allergies are based on insecurity, uncontrollable
emotions or needs. Identify a human’s Allergies, and you can control him. In
other words, determine the source of your human prey’s aversion to a
situation or word, etc., and use it to manipulate him.
Also, understand that if a human is extremely upset after a small mistake,
it is usually because, in his mind, he has jumped from the Winner to Loser
Drawer. This creature probably has an Allergy to mistakes and is terrified of
committing one. Think about the student whose class presentation will label
him as either a success or failure.

CURIOSITY: DRAWERS, WEAK CAPTAIN & REPETITION

Sure, a small mistake isn’t usually enough to consider a human a loser or

easy prey. Fair enough. However, if a human continually fails at his job, he
probably is a loser in that part of his life, wouldn’t you say? And, one would
think this creature should recognise the fact immediately and take action by
either upskilling or accepting that he sucks at his current occupation and
should move on. However, as you now are aware, in the minds of most
humans, there are usually just two Drawers, so they can’t accept that they are
not good at something and should try something else — they will become a
loser! It’s like they are failures at everything when that’s unquestionably not
the case. Consequently, humans ignore problems, using the Weak Captain’s
strategies of blame and denial. Yes, these animals often deny reality because
accepting they are a loser in one aspect of their life is too painful. To them,
being a failure in one thing and an achiever in another isn’t possible. Blame
and denial never fix the problems humans face, so they experience them over
and over — it’s a never-ending cycle.

AVOID CREATURES WITH MANY DRAWERS

One way to explain our point is to compare some extreme situations. Of

course, the absolute opposite of the humans described so far are those with
many Drawers. These more balanced creatures don’t sway between the
extremes of winner and loser because they have multiple places to categorise
information.
Furnished with multiple drawers, these creatures would be able to cope
with the fact that, just like pigs suck at flying, they can’t be good at
everything, a reality that humans with few Drawers can’t handle.
In an ideal world (for your prey, that is), all humans would have one
Drawer for every situation or human at any particular time. Then, they would
see the ‘real reality’ around them. Having an almost limitless number of
Drawers inside their heads, however, makes information storage complex and
requires lots of energy, time and reflection, which is all too hard for most
humans.
Let’s check out how these two types of humans, Duel- and Multiple-
Drawer, perceive different realities:
More than once we have observed certain humans stating, supported by
research, that particular ethnic groups commit more crime than others.
A human with multiple Drawers probably wouldn’t consign such a
speaker to either the Good or Bad Drawer. He has many categories and
would most likely understand that the speaker doesn’t necessarily mean that
he believes the group is inferior to others. Consequently, the Multi-Drawer
human would sit through the speaker’s speech and learn, for example, that
the conclusions of the research could be due to economic, cultural or
historical reasons — not the DNA of the ethnic group in question. He would
understand that the speaker stated the facts to call attention to the problem; he
was trying to help, not condemn, this group of humans.
How do you think a human with duel Drawers might react?
How about this? After listening to the speaker’s opening sentence, a
human with few Drawers would probably place him in the Bad Drawer
(racist, bad, etc.). Then, he would refute anything the speaker says. No
discussion would take place.
You see, for this Duel-Drawer human, the facts don’t matter; he won’t
listen. Why? Well, he can’t cope with conflicting or complex ideas — he
lacks the Drawers to accommodate them. The rationale seems to be, “Why is
he saying that about this ethnic group? He must hate them and think they are
inferior.” Got it? Inside this human’s brain, the Messenger can only choose
between two available Drawers, so he places the speaker in the one for
enemies.
Interestingly, in this case, both the Duel- and Multi-Drawer humans —
as well as the speaker — want the same thing: to help the ethnic group. But
the Duel-Drawer human argues with the speaker because he can’t process
conflicting data and so places the speaker into the Bad Drawer.
The same thing happens in other situations, such as when a right-wing
politician proposes something (like tax reform or a subsidy for a certain
sector) that left-wing voters almost completely agree with, but because they
are listening to the ‘enemy’, they attack all aspects of the proposal. After all,
how could they possibly agree with a right-wing politician? Bizarre.
Complex information is difficult to process. So, it’s easier for humans to
simplify things by working with big categories — Drawers with many
meanings — than to analyse it separately. And huge categories often distort
reality. If you’re not convinced, observe Earth’s smartest primates discussing
politics and who they will to vote for. Honestly, watching them blame and
deny is hilarious.
Lastly, don’t worry: Almost all humans are miles away from having
multiple Drawers. You see, while having many categories to better
understand reality makes sense, getting them isn’t easy, and almost no
humans reach that stage.

TO CONCLUDE

Some hunters confuse Drawers and Hidden Associations. To make things

clear, the Drawers in a human’s mind multiply problems that begin with
meanings (Hidden Associations).
When you observe your prey presenting abnormal behaviour, you should
always ask:
What does it mean to this animal?
Can it differentiate between assumptions and facts?
How does it categorise a situation?
Does this animal have only a few Drawers, or does it have more?
 From a hunter’s perspective, the fewer Drawers a human has the better,
because fewer Drawers cause extreme behaviours. It can be tricky to
conclude why a human behaves strangely at first, so you must pay close
attention because not even humans are aware of why they react in certain
ways.
Do you want to hear a joke? Despite not knowing themselves (how their
mind works, their crazy Hidden Associations and Drawers), humans usually
demand that their friends, family and partners understand them, and they get
angry if they don’t. Haha!
In Part Ш, we explain how humans’ bodies translate everything
discussed in this chapter. We also explore the role of human emotions and
desires.
PART III - BETWEEN
REALITIES & DESIRES
8 - The Brain’s Puppet - Emotions & Desires

Now we will explain how a human becomes his Brain’s Puppet.

Note: Because the ideas in this chapter apply to all the others, we have kept it
brief. Keep this concept in mind while reading Part IV: What drives the
animal.

THE MECHANISM

We’ll use two simple examples: one of an ancient sage and the other related
to dog training.

Tell a human this story: The ancient sage

Imagine a human who, without question, follows all advice, suggestions
and demands of a 200-year-old blind sage who is ignorant about
technology and modern life. No matter what, at all times, the human
obediently follows.

How does this example apply to humans? And how can you use it against
them?
Any human would say it is wise to listen and learn from those who are more
experienced. But they would also say that the example above makes no sense
because this sage is out of touch and bound to give poor advice. So, it would
make sense to listen but, at the same time, question any advice he provides.
Fair enough, no?
However, what happens in the example above is similar to what humans
do when their brains instruct them, by way of emotions and desires, to do
something. That’s right, the (ancient) brain, which developed several
thousand years ago, and doesn’t understand modern life or technology, calls
the shots. And, without question, humans follow orders. So, if the brain
instructs to be scared, angry, or anything else, the ‘puppet’ obediently follows
its ‘wise’ central system.
When the Messenger (or brain) detects a potentially threatening pattern,
it switches to war mode. The human, though, might only be preparing for a
class presentation, as explained in the Human Drawers chapter. For you, the
hunter, this mismatch opens up opportunities.
So, emotions play a crucial role in how humans behave, and humans are
hardly able to question them. And, of course, the brain’s signals (emotions)
are not always right.
Check out this second example, and then we will jump to explanations.

Dog training:
Now, if you talk to humans about dog training, almost all will be familiar
with the system of pleasure and pain, a simple method for reinforcing
behaviour that the trainer wants and discouraging behaviour he doesn’t want.
Humans know that to train a dog, they should give it a treat when it does
something right and punish it when it does something wrong. As time goes
by, the animal will learn to behave and do whatever the human wants.
Simple.
For humans, this is obvious but would probably be a complete surprise
(if it were possible to explain) to the dog. It’s safe to assume that the animal
won’t understand the method being used to manipulate it.
However, should you confront a human with the fact that his brain has
been training him, and at a much larger scale (24 hours a day since birth), he
will probably enter into, what we call, “denial mode”.

Linking the ancient sage & dog training:

Humans struggle enormously to understand that what they feel is not
necessarily right, wrong, or, in fact, anything at all. It is merely good or bad
stuff that their central system uses to train and guide them. So, just like
‘Fido’, most humans have limited self-understanding — they are their Brain’s
Puppets.
The previous examples show that the brain uses a human’s emotions to
guide him to do what it believes is best — from avoiding pain, to seeking
pleasure and feeling good about it.
The truth is that the human brain applies the same technique as a dog
trainer; it reinforces good stuff with pleasure and the bad with pain. And, as
one can expect, pain can be extremely persuasive. Ask a human if he would
brush his teeth more often if failing to do so hurt.
The human brain, though, was designed thousands of years ago for
animals clinging to survival in the jungle. Consequently, it still reinforces
unnecessary behaviours — overeating sugar or fat, for example. Again, if a
certain level of sugar started to hurt, humans would soon stop munching on
sugary treats. You can bet on it.
Anyway, the essential thing to remember is that a human’s brain has
been training him since birth, so most humans, like obedient dogs, are
unaware of why they like some things and dislike others.
The same happens when humans are angry, nervous, scared, happy or in
love, etc. These feelings are signals from the brain, and at times they are
misleading due to the limitations already discussed. After all, keep in mind
that the ancient sage isn’t always right — even though he has been around for
many years.
Consequently, a human can consume extreme levels of fat or sugar,
become irate with an inattentive waiter and fear losing things he doesn’t need
— losing something feels like going to the Loser Drawer. Or, a human can
even love an abusive partner because he feels familiar. The list goes on and
on.

CLOSE TO TOTAL CONTROL

So, the ancient sage inside a human’s head is extremely powerful, don’t you
agree? Check out this:
As you saw at the beginning of this book, the human brain (the
Messenger) creates reality, with some editing, based on what it wants the
Captain to see.
And, as if that’s not enough, the brain, training him like a puppet, also
decides when to send a human pleasant or unpleasant messages.
That’s a lot of control. One could say it’s about time the Captain stopped
trusting his Messenger so much and started asking questions.

DESIRES, TOO, CAN BE MISLEADING

Misleading desires are tricky for humans to understand. In the chapter

Hidden Associations we explained that a human who expresses a desire to
own a business, to become an entrepreneur, might actually long for freedom
and recognition, not actually having a business.
Humans, most often, don’t really understand the real reasons for their
desires. Like in the example above, when stalking your prey, it’s important to
understand why it longs for freedom. Perhaps it has a terrible boss and feels
pressured? Anyway, what matters is that if this human understood what he
seeks is freedom and recognition, he could find plenty of easier ways to get
those things than starting a business, which might not match his personality.
Maybe the human should just change jobs, for example. But humans most
often don’t fully understand their desires and just follow what their brains
think they need.
Remember the obedient human (good student) who falls in love with the
troubled student because of a desire to feel independent and mature? Of
course, there could also be other reasons, but what matters is that humans
don’t question or understand their desires. If the good student knew that, deep
down, she sought independence and maturity, she would look at other ways
of getting them.
Do you see how the human brain implants desires to get what it feels is
needed? And how humans are often just puppets?
We address how the brain decides what it wants in Part IV: What
drives the animal. For now, though, just keep in mind that humans rarely
question assumptions that translate into desires and emotions — they feel too
real.
The next case is a real situation that we have observed. We warn you
that even for experienced hunters, it seems odd and, so, is hard to believe.

Disclaimer: Before you read on, we must acknowledge that, of course, there
could be MANY OTHER REASONS for the human’s desire. For this
example we explore ONLY ONE to show how ABSURD things can get.

The hidden & unbearable competition:

A human, who’d so far enjoyed a fairly successful career, moved to another
city, and he had some excellent reasons to go — an amazing place, beautiful
weather and beaches, etc. Later, though, after a period of observation, it
became apparent to us that none of those reasons were true.
You see, in reality, the human’s desire to live far away from home
originated from the fact that he couldn’t bear seeing his parents admire his
more successful sister, even though he was unaware of the assumption his
brain was making. If you were to ask him if he competes with his sister, he’d
sincerely say, “What are you talking about? Of course not!”
You see, the human couldn’t realise that he COMPETES with his sister
for his parents’ attention, love, or whatever you want to call it. Instead, he felt
more comfortable living far from home — even though he got homesick. All
the human knew was that he wanted to live far away. He recognised his
desire but wasn’t entirely aware of his brain’s assumptions behind the scenes.
As weird as it sounds, the human’s sister hadn’t provoked his behaviour,
nor did the ‘amazing’ new city. Instead, his brain’s assumptions (“I need to
compete and win against my sister to gain my parents’ acceptance and love. I
can’t stand losing and being in the Loser Drawer. If I can’t win, I’d better
escape.”) created the desire to live away from home.
So, he didn’t fully understand the reasons for his desire to live far away
from home and, when asked, he would often come up with the wrong
explanation. By the way, yes, this sounds absurd, but it’s not uncommon.
Hidden competition happens more often on Earth than humans imagine
— like between males of the same tribe (the mate and father of a female, for
example) competing for dominance of the house/family. Often you can see
hidden competition disguised in weird discussions and small actions.
Can you see how competition is far more prevalent in human behaviour
than they can recognise and how it affects humans’ emotions and desires at a
much deeper level than they know?
Humans are complicated animals, aren’t they? Their ridiculous Hidden
Associations can create not just emotions, but also desires to instruct them to
do what their brains believe they should. And, humans can make minor and
major decisions about their careers, marriages, etc., while unaware of the real
reasons why.
You see, like their emotions, humans usually don’t fully understand their
desires either, and they, like puppets, just follow what their brain thinks they
need. Best of all, things aren’t likely to change any time soon. We explain
one of the reasons why next.

***
Tip: Carefully observe your human prey’s desire. “What does he long for? To
live in another city? Change his job, even career?” Try to find the root.
“Why does he desire that?” Determine if he is, in fact, ESCAPING from
something, and if so, from what; this knowledge can be a weapon for
manipulation. Your prey’s lack of self-understanding should make him easy
to play with.
***

HUMANS’ LACK OF AN OUTSIDER’S POINT OF VIEW

Humans struggle to observe themselves from the sceptical perspective of an

outsider.
A lion, for example, doesn't understand or question its instincts and just
follows them naturally. A human scientist, however, is able to observe the
lion from an outsider’s point of view, knowing the animal’s behaviours.
So, humans can only question their instincts, beliefs, emotions, Hidden
Associations, if they study themselves from the sceptical perspective of an
outsider, like a creature from another planet. But they hardly ever do.
After all, can you imagine a human about to lose his temper and then
asking, “Why am I nervous? What does this situation mean to me? Should I
feel this way? What can I learn from my nervousness? What does this desire
mean to me? What I am really looking for here? Am I trying to escape from
something?”
Can you imagine a human questioning his emotions or desires this way?
No, right?
 It is beyond most humans’ capacity to study their emotions sceptically as
if from outside their bodies.
Imagine a human who has never left his country. He would find it nearly
impossible to question his culture, rituals (weddings, funerals, human
greetings, etc.), expected social behaviours, social structures and religious
beliefs.
For this human, given that he has known no other life, everything seems
natural and as it should be. How could he possibly feel otherwise?
Meanwhile, a foreigner would have a very different perspective and be able
to evaluate these things from an outsider’s perspective.
So, humans would enjoy enormous benefits if it were possible to observe
themselves through the eyes of a sceptical outsider, an alien that was able to
question their beliefs, emotions, desires and reality.
For most humans, however, seeing their lives from the outside is almost
impossible. Consequently, they can’t understand themselves or question their
emotions and desires. So, as we’ve mentioned before, things aren’t likely to
change any time soon

CONCLUSIONS

Emotions play a crucial role in how humans behave, and, like their Brain’s
Puppets, they don’t usually question them. Of course, signals from the brain
are not always correct, as you have seen on pretty much every page of this
book.
Also, due to humans’ lack of an outsider’s point of view, it is almost
impossible for them to realise that they should question their emotions. So,
they become the obedient puppets of an ancient central system designed for
the jungle.
What you have learned so far regarding humans’ emotions and desires
will be crucial for understanding Part IV where we look at the things that
drive humans: vanity, Expanded Self-Interest and fear.
So, over the following chapters, keep in mind that Earth’s smartest
primate has such a poor understanding of its emotions and desires that it, for
example, also completely misunderstands Self-Interest, which is rather
interesting.
PART IV - WHAT DRIVES THE
ANIMAL
9 - Prelude to the Chapter ‘Personal Holy
Grail’ - Perceived Lack of Power

Following on from the previous chapter, and before we address the concept
of a human’s Holy Grail, we must explain one of the things that makes
humans feel good or bad, powerful or powerless, superior or inferior, in or
out of control. Doing so will help you understand how vanity, which we
address in the next chapter, works.
In this prelude, you will see that humans become angry or irritated (or
simply feel unpleasant sensations) when they perceive that they can’t do what
they need or want. You will see that when humans feel powerless, they get
unpleasant sensations, and, conversely, when they get what they want, they
feel in control and powerful — all pleasant sensations.
Interestingly, when a human becomes angry in his day-to-day life, he
usually can’t see that the real source of his ire is his PERCEIVED LACK OF
POWER or control over a situation.
If things are not clear yet, don’t you worry. It is possible to create
artificial situations to demonstrate the link between irritability and a
perceived lack of power.

AN EXPERIMENT: ARTIFICIALLY CREATING FEELINGS OF

POWERLESSNESS WITHIN THE HUMAN MIND

Most humans like to have a minimum amount of control over their

surroundings. So, you can expose your prey to situations he can’t control and
then revel in seeing him experience unpleasant sensations.
For example, ask a human to help you with something like driving
lessons. Then, pretend to be a terrible learner who can’t follow instructions.
He will say things like “Turn. I said turn. Hey! Turn, man! You missed
the turn-off!” Watch the human’s demeanour shift as you fail to follow his
instructions, not because you can’t, but because he believes you can’t. In
situations like this, after a few minutes, the human will usually feel
discomfort and probably hate being unable to get you, the learner, to do what
he wants (turn, stop or park). The human may keep cool at the beginning, but,
as time goes by, he will usually become angry.
What have you observed?
Naturally, the human will slowly realise that he isn’t powerful enough
to change what’s happening. And his ancient brain hates not being in control,
even in a safe situation like a driving lesson. That’s just how the brain
operates. So, it will send requests (emotions) for the human to do something
about the situation, unpleasant sensations to get him out of the car, or take
control, etc. The source of the problem, as usual, is the perceived lack of
control over a situation. Even if it doesn’t matter much.
Here’s a more straightforward example: Let a human play a video
game with controls that don’t work properly. The human will,
understandably, feel uncomfortable due to his inability to do what he wants to
in the situation.
You see, humans feel good and more powerful when they can do or
get what they want, and they feel the opposite when they can’t. The idea is so
simple that we can test it by artificially creating an irritating experience.
Easy.
Let’s look at the relationship humans have with power within their
heads.

PULLING STRINGS OF POWER INSIDE THE CAPTAIN’S CABIN

Yes, we will focus on the SENSATION of lacking power, not the REALITY.
Remember, the feeling of powerlessness happens inside a human’s head.
And, that’s what interests us.
The difference in perceived and actual powerlessness may seem small.
However, you will see how much easier it becomes to manipulate your prey
when you understand the difference. PERCEIVED lack of power or control is
more important than reality because humans can perceive powerlessness in
situations that aren’t so obvious.
Remember the human who became irritated simply because another
human ignored his advice? Like in that scenario, there are many situations
where nothing much happens in the real world, but, regardless, a human
perceives a lack of power to do what he wants. And the feeling is often strong
enough to irritate him.
Okay. But, what are we trying to say?
You see, from this perspective, a human who feels unpleasant
sensations caused by a disrespectful boss, in fact, feels this way because he
perceives a lack of power to fix the situation. So, the terrible boss is not the
source of the problem; he just exposes it. The cause could be, for example,
the human’s perceived incapacity to find another job, which obligates him to
stay with this boss. Yes, the cause, most often, is a perceived weakness or
insecurity that was already there. Otherwise, a disrespectful boss wouldn’t
bother him; after all, he would be able to walk away at any time.

***
Again, this is crucial: The cause of a human’s ire is his perceived
weakness or insecurity which the problem exposes.
***

So, PERCEIVED lack of power or control is more important than what

is actually happening outside due to the crazy reality the Captain can perceive
from within the Cabin.
Interestingly, it’s not so easy to observe human behaviours and reach
conclusions quickly. A distracted hunter can get things wrong, as you will
see.

WARNING:
COMPENSATORY BEHAVIOUR CAN BE MISLEADING

Here, also, you must be very careful in your analysis because, as usual, the
concept goes deep, and a careless observation can lead to wrong conclusions.
Humans try to balance a minimum amount of perceived power
(pleasant sensations) in their minds. As we said, lacking power is unpleasant
for humans, and sometimes they compensate for the discomfort by acquiring
short-term pleasure or power from other things.
For example, a human gets dumped (an unwanted divorce), so he
indulges in compulsive shopping to compensate. Or, a human loses his job
and kicks someone’s arse in a bar to make himself feel powerful again.
You see, in both situations, each human is trying to re-establish a
perceived minimum level of power and pleasure.
With these humans, you may judge them based on their actions in the
shopping centre or bar. However, doing so will lead you to false conclusions
about the reasons for their behaviour. If you fail to dig deeply enough, you
might not get the full picture.
To reach an accurate conclusion about your prey, take time for deep
analysis. If you observe long enough, often you will discover that the root of
the problem is some dissatisfaction that was there before the act that exposes
it.

Note: In the case of the brawling human, it’s quite funny because other
animals usually fight for food (hunt), or to reproduce, which are final and
straightforward goals. With humans, though, the reasons for fighting are
often obscured and not what they appear. Instead, engaging in ‘fisticuffs’ is
often the result of another frustration or disappointment that stems from a
Hidden Association, as you have already seen.

TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS PRELUDE

As you know, everything happens inside the human’s head, and the Brain’s
Puppet concept is everywhere.
The human brain hates perceiving a lack of power or control over a
situation, and so, when it feels power or control is lacking, it sends
unpleasant sensations to make the human react.
PERCEIVED is the key word in our analysis because the feeling of
powerlessness happens inside a human’s head.
Remember: Humans are complex animals, and what can appear to be
the cause of a problem can, in fact, just be exposing it (like the human
fighting in a bar due to problems that happened before he arrived for a drink).
So, be careful before you reach conclusions.
This may all sound confusing. Don’t worry; everything will fall into
place in the next chapter when we explore the concept in more detail. For
now, what matters is that you get the general idea.
It is important to note, though, that each prey wants and needs to
control different things and at different levels, depending on many things —
we will explore in the next chapter. Just keep the concept of perceived lack of
power fresh in your mind.
So, now with our intro complete, it is time to play with a human’s
vanity — that’s what the Personal Holy Grail is primarily about.
10 - Personal Holy Grail - Vanity

In a war, knowing your enemy’s next move provides an enormous advantage.

It’s the same when hunting humans — you must know where they are
heading so you can set traps in the right places.
But, how can you know a human’s destination? Well, pay attention to
what he is proud of — his vanity, what he admires. These are what guide his
decisions and noticing them will enable you to know what he will do next.
You see, though rarely clear in their minds (at the Captain’s level),
each human pursues a goal, a mission, a quest. We call it a “Personal Holy
Grail”. If you can identify your prey’s Holy Grail, you will gain a
considerable advantage, especially as humans themselves usually don’t know
what it is. At least their Captains don’t. They are, you could say, most often
in the dark.
We know this may all sound ludicrous — even contradictory. How can
a human chase something unknowingly? We will explain. For now, though,
keep in mind that a human’s Captain is NOT always aware of the goals he
chases.
If you identify a human’s self-image, which summarises whom he
wishes to be, his admiration, his vanity, what he is proud of, you will know
where he is heading — better than himself. If you do this, your prey will
become predictable, and you will know, with confidence, where to set a trap
and which bait to use.
While this concept may sound abstract, things will become clearer.
Wait and see. In this chapter, you will learn an easy-to-understand method for
playing with your human prey’s vanity.

DISCLAIMER:
OVER THE FOLLOWING PAGES, NO FAITH IS NECESSARY

Before we begin, let’s be crystal clear here. We will NOT abandon our
strictly sceptical-hunter point of view. The idea we are about to explain is a
simplification and might sound absurd. Of course, the concept of a Personal
Holy Grail is not literal, but it summaries vanity, Hidden Associations and
Drawers, etc. simply, and you will find it highly useful for understanding
how humans’ vanity is central in their lives.
The Holy Grail concept also helps explain a human’s Expanded Self-
Interest, which we cover in the next chapter.

THE LINK BETWEEN THE PRELUDE & THIS CHAPTER

In the prelude to this chapter, we explained that:

Everything happens inside humans’ minds. Consequently, how they

PERCEIVE a situation is crucial.
Humans hate perceiving that they lack power to do what they want (or
need) to do. They hate the feeling of not being in control of a thing or
situation.

Quite obvious, simple and easy.

Now we will analyse what happens inside humans’ heads in more
common (less extreme) situations, not ones that involve intense emotions
(fear, hate, anger, etc.) due to the animal’s perceived lack of power or control.
Yes, we will focus on when a human perceives slightly less power than he
thought he had, that he is a little farther from the level of control he wants. Of
course, we’ll also look at the opposite — when he feels a bit more powerful,
in control and closer to where he wants to be.
So, how does it all work?

THE QUEST INSIDE EVERY HUMAN

Tell a human this story: The mission

Consider the same captain and ancient ship discussed in previous
chapters. Now, imagine that the captain, the messenger and the crew,
based on past experiences, have beliefs about which island to sail
 towards to feel safe. The safe island is the ship’s mission.
It’s easy to imagine that if an enemy knows where the ship is, and to
which island it is sailing, it shouldn’t be difficult to stay ahead and
prepare an ambush at the right time and place. So, knowing the route,
which is the line between the ship and its goal, provides a significant
advantage to the enemy. We call this line the “Line of Power”.
Note that with this Line of Power, whenever the captain and crew feel
they are heading in the right direction, they feel good, excited, and, as
the name suggests, more powerful. However, whenever they think they
are travelling in the wrong direction — even backwards — the captain
and crew feel bad or less powerful and all because they are farther from
their goal. Obviously, any event or obstacle that doesn’t fall onto the line
is irrelevant.
So, in summary, the ship has a mission, and it is possible to draw a path,
a route, a line, between the ship and its final goal. The captain’s
decisions are related to this Line of Power; when the vessel is closer to
the ultimate goal, the captain and crew feel good; farther away, they feel
bad.

How does this apply to humans? And how can you use it against them?
Well, humans work pretty much the same way as the captain and crew on a
ship.
To simplify several concepts, let’s say that each human also has a Line
of Power. This line traverses between whom the human thinks he is (his self-
image) and whom he wants to be.
By whom he wants to be, we mean a super version of himself, of what
he is on a quest to become. Like the Crusaders of old, every human seeks a
Personal Holy Grail — a dream, a super-self, a goal.
So, there is the Line of Power that is the route to reach the Holy Grail.
Just like a ship on a mission, humans feel good when they perceive they are
getting closer to their Holy Grail and bad when they perceive they are
slipping farther away. Simple.
Let’s explore these two concepts and then see how they fit together.
And, of course, how you can use them against humans during a hunt.
 THE LINE OF POWER

This Line of Power concept is pretty straightforward, so we will pass by it

quickly. The tricky part is the Holy Grail.
As mentioned, the Line of Power is the rope that links a human’s
current self-image to his Holy Grail.
But, make no mistake: Although a simple concept, recognising your
prey’s Line of Power is essential for knowing where to attack later.
Why? Well, because, in general, only things that relate to a human’s
Line of Power will affect him. Events outside will usually have little or no
impact. To attack things that fall outside a human’s Line of Power is like,
using the ship as an example, placing obstacles and preparing an ambush in
places beyond the ship’s route.
A human, say, can believe he is becoming skilled at something, and a
mistake shows he isn’t as good as he thought. So, his brain sends him a bad
feeling. Simple. However, errors that are unrelated to what a human wants
won’t affect him. For example, losing a sporting match or some money —
even a marriage — can have little or no effect if the human’s dream is based
almost entirely on becoming a great writer. Point out a small mistake in his
prose, though, and watch him try to stab you with his ‘poison pen’. You will
become a threat. Again, other mistakes won’t have much bearing on his self-
image and won’t block his route to what he wants to be, but a small writing
error could. So, this is why humans become angry when they make mistakes
while doing things that matter to them.
Yes, it is obvious that events outside a human’s Line of Power will
have no effect, but, as you will see, humans usually don’t understand this
fact.
Okay, let’s dig deeper into the concept that all humans pursue a
Personal Holy Grail, and let’s also explain how you can use it against them.

A HUMAN’S PERSONAL HOLY GRAIL

A human’s Personal Holy Grail usually depends on a combination of traits:

his beliefs, knowledge and past experiences (especially childhood), for
example. It is the product of his desire to feel happier, safer and more
accepted, etc.
The Holy Grail is more complicated than you might expect. Let’s look
at it in more detail: To build a super version of himself in his mind, a human
considers his capabilities, passions and what wins him social approval. His
friends, parents and society have a significant influence. A human’s super-
self could include components of what his parents taught him, what he
admires in others and what his society promotes — as well as what he
believes will be in his best interests. All these create the image of what would
be a winner for him.
As you can see, many things influence the formation of a human’s
Holy Grail. And, as if this isn’t enough, Hidden Associations and Drawers in
a human’s mind have significant sway over his perception of how to become
a winner.
Keep in mind that, as mentioned, a human’s super-self is our primary
consideration when discussing his goal; it is imperative. But, at times, the
situation he desires, the places he wants to go to, the people he wants by his
side, also have an influence.
Regardless of what a human’s goal is, it is the result of all we have
mentioned. His super-self is the consequence of what his Captain and Crew
want — things he is aware of as well as suppressed memories that only in-
depth inner investigation can bring to the surface. The result is an image of
the best a human believes he can become. His Personal Holy Grail.
The tricky part is that assumptions behind humans’ conclusions vary
widely based on everything that influences their decisions. So, each prey’s
super-self can differ wildly.
A human’s ideal could be, for example, to become incredibly wealthy,
beautiful, or to be a nice person whom everybody loves. It could also be to
become omnipotent — even a terrorist or drug lord.
Yes, some humans aspire to do what they call “evil”. One can dream
of studying to become a doctor and save lives while another can aspire to
becoming a terrorist and committing mass murder. As strange as it sounds, a
human forms his super-self (doctor or terrorist) based on what he believes is
best for him, on what he admires. So, whether a doctor or terrorist, at a deep
level, both humans chase the same thing — their super-self.
Or, a human can be proud of being the ‘smart guy’ — the ‘shyster’
who earns the most money with the least amount of work, regardless of
whether or not he did the right thing. Why should he care?
So, you see that humans can have goals that are useful to society and
ones that are detrimental. We prefer not to label goals “good” or “bad”.
Whatever a human’s purpose is (Holy Grail), what matters to him is whether
he is getting closer to or farther away from it. And, we must point out that
once a human has consolidated a goal, it is difficult to change his focus. For
example, you’d have a hard time convincing a human who is proud of being a
thief or terrorist to aspire to become a doctor and save lives. Changing a
human’s Holy Grail, would take lots of convincing because it is based on so
many things, including, as we said, suppressed memories.
For you, this is okay; you just need to use a human’s goal for your
benefit so that you know where to set a trap and how to manipulate him.
A human’s Personal Holy Grail is the product of his definition of
success.

SO…WHAT IS SUCCESS?

The accomplishment of something (a purpose, a dream) is a simple definition

of success, according to the human ‘code’. Success. It is just one word.
However, look deeper, and you will see that its meaning carries a lot; every
human’s idea of success differs.
To illustrate the wide variety of meanings of success for humans, we
have gathered several more common definitions. You see, for a human,
success could mean:
being rich and powerful and able to control everything around him (a
successful entrepreneur or a drug lord, for example)
having many sexual conquests
being highly recognised among peers for abilities and achievements (a
professor, scientist, artist, writer, doctor — even a hacker)
achieving a deep level of self-understanding, self-knowledge
 becoming famous and being idolised and able to influence many
people
having plenty of free time for work-life balance (fewer hours a day to
earn money, but enough time to spend with family and friends)
having no responsibility (a gypsy, for example)
being a great son, daughter, husband, wife or parent
having many children
being attractive
being married, regardless of how good the marriage is
needing few material things (a minimalist)
committing suicide in a terrorist attack and entering the gates of
heaven in the name of God
being able to pursue a passion (a poor, but a happy artist, for example)
being able to change thousands of lives with a job (like working for
some NGO).
The possibilities are endless!

So, as you can imagine, a wealthy executive with one child, a caveman
with no money and ten children and an 18-year-old suicide bomber will all
have widely opposing ideas about success. Were they to meet, it is unlikely
they would understand that each considers himself successful.
Interestingly, humans usually say they understand the different
definitions of success, but they have enormous difficulty understanding a
human that contradicts their own.
When you identify your prey’s definition of success, the Holy Grail it
pursues, it is easy to understand — even predict — its reactions to particular
problems.
And, to avoid any doubt, let’s make it crystal clear how important this
concept is. Apart from when humans are desperately in fear and trying to
survive (which we cover in the chapter Survival Mode), almost all decisions
humans make are based on their perceived super-self. If you know what a
human admires — what he wants to be, his ideal image — you will have a
considerable advantage.
And, in case you are wondering, there isn’t much point in asking a
human to explain his super-self; he will usually say whatever will gain him
social acceptance — whatever he is expected to say. At the Captain’s level a
human rarely has a clear image of what he is trying to pursue, his definition
of success — even though he is chasing it. This ignorance could be because it
is too difficult to come up with the right super-self — to fully interact with
his Crew, to decode the meanings and Drawers in his mind. So, as usual, you
must rely on paying attention to the tips your prey provides: their words,
attitudes, behaviours, reactions — recurring problems.
Let’s look at some examples of reactions based on different super-
selves to begin applying the concept.

QUICK, APPLIED EXAMPLES OF DIFFERENT HOLY GRAILS

Not surprisingly, individual Holy Grails cause different reactions for humans
facing the same problems. Check out these examples:
When two humans are in the process of getting a divorce, the
consequences of the failed relationship can be different for each partner. The
male with a quest that considers only his career and money, for example, may
be primarily annoyed about the financial cost; for him, this ‘bump in the
road’ is getting in the way of his goal of financial success. The female,
however, may be devastated; for her, a husband and children form her Holy
Grail (a great wife and mum), the meaning of her existence. While for the
male, divorce is a problem, but just a small hiccup, for the female, it is a
massive rock landing on her Line of Power and impeding her mission.
Humans often think that one is more robust than the other. In fact,
each just has different super-selves and so react differently to various forms
of adversity. For one, a setback is a massive blow, but for the other, it’s not.
As simple as that.
Maybe, for the husband a setback that would match the devastation felt
by his wife during a divorce would be the loss of his career, resulting in an
enormous financial blow. In this case, he could be distraught, while his wife
may calmly support him — even though the financial setback would be the
same for both of them.
In another example, a student wants to make his parents proud of him,
so he feels good when he attends school, pays attention and achieves good
grades. Another student, though, can be proud of the opposite; he may
believe that ‘winners’ don’t abide by academic structure and rules. So, he
creates a mission for himself: the ‘smart guy’ who gets by with minimal
effort.
As expected, poor grades will affect each student differently, and,
naturally, each will have a different reaction towards the (apparently) same
regretful situation of failing an exam. For the second student, bad grades
won’t bother him much, and rules will hardly change his behaviour.

LAWS, RULES & ETHICS

Just obstacles

It is important to point out that laws, rules and ethics only influence the
formation of a human’s Personal Holy Grail, the best version of himself that
will gain him more social acceptance and success, etc. But, once a human has
formed his Holy Grail, rules mostly become just obstacles.
Laws and rules rarely prevent humans from trying to achieve what
they believe is best for them. Think of a human who truly admires and wants
to become a drug lord — a criminal who is proud of his actions. For him, the
law represents merely an obstacle. In his analysis, doing wrong is still the
best path to take.
We will continue to discuss humans’ Holy Grails, but, first, let’s look
at how (inside their minds) humans continuously analyse situations to see if
they are getting closer to or farther from where they want to be.

ANALYSING THE LINE OF POWER

The following diagram summarises how the Holy Grail and Line of Power
work. It shows the Holy Grail (super-self) as a GOAL that defines the
direction, and the Line of Power is the link, the route.

THE PERSONAL HOLY GRAIL & THE LINE OF POWER

Figure 1. A representation of how the Holy Grail and the Line of Power
relate to humans.

So, it is simple: closer feels good; farther away feels bad. Easy. And, of
course, not much happens if there is no movement forwards or backwards.
Yes, the idea is pretty basic, but we need to state it clearly because, as
a hunter, you can’t afford not to have this idea set in your mind.
Also, note that humans can be more or less sensitive to the unpleasant
sensations of getting farther away from their Holy Grail depending on their
situation, as you will see in a later chapter. For now, keep in mind that while
some humans can’t cope with the slightest unpleasant sensation, others can.
However, the diagram above applies to all of them.

IT’S THE DIRECTION, STUPID!

Yes, it is true that the Holy Grail represents the GOAL. However, its primary
influence on a human is the DIRECTION he takes, what he is proud of and
his vanity. What matters is where the Holy Grail points the human to go, not
how far away it is.
As a consequence, the Holy Grail can be very distant (like wanting to
change the world). The human doesn’t have to accomplish his goal
completely. The Holy Grail is a ‘beacon’ to travel towards. It defines what
drives a human, what gives him pleasure or pain. So, The Holy Grail
naturally guides a human’s decisions.
So, let’s make it clear: No matter how big the dream or how distant the
Holy Grail, what matters to a human is whether or not he is moving towards
it. Simple.

Clarification: It is not about wanting less

While hunting on Earth, you may hear humans discussing how better to
handle dreams and expectations. You may feel that what they say is relevant
to this chapter. Check out what some say: “Expect less, and you increase
your happiness.” That sounds reasonable, doesn’t it? It seems kind of similar
to what we are explaining, don’t you agree?
Make no mistake, though. This is NOT what we mean when
explaining a human’s Holy Grail. Our experience shows that a human can
desire whatever he wants, and his desire will define the DIRECTION he
wishes to go. Sayings like “expect less, and you increase your happiness”,
though, are only useful for the weak and spoiled — humans who can’t cope
with not achieving their goals, who can’t handle disappointment. So,
expecting less to increase happiness isn’t related to our concept of the Holy
Grail. Humans don’t need an easy-to-reach super-self (simple and close) to
enjoy pleasant sensations. However, we can use their erroneous sentence and
attitude to explain a bit more about the concept of the Holy Grail.
What the phrase could say is “NEED less, and increase your
happiness”, which is entirely different.
It’s not smart for any human to NEED a lot because doing so makes it
easy for others to play with his fear, as you will see later in this book. After
all, when an animal lacks something it needs, like food or air, it’s in trouble.
However, what an animal wants is just a direction, and so can be as large as
its imagination, so long as the want isn’t necessary for feeling safe. Do you
get the difference?
Need and Want. These two words may look similar, but they are miles
apart. It is also interesting to keep in mind that often humans confuse wanting
a lot with needing a lot. They paint their dreams, their Holy Grail, as a
necessity. Consequently, they start NEEDING, and that’s when they can’t
cope with disappointments. When this happens, you have an opportunity to
play with fear, and there are many ways to do that, which is why we have
dedicated two chapters to the subject.
Now, let’s look at some manipulation tactics.

INTIMIDATE OR ENTHRAL

You can manipulate a human by creating the right threat of punishment, or by

enthralling him with the right promise of reward. In other words, you can
intimidate by obstructing a human’s quest for the Holy Grail, or you can
enthral him by playing with his vanity. Both methods will enable you to
shepherd your prey to where you want it.
Just keep in mind that your actions must relate to a human’s Holy
Grail and Line of Power to be effective. For example, criticising the inferior
grades of a student who does not care about school, or promising more
money to a worker who craves free time (work-life balance) with his family,
is usually pointless.
So, if you choose to threaten a human, you must know what will
impede his journey towards his goal. You might attack or question his
wealth, marriage, abilities or social recognition, depending on his Holy Grail.
Yes, sometimes challenging some of these things can do the trick.
Also, if you choose to deceive or enthral a human to help him feel that
his prize (Holy Grail) is in sight, you can do this by supporting him (or,
promising support, which is easier), or by merely complimenting him on
anything related to his mission.
This hapless human will often melt in your arms if you say the right
words at the right time. Exalting a human’s wealth and achievements can
help in some cases. Commenting on his beauty or intelligence or parenting
skills will work, too. It all depends on what the human is proud of.
So, it is essential to identify your prey’s goals to know what to
compliment and what not to criticise.
On the other hand, if you don’t understand your prey’s super-self, his
decisions will most often appear unpredictable. Your actions will have little
effect.
Strangely, while on Earth, you will see that many humans are ignorant
of this simple rule, and, consequently, they attack things with no relevance to
another human’s Line of Power or Holy Grail. Trying to make a corrupt
politician feel guilty about his treacherous acts, when he admires being the
smart guy, not being honest, is an example. Any attempt at making him feel
remorse will be futile — his Holy Grail is in the other direction, so don’t
waste your time. In cases like this, obstacles, like threats of punishment by
law, are more effective for guiding your prey. But, as obvious as this sounds,
humans continuously ‘bark up the wrong tree’, so to speak, when trying to
influence others. Weird. What can you do?

A criticism-compliment strategy:
It’s important to note that it’s okay to criticise things that don’t affect a
human’s mission if the criticism is for a purpose: establishing rapport to gain
leverage to enthral your prey later, for example.
It’s about finding the right things to criticise and compliment, an art
you must master.
By criticising things that aren’t related to your prey’s Line of Power,
you can often appear sincere without harming your relationship.
For example, if a human is proud of his sales skills, you might get
away with criticising his agenda or financial-management skills while still
praising his sales ability. By applying this criticism-compliment strategy,
your praise may sound more sincere and, therefore, be more effective.
Be aware that there are exceptions. For example, when a human can’t
cope with any flaw due to his Drawers, or an Allergy to any loss or mistake.
However, in general, criticising what isn’t part of a human’s Holy Grail only,
and complimenting him to make him feel he is getting closer to reaching it,
will help during your hunt.
Always remember, though, the manipulation game is dangerous. If
your human prey realises that he is being ‘played’, there will be trouble. So,
be careful. Adapt your words, but don’t lie because you could sound fake.
Find real stuff to criticise and compliment.
Note: Your image can help: It is far easier to manipulate your prey if he sees
you as something related to his super-self. Why? Because he will listen more
and question less if you resemble what he aspires to be. For example, a
human who dreams of one day becoming successful in business is more
likely to listen to and follow advice (without much questioning) from a
successful entrepreneur. So, does your human prey like money? Reveal your
wealth. Does success to him mean needing few material possessions? Be
humble. Is he religious…? By being a ‘chameleon’, you will lower your
prey’s defences and be better able to manipulate him. But, again, avoid lying
because you’ll risk getting caught. What’s important is that you focus on
what matters to your prey.

CAN THE HUNTER CHANGE HIS PREY’S HOLY GRAIL?

To use a somewhat macabre analogy, when chasing his super-self, a human is

like a zombie in pursuit of human flesh. Don’t get us wrong, he is still
rational, but not as much as you’d think. Once you locate the ‘flesh’ he lusts
for, the human will become quite predictable.
Can you do more? What if you were to change the location of the
flesh? Naturally, your prey would lurch in a new direction. Sounds great,
doesn’t it? If you could place your human prey’s vanity where you want, you
could control his decisions as you please. For you, hunting would be much
easier.
And, like the example of the corrupt politician mentioned before, some
hunters sometimes do wonder if they can change their prey’s super-self to
guide it naturally towards the desired direction.
In our experience, it is possible to manipulate a human to change his
Holy Grail. Although its roots (Hidden Associations) hardly change, over an
extended period, as humans mature and experience life, their priorities and
what they admire can alter. Consequently, humans can change parts of their
Holy Grails themselves. Therefore, you can always try by slowly (over time)
explaining and showing your prey that his mission is doomed and not worth
pursuing.
So, yes, changing a human’s Holy Grail is possible. However, keep in
mind that it is extremely difficult to do so. Why? Well, beliefs, such as his
Hidden Associations (which include suppressed memories) and his Holy
Grail, become part of a human’s identity. In theory, humans invest a lot of
thought regarding their deepest beliefs and values. As a consequence, if you
challenge a human’s Holy Grail, he will likely believe you are questioning
his intelligence, which can mean trouble for you.
Changing a human’s opinion regarding minor issues is usually okay.
Trying to change his super-self, however, is a far greater challenge. It takes
lots of time and often a shocking event, like the loss of a job, a traumatic
relationship break-up or the death of a family member. Yes, humans are more
malleable under overwhelming stress. However, even then, it is difficult to
change a human’s vanity because, in the end, he must change it himself.
So, as a rule, we usually ignore this option; it requires too much work
and time, and positive results are not always achievable. It’s usually best to
play with the cards dealt — the current super-self.

CONCLUSIONS

So, humans’ vanity is central in their lives, and it begins to form based on
what they admire or are proud of. Pay attention to these things and your prey
will become more predictable. You will know, better than him, what guides
his decisions.
The Holy Grail is a GOAL, but the primary influence it has on a
human is the DIRECTION it leads him to take; it defines his vanity.
Knowing a human’s Holy Grail will enable you to always be a few steps
ahead.
What makes a human feel pleasant or unpleasant sensations? It’s
simple: When closer to his Holy Grail he feels good; farther away, he feels
bad. And events outside a human’s Line of Power usually have little impact
on his emotions. An easy concept most humans misunderstand.
The tricky part is you must have a clear image of your prey’s Holy
Grail.
Finally, it is worth repeating that it is true that the concept of a Holy
Grail, or super-self, is a simplification of several ideas. However, applying it
provides you, the hunter, with an edge. You can manipulate your prey by
knowing, better than it does, where it’s going and what will arouse its desire.
In the next chapter we provide tips for identifying your prey’s Holy
Grail. You’ll learn that some humans have pre-packaged solutions, and why
some humans are extra vulnerable. You’ll find it quite interesting, we’re sure.
11 - Vanity - Practical Tips

So, applying the Holy Grail concept makes it easy to predict a human’s next
steps. However, first, we must again warn you: It is not easy to identify a
human’s mission.
To understand a human’s Holy Grail, or super-self, you must pay him
close attention for some time. You will need several small clues that, put
together, can provide a bigger picture. As usual, be careful not to jump to
conclusions; you do need a minimum amount of evidence. For example, if a
human owns some luxury items, that doesn’t necessarily mean he cares only
for money and social acceptance. It could, in fact, mean many other things.
By being hasty, you can fall into the same trap that many humans find
themselves ensnared in when their Hidden Associations use small clues to
reach premature conclusions. To become a great hunter takes patience.
A few helpful questions are:
“What is the meaning of success for this creature?”
“What is it proud of?”
“What is its super-self like?”

Now, to make hunting easier, we highlight some common quests that

humans pursue.

COMMON TYPES OF HOLY GRAILS

Pre-packaged and fixed solutions

In general, humans consider their super-selves to be linked to intelligence,
beauty, money, family and a particular sexuality — like a smart, rich,
handsome, heterosexual human with a beautiful partner and kids.
Humans most often struggle to understand that there are several other
ways to be successful and they give little thought to the idea. They simply
follow pre-packaged super-selves that their social group dictates, and they are
often unwilling to change. “There is only one solution, and I must pursue it!”
When the only possible super-self is to be intelligent, rich, beautiful
and with successful kids — when there is just one fixed mission — humans
often end up slipping into denial to cope with reality.
For example, a father asks a close friend to train his son to be an
executive, which follows the father’s idea of a super-self. A few weeks later,
the friend tells the father, sincerely trying to help, that his son can’t process
data (his son is dumb in this area, can’t deal with numbers and business is not
at all his thing). So, the friend recommends that the youngster pursues an
alternative career that better suits his abilities because he is very good at
sport, music, art and dealing with people.
What does the father do? Well, to him, being an executive is the route
to becoming wealthy — his super-self. And, he believes this is the only
possible path for his son. Also, the father’s super-self wants a successful
child. Consequently, he projects the same definition of success onto his son.
Because of his limited view, the father will probably see his friend as
an enemy — an obstacle in the way of his Holy Grail — and become angry.
He will refuse to listen to his ‘enemy’ and deny that there is a problem
because he can’t see any other route to success. Accepting that the kid isn’t
very smart is too painful and threatening (remember the extremes of the
Drawers?). Like the captain and crew, for the father there is but one ‘safe
island’, and his son will get there. As a result, instead of recognising the
limitations and adapting, because that is too much to swallow, he denies the
truth and distorts reality to cope.
So, for humans like the father described with a pre-packaged and fixed
definition of success for himself and his children, any obstacle can be an
extremely ‘bitter pill to swallow’. They use denial and blame to cope with
reality. As explained when we discussed the concept of Repetition, it’s no
wonder that humans continue to face the same problems all their lives.

Other pre-packaged solutions

Religions and beliefs, like left- and right-wing extremism in politics, also
strongly influence the goals humans strive for. You see, religion provides a
rigid set of moral codes and rules to follow — a template for a human’s
super-self. Easy, no? All done. No major reflection needed.
By the way, often religion also offers humans increased social
acceptance and can help them feel part of a group, which feels good. Oh, and
of course, there is also the ‘get-into-heaven-and-stay-out-of-hell card’. So, all
in all, religion provides a complete package for humans to build their vanity
upon.

Note: Funnily enough, if you repeat what we say about religion to other
humans, bearing in mind their broken communication system, they will
probably think that we oppose their beliefs, that we deny there is life after
death, which isn’t true. We are just listing the benefits.

Extreme politics, both left and right, also offers most of what religion
promises (except heaven after life is substituted for heaven on Earth once the
enemy is crushed). And extremism allows humans to blame others for their
problems. It provides convenient enemies. As we saw with the Weak
Captain, blame is a useful ‘anaesthetic’ for numbing the pain of life’s real
problems.
For humans, in a world flooded with too much freedom of choice, pre-
packaged sets of rules and objects of blame — even heaven — provide much
relief.
Actually, for humans, pre-packaged solutions are a damned good deal
because coming up with definitions of success by themselves is usually quite
tricky — especially as their definitions may clash with those of close friends
and family. So, it’s best to ignore free thinking and follow the well-trodden
path. Or, at least that seems to be the rationale. After all, any human who
wishes to develop original ideas would soon discover that doing so takes lots
of time and reflection. As is their nature, humans usually take the path of
least resistance.
So, keep these standard packages in mind because you can get pretty
reliable tips regarding what your prey’s Holy Grail is by observing its
surroundings, location (region on the planet), culture and religion, etc. Yes,
you still should analyse your human prey separately and patiently, but
remember that he has most likely thought little about his mission and is
merely following the herd. Easy.

SUPER-VULNERABLE HUMANS

It’s worth mentioning a few more vulnerable states of mind. If any of these
relate to your prey, consider yourself lucky. Your hunt will be extra easy.

Very narrow and specific missions

For a human, a significant problem arises when his Holy Grail is based on
one thing, and it doesn’t depend on him. For example, “Success is money,”
or “Success is marriage.” When a goal is extra specific and depends on
others, things become interesting, to say the least.
Having a single, specific definition of success is extremely risky for
humans; a small ‘bump in the road’ can pose a considerable threat and be
devastating.
On the other hand, a more balanced, self-reliant definition leaves the
prey less vulnerable. For example, success could mean a combination of
having a great family, a certain amount of money and work-life balance.
When there is a threat to one of these things, the human’s mission isn’t
entirely at risk (we will deal with exceptions later).
It’s simple: If your prey has a balanced super-self, it’s difficult to pose
significant threats.
So, whenever you can, avoid these balanced humans. As a rule, those
with poorly crafted missions (a pure “I want to be rich,” or “I want to be a
great husband or wife”) are usually easier to catch.

Conflict within the mission (two Holy Grails)

Humans with two conflicting missions, with no chance of achieving either,
and no room for negotiation, are usually extra vulnerable and, like ‘fish in a
barrel’, easy to skewer. They’re like a ship with two opposing missions that it
must pursue simultaneously.
It’s like a married male human who wants a peaceful life and abide by
all the requirements of his religion (which requires monogamy in his
marriage). However, at the same time, he is proud of having many affairs
with multiple females. For him, manhood is measured by the number of
females he can seduce. So, to get closer to one of his super-selves, he must do
things that conflict with the other(s).
Or, in another example, a human who strives to become a business
leader in a highly competitive market, which most probably means he must
work excessively long hours for decades. At the same time, however, he
wishes to spend plenty of time with his kids and be what is known as a
“family guy”. This human can’t see a way of getting closer to his first goal
without drifting farther away from his second.
Finally, imagine a human who wants to be a successful executive to
please his father, but to make himself and his mother happy, he wants to be
an artist. The human will be in constant conflict unless he stops and defines
his mission, or finds some way to achieve both Holy Grails.
As another general rule, humans without well-defined missions are
usually more susceptible to manipulation due to the problems that conflicting
Holy Grails bring to their lives. Pay attention to these humans.

Full-package humans (multiple Holy Grails)

Some humans have a super-self that includes most of the points mentioned
above and more.
For example, a human may want to be the best son, husband and
father; a powerful executive with work-life balance; he may strive to meet his
religious requirements; on top of all this, he may fancy himself as the local
Don Juan who beds multiple females.
So, this full-package human continually contradicts his Line of Power.
Whenever he gets close to one goal and feels good, he drifts farther away
from several others and feels bad.
A human like this hardly ever reaches a reasonable level of
satisfaction, and he is easy to seduce and manipulate if you convince him that
you can help with his struggle.
Full-package humans usually crave social acceptance from everyone,
which results in a need to be what everyone wants them to be. As simple as
that. They lack reflection and have an extreme need for acceptance due to
insecurity.
 FULL-PACKAGE HUMANS

Figure 2. Full-package humans

***
Tip: Start with an easy prey, one with a specific, fixed and narrow mission.
This kind of human usually has a low understanding of the complexities of
life. Or, pick one with conflicting missions who won’t accept compromise
(even better if it is a full-package human). This kind is usually especially
vulnerable and easy to manipulate and hunt.
***

CONCLUSIONS

So, surroundings, location (region on the planet), culture and religion can
provide excellent tips for identifying your prey’s Holy Grail. Pay attention to
all these things.
Although humans often follow pre-packaged solutions, keep in mind
that the super-self a human pursues can be very different from other humans,
so never jump to conclusions based on minimal evidence.
Also, remember that some humans are extra vulnerable due to poorly
crafted missions. Consider yourself a lucky hunter if you stumble upon one of
them.
In the next chapter, you will see how a humans’ self-interest is crucial
in their lives and how the concept of a Holy Grail is vital for understanding
our expanded version of self-interest. It is an important chapter because,
whether intimidating or enthralling your prey, you must always appeal to its
self-interest — the lever that drives humans. It might be obvious for you, but
we must ensure that you have this concept crystal clear in your mind before
we explore toying with humans’ fears.
12 - Sceptical to the Bone - Self-interest
Expanded

“Something may be better for humanity, the planet, the country, the city, the
company — even my family — but how is it better for me?”

Though they wouldn’t admit it, this is the question every human asks
before taking action — even if oblivious to the fact.
Again, what we are about to point out, at first glance, will seem like
something of a cosmetic change, even too sceptical. However, thinking
“What’s in it for my prey?” is a crucial shift in how you should view things
from now on. You see, knowing the benefit your prey will receive by acting a
certain way is the final piece of the puzzle you need before you can toy with
its fears.
As a hunter, you must study the world through the lens of self-interest.
Then, and only then, will you understand human beings and their behaviours.
While hunting, keep this in mind at all times: Every second of the day
that humans work, play, relax, sleep, or do anything else, they are doing what
they believe is best for them — from helping an old lady cross the street to
tearing wings off flies.
A human’s actions ALWAYS, ALWAYS, again, ALWAYS start with
self-interest, which is the lever that drives them. Failing to understand this
fact is being blind to reality — like living in a fairy tale.
Of course, some actions are more useful — desirable — to society
than others. What matters to us, though, is that every single human focuses
on what they believe is the best for them. Though all concepts in this book
are important, to better understand the levers of self-interest, the Holy-Grail
concept should be particularly helpful.
First, though, we must clarify what we are NOT saying when we
discuss the concept of self-interest.
 CLARIFICATION:
CYNICISM ON EARTH

Consider our explanation about self-interest carefully. Don’t jump to

premature conclusions. As the authors of this book, if we’re not careful, we
risk resembling those cynical humans who claim the world is based on self-
interest. And we don’t want that.
You see, while on Earth, you will hear some humans saying things
like, “Everybody is selfish; greed drives the world.” “I see the world as it is.
You are too naïve — I can see it better than you.” And you may think these
statements are similar to what we are saying in this chapter. However, this is
not the case.
If you dig deep, you’ll discover that statements like “Everybody is
selfish, and greed drives the world” reek with resentment and come from the
lips of animals with limited understanding of themselves. The rationale seems
to be “Don’t expect anything and you will not be disappointed,” or, even
better, “Expect the worst from everyone.”
Tear the mask off these thoroughly ‘sceptical warriors’, and you will
look upon the face of a frightened animal that spurns hope to avoid
disappointment. This mindset is a defence mechanism for the weak — a
shelter for wounded animals unable to cope with disappointment. There is
more to it than that, though: These animals feed off their sceptical self-image
to feel like they are smarter than others.
Of course, this is not the case with us.
So, let’s be clear: For humans, cynicism is usually a defence, not an
objective and more realistic view of human nature. For you to understand
how warped the perspective of these sceptical humans is, their version of
self-interest only considers the rewards of money, recognition and
acceptance, and ignores the role emotions play. Consequently, humans fail to
understand self-interest and the entire spectrum of human nature from the
get-go.
We are NOT talking about the same things. We are merely sceptical
and focused hunters attempting to explain the rationale and weakness of these
humans. We concentrate on what goes on within the mind of our prey and
take advantage. And, of course, like any animal with minimal brain capacity,
with humans, self-interest — or at least our version of it — is a key driver.
So, yes, we say that, at all times, self-interest is the lever that drives all
animals — humans are no exception. As you read this chapter, you will
understand that our concept is far broader than that of sceptical, cynical
humans.

OUR VERSION OF SELF-INTEREST

To understand humans’ Expanded Self-Interest, first you must delve deep

into their minds because, fundamentally, all humans seek the same thing. The
difference, though, is that they have wildly different ways of achieving it —
as you saw in the nonsensical Hidden Associations that humans create that
link to often unrelated things and cause absurd behaviours.
Here’s an extreme example:

Tell a human this story: Altruist/selfless rescuer

On the way to a long-awaited, potentially life-changing job interview, a
human notices a child drowning in a river. There are other young
children screaming for help; none, though, are capable of helping the
drowning boy. There is no time to make an emergency phone call, and
the human knows that getting involved will be dangerous, as well as
result in him missing his interview — there will be no other opportunity
to win his dream job. So, he hesitates. For this human, however, there is
no alternative, and he dives into the river.

How does this apply to humans? And how can you use it against them?
Before we answer, ask yourself this: Did the human perform a heroic act
WITHOUT seeking anything in return?
Before concluding what actually happened, we must explain our
concept of self-interest further by taking an alternative approach. We will
return to this example later in the chapter.
 Our concept of self-interest
Three major things influence how the human brain behaves:
1. Human rewards EXPANDED.
2. Its desire to maximise good things and minimise the bad.
3. Its capacity to consider the long-term.

1. Human rewards expanded

Humans generally have a limited view of their rewards system. Many can see
only one: money (or any kind of resource), or, at most, money, recognition
and acceptance. So, humans tend to think that whenever another acts without
expecting one of these rewards, that they are doing so for nothing in return.
As we said, this is a mistake — human beings are way more complicated than
that.
To summarise the many and crazy ways the brain rewards beyond
money, recognition and acceptance, the Holy Grail concept helps
considerably. Yes, a human’s pursuit of his super-self plays a significant role;
after all, when nearing his Holy Grail, his brain rewards him — he feels
good.
Yes! This chapter also requires a good understanding of The Brain’s
Puppet chapter; after all, when explaining our expanded version of self-
interest, human emotions and desires play a pivotal role.
So, given humans’ ignorance, if you expand your understanding of
rewards beyond the three that are obvious, your mindset will be starkly
different to most humans.

2. Maximising good things and minimising the bad. Simple. Or, it should be.
It is crucial for you to understand this: All humans seek to maximise pleasure
and minimise pain and suffering, which, by the way, seems so simple that it
is weird that we have to explain. However, you wouldn’t believe how many
humans question this rationale.
Yes, our concept is simple. However, it requires closer inspection
because some cases look strange — like when a human enjoys pain or
sacrifice because he believes he is getting closer to heaven. The assumptions
humans make to reach their Holy Grail vary widely.
 But, it’s not only Holy Grails or Hidden Associations that are to
blame, and this is why humans don’t fully understand our concept of seeking
pleasure and avoiding pain. A human’s capacity to see the long-term
consequences of his actions also affects many of his decisions.

3. The long-term view: “Can my prey see the long-term?”

Just like it would be impossible to get a dog to have a vaccine by trying to
convince it of the long-term benefits, some humans can’t understand or see
benefits beyond a few years, weeks — or even minutes.
You see, most believe our concept of maximising pleasure and
minimising pain relates to short-term — immediate — rewards. This is a
misinterpretation of the rule we use — for dogs that can’t see beyond the next
‘belly-rub’. No, our concept is much bigger, and humans whose actions lead
to pain or discomfort strive towards long-term rewards: pain eventually
leading to heaven, or study leading to success, for example.
So, you will see that the decisions some humans make focus on bad
things first — pain, instead of pleasure — and you, therefore, may think we
are talking rubbish. Seeing humans toiling at awful jobs, sacrificing holidays
for others, etc., may make you question the rule of maximising good stuff and
minimising the bad. Dig deeply enough, though, and you will discover that
the human will always hold assumptions that his choices are better for him in
the short- or long-term.
The rewards humans seek are not always plain to see, as they can
come in many forms: social recognition, feelings of satisfaction or, perhaps, a
promised magical afterlife, for example.
You see, despite being obvious, humans struggle to accept that they
want to maximise pleasure and minimise pain.
So, they refute the idea because:
They don’t understand the complexity of the Hidden Associations in
the human mind.
They think it is just an immediate pleasure or pain analysis when, in
fact, it is a far more complicated process of considering the long-term
effects of decisions.
Anyway, that’s their problem.
 For us, “Can my prey see the long-term?” is a question you should
always ask because the answer will affect your tactics. After all, teasing your
quarry with a long-term reward if it can only see the short-term is pointless,
right?
So, it’s worth pointing out that not all humans have the same capacity
when it comes to processing data; the ability to analyse and interpret
situations varies considerably among humans. Consequently, differing
abilities will affect how humans analyse situations and reach conclusions.
To understand your prey, you should, therefore, not only understand its
assumptions and the many rewards its brain applies, but you should also
determine whether or not it can see the long-term.

Why can’t some humans see the long-term?

Here are some easy-to-remember reasons why some humans can’t see the
long-term:
They have a low capacity to process data (they’re dumb).
They are poorly educated and haven’t been taught to consider future
consequences.
They were spoiled as children.

So, the first reason is a problem with the individual, the second with the
education system (or lack of access to it) and with the third, although also
related to education, a problem with the individual’s parents or caregivers.
The reason They were spoiled as children is interesting because of its
similarity to the second; however, it is worth highlighting separately because
it affects some highly educated humans and can cause misunderstandings.
Yes, spoiled humans also don’t develop the capacity to analyse pleasure
returns in the long-term. Humans are not born with the capacity to analyse
long-term pleasure returns. It’s a learned ability that those who were spoiled
during childhood, and forever satisfied in the short-term, never needed to
develop. Their parents screwed them. As simple as that.
It’s also worth highlighting that your prey’s ability to think long-term is
influenced by the situation or environment that it finds itself in. It’s like a
starving human, although highly intelligent, he can’t think too much about
the future. He needs food now!
So, always double-check your prey’s long-term capacity when selecting
the bait to use.
Interestingly, in a next chapter, you will see how some humans (even
the wealthy) spend their whole lives behaving like desperate, cornered and
starving animals that continually fight for survival (even when they seem safe
and satisfied). You will learn how to identify these ‘fat dogs’, that are
desperate for the next steak and use their behaviour against them. Wait and
see!
Now, before we explain self-interest and the consequences further, let’s
look at some real-life situations.

HUMAN SELF-INTEREST APPLIED

We will begin this section by describing something humans understand better

than themselves: business.

Tell a human this story: A sustainable company

A company changes its portfolio to sustainable products — those that
are good for the planet. It also establishes a foundation to help the
environment, etc., etc.
A good proportion of humans will guess that, behind this new behaviour,
there are assumptions and strategies.
For example, the company may assume that customers will pay more for
sustainable products, and a move to sustainability will strengthen its
brand and equity. The company may also believe that it will sell more
products with less marketing expenditure and increase profits, even
though its new products are more expensive to manufacture.
Maybe the company sees being sustainable as a trend that it must
comply with to survive.
Or, perhaps it figures being sustainable is an inexpensive way to attract
fresh talent.
The company might also conclude that it is so big that, without change,
its negative impact will be so severe that there will be a backlash in the
 future.
Maybe it’s not a company, a not-for-profit instead, and the owner wants
to feel good (get closer to his Holy Grail) by doing something beneficial
for the planet.
Of course, these are just a few of many possible assumptions. Whatever
the strategy is, the world is still a jungle, especially for businesses. So,
unless there is some ‘squillionaire’ willing to spend a fortune to
compensate for bad stuff he has done, or a dreamer who can’t analyse
the long-term outcomes of his actions, there will be an assumption
behind the company’s strategy that its move is better for the company.
And, most (or at least smart) humans understand this.

How does this apply to humans? And how can you use it against them?
There is always a trade-off. Like the company, humans also have
assumptions. The difference, though, is that they are often unaware of them
— they translate assumptions and conclusions into EMOTIONS and
DESIRES. But, make no mistake, the Messenger (the brain) processes
everything in the background, and humans’ ignorance towards their self-
interest won’t change this.
Using the rationale of the example above, when a father helps his
daughter, he may claim to expect nothing in return. And, he will be telling the
truth regarding visible rewards, like money or recognition.
However, humans struggle to grasp that the father enjoys seeing his
child happy and thinking of himself as a good parent, etc. Whatever it is,
there is always an expected return for anything a human does.
Let’s take a more complex and sceptical view of things to help you
understand humans and their flaws.

THE SCEPTICAL BRAIN

So, make no mistake: When a human goes to sleep, to a job he hates, or has
fun, he is always doing what he believes is best for him given the options he
has or can see. From the brain’s perspective, there is no such a thing as a
random action — or one without an expected reward, if you consider the
expanded version of a brain’s rewards.
Rewards can come in the form of desires, emotions, feelings,
sensations — all that stuff. It’s true that humans are not always cognisant of
all the assumptions and conclusions their brains make in the background, but
that doesn’t change the fact that assumptions and conclusions are there. If
you think that your prey did something randomly, you are, without a doubt,
wrong. You are missing a piece of the puzzle. You somehow failed to
understand its brain’s assumptions that led to the action.

Slaves too
Here’s another extreme case: A slave follows his master’s orders because
doing so is best for him. It’s a terrible option, but, still, he chooses to obey.
“Let’s see. Should I receive a jolly good thrashing or work hard?”

How about suicide?

Even a human who commits suicide falls within this rationale. As we’ve said,
all of Earth’s creatures seek to maximise good stuff and minimise the bad
based on choices they have or can see. It doesn’t make sense to do anything
else.
So, if a human kills himself, we could suppose that he was so
desperately miserable that he thought the best option to minimise the shit in
his life was death. He probably chose suicide because, given his life seemed
unbearable, according to his inner analysis, he thought suicide was the best
possible option. So, the rationale is the same, even if it means having nothing.
Zero is better than a negative number. Suicide is a fundamental failure of
hope but still falls within the rationale of maximising the good stuff and
minimising bad.
In a less extreme example, which is the primary focus of this
explanation, your human prey’s choice of career, lover, or simply whether to
rest or not, is the product of desires his brain transmits based on what it
thinks is best for him.

Even a gift of flowers?

Let’s look at a human who gives flowers to his partner. He may make this
romantic gesture to feel like he is kind or because he likes to see her smile.
Maybe he enjoys seeing his partner happy because then she’ll be nicer to
him. Maybe he likes to see himself as a kind person. Whatever the reason,
giving flowers is for his benefit first.

The same rationale applies to every human — from filthy politicians to

the finest humans on Earth.

The shifting paradigm that changes everything:

Again, this may seem like a simple change in mindset — and somewhat
sceptical — but understanding that humans always do what’s right for them
will help you to predict their behaviour considerably. When understanding a
human’s self-interest, it is possible to understand his society better.
A company, for example, does what’s best for it, as well as the CEO,
directors and employees. All parties have different financial situations,
families, beliefs and Holy Grails. Sometimes their goals align, but other times
they don’t. Consequently:
Something can be good for the planet and the company but not so
great for the CEO and his next end-of-the-year bonus.
Likewise, something can be good for the city but not for a citizen
living on the street where construction will take place. How will the
citizen vote?
Moving to a new city can be good for a family but not for one family
member.

So, when setting your bait and trap, consider carefully the interests of
all humans involved in a situation.
Of course, a CEO or citizen on that street can do the ‘right thing’ in a
situation, too. However, each will do so out of either fear of getting caught
doing wrong, the pleasure of doing good, or because they have a Holy Grail
that is related to being a good citizen, etc.
Remember, all humans are still animals. If a wealthy doctor complies
with the law and doesn’t steal a pack of beer from a supermarket, it is due to,
all things considered, the risk of being caught, the affordability of beer for
him, the rewards he already enjoys from being part of organised society, and
the person he aspires to be. By paying for the beer, he receives the maximum
reward.
So, the doctor prefers to pay for the beer because doing so is better for
him. On the other hand, a human who steals the beer either finds it too
expensive to pay for, or believes the consequences of getting caught are less
worrying than the benefits of stealing. Of course, he could be proud of taking
a risk, of doing the wrong thing. His Holy Grail can play a role here.
Yes, obeying the law or respecting human rights are choices humans
make based on the rewards of living in a better society, or analysis of the
consequences they may face if they don’t. It’s as simple as that (okay, maybe
it is not so simple, but the rationale is).
In fact, from a strictly sceptical point of view, the number of years in
prison, depending on the crime, works like a price list. A human might think,
“Can I rob a store? Sure, but if I get caught it can cost up to five years in
prison. That’s the price.” Then, he considers the trade-off by analysing the
cost-risk-reward and makes a decision.

***
Applying this strictly sceptical rationale is crucial because it takes hope
out of the equation when manipulating your prey. Any human will always do
what is best for him. So, asking “How can I make the actions I want my prey
to take look best for him?” is the way to go.
***

CLARIFICATION 2:
EXPANDED SELF-INTEREST IS NOT THE SAME AS
SELFISHNESS

It’s important to note that the so-called selfish human, or egoist, is merely a
creature who derives (or can see) little to NO reward from anything that
won’t impact himself (directly).
As explained, every human seeks to increase the good stuff and
decrease the bad, and the egoist is a human who is incapable of finding
pleasure in good stuff if he isn’t the beneficiary.
So, a selfish human can arise from a lack of capacity to see how doing
kind deeds for others will benefit him now (i.e. make him feel better) or in
the future. If he could see a benefit, maybe he would change and become a
non-selfish animal. Simple.

BACK TO THE FIRST EXAMPLE

After all we have said in this chapter, you have probably figured out why the
human chose to forgo his long-awaited job interview to save the drowning
child.
If you recall, upon seeing the young boy in the water, he hesitated for a
few seconds. However, for him, there was no alternative, so he dove into the
water to save the drowning boy. What happened? Did the human act without
expecting a reward?
By now, it should be clear that, in a case like this, humans will usually
judge the rescuer’s actions as selfless because they don’t understand the types
of rewards humans can seek.
Now, with the benefit of having almost completed this chapter, how
far away do you think the ‘heroic’ rescuer would be from his Holy Grail if
he’d let the boy drown? Given this human’s Holy Grail, the super-self in his
mind, there was almost no alternative — he had to help the boy.
You see, the trade-off was this: risk his interview (career, which links
to more resources) compared to distancing himself from his Holy Grail
forever (letting the boy die would be a crushing blow to his mission). He
would be haunted by remorse and guilt for the rest of his life.
Of course, saving the boy should be considered a great act — well
suited for human society — but it wasn’t selfless; instead, the human wanted
to get closer to his Holy Grail (or couldn’t afford to slip away from it). He
chose to help because he believed he would be better off to do so. The return
for saving the boy would be far higher than the alternative.

CONCLUSIONS
The belief that some humans act for no reward is an extraordinarily
compelling fantasy but one that we hunters cannot afford to entertain.
Keep in mind that your prey will always ask himself “What is in it for
me?” So, to manipulate a human during a hunt, constantly put yourself in his
shoes.
The self-interest mindset will help you understand human behaviour.
Humans can seek rewards other than money, recognition and acceptance —
their brain rewards in complex ways.
Remember, at least from the brain’s perspective, there is no such thing
as an act for no reward.
Like a dog trainer, the human brain reinforces and punishes, but in
more complex ways. The paths to pleasure and suffering can vary widely
depending on many factors, as we have discussed. After all, the human
rewards system is complicated, but all brains follow the same principle of
maximising the good stuff and minimising the bad.
Also, when hunting, consider whether or not the human is capable of
processing data in order to see the long-term rewards.
If you understand your prey well (always using self-interest as a
starting point), even when using minimal external stimuli, you will be able to
manipulate it as you please.
In the next chapter, you will learn how to play with a human’s fear.
Yes, it is true that it is fun to enthral your prey by playing with its vanity and
Holy Grail. However, if you must choose between playing with fear or
vanity, remember the following words from a famous human:

***
“It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both.”
Niccolo Machiavelli
13 - Survival Mode - Fear

Now we are ready to delve into the most fun and effective approach for
manipulating humans — playing with their fear. To understand how to do
this, you must appreciate fear itself, how it works, and why humans most
often live in fear that they artificially create.
Then, you will see how to manipulate your prey, depending on what it
is afraid of.
Later, we will show you some common signs that identify a prey
permanently haunted by fear.
As usual, it will sound a bit confusing at first, but you will get what we mean
within a few pages.

FEAR & ITS CAUSES

The animal detecting it is vulnerable

As you have seen, the brain plays with a human’s emotions to drive him
towards the direction it wants. One of the most potent emotions at the brain’s
disposal is fear.
Fear, is more than an emotion, though. It is an unpleasant and
overpowering feeling caused by a threat (or anticipation) of danger, pain or
harm. Fear is difficult to ignore. Play with fear, and you tap into the power of
mother nature herself.
Fear has a critical survival-related function, and when triggered, it
activates a range of defensive behaviours. When in jeopardy, animals often
have little time to think, so they react using basic survival instincts and by
producing a variety of fear-related responses. Frightened animals usually
become more aggressive, reactive and alert. Their focus is often on attack or
escape.
With non-human animals, fear is usually easy to recognise because the
causes are plain to see and the creatures’ reactions predictable. With these
animals, external sources of danger, such as those associated with loud
noises, threatening gestures and the proximity of other strange animals, are
often the cause. Obvious stuff. These animals feel VULNERABLE, and their
brains send signals of FEAR that then trigger a ‘fight-or-flight’ response.
Frightened animals are in a state of alert that we call “Survival Mode”.
For humans, as usual, things are more complicated, but the rationale is
the same. And what is crucial is that, when scared, humans, like animals, are
usually incapable of clear thought, and they merely react. So, humans, too,
feel vulnerable and switch to Survival Mode. That’s the state you want your
prey to be in during a hunt because it is likely to make desperate moves,
stupid mistakes and will be prone to manipulation.

Vulnerability isn’t only linked to fear

So, it is true that for any animal — including a human being — fear is a
reaction caused by its brain detecting that its body might be vulnerable, so the
animal enters Survival Mode.
However, this feeling of vulnerability can take many forms, and some
can be misleading: examples are anger, nervousness, extreme hate, frequent
anxiety, high levels of stress, or sometimes even aggression. An animal can
feel any of these emotions when its brain believes its body is vulnerable. The
animal is reacting to a perceived threat that it is unsure it can handle. It’s the
unbearable feeling of lacking the power to deal with the possible danger that
causes the problem.
Interestingly, among humans, anger and aggression are often confused
with signs of power, instead of weakness related to vulnerability. And in case
we haven’t yet convinced you that they are signs of vulnerability, we will
have by the time you finish this chapter.

Survival Mode is (or was) useful

Survival Mode is what drives most animals most of the time. But don’t get us
wrong. In the savannah, fear is what keeps animals alert and alive. After all,
at any time in the wild, a tiger or a venomous snake can strike. So, of course,
fear, which heightens an animal’s alertness, is vital in dangerous situations.
Any creature will switch to a state of anxiety from time to time due to the
nature of life on Earth. Remember, many survive by eating each other. What
else can you expect?
It was no different for humans; living in constant alertness and fear
was once essential for survival. Until recently, humans needed weapons
(rocks, swords, guns, etc.) to avoid death or subjugation. In modern times,
though, a new reality has dawned — or at least for most humans.
Luckily, as you will see, almost all humans still spend their lives in in
a state of alert — even though they are not wholly aware of the fact. Yes,
based on our experience, the vast majority live almost their entire lives in
Survival Mode — scared like cornered and starving animals, even when they
are perfectly safe, and food is abundant.
As weird as it sounds, the vast majority of humans still live in some
auto-generated (almost) permanent state of alert. Fear in humans is often
overused, which creates serious problems for them: poor reasoning and
desperate reactions that increase mistakes and vulnerability to attack, for
example.
So, Survival Mode was once useful for humans. Now, though, it is
helpful mainly for us because it reduces their rationality to similar levels of
Earth’s other less challenging animals.

How can we state that humans are (almost) permanently in Survival Mode?
Simply put, if you consider other emotions, such as nervousness and stress
(losing one’s temper in general), as signs of an animal in Survival Mode, and
if you observe humans for even a short time, you can quickly conclude that
most of them, most of the time, are either in or on the verge of being there.
The rationale is simple: A human who becomes nervous or stressed easily
can (also easily) feel vulnerable, so he needs to be permanently alert.

Imaginary needs: A major source of the problem.

Survival Mode always starts with dissatisfaction. There is, without fail,
something lacking. So a human FEELS he NEEDS something essential and,
therefore, believes he is being deprived.
The trick is that humans almost always think they NEED more than
they do. They are unaware that we can only attack or threaten to take away
something they need, not what they want. Well, at least, attacking a want is
not nearly as effective.
As you will see, humans most often feel that they lack something
essential, and so they pursue whatever it is desperately — even when they
don’t need it — like a fat dog bounding huffing and puffing in pursuit of a
juicy steak.
Believe it or not, humans tend to suffer more from imagination than
reality by creating unnecessarily high needs for survival and being afraid of
not meeting them, and this fact creates a tremendous opportunity for hunters.
Consequently, you can easily manipulate humans’ fears and create an
artificial Survival Mode within their minds. These hapless creatures already
do the same thing themselves. Imagine how easy it would be for you to create
manufactured — imaginary — fears.
But, what is this something that humans believe that they lack and
need?

THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS — AN OVERVIEW

Let’s look at a simple example.

Tell a human this story: The minimum requirements for the captain to control
his ship.
Imagine the same captain on the ancient ship — yes, we are going to use
him again. The ship also seeks a Holy Grail, the perfect island, but
before pursuing it, the captain needs to take control of his ship.
For the captain to have full control of his vessel, his crew must feel
minimally safe. For this to happen, there must be a minimum amount of
resources (food, guns, gold, the ship is in a seaworthy condition, etc.),
alliances with other vessels, and a certain level of trust in the captain.
Without these things, the ship enters, what we call, “Survival Mode”,
and it is tough for the captain to lead the crew. Resources, alliances and
trust in the captain: These are the requirements for the crew to feel
SAFE and to FOLLOW the captain’s orders. Without them, the captain
CANNOT fully CONTROL his ship.
 Interestingly, not all ships require the same level of resources and
alliances to function well.
You see, whether or not the crew feels safe depends a lot on how much
they trust the captain’s capabilities. If they perceive him as a weak
leader, they will only feel safe with many resources (a fantastic ship,
extra food, a massive arsenal of guns and endless pieces of gold) and
alliances that could lend a hand when in trouble. Conversely, a great
leader may still lead a calm crew even in a worst-case scenario (like a
terrible storm or an attack from another ship) with far fewer resources
or alliances, although, of course, they still need some.

How does this apply to humans? And how can you use it against them?
Humans follow the same rationale as the ship described. They are just more
complicated, as you will see; when humans fall below a minimum level of
Resources, Alliances or Trust in the Captain, they switch to Survival Mode
and can’t fully control themselves — like the captain can’t control his ship.
This concept may sound confusing, but the rationale is simple: Before
pursuing his Holy Grail, a human must first focus on survival. He needs to
feel his life isn’t in peril. And for this to happen, a human must fulfil some
minimum requirements.
And, when humans lack things, like the ship’s crew, they feel
vulnerable, which leads to fear, anxiety, anger — losing their temper and all
that stuff related to Survival Mode — which, as you know, lowers their
rationality and control.
To make things clear, check out the diagram below. We have added a
line representing the minimum requirements to that shown in the chapter
Personal Holy Grail.

HUMANS IN SURVIVAL MODE

Below the minimal level of requirements
Figure 3. The minimal level of requirements.

Naturally, when below the minimal level of requirements, the brain

alerts an animal that its life is in peril. Once these minimum requirements are
fulfilled, though, the animal is freer to pursue its Holy Grail.
So, the main differences between the two situations are as follows:
When a creature is above the line, he chases what he WANTS — his
vanity, etc. Problems on the way usually cause some discomfort or
disappointment, but nothing major.
On the other hand, when in Survival Mode, where a creature is in
desperate pursuit of what it believes it NEEDS to survive, even minor
problems lead it to lose its temper and become aggressive. Anything
can look threatening.

Also, just like ships with strong or weak captains, not all humans have
the same minimum requirements for Resources and Alliances to feel safe.
Some need only a few; others require the whole universe! So, depending on
your prey, this line can be high or low. And, like on the ship, minimum
requirements depend on the level of Trust in the Captain each human has.
The three requirements
If an animal meets its minimum requirements of basics such as air, food,
water and shelter, it has enough to live and hunt alone. If, however, the
animal is a social beast, like a hyena, wolf or chimpanzee (that depends on a
group for hunting and survival), it will also need a minimum level of group
acceptance.
So, given that humans are social, they have similar requirements to
that of hyenas, wolves and chimpanzees. Humans need Resources AND
Alliances.
Humans require a minimum amount of Resources (such as food,
shelter, health and money), Alliances (such as acceptance of a group, love
and connections) and, finally, Trust in the Captain (such as self-esteem and
confidence).
What about sex? Is that a consideration, and how should you label it?
Well, for many animals, carnal relations are essential, indeed. For
others, not so much. Some can even live without sex. So, the answer to the
question of where sex comes into play is not straightforward. Culture, age,
hormones and an animal’s Holy Grail, etc., all influence its importance.
How to label sex? Well, you can assign it to Alliances (for obvious
reasons) or Resources (if you consider sex could help, for example, with your
prey’s health). Anyway, you get the idea.

Future perspectives: There is one big difference between humans and

other animals: Humans are more able to think in the long-term. The FUTURE
influences them more. So, for Resources and Alliances, you shouldn’t
analyse just the present moment. After all, if a human has enough for today
but is worried that he will lack Resources (i.e. money) in the future, he will
still focus on gathering more Resources now.
So, a human can still be in Survival Mode because of a perceived
future. Therefore, when determining your prey’s need for Resources,
consider his future perspectives (savings, a good job or access to money
farther down the track, etc.) or whatever he needs to believe he is minimally
safe. And the same applies if a human thinks he has the acceptance of a group
now but is worried it may vanish tomorrow.
So, there are three factors that determine whether a human feels safe:
Resources, Alliances and Trust in the Captain. And, it’s these three cards that
we will deal regarding fear. Pretty simple, right? Just remember to consider
the present AND future perspectives, and you’ll be fine.
But before we go any further, let us make one thing clear.

CLARIFICATION:
THE HIERARCHY OF NEEDS ON EARTH

While on Earth, you may hear of a concept called the “Hierarchy of Needs”
that seems similar to what we are about to explain.
Yes, the Hierarchy of Needs is a similar concept to ours. We combine
and label needs differently, though, so that they are easier to remember, but it
is roughly the same thing. Use whatever works.
Yes, indeed, many humans know of the Hierarchy of Needs concept.
HOWEVER, they often fail to understand that those needs are an individual’s
PERCEPTIONS which are influenced by Hidden Associations and Drawers.
Without considering perceptions and Hidden Associations, the theory
is USELESS. As usual, it may sound like we are just playing with semantics.
However, understanding that needs are an individual’s perceptions, which are
influenced by Hidden Associations and Drawers, is the difference between
applying the concept correctly or not.

THE INFLUENCE HIDDEN ASSOCIATIONS & DRAWERS HAVE

ON MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

PERCEIVED minimum requirements

Humans struggle to understand that a millionaire can be in Survival Mode
because he feels he lacks Resources (in this case money). They know that
some humans want more, but most would struggle to believe a millionaire
could feel vulnerable because he lacks money.
Indeed, it sounds odd and contradictory, but cases like this are typical.
Yes, a wealthy human can be well below his basic needs for Resources —
even with millions of dollars in his bank account.
PERCEIVED is the keyword in both our concept and that of the
Hierarchy of Needs. And humans almost never know this fact. As a result,
most fail to see that a millionaire can have bizarrely high minimum
requirements for money and so be permanently in Survival Mode, even
though he might seem entirely satisfied.
Yes, given that wealthy humans have so many Resources, it seems
strange that they could fear losing some of them. However, let’s review two
possible reasons for such a situation:
Hidden Associations: A wealthy human could link money with social
approval or be compensating for insecurity, among many other things.
So, deep inside, sometimes it is not Resources he lacks or frets about;
it could be Alliances (social approval) — despite money being what
he feels has sent him to Survival Mode. Indeed, humans are
complicated animals.
Few Drawers: If, for example, a wealthy human has only two
categories in his mind, (winners and losers), the idea of losing a little
money could send him spiralling to the Loser Drawer and directly to
Survival Mode. Consequently, this human sways from well above his
minimum requirements (where he feels safe) to far below — to the
dangerous Survival Mode. It is a direct jump. A big fall. And worst of
all is that even before a problem happens, this human dreads the fact
that it (the big fall) is a possibility. There is so much at stake all the
time.

So, these humans continually try to acquire more Resources, such as

money, and Alliances, such as social acceptance and friends, and they are
afraid of losing any of them.

Note: Interestingly, in the case of a human with only two Drawers, acquiring
more money is useless. Given that he can see only extremes, no matter how
far from Survival Mode the human is, he will plummet straight to it when he
jumps from the Winner to Loser Drawer. And, yet, he keeps chasing more
money. Haha!
 And the same goes for all needs. Humans can have excessive minimum
requirements for them all. The reason humans need so much to feel safe is
that, just like in the case of the millionaire desperate for money, their needs
are usually related to insecurity and substituted with other stuff. So, for
example, a human is insecure and afraid of not being socially approved, so he
needs thousands of friends to show him that he is okay. And he is scared of
losing any of them. Weird.
Can you see how not knowing about Hidden Association or Drawers
makes the Hierarchy of Needs theory useless for most humans?
One consequence of Hidden Associations — and even the Drawers —
is the emergence of imaginary threats.

Real versus fake threats: starving versus Fat Dogs

Naturally, we expect an animal (human or otherwise) to be nervous when
there is a REAL THREAT; that’s the purpose of fear. As it should be, the
Survival Mode is on.
By a real threat, we mean a significant problem: an animal under
attack from a predator, or a human in desperate need of a job to buy food and
pay the rent, for example. Real problems. We compare those in real need to a
starving dog desperate for food. After all, it is, indeed, in Survival mode and
really does need more Resources.
However, it’s not that simple. The power of human imagination can
create a flood of opportunities for us. As we said, for humans, there are both
real and artificially created problems. We call those facing the latter “Fat
Dogs”.
Fat Dogs: Yes, some humans behave like belching, drooling, fat dogs.
They already have enough food, but they hunger for more and whine if they
miss the next steak. Fat Dogs desperately scramble towards wherever you
throw the steak — unaware that they don’t need it. And, this particular
weakness is fun to explore. Just like a millionaire desperate for money, Fat
Dogs artificially create high needs of which they are desperate to fulfil.
A straightforward example of this happening is when a human
confuses his Holy Grail (super-self) with a NEED he MUST achieve. Instead
of a guide, his Holy Grail becomes a requirement.
Whenever something becomes a minimum requirement for an animal
to feel safe, things become interesting because the animal is desperate.
So, a consequence of Hidden Associations is the frequent occurrence
of high minimum requirements for humans to feel safe, which causes fake
threats. Look deeply, and you will discover that having a high minimum level
of needs is a sign of insecurity and weakness.

HIGH MINIMUM-LEVEL REQUIREMENTS

A sign of weakness

Tell a human this story: The hunter in the jungle

Imagine two humans in a jungle. One is an experienced hunter who has
lived there his entire life. The other has just arrived and has no
experience of living in such a wild environment.

How does this apply to humans? And how can you use it against them?
If asked “Who would need more food and weapons to feel safe?”, any human
would see that the experienced hunter should need far fewer. And the same
goes for any human: The fewer friends, Resources, recognition, etc., he
NEEDS, the more secure he is. Humans understand this rationale, but they
can’t see it applies to their lives.
Again, in the jungle, who do you think is more worried about
controlling his surroundings, the experienced hunter who can handle almost
any situation or the inexperienced hunter? There is a direct link between a
need for control and perceived vulnerability. The fact that some humans
NEED to feel in control at all times — omnipotent — is a sign of perceived
weakness, just like inexperienced hunters need more food in the jungle.
Powerful humans don’t need to feel in control; they deal with problems if and
when they occur.
Similarly, you can perceive a human who needs lots of approval and
can’t cope with any rejection as weak and vulnerable.
In severe cases, some humans not only need to control family
members’ opinions on an important matter, but also those of strangers on
issues that are irrelevant. Yes, some humans can get angry if they can’t
change the views on trivial matters of the most insignificant humans in their
lives.

A lust for power — a SYMPTOM

Lust for power is an intense, insatiable desire to control everything — to be
all powerful. It happens when a desire (want) for power becomes a NEED. In
this case, no matter how much power he has, a human continually needs more
— desperately.
Interestingly, many humans see grand ambitions as positive, but
ambitions are only good to certain levels. You see, when a human has a lust
for power, he NEEDS incredibly high levels of money and social acceptance
to feel safe. And a consequence of extremely high levels of need is that a
human’s self-image continually sits in the Survival Mode Zone. So, when
studied in detail, it’s not difficult to realise that the need for control, a lust for
power, is a defence mechanism to protect an emotionally vulnerable creature.
We, as hunters, need to invert the link and realise that humans who
lust for power are trying to feel safe. Therefore, their unquenchable thirst for
power and control is a SYMPTOM, an indication of a disease (a weakness).
It exposes a perceived vulnerability, which we can explore.
Interestingly, most humans are unaware of this, and, as a result, you
often see them proudly telling others that they are very ambitious and can’t
wait to achieve success (but they often state this as a NEED, not a want).
They are unaware that, depending on how they show that this need matters to
them, they could be embarrassing themselves and exposing a weakness.
And, of course, this lust doesn’t just relate to power and control. It also
applies to vulnerable humans who need excessive amounts of other things,
too, like fame, friends, love and social recognition.

***
Tip: An extreme desire to be rich, famous, or popular, is often based on a
need to compensate for something else. Look closer.
***
 RESOURCES, ALLIANCES & TRUST IN THE CAPTAIN
APPLIED

Now, let’s look at examples of vulnerable humans needing extra levels of

Resources, Alliances and Trust in the Captain to feel safe. We will try to
highlight a situation for each of the three needs, but be aware that any
situation is usually the result of a combination of needs. For example, as
mentioned before, a need for Resources (money) can also relate to a need for
Alliances (social approval).

Alliances:
A need for Alliances usually translates as a need for social acceptance, to feel
part of a group, to belong and be accepted by a particular tribe. The higher
the need for Alliances, the lower a human’s self-esteem — the perceived
power or confidence he has in himself (related to Trust in the Captain).
You can spot a glaring need for Alliances related to social recognition
with humans who crave admiration and friendship from countless people and
become nervous at the slightest hint of disapproval from the most
insignificant humans in their lives.
Or, a human who needs 100% attention from others (“All the attention
in the world means she loves me, and anything less than that is a possible
threat”).
Another example is a human who loses his temper when a single text
message is ignored.
You can see a need for Alliances if a human becomes angry when
another implies that his success is due to good luck. Yes, some highly
successful humans get mad when others suggest that. Why? Well, it indicates
that the human needs everyone around him to recognise his capabilities (“It
wasn’t luck. It was me!”), so he can feel socially accepted and acknowledged.
Finally, for some humans, a few insults, even from a stranger, can
often provoke a quick temper. This reaction also relates to an extreme need
for recognition. Yes, even from insignificant strangers. What can we say?

***
Tip: If you can easily rile an animal by questioning his social recognition,
you should have no problem defeating it. For you, the best thing that can
happen during a hunt is that your prey loses its temper because that is a sign
of an irrational being in Survival Mode.
***

If in doubt, what humans call “social media” is a great place to look for
vulnerable prey. In this virtual ‘sandpit,’ socially needy humans are plain to
see.

Resources:
We call humans who believe they lack resources “Starving Dogs”. One
would guess that only mostly impoverished humans need Resources, but this
is not always the case. Yes, it is true that the poor can need more money, or a
healthier body, to feel well and safe. It’s true that many humans on Earth lack
the basics for survival.
However, strangely, you will see that some wealthy humans are also
desperate for more Resources. And they have a real Starving Dog need, too,
not just the Fat Dog kind already discussed. Why? Well, let’s say that they
create expensive desires, turn them into high levels of debt and then spend
their lives worrying about money — desperately chasing the ‘steak’ like poor
people. It’s just a bigger steak for a bigger mouth.
By creating mountains of debt, a supposedly ‘safe’ animal can auto-
generate a real need for Resources that otherwise wouldn’t exist.
As you can see, the need for Resources isn’t necessarily a trait of the
poor and downtrodden. You can find it in healthy and wealthy animals, too.
One could say that wealthy humans could need Resources when, for
example, they are sick and need to improve their body condition. This
scenario is easy to grasp. One could also say that poor humans requiring
resources is a ‘no-brainer’. However, it seems strange that a wealthy human
can be desperate for Resources, like money, to repay a debt, and his
desperation is real, not fake, and hidden under insecurity, as we mentioned
before.
If you dig deep enough, might you discover his desperation relates to
something else? Why has this human put himself in such a predicament?
What rational being would auto-generate a need by acquiring an unnecessary
asset that he can’t afford and then be desperate about the situation?
Perhaps the human sees having a particular asset as a symbol of
success that will garner more social approval? After all, given that humans
are often insecure and lack self-knowledge, they rely on symbols to prove to
themselves and others that they are valuable. Consequently, some Hidden
Association, mixed with a lack of self-understanding, can cause a human to
desperately need a particular asset.
So, yes, in a case like this, a wealthy human has REAL reasons to be
desperate to pay his bills, but the reason for debt-causing acquisitions can
relate to a need for Alliances.

Alliances & Resources combined:

As discussed in the first chapters, humans barely grasp the full reality of what
is happening around them, so they rely on indicators. Consequently, humans
often take relatively small clues to conclude how much another human is
worth or deserves attention. These clues could be anything: the family he
comes from, what he does for a living or how much money he makes, etc.
As a consequence, humans use this feature to trick the system. How?
Well, if small clues can indicate a human’s acceptability to others, humans
can — and do — manufacture the image they wish to project by creating
clues.
Humans manufacture a persona when they flaunt status symbols to
increase social acceptance. They can use fancy clothing, jewellery or, maybe,
expensive sports cars to encourage others to reach favourable conclusions, to
view them as successful human beings.
Therefore, a need for Alliances can easily be confused with a need for
Resources because a human with more Resources, like money, will probably
be more socially accepted. Make no mistake, though: The luxury goods
market comprises a significant portion of consumers who have an enormous
need for social acceptance because of low self-confidence.
Of course, you can’t determine whether or not your prey is desperate
for social approval just by looking at his fancy sports car. Again, the vehicle
is but a small sign to take note of, another tip for you to construct
assumptions related to the human’s Holy Grail and to see if he is desperate
and in Survival Mode. So, as usual, it takes time to collect enough data to
reach an accurate conclusion.
If you rush, you could head down the ‘wrong track’. For example, a
human who knows that he must be seen as successful by another human
might drive an expensive car to a business meeting to help close a deal. It’s
not that the human needs the ‘bling-mobile’ to be confident. Instead, he uses
it to convince the other human that he is successful. Got it? So, take your
time when observing humans. As usual, what matters are the reasons why
they behave in the ways they do.
Therefore, what you must pay attention to is how much a human
NEEDS a status symbol to feel good and safe. Ask this question: How
comfortable would he be without this symbol? Just like the experienced
hunter in the jungle, the more powerful a human is, the fewer requirements he
has to feel safe.
So, a craving for status symbols is usually related to a need for respect
and social acceptance, which can also result in better access to Resources. It’s
not the objects these humans seek, but the fulfilment of their basic needs.
Objects are a mere means to an end. The tricky part, though, is that humans
are oblivious to what’s going on, and they confuse status symbols with the
goals they seek. As usual, a human’s brain uses emotions and desires to play
him like a puppet. When humans acquire status symbols, they do, indeed, feel
pleasure, and so they believe that the pleasant feelings are because of the
object. In fact, it is their brain rewarding them for taking an action that will
allow the brain to feel safer. It’s as simple as that.

Trust in the Captain:

As you have seen, humans usually compensate for lack of self-esteem with a
high need for Resources and Alliances. So, it isn’t easy to spot an insecurity
(pure Trust in the Captain need) because it can take on several deceptive
forms. As a result, you could deduce that there are two major needs to pay
attention to: Resources and Alliances. However, we created the Trust in the
Captain concept to help you understand the things that frequently influence a
human prey’s need for Resources and Alliances.
In some cases, though, it is possible to spot some low self-esteem
problems that are almost pure. And, interestingly, the signs of insecurity can
be misleading. Like, for example, a human who continually NEEDS to
overcome a challenge, but he does so for the wrong reasons. This human
might be trying to prove (to himself) that he is worthwhile or he might be
wishing for others to tell him that he is valuable. As usual, what is important
is WHY and HOW MUCH he needs to challenge himself and HOW HE
REACTS if he isn’t able to do so.
Pure insecurity, though, can be more difficult to spot than other kinds.
Like, for example, a human who relishes attending intellectual conferences
and having in-depth discussions, but for the wrong reasons. In such a case, he
doesn’t enjoy the conversations themselves. What he likes is being the guy
who participates in that kind of intellectual activity. So, for this human, he
isn’t necessarily interested in learning or discovering some truth from a
discussion. Instead, he likes speaking esoteric, intellectual gobbledygook
because it makes him feel intelligent — superior to others. Do you see how
complex human behaviour can be? You must read between the lines.
One way you could expose the human as a ‘pointy-head’ wannabe is to
ask him about the event. If he describes it using pompous and difficult-to-
understand language, he may need to feel and look intelligent. With humans
like him, their attempts to appear intellectual can be embarrassing and funny.
Try to avoid laughing, but you can enjoy the moment.
It is essential for you to know the difference between real and false
confidence. Self-confidence should originate from a human’s understanding
of his abilities and flaws; he will then know what he is or isn’t capable of and
will rely little on external clues. But, a lack of self-knowledge leads to an
excessive reliance on the perception of others and external clues. And this
creates a bubble (an extreme level) of a need for Resources and Alliances.
Make no mistake: The only real way for your prey to develop Trust in
the Captain is to … well, be a great Captain, which means having sound
abilities and self-knowledge.

EXTERNAL SOURCES OF CONFIDENCE

Pay attention to humans who appear supremely confident and need to show
off. The reasons for their ‘swagger’ are often fake. You see, many humans
rely on external entities for self-confidence. It's like a human feeling secure
while standing behind two burly security guards. He feels safe because of
them, not his abilities. Remove the guards (or make him believe you could),
and poof! His peace of mind vanishes.
Some humans use external things, such as money, status symbols, a
job title, a partner or a social group, like pillars to help them feel safe. What
matters to you, the hunter, is how much a human depends on external things
and how vulnerable (and haunted) he will be should they disappear. As a
general rule, the more a human relies on external entities, the more he is
scared of losing them.
If a human needs to be a millionaire to feel confident, even while
retaining millionaire status, he lives in a state of constant anxiety; the idea of
losing any part of his wealth is too much to take.
Or, in a case of a jealous human, if he relies on a partner for self-
confidence, he can become extremely jealous or desperately in love for the
same reason. Rather than a sign of cuteness or love, jealousy indicates
insecurity; the human’s stability is highly dependent on an external entity (his
partner). Usually this insecurity springs from the human not understanding
that he needs his partner close by to show him he is loveable, or he needs his
partner to feel socially accepted.
We have even observed cases where, for example, a male human is
insecure regarding his sexual performance, and his female partner
demonstrates approval by having a relationship with him. But, at the moment
she leaves, everything falls apart. You see, the male becomes desperate, not
because of the broken relationship, but because of the HIDDEN MEANINGS
the break up represents: His social approval and self-confidence are broken
also. Interesting, don’t you think?

Note: The fact that humans overly rely on small indicators to reach deep
conclusions about themselves makes things rather dynamic. For example, a
human can appear highly confident, but a few months after retiring from the
workforce, everything changes. Why? Well, for many humans, work brings a
sense of usefulness and purpose, which sustains their self-esteem. Once
gone... well, the dearth of positive feedback and recognition that a job can
bring can cause their confidence to disappear. So, keep in mind that a
human’s self-confidence — Trust in the Captain — can change abruptly due
to outside events, like losing a job.

So, as always, you must observe the kinds of external things your prey
relies on for confidence and the reasons why, which most often boil down to
weak leadership on the part of the Captain who lacks self-knowledge.

HOW TO CHOOSE YOUR BAIT?

When hunting humans, the bait must be right. It’s like when pursuing a male
deer, one of Earth's rudiment animals, you would probably try to attract it
with the scent of a doe (female) or specific foods.
When hunting humans, to select the best bait and trap, you must pay
attention to how they behave (and consider all previous chapters).
When choosing your bait, what matters the most is whether or not your
prey is in Survival Mode and then the REASON for his desperation.
So, always ask these questions: “Why the overreaction? Why is he
nervous or aggressive? What does (he believe) he lack? Does the human see
more than just a simple failure? Is there a hidden meaning?" If you are
lucky, the human might even have a strange Allergy to something, like
disapproval or a simple word like failure or mistake.
In all cases, promises and compliments usually work well. Just use the
right ones to accommodate what your prey believes it lacks.
Note that, as said already, it is not easy to separate each type of need
because they are often intertwined, but let’s show some examples of
appropriate baits based on different needs.
If a human needs many Alliances to feel safe, compliment and
highlight features that will boost his feelings of social approval. For example,
tell him he is good looking or well-liked, or whatever (in his culture)
increases his social acceptance: “What white skin!” or “Great tan!” Or,
make him feel okay about a weakness, like being too fat, thin, short, tall or
dumb. Make it seem unimportant to you, or pretend you haven’t noticed.
Even if you are lying, he will probably believe you — doing so will give him
pleasure. Praising the status symbols a human flaunts can show that they are
successfully gaining him more social acceptance.
If your prey needs Resources, promising money now or in the future
usually works well. A good job or business opportunity can have the same
effect. Sometimes the promise can even be vague because desperate animals
are not at all rational. Also, it is worth mentioning that an extreme need for
Resources often relates to a perceived lack of power, so doing anything that
will make a human feel more powerful, like showing (pretending) he is in
control, can be useful, too.
When a human lacks self-confidence, it’s like the crew on the ancient
ship continually second-guessing their captain’s leadership. Not a good
situation.
If a human needs self-esteem, you can use the right compliments (to
reinforce some specific abilities or skills he may have) to play with what
matters to him and with what he is insecure about. The difference to
Alliances, here, is that, for a self-esteem issue, it is more useful to praise your
prey’s achievements and compliment him directly, NOT his external entities
(such as status symbols he might flaunt). Praising his status symbols is like
complimenting the bodyguards around him. Instead, tell the human that it is
he who is strong, and imply that he doesn’t need bodyguards for protection.
Another approach that works well with a human lacking self-esteem is
to set a challenge he can handle. Some small mission that you know will be
difficult enough for him to be proud of achieving. Just make sure he succeeds
— even help him if necessary. And, of course, praise the human for his
accomplishment: “Good job!” Things like that usually work. After all, the
problem here is the insecure Captain inside his head, not the Resources or
Alliances. Help the Captain earn the respect of his Crew.

***
Tip: As a rule, the happier a human is with a compliment, the more he needs
it. And the more he needs external reinforcement, the more insecure he is. So,
if your prey enjoys compliments a little too much, he will often be an easy
target.
***

CONCLUSIONS

So, extreme nervousness, hate and anger, etc., equate to vulnerability, which
means a human lacks one or more of the three fundamental needs. The
animal feels he is in danger.
It can’t get any simpler: The brain identifies a lack of something it
believes is essential and then creates a range of unpleasant feelings, such as
fear, anxiety, anger, hate, or even aggression, to compel the animal to move
quickly to fix the problem.
It works with a PERCEIVED need, not necessarily an ACTUAL need.
And, the more humans need something, the easier it is to scare them.
To keep things simple, the two crucial needs to observe are Resources
and Alliances. However, both are highly dependent on Trust in the Captain.
Prey in Survival Mode is always preferable because they lose their
capacity to think clearly. Ideally, your prey should be in this state during a
hunt. After all, when in battle, the best thing that can happen is for your
enemy to lose his temper because, when he does, he is far more likely to
make desperate moves and stupid mistakes. The last thing you want to hunt is
a rational creature that can calmly choose the best options. You need to be
able to create and impose fear and point to the only escape route, where your
trap will be waiting.
So, pay attention to when and why a human loses his temper. And
when he does, consider whether he faces a real threat or if it is just an
overreaction from a cornered and scared animal. We, as hunters, are
especially fond of overreactions because they expose an increased
vulnerability.
The key is always to scratch the surface to unearth what need the prey
seeks and how it tries to get it (Hidden Associations — the meanings behind).
This way you will be able to prepare suitable bait using the little clues that
lead to final statements in a human’s head.
 And don’t worry. Even if all these tactics seem obvious, they should
still work because animals in fight-or-flight mode don’t see much; they are
not rational beings
In the next chapter, we will explore a few practical cases to make it
easier for you to spot an animal in Survival Mode.
14 - Fear - Practical Tips

As a novice hunter, you should start with extra-vulnerable prey — those that
need to feel omnipotent all the time. These humans despise feeling any lack
of power. Not surprisingly, they always lose their temper because, of course,
they are not that powerful, and life, in one way or another, continually
reminds them of the fact. Consequently, these humans are always in Survival
Mode, PERMANENTLY on edge, and easy to scare and manipulate.
Let’s show a practical example of a human slipping into Survival
Mode due to an unnecessary situation.

ANGER AS A SIGN OF WEAKNESS

An example

When a wealthy company owner fires an employee for causing a financial

loss (but nothing major), if he presents signs of anger and aggression
(becomes irate and shouts at the employee), that is a sign of weakness.
Okay, the employee’s mistake might have led to losses, but a strong
captain needn’t express big emotions to deal with problems. As a hunter, you
must always ask, “What does it (the situation, the object, etc.) mean for this
angry human being?”
Why the boss feels like he is in Survival Mode doesn’t matter as much
as the fact that he IS in Survival Mode. However, let’s speculate that he feels
threatened because an employee’s mistake might expose him as a poor
manager who lacks judgement when hiring staff. Maybe he needs to show
everyone in the office that he is a ‘big man’ to compensate for his perceived
lack of control? An unsatisfactory homelife may drive him to feel the need to
impose his power on a weak victim. There are many possible reasons, all of
which will lead to the boss feeling vulnerable and needing to fight back like a
cornered animal.
If the boss perceived himself as powerful and confident, why would he
waste energy shouting at his employee? Well, he wouldn’t. Instead, he would
calmly tell the employee to clear his desk. The rule can’t get any simpler: An
animal that loses its temper is vulnerable.

Some other common signs that identify vulnerable prey are:

1. Obsessions — an escape to a new world
2. Extreme niceness — a slave of acceptance
3. Extreme Truths — a search for certainty
4. Drugs — relief by ignoring bad results

OBSESSIONS
An escape to a new world

Pay attention because sometimes emotions that humans display can be ‘over
the top’ — excessive — for a situation: suffering too much or being
excessively happy, for example. These discrepancies provide opportunities
for the hunter. One typical cause of over-the-top emotions is an obsession.
How to spot the problem?
Look for extreme passions in sport, work, gambling, video games,
hobbies — even a personal project (such as writing a book). Imagine how a
human would react to the hint that there is a chance he will be deprived of
what he loves for a few days. If he gets desperate or nervous, you might have
struck gold — an easy weakness, an obsession.
An obsession often begins when a human feels he lacks something
fundamental: Alliances, the need to feel significant, etc. And he could
compensate for this perceived deficiency with, for example, a virtual life
where he receives social recognition and acceptance. The pleasure of a new
life can quickly become an obsession.

Check it out for yourself: For some obsessive creatures, 30 seconds

without the internet can seem like 30 minutes without oxygen. Don’t believe
us? Pull the plug and watch them turn blue.

Another example is a human who is obsessed with a sports team to the

point that it becomes his life. He could be compensating for a weakness.
How? Well, perhaps he needs to feel important (Alliances), so he fulfils this
need with the camaraderie he enjoys when supporting a team. When he is
with his mates (his group), he feels powerful; he sees the victories of his team
while his life has very few to celebrate. By supporting his team he
compensates for the problems in his life. And when his support becomes
extreme, it is an obsession. His tribe becomes his life. In this case, a threat to
his team (a loss) could lead the human directly to Survival Mode — as if his
life were under threat. Again, you see here a situation where a human uses an
external entity to fulfil a basic need, and so he becomes more vulnerable to
threats.

Check it out for yourself: You should see obsessive sports fans when
their team loses a match. They look like desperate soldiers battling for their
lives. It’s quite funny, actually; they really do feel threatened. Just keep a
distance because they often ‘bite’.

Note: This doesn’t apply just to sports. The ‘tribe’ mentioned above can be
almost any kind of division: race, gender, political views, religion, etc. For
humans, being part of a group can bring immense pleasure because it makes
them feel powerful. And, if they need the group too much, it can become an
obsession.

Work, too, can be a source of obsession. Like when a human with an

unhappy homelife strives for recognition and importance at his job to
compensate, to the point that he becomes obsessed.

Check it out for yourself: For a human, one sick-day at home could be
extremely stressful. Again, watch his reactions to small problems. Although
there is no threat, he is stressed. How curious?

And let’s not even discuss criticising a human’s project, like a book, of
which he is obsessed. Oh, boy … he’ll feel as if there is an attack on his
child!
 Examples of over-the-top emotions are endless, and you can only
guess the causes because, for each obsession, you can draw an infinite
number of bridges in a human’s mind. As a rule, any overreaction to a
situation usually links to a weakness that is far bigger than what appears on
the surface.

EXTREMELY NICE HUMANS

Slaves of acceptance

Too angry is obvious, but too nice? Yes, both extreme behaviours are signs of
which to pay attention. Here, though, we will talk about, often
misunderstood, extremely nice humans. You know, those do-gooders who
never complain and always make sacrifices to help others?
These humans you must observe with care because individuals who
feel they have met their basic needs can display altruistic behaviour, and so
they pursue a Holy Grail that happens to be useful to society. After all, giving
to (helping) others when a human is already ‘full’ inside makes sense; he’s
okay inside, and so he wants to help others — he doesn’t need the basics
anymore. Doing good gives the human pleasure because he is nearing his
Holy Grail, super-self (after being fulfilled, not before).
Don’t be misguided, though. Interestingly, some humans can behave
like Mother Teresa (one of Earth’s most famous do-gooders) and still be
empty inside. What do we mean? Well, lacking minimum levels of one or
more basic requirements or, in other words, operating in Survival Mode. It’s
like humans with low self-esteem (Trust in the Captain) who accept situations
similar to slavery (being extremely good to anyone and taking humiliation
without fighting back). If a human is too kind to everyone, look deeply
because you might find a useful clue. It could be that he craves social
approval to reach a minimum level of self-esteem.
Of course, we must separate ‘full’ humans who help others (and hardly
get nervous) because they find pleasure in doing so, to those who are in
Survival Mode and will dive into any charitable situation to fulfil their need
for social approval.
In the case of humans in Survival Mode who do good, they usually do
so because there is no alternative; they have a fundamental need to fulfil, and
the only way to do that is to help others. These humans do good because,
inside, they are empty and begging to become full.
So, humans who are nice all the time, the ones with high morals who
can’t say no to anyone, are more likely to be cowardly, weak and seeking
social approval. They do good and like to brag about the fact. However, they
are ‘so nice’, not because they don’t want to tear the wings off flies, but most
often because they don’t think they have it in them to do so. They use their
incapacity, lack of ‘claws’, to their advantage. Rather than being ‘whiter than
the driven snow’, they are just hopeless.
It’s worth pointing out that there are reasons for excessively pleasant
behaviour other than a need for acceptance — like a need to compete. You
see, the actions of ‘slaves of acceptance’ are often also mingled with a need
to feel superior to others — better than the rest of humanity — even if this
means being humiliated. As odd as it sounds, in these cases, humans can
compete to be the nicest.
Regardless of the reason for the extreme behaviour, you must
determine whether a human is full or empty, which is what matters. Observe
and try to work out the source for his extremely nice behaviour. As a hunter,
you must learn to separate full and empty do-gooder animals.

EXTREME TRUTHS
A search for certainty

Among humans, doubt is a luxury that very few can afford. As mentioned in
the chapter Hidden Associations, humans don’t usually cope well with
uncertainty due to its association with danger. Naturally, humans in Survival
Mode hate unpredictability and do anything to avoid it. Any kind of unknown
can be uncomfortable for them, so they fight back by creating ‘truths’ for
what they don’t understand. However, these humans can be misleading
because their black-and-white statements of truth are often confused with
confidence when, in fact, they can be signs of a vulnerable animal in Survival
Mode that can’t cope with uncertainty.
You see, some humans take avoidance of uncertainty to extreme levels
and side-step the unknown entirely. And the fact that the unknown is intrinsic
to humans’ lives makes things tricky. Let’s look at some more ways to spot
vulnerable prey.

An answer for the afterlife: Some humans will often state, with 100%
certainty, and with no room for doubt, that there is or isn’t an afterlife. Sure,
humans can believe whatever they like, but failing to realise that a belief is an
assumption and not a final truth is a sign of weakness — an Allergy to
uncertainty and unpredictability. Of course, no human knows for sure what
happens when they die.
So, to clarify, your prey can believe in many theories or scenarios for
life after death: once dead, humans disappear forever, or that life, for some
reason, is a simulation, etc. However, few acknowledge that, in fact, they
don’t know for sure. And if a human can’t allow uncertainty, this is an
encouraging sign for the hunter.
Surprisingly, even smart humans step into this trap. Scientists, for
example, often state with conviction that there is no afterlife. And, even
though they are among Earth’s elite, for them, too, it’s impossible to know
for sure. They also need to anchor themselves in certainty.

Origins of everything: Denying scientists’ discoveries of evolution of

the species, and the colossal explosion (the “Big Bang”, as they call it) that
‘kicked off’ life, doesn’t seem smart. However, it should be obvious to
scientists that nobody actually knows for sure how, out of nothing, life
popped up on Earth, or what happened before the Big Bang. And, yet, they
often state that they have found the complete truth about the history of the
universe.
Let’s take the origins of life for example. The best explanation
scientists have for how life came about sounds like magic. They say that,
from nothing, and under certain conditions, that somehow some dead stuff
became alive and created a cell, and at some point, this cell magically
survived and acquired the ability to reproduce.
Weird, wouldn’t you say? It is true that, for now, this explanation is
the best scientists can come up with. Fair enough. However, it should be
apparent to them that it falls far short of being a final statement. And, if
scientists don’t know this, how can they state for sure that there is nothing
before or after life? Haha! Of course, nobody knows with certainty how the
world as we know it began. So, even for brilliant humans, it is difficult to
understand that their theories start with assumptions.

***

Even if you hear a human say (like we heard from one of Earth’s
highly intelligent professors), “Neither life or the universe has meaning.
That’s the truth. Get over it!” Don’t worry; he is also trying to escape
uncertainty — just like the believers.
***

Most humans seek answers to questions about God or the laws of

physics. They are desperate to avoid uncertainty, regardless of the
explanations they find. And, of course, no answer can, without doubt, explain
everything about the beginning of the universe, life or the mystery of
existence.

Controversial issues: As a hunter, you can spot extreme cases of

vulnerable humans by asking open questions about controversial issues, like
marriage, morality or the meaning of life. Take note of humans who are
closed to any sign of doubt and are full of rules for how to live life and its
meaning (particularly if the subject makes them nervous); they are usually
vulnerable because they are either incapable of seeing an alternative view or,
most often, too afraid to recognise that they don’t know the answer to an
issue.

Note: Considering what we said about religion in the chapters about the Holy
Grail will be useful for you here. You see, religion removes doubts related to
the meaning of life, morals, acceptable behaviour and life after death, etc.
What a deal! Regardless of whether it’s true or not, a human’s religion brings
a lot of relief.
 Finally, there is another crutch that vulnerable humans lean on: drugs.

DRUGS
Relief by ignoring bad results

For humans, a good strategy for easing anxiety when an aeroplane is falling
from the sky is to avoid looking out the window: “If I can’t see it, I don’t
have to worry.” At least, that seems to be the rationale for some humans
when dealing with problems in their lives.
You see, like the Weak Captain, where blame and denial help him feel
safe, humans can create alternative realities by consuming substances that
lower their capacity to think about and judge a situation.
Check out this behaviour because it’s intriguing: To deal with the
problems they face, many humans consume drugs. We won’t discuss the
different types here, rather the concept and the usual reasons for using them.
The most popular drug is alcohol. And how does it work? Well,
alcohol affects judgement, so humans are less capable of evaluating whether
or not they are below the minimum levels of need. Naturally, especially when
in Survival Mode, alcohol brings relief.
It is like the captain wearing earplugs to avoid listening to complaints
from his crew. It’s easy to see how blocking one’s ears can bring short-term
relief; however, doing so will, of course, never fix a problem.
Not all humans use drugs to block out problems. Some take them for
recreational purposes and in moderation. What matters for you is the
frequency, amount and, most importantly, the reason a human takes drugs —
the real reason, not what he tells you. Hardly any human will say that it is
because he is too weak to cope with life’s ‘slings and arrows’. So, you must
rely on your skills of observation to uncover the truth.
Spoiler alert: It is true that not all humans who partake in drugs are
weak. However, given the vast majority of them are below the minimum
requirements to feel safe, that they operate in Survival Mode, we think you
can guess the reason for getting high in the vast majority of cases.
We can even state that the majority of humans, most of the time, are
only satisfied and happy when reminiscing about the past (usually as better
than it was) or when they cancel (or minimise) their capacity for judgement
(when intoxicated) to see their terrible Survival Mode situation.
Yes, that is quite a strong statement, but based on our vast experience
as hunters, true none the less. As you have seen, humans continually
transform wants into needs. Consequently, they are usually in Survival Mode
and often take drugs to minimise the unfortunate situations of which they
continuously get themselves into, or to escape by remembering the past as
better than it was, or hoping for a future far better than it will be — all tactics
to escape the dark reality of living in Survival Mode.

Now, you do the maths: Consider all of the above — how often
humans lose their temper, their obsessions, need for certainty, use of drugs,
extreme need for money and social acceptance. Then, observe. Do most
humans live in (almost) permanent Survival Mode or not?!

Part V is about humans’ lack of self-knowledge and the reasons, which

you will find are not straightforward, but fascinating nonetheless. We also
show why even if a human were to read this book, he would still often be
haunted by the same problems again and again.
PART V - SECRETS BEHIND
HUMAN IGNORANCE
15 - Prelude - The four Characteristics

So, why can’t humans fix the problems discussed in this book? Why are they
most often in Survival Mode? Why are they unaware of their Hidden
Associations and their Drawers? Why can’t humans form a clear picture of
the Holy Grail they pursue? It’s hard to believe that rational beings would
face the same old problems time and again without knowing, right?
Well, it happens. And the answer, whether you believe it or not, is that
most humans suffer from an acute lack of self-knowledge. And if this isn’t
obvious to you, this prelude and the next two chapters (which are
interconnected) will demonstrate the fact.
We need to ensure that you’re adequately prepared, so let’s examine
four characteristics of the human mind: comparison, adaptability, judgement
and Rigid Rules.
When all four are combined and applied (which we do in the following
chapters), things become interesting. However, first, let’s look at each
characteristic individually.

COMPARISON

To determine whether their situation is good or bad — whether they are a

winner or loser — humans compare themselves to others. Which sounds
reasonable, right? The problem, though, is that they rely too much on
comparisons that are flawed, narrow and short-term. Humans can barely see
the big picture. They usually compare themselves to the nearby ‘herd’ —
which could be heading in either the right direction or straight into the jaws
of a crocodile.
It’s like an athlete who doesn’t know if he’s running in the right
marathon. Regardless, he checks to see if he is ahead or behind the runners
around him. Whether or not he’s running in the right direction — or race —
is beside the point.
 And, one way to compare is to compete, so humans compete a lot —
much more than is necessary — in discussions, relationships and between
friends, etc.

ADAPTABILITY

Like clay, humans are malleable and can adapt to almost any situation. This
characteristic may make them seem formidable, and they are. However, bear
in mind that because humans will almost always adjust to a circumstance,
good or bad, their minimum requirements to feel safe continually rise, and so
their ongoing problems persist.
Here’s an example: Give hot water to a human who has only ever
experienced cold showers, and after a few months, he won’t be able to
imagine life without this new luxury. Hot water will become a NEED and the
new standard. The same applies to things like jobs, houses and partnerships.
Consequently, many prey, who should be in a good, safe situation, are often
in Survival Mode. Priceless!

JUDGEMENT

Humans judge. Get over it.

Given you have reached this point in our book, you’ll know that many
associations and decisions about, for example, in which Drawer to place
information, happen at Crew level, before the Captain gets involved.
Consequently, humans can’t fully control their feelings and prejudices.
And, humans don’t understand this fact. Here’s an example of what we
mean: During your time on Earth, you will likely hear humans say, “Don’t
judge.” Well, if they followed our rationale, they would say, “I know you
can’t fully control how you judge things, but your Captain should be wise
enough to pay attention and question the information he receives. So,
question your judgements to avoid wrong actions.”
However, given that humans have no idea about how their central
system works, they tell others not to judge — like as if humans could actually
fully control their thoughts and desires.
 ***
The key concept to understand here is that most judgements humans make
happen BEFORE they are AWARE that they are judging.
***

Let’s now look at the last concept.

RIGID RULES

Humans judge and place things into categories all the time. And to help with
their judgements, they formulate sets of moral standards — internal laws.
Naturally, humans judge others based on the standards they create, and those
who fail to comply are “undesirable”, “enemies” or “losers”.
One common, simple rule is that humans shouldn’t be rude to others.
One should work hard is another. Simple stuff. But humans’ laws can be
stricter, more specific, and even dictate the minimum amount of success or
wealth a human must achieve to be a winner, or what one should or shouldn’t
desire (like homosexuality is wrong).
Yes, humans judge others on things that no human can FULLY
control, such as desires and thoughts. For a human, the more rigid and
specific his rules are, the harder it is for those around him to comply and,
funnily enough, the more “losers” and “enemies” seem to surround him. In
fact, a human’s moral requirements can become so severe that almost no one
meets the grade.

So, those are the four characteristics: comparison, adaptability,

judgement and Rigid Rules.
Simple, aren’t they? But wait! There is a trick.

THE DETAIL THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING

Until now, we’ve explained the Rigid Rules as internal standards to judge
OTHER humans. However, this is not the full story.
 The backlash for a human with Rigid Rules is that he also applies them
to himself, which creates a sequence of problems.
Things have just become interesting, don’t you think?
In the next chapter, armed with this background information, we will
delve deeper into Rigid Rules and see what happens when a human points a
‘gun’, not just at others, but also at himself.
16 - Building a Cage - The Surveillance
System

From childhood to adulthood, a human creates rules for behaving in society

— moral standards learned from parents, religion, those in authority and even
other kids at school, etc. The result is a ‘guide to life’ with contributions from
every human who has ever tried to make him behave.
Remember, humans are born into an ‘alien world’.
So, rules help them understand what is right or wrong, desirable or
undesirable, within their social group; they are a moral conscience to help
humans control their instincts. Don’t misunderstand us. There is nothing
wrong with rules; obviously, humans must forgo some of their animalistic
urges to get along in a civilised society.
For example:
“I can’t have the other kid’s toy just because I want it.”
“I can’t rape that human just because I want sex.”
“I can’t kill that human because he annoyed me.”
Obvious stuff, right?

And how do Rigid Rules control human behaviour? Like a personal

judge, they make humans feel guilt and shame. Rules reward with pride and
happiness when obeyed, and punish with shame and remorse when
disobeyed. So, failing to comply with his Rigid Rules can make a human feel
guilty, ashamed, stupid — like a loser. All that stuff.
Are humans aware of their Rigid Rules? No. The vast majority are
unclear at the Captain level and they can feel guilt and remorse without fully
understanding why. Like a human’s Holy Grail, Hidden Associations and
minimum requirements to feel safe, a large portion of his Rigid Rules are at
the Crew level, so his Captain is not fully aware they exist.

Note: Wait! But all of this resembles what we discussed in the Holy Grail
and Survival Mode chapters. Why are we discussing Rigid Rules as a new
characteristic? Well, indeed, the three are all interconnected, but us clearly
explaining Rigid Rules here should help you to understand how they prevent
humans from investigating their thoughts and desires. You will see.

Anyway, continuing …
It starts with little things such as, “I am not allowed to be jealous of
my little brother. He is family,” even though it is perfectly reasonable for a
child not to like sharing his parents’ attention, at least when his new sibling
first arrives. But a human’s Rigid Rules don’t allow for jealously within
families. It’s wrong, forbidden. So, what does the older child do? Well, he
can’t bear being jealous of his little brother (it’s unacceptable according to his
interpretation of his parents’ Rigid Rules), so, as time passes by, he learns not
to address the issue and to hide his feelings. Consequently, the human often
becomes angry at other things while unaware that the real source of his ire is
his repressed feelings.
And, in case you are wondering, no, it doesn’t stop when humans are
kids. Remember in the Brain’s Puppet chapter the extreme example of a
human who moved to a new country because he can’t stand competing with
his sister, even though he often feels homesick? The same rationale applies
there and in so many other situations — like the hatred humans can feel for
those they claim to love.
Now, imagine how crazy things can get if, somewhere at the Crew
level, a human has Rigid Rules like these:
“I am not allowed to be rejected by anyone.” A being with a high
need for social approval is created. Remember the Slaves of
Acceptance? Those humans who are desperate to please and fit in?
“I am not allowed to have doubts or not to know something.” The
holder of the truth, who can’t accept any conflicting reality or
uncertainty, is born.
“I am not allowed to have flaws or make mistakes.” The perfectionist
is created, who pretty much has a high need for everything and who,
not surprisingly, will often either deny or overreact to the slightest
sign of a flaw or mistake.
 “I am not allowed to come second place.” The desperately
competitive human is created. Winning becomes an obsession.

As mentioned, a human’s Rigid Rules can become complicated and

narrow concerning the minimum wealth required to be a winner, when to
marry, the desirable body shape, the right skin colour, whom one can or can’t
desire or hate, what dreams are acceptable … the list is endless.
Yes! Even desires! Rigid Rules can also dictate what humans should
think about or yearn for.

***
Tip: In the case of overly competitive humans, you can always spend time
theorising about and investigating the situation. But if you want to ‘cut to the
chase’, here you go: Look deeply, and more often than not you will find that
these hugely competitive creatures are in a never-ending quest to prove to
Daddy that:
A. They are worthy of love
B. Daddy is wrong, or
C. They are better than Daddy
Things like that.

So, whenever you see this kind of human, the relationship between
him and his parents should be a good starting point to look for weaknesses
and insecurities that cause abnormal behaviour.
***

THE DRAGON INSIDE THE HUMAN MIND

Tell a human this story: Afraid of the Dragons in the dark

Imagine a castle with scary, dark dungeons. Housed within these dank
chambers, are monstrous, fire-breathing dragons, each holding secrets
that could potentially dethrone the king. The king wants to keep his
throne, of course. So, he never dares to set foot in the dungeons and
forbids everyone else from going there as well.
How does this apply to humans? And how can you use it against them?
Like a king can fear dungeons — and what they contain — humans are often
afraid of their thoughts and desires, so instead of trying to understand them,
they block them out.
Humans don’t investigate what’s going on in their minds because,
quite frankly, they’re terrified of what they might find. With so many Rigid
Rules to comply with, their thoughts and desires are like personal dragons.
Think of it like this: What would you do if one of the rooms in your
house (you don’t know which) concealed a dragon? Would you explore them
all to track down the fire-breathing horror or stay put in the sanctuary of the
one room you knew was safe? Well, when it comes to humans, most choose
the latter. And, they do so their entire lives.
As a consequence, humans are not masters of their minds. Instead,
they are their Brain’s Puppets and react to emotions and desires with no
understanding of why.

NO RISKY INVESTIGATION ALLOWED

It’s not the darkness that scares humans. No, they fear what it conceals.
For example, a human can’t allow himself to find the slightest clue
that may resemble jealousy or envy towards close family. Or, he can feel
guilty about noticing the beauty of a human of the same sex (even if he feels
no sexual attraction). The human can’t risk discovering a clue that he may
have had a ‘forbidden thought’. Even for a second.
Humans judge themselves by their Rigid Rules, and so they are too
afraid to investigate their minds because they can’t afford to stumble upon
unexpected ‘wrong’ thoughts and desires.
For a human, what’s the solution? Ignore what he’s thinking, of
course, and be haunted for life. Brilliant! And, as time goes by, thoughts and
desires don’t disappear, and repression fuels them like oxygen does a flame.
However, let us make it clear: Humans don’t repress thoughts and
desires because they want to. Rather, they do so because not complying with
their internal rules is too problematic, unbearable. For the majority of humans
there is no other solution but to ignore what they think and feel. Using our
favourite ship metaphor, to protect the captain, the messenger represses the
message because the captain can’t take the truth.
Let’s look at a practical application in a severe case like the
perfectionist mentioned earlier.

THE BACKLASH OF PERFECTIONISM

When “I am not allowed to have flaws or make mistakes”
is an inner rule.

Some humans try to live life under the glaze of perfection, and their lives
HAVE TO look perfect. Don’t be intimidated, though. Most often a need for
perfection is a weakness born from ignorance about themselves and those
around them.
For humans who pursue perfection all the time, life is often a
nightmare because they NEED to be perfect. Note that such a need relates to
extremely high minimum requirements (which perfection-seeking humans
confuse with their Holy Grail) to feel safe. The mission is a NEED, not a
goal. These humans have to be a super version of themselves. All the time.
Needing to be perfect is an extremely rigid inner rule, and such humans can’t
make any mistakes or face life’s hurdles. Show a perfection-seeking human a
single flaw, and he will most likely deny it and become desperate. Too easy.
Remember in the Drawers chapter the world-champion female fighter
who, unbelievably, considered committing suicide after she suffered her first
defeat? She NEEDED to be the champion. Can you see the nightmare this
NEED, this extremely Rigid Rule, can cause?
Humans who pretend to live an idyllic life and brag about it often have
Rigid Rules of which to comply. Everything seems brilliant on the surface,
but these humans live a nightmare and continuously fear the possibility of
discovering a mistake or flaw. The bar for ‘perfect’ humans is so high that
they spend every ounce of energy trying to reach it.
And, there are other consequences. You see, a perfection-seeking
human’s Rigid Rules often apply to others, too. Imagine the pressure on
family and friends — particularly partners and children. After all, a perfect
human can’t afford, for example, an imperfect child, can he?
Also, imagine what it’s like mating with these humans. Do you think
they would go easy on a partner if his performance was anything but perfect?
Would a perfection-seeking human accept a flaw? No, you guessed it right;
rather than just enjoying the moment, mating is a chance to prove stuff to
themselves. They bring the judge to bed. “You better do it right, boy…”
Haha!
What most humans don’t realise is that those who always need to
present themselves as highly successful most often constantly judge
themselves whether they really are perfect. Consequently, they are usually
unable to explore their Dungeons because, without a doubt, there will be
conflicting thoughts and weaknesses — Dragons — lurking there.
So, tear off the mask of perfectionism and, most often, you will look
into the eyes of a terrified soul living the never-ending nightmare of
HAVING to be perfect ALL the time because “That’s what Daddy wants.”
Though usually unaware, at the Crew level, these humans often are afraid of
discovering that they are imposters.
Incredibly, even a small ‘nefarious’ thought can send ‘perfect’ humans
to the Loser Drawer. So, they constantly repress anything that fails to comply
with their Rigid Rules. ALL of them. “Not one flaw, please! I can’t cope with
it."

ALIENATION FROM INSTINCTS

So, humans often can’t live up to their moral requirements because of their
severity. Their rules dictate that they be something they are not. Think about
it. All humans, including the most pious, are still, deep down, animals with
instincts. Eventually, all humans have forbidden thoughts and desires that are
so threatening that they must be repressed.
Now, think about the complexity of the human mind, all the wild
Hidden Associations and infinite possibilities. How many ‘wrong’ thoughts
can humans have that, if ignored, will continue to influence their lives?
Remember the student who gets nervous when making a simple class
presentation because he links performance and success to being accepted and
loved by his parents? If he can’t acknowledge why he is afraid, the fear will
most likely continue to haunt him.
If humans use blame and denial to cope with situations, their nefarious
thoughts will stick around, make noise — whether repressed or not. No
human can fix a forbidden thought or desire by ignoring it. And the more
rigid humans’ inner rules are, the more things become taboo, and humans
become increasingly alienated from their instincts and inner truths.

CONCLUSIONS

So, one reason for humans’ ignorance is clear: Once they set Rigid Rules,
facing their Dungeons, which may conceal noncompliant thoughts and
desires — Dragons — is too horrifying. Hence, no internal investigation is
allowed.
17 - Observe the Quarry - Time & Resilience

An average human being would consider himself to be the king of his Castle
(his mind). Fair enough. More often than not, though, mainly due to
incompetence, humans are far from being their own masters. They resemble
clown kings, impotent rulers governed by dark forces that they are too afraid
to face, even acknowledge.
An odd way to begin this chapter? You will see….
As always, there is no better way to explain a concept than to present
an example.

Tell a human this story: The weird date with a stranger

Imagine a human who wants to get to know another. However, he never
really spends time with her. The pair may, for example, go to the cinema
together, but they never actually talk or listen to each other. He pays
absolutely no attention to his date. After years of going out (without
conversing with or paying attention to his companion), the human is
surprised that he doesn’t have a clue about who the other human really
is.

How does this apply to humans? And how can you use it against them?
Most humans would think this story is stupid, but they don’t realise that it
mirrors their lives.
You see, humans understand that to get to know another human being,
they must spend time with them. What they can’t quite get, though, is that the
same applies to their minds. Without paying attention to what is going on
inside, a human will not get to know himself. And, if humans realised how
little they know about themselves, they’d be astonished.
In general, humans follow the path below:

One
 OUTWARD LOOKING

Humans spend their lives looking outwards and repressing dark thoughts.
These animals never reflect; they don’t want to encounter ideas they will
have to suppress, so they prefer not to look.
Humans search for novelties and try to keep busy during work and
their spare time because they can’t bear the idea of spending time alone doing
nothing. That’s a nightmare.
Humans hate looking within — consciousness is a ‘disease’ that brings
an excessive burden. So, they flee from conflicting thoughts by using
distractions and external symbols to provide assurance that they are
worthwhile beings. These human animals try to protect themselves from the
despair of unwelcome ideas, instincts and ‘inconvenient’ truths. The fear of
confronting their Dragons is so mortifying that many humans can’t sit alone,
even for just a few minutes, without a distraction. This lack of internal
investigation is the cause of enormous ignorance.

Two
INNER IGNORANCE

Humans claim they find pleasure by looking outwards (taking on hobbies,

keeping busy), and, indeed, they do. Usually not for the reasons they claim,
though. The real pleasure from outward looking comes from avoiding inner
darkness.
With all that said, how vulnerable is an army or a sports team, if it
doesn’t know its weak links and so can’t prepare to overcome them? Turning
a blind eye just leaves more room for opponents to explore. Denial is not a
smart strategy, yet it is one most humans subscribe to.
Humans usually refuse to look inwards to understand who they are,
their thoughts, what they need and want. Consequently, they have no idea
about whether or not they are valuable. Humans never become complete
beings (aware of their good and bad sides: skills, desires, flaws, dark
thoughts, Holy Grail, Hidden Associations, Drawers). And, given this refusal
to look inwards, to feel complete and confident, they play with what they
have: comparison.

Three
EXCESSIVE COMPARISON & ADAPTATION

Yes, as a consequence of ignoring what happens inside, humans rely

excessively on comparison to analyse their situation. “Am I a winner or a
loser? No idea. Let me compare myself with you and you and you….”
Because of over reliance on comparison, humans also compete
excessively, as if their lives were a battle of life and death, to test their limits
(they need to win to feel safe). By competing, humans regularly check if they
are acceptable beings. Remember the high need for Alliances?
Interestingly, because of humans’ excessive use of comparison, they
adapt to almost any situation. Good or bad. Of course, one may think that
such an ability should be a good thing. However, humans usually use their
adaptability to their disadvantage. And if this isn’t clear yet, it soon will be.
You see, no matter what humans have, they can still be in Survival
Mode because any new luxury or success soon becomes the new standard of
which they must maintain.
“Got a fantastic new job? Flying business class now? Dating the love
of your life?” It doesn’t matter; all these wins will become the new minimum
standard (a need) of which a human can’t lose or that he must improve on.
Don’t believe us? Give a human a dishwasher and observe his
behaviour over the next few weeks. Soon after receiving the appliance, he
will be unable to imagine a life without it. The dishwasher will become the
new standard. “I can never wash dishes by hand again, ever! It would be the
end of my world if I had to!” Haha!
Now, imagine the other stuff humans can adapt to and that you can
play with.
The rationale seems to be, “Am I in a good or bad situation? I don’t
know. All I know is whether it is better than yours or whether or not it has
improved from a few months ago.” Often, that’s the only comparison humans
make.
As a consequence of their adaptability, humans can behave like
desperate, cornered animals in almost any situation, good or bad. Even the
very rich often act this way because rather than comparing themselves with
what THEY want to achieve, they compare themselves with other wealthy
humans. Wealthy humans also easily transform wants into needs and become
anxious when they don’t get them — “I’m losing to the competition!”
So, humans adapt and, even when in an extremely good situation, are
often in Survival Mode because they refuse to look inwards to analyse
adequately how good or bad their life is. All they can do is compare their
current situation to the past and to other humans.

Humans’ minimal skills of comparison

Yes, humans compare a lot. Comparison, though, is often superficial because
humans’ capacity to consider data for thorough analysis is often limited.
They can usually only see a short distance into the past or future to make
comparisons of themselves, for example.
This is funny (tragic for them). Humans often consider themselves
lucky if they survive a car accident with only a few scratches. They forget
that the lucky ones are those who weren’t in the crash in the first place. You
see, these car-crash survivors compare things that are close and reach the
conclusion that they are lucky.
The same applies to health. Humans will be happy that they are
healthy after recently overcoming an illness. However, those who have not
been ill lately generally don’t appreciate that they are in good health.
Poor reflection, high levels of comparison and excessive adaptation
equal “set-to-fail”, a formula that explains why today, even though humans
live better than kings of days gone by, most are still permanently in Survival
Mode.
Humans can hardly see far beyond where they are now (their real
current situation), and improvements in their lives won’t change much. They
just become a new standard, and, consequently, it’s usually easy to scare
humans, regardless of how good their lives are.

Adaptation applied:
In our experience, it takes most humans several months to adapt to major life
transformations, but they eventually get there. After a short while, the new
situation becomes a reality because the human can’t see far backwards and
forwards in time. “Am I better than I was a few months ago?” seems to be
the question.
So, humans compare a lot to see where they are and then adapt. Often,
a few months is the maximum a human can reflect on to decide whether his
situation is good or otherwise.
It’s not easy for hunters to understand this human feature, so we will
explain.
In these two examples, regardless of whether your prey’s life improves
(earns more money) or deteriorates (suffers ill health), most often, after some
time, the new situation will become his reality of which he uses to compare
how well he is doing in life.
After a while, a human who enjoys a sudden financial windfall will
consider his situation (being rich) to be his new standard. Additional money
just raises his minimum requirement for Resources, and he suffers should he
sink below it.
The human can’t see the whole spectrum, just a short period forwards
or backwards. So, even though he has more money than he would dare to
dream of a few years ago, he can still sink into depression and anxiety.
On the other hand, let’s consider a human who just had an accident.
He will suffer because for some time he will be far from his Holy Grail and
most likely also in Survival Mode. After all, the human is now partially
disabled. However, after a few months, some humans reallocate their Holy
Grail to something more realistic for their new situation and adjust their
minimum requirements. They begin to compare from a new starting point.
Consequently, after some time, a human who suffered an accident and
became disabled can feel better than one who is in perfect health. Even more
than the newly rich human? Yes, the disabled human can adjust his Holy
Grail, lower his minimum requirements to feel safe and start feeling like he’s
moving forward while the rich human feels stuck in the same position or
sliding backwards. All this happens because humans adapt without making
significant reflections, without taking a long-term view, and they rely
excessively on comparisons that are superficial, flawed, narrow and short-
term.
In the examples above, the disabled human is more satisfied with life
than the wealthy one. Remember, humans are creatures of pleasure, and the
disabled human is getting more of it. So, as a hunter, of the two, it is often
easier to play with the fears of the anxious, wealthy prey.

Curiosity: On Earth, there is a group of humans that is well aware of how the
human mind works and recognises that humans often rely too much on
comparison. These humans are called “marketers” and they, for example,
quite often use consumers’ overreliance on comparison to trick them into
buying products. For example, there is a common marketing technique called
“decoy pricing”, which, in a nutshell, involves overpricing one item to make
everything else in a store look cheaper. So, when falling victim to this
technique, consumers often feel smart for buying the cheaper products when,
in fact, they were what the store wanted them to buy in the first place.
Interesting, wouldn’t you say? The overpriced product was just there to make
everything else look cheap, and humans often fall for this simple trick. After
all, as we’ve said, a human’s comparison feature is often narrow and hollow,
and marketers are well aware of the fact.

A SUMMARY OF THE RATIONALE OF CHAPTERS 16 & 17

And now let’s summarise the rationale step by step:

1. The reality is that humans are animals with all kinds of instincts,
thoughts and desires — including those that are forbidden.
2. Humans create Rigid Rules and judge others who have what they
consider dark thoughts and desires.
3. Humans judge themselves, too.
4. Naturally, to comply with all their rules (which prevent them from
being themselves), humans avoid their instincts and dark thoughts.
To do that, they repress forbidden thoughts and desires.
5. So, humans try to keep busy by looking outwards (to avoid
encountering their self-created Dragons).
6. Not surprisingly, humans never fix anything (Hidden Associations,
 Holy Grail, Rigid Rules, etc.), so they continually face the same
problems. The more humans ignore issues, the worse they become.
7. To compensate for their self-ignorance, humans rely on comparison
to figure out what or where they are. They compete all the time
against almost anything.
8. Lastly, humans can’t see when they are in a good situation because
they ADAPT. Anything can become the new standard. So, even
when a human’s life is amazing, you can still scare him. He can feel
desperate about losing something he doesn’t need, even when safe.

Yes, every human has internal surveillance — a spy. And, for many
unfortunate humans, even though they are oblivious to the fact, their spies
inform them that life is a complete nightmare. Humans with Rigid Rules live
their entire lives devoid of deep self-reflection.
So, given that humans are practically incapable of observing
themselves, we hunters can watch them instead and take advantage. You
must spend a lot of time OBSERVING YOUR QUARRY.
As a result, humans are most often slaves of ignorance. And like we
mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, in general, most humans believe
they rule their minds, but, instead, they resemble clown kings who are too
afraid to go to bed without a light on.

CONCLUSIONS

Hunting any animal on Earth requires patience, resilience and a large amount
of attention. The hunter must observe his prey for an extended period. Your
advantage will stem from preparation, patience and knowing the human you
pursue better than he knows himself. Watching humans, and understanding
that they struggle to observe themselves, is critical, which is why we
dedicated three chapters to the subject.
Four characteristics of the human mind are judgement, Rigid Rules,
comparison and adaption. All these characteristics contribute to humans’ lack
of self-knowledge by preventing them from looking deep within.
By failing to explore their nature, humans are unable to take full
control of their minds and bodies and, consequently, become slaves to
unknown internal forces.
Now you know the reasons for humans’ ignorance, and all the stuff
that looked like nonsense explained in previous chapters of this book is their
inability and unwillingness to reflect on and self-investigate their minds.
Yes, humans are kings who don’t know their Castles, and if you
understand them better than they do, you can manipulate them as you please.
How easy can it get?
Before we finish, it is worth mentioning a few more things about the
human animal; after all, a few have, indeed, tried to look within, but most
often this attempt fails. Why? Let’s see ….
Bonus - Stigma on Earth - Another Reason for
Human Ignorance
If you have already visited Earth, you will have noticed that some humans
step beyond outward looking and partake in activities that allow their
thoughts to wander — meditation or yoga for example.
There is no reason to worry, though. Humans almost never have the
‘instruction manual’ for their minds. So, even when reflecting, they are rarely
equipped for all the topics in this book. In other words, humans hardly ever
ask their Crew why it reacts a certain way, reflect on their emotions or
question their Hidden Associations. The human species almost never does
these things.
As mentioned, some humans try meditation. And, yes, the focus of this
practice is awareness of sensations and emotions and spending time on one’s
self. So, in a way, it helps them. However, again, even they don’t usually
have access to the information contained in this book. These humans do,
indeed, look inwards, but without understanding the necessary theory. For
example, they barely realise that they have alternative meanings and
categories in their minds — a different reality — to those around them. And
the few who do almost never understand this fact entirely.
A common philosophy for those who meditate seems to be “stop
craving things, let go and observe.” Yes, meditation is good for humans and
helps them gain awareness. However, it doesn’t provide all the pieces to the
puzzle by, for example, explaining human cravings — the meanings behind
them.
Finally, as you can probably imagine, the philosophy of ceasing to
crave stuff and letting go far from resonates with Earth’s leaders and,
therefore, isn’t in line with what most humans consider to be for ‘winners’.
So, some humans have indeed tried to look inside. However, almost
none hold all the pieces (theory, outsider’s perspective and time to reflect)
required to know themselves. Very few reflect and question their thoughts,
and even those who do usually don’t have access to the theory.
Wait! What about a thing called psychotherapy?
Isn’t this treatment about looking inwards, investigating oneself? Yes, we
believe so. However, in our experience, psychotherapy is mostly viewed as a
tool restricted to treating conditions such as depression, anxiety, obsessive-
compulsive disorders, addictions or low self-esteem. It is rarely used for inner
investigation of ordinary humans with no apparent problems. Not often will
you see ‘winners’ (successful and wealthy entrepreneurs, for example), who
are NOT facing a crisis, seek psychotherapy to enhance their lives.
In other words, psychotherapy is rarely used as a tool for those brave
enough to face their Dragons. No, instead, almost always it’s used only to
help the weak, the flawed.

A curiosity: The ineffective marketing strategy that you can exploit

On Earth, the world’s great brands sell products by using simple, yet
powerful, messages that depict winners. Consumer psychologists and
marketers know how to appeal to humans and play with their desires. These
brands recognise that much of any product’s appeal is psychological, and
they know what makes their target market ‘tick’ in order to achieve sales.
Meanwhile, psychologists have a great product and, yet, even society’s
winners, the highly educated, are usually emotionally illiterate. Why is this?
In our view, the problem starts with terrible marketing of which, most
often, portrays psychotherapy as a treatment for issues of self-esteem or
mental diseases, not to enhance one’s life. The strategy rarely plays with
humans’ desires and vanity, almost never adequately explains the benefits
(beyond being a cure for mental illness) of the treatment and hardly ever uses
great leaders to gain trust through, what the marketers call, “celebrity
endorsements”. Instead, psychotherapy is often linked to humans in need of
help.
To give you an idea, some professionals of the mind say that girls envy
their brothers’ penises, or that boys lust after their mothers. Yikes! Whether
true or not, such information has next to no chance of getting ‘bums on
psychotherapists’ seats’.
On the other hand, others try to oversimplify the problem which also
doesn't help improve their already low credibility. With an already tainted
image, these guys claim that they can provide self-knowledge in 16 sessions
(to fit with patients’ health plans), which sounds great, don’t you think? We
wonder if they also throw in a set of steak knives? It’s like changing a
human’s life-long patterns is as easy as delivering a pizza. It should be easy
to understand why such an approach fails to appeal to sceptical leaders who
don’t even know that they have challenges to deal with in the first place.
Regardless of the method, no one praises wisdom and self-knowledge,
or plays with humans’ vanity and desires to become more powerful, by better
understanding themselves. We have never seen therapy promoted as an
“investigative tool for those brave enough to face their inner darkness”, for
example. It is not sold like that. There’s a lot of stigma around psychotherapy
and, consequently, most humans believe it offers little help for winners.
So, rather than studying how their minds work, the majority of humans
favour topics like languages, mathematics, biology, engineering and business.
As a result, even the most educated and successful humans often don’t
possess the basic knowledge we share in this book. And we are only
scratching the surface regarding the mechanics of the human mind. Humans
are far more complex than you can imagine.
What would happen if Earth’s greatest brands adopted the same
marketing approach as the psychologists? One thing’s for sure: You wouldn’t
see humans wearing Nike shoes or driving Audi motorcars.
It’s true that recently things have started to change, but it will take a
long while before humanity reaps any real rewards. Most humans never
reflect on discussions about self-knowledge and wisdom. Such talk doesn’t
affect them.
For example, it should be easy to understand that it is in one’s best
interests to need less (to escape Survival Mode). However, humans have
heard this sentiment countless times, usually from losers, with this rationale:
“I can't be rich, so I tell people that I don’t want to be rich,” which means “I
disdain money, not because I don’t want it, but because I can’t have it.”
These humans also usually say, “You should need less.” As a result, many
humans associate such a view with losers.
Unfortunately for humans (fortunately for us), hardly any of them,
even world leaders, have many of the pieces required to solve the puzzle that
is the human mind. So, don’t worry; we hunters have many years ahead of
which to enjoy manipulating our prey. Anyway, for now, this is just a
curiosity to help you better understand the situation on Earth.

Note: Funnily enough, if you repeat what we say above about the terrible
marketing strategy to other humans, bearing in mind the broken
communication system (and the Drawers), they will probably think that we
have something against psychotherapists, that we don’t think they do a good
job, etc., which is not what we’re saying. We’re just criticising their
marketing strategies, not them. Haha!

THE DIFFICULT TASK OF KNOWING ONESELF

Even if humans had all the answers and spent time for self-observation, they
would still struggle. Why? Because it is all so f #*!@# difficult and takes
hundreds, even thousands, of hours of reflection. Much solitude embedded
with reflection is required to forge a human’s character. So, because these
things are out of question for most humans, they live with the wrong idea of
who they are and what they want. Often, who humans think they are is
merely a reflection of what their tribe wants them to be.
As a result, humans are haunted by internal Dragons. And to ‘kill the
beasts’, they would first have to face them, spend time with and pay attention
to them. Humans would need to check when their brain identifies a threat
(when they feel vulnerable, nervous, angry, etc.), notice their own words and
pay attention to — and question — when their brain rewards them with
pleasure for doing something it believes is right. In other words, they would
have to go beyond learning the lessons here. They would have to
EXPERIENCE them. After all, humans only really learn from experience.
Otherwise, all we have said here would be just words and soon be forgotten.
As years pass by, and desires become more repressed, rediscovering
themselves becomes increasingly costly and difficult. To find his real self, a
human would have to accept he has been walking the wrong path for many
years. And, if you remember the Drawers, you’ll know that such a conclusion
(that he is wrong) is for losers. So, humans generally take the Weak Captain’s
approach of denial to create a more palatable reality. Consequently, humans
are usually just diluted, warped versions of what they could become if they
took control of their kingdoms.
So, as you can see, humans need lots of Resources, Alliances and
Trust in the Captain to be fulfilled and to stay out of Survival Mode. They
also need TIME to reflect and organise their minds — time that humans
hardly have.
In reality, true freedom and self-knowledge require deep introspection
and psychological experimentation. Each human must test his ways of living
to see what does or doesn’t work. But, don’t worry, as already explained,
humans usually spend their free time looking outwards. And, those who do
look inside, lack the tools and outsider’s perspective to fix problems they
discover.
Now, you are ready to meet the Superiors. Welcome to the final part of
this book.
PART VI - SUPERIORS
18 - Hunting Guide - Key Notes

Believe it or not, you now know more about humans than they do — at least,
the vast majority of them. Sure, many say that they understand a bit about
how their minds work. The truth, though, is that their knowledge is shallow.
It’s like recognising the Hierarchy of Needs theory without understanding
Hidden Associations. We haven’t yet found a prey who grasps every
characteristic explained in this book. And one must understand them ALL
(and spend a great deal of time in reflection) when hunting humans.
Regardless of whether or not humans realise, deep within their minds,
each pursues a Holy Grail, sometimes more than one. While doing so, they
continually monitor their minimum requirements to feel safe — all from
inside the Captain’s Cabin. And, by the time the Captain receives the
information, it has been filtered by Hidden Association and Drawers and
guided by Expanded Self-Interest, which translates into feelings, emotions
and desires.
Let’s summarise the human characteristics. Keep this summary close
at hand; you’ll find it useful during your hunt.

ISOLATED & WITH AN ALTERNATIVE REALITY

1. Just codes:
Human don’t express themselves as clearly as they think — their internal
system is highly inefficient. So, they often confuse their communication
system with some sort of telepathy. At the same time, humans have no idea
about how much their words reveal — like when they criticise something.
Pay attention to what your prey talks about; you will gain invaluable insight
into what he pays attention to, how he perceives it (his inner reality) and how
you can manipulate him.

2. Each human’s reality is unique:

Inside the brain:
Every human is like a captain controlling a ship from inside his cabin
(isolated dark room). The Messenger translates everything that reaches
the Captain. Everything. And, humans confuse information the
Messenger supplies with reality. They, in effect, ‘see’ the world with
their brains, not eyes. So, humans project reality (hallucinate), and what
they believe to be real is highly influenced by Hidden Associations and
Drawers.

Hidden Associations:
“What does it mean to this animal? Can it differentiate between
assumptions and facts?” Humans are unaware of the meanings in their
minds, so they have a neurological tendency towards delusion and are
haunted by associations of which they are unaware.

Extremes:
“How does this animal categorise the situation? Does it have a few
Drawers or more?” Most often, humans don’t have a clue about the
categories in their minds and how the Messenger separates information
into Drawers, which leads to extreme conclusions and reactions. Most
often, humans are stuck between 100% right or wrong, 100% winner or
Loser, etc., and, for them, this creates perceived threats.

Defence mechanisms:
The Messenger will usually try to preserve the Captain and status quo.
So, given humans’ Rigid Rules and the extremes caused by a small
number of Drawers, the Weak Captain’s defence of blame and denial (to
create alternative realities) comes into play far more often than it should.
To cope with life, humans also repress a large part of reality. In other
words, they have an in-built fake-news generator to protect the Weak
Captain.

Repetition:
 One consequence of all of the above is Repetition, of which humans are
condemned. You see, humans are usually responsible for their recurring
problems. The ongoing issues humans face are usually determined by
what they pay attention to (or are able to notice), desire, and how they
behave.

Finally, never forget:

The timings of the Crew and Captain are different:

Unlike at the Captain level, it takes a long time to change the Crew
(specifically the Messenger). So, even if the Captain understands this
book’s concepts, he still must slowly explain each of them to his Crew,
which is strongly influenced by past experiences and not easy to
convince. It takes lots of practice. Therefore, even when a human
understands the concepts, for a while, his Messenger (with its same
Hidden Associations separated into big Drawers and the same
conflicting Holy Grail, etc.) will continue to send the wrong message. In
the short-term, all a human can do is be aware that the messages he
receives might be skewed, and so he must question them. Doing this
takes a lot of effort.

THE TRANSLATOR
IN BETWEEN REALTIES & DESIRES

3. Emotions & desires:

Emotions and desires play a crucial role in human behaviour. They tell a
human what his brain wants, and because they seem so real, humans rarely
question them and, consequently, become obedient puppets of an ancient
central system designed for the jungle. Let’s not forget that the brain isn’t
always right.

4. Humans’ lack of an outsider’s point of view:

Thanks to their inability to look at themselves objectively, it’s almost
impossible for humans to realise that they should question their emotions,
desires and reality. Consequently, like a marionette, humans spend their lives
oblivious to the strings that guide them.

WHAT DRIVES THE ANIMAL — FEAR & VANITY

ALL GUIDED BY EXPANDED SELF-INTEREST

5. Expanded Self-Interest:
“What’s in it for my prey? Can it see the long-term?” Humans’ ignorance
about rewards is enormous. So, they most often live in a fairy tale and believe
in actions for no return. As a hunter, you must consider ALL rewards that
humans seek, not just those relating to money and recognition. You must take
into account their pursuit of maximum pleasure and minimum pain and also
whether they can consider the long-term — their ability to look ahead will
determine how they judge what is good or bad for them.

6. Fear & related feelings:

The sense of vulnerability manifests itself in more than fear. It can take many
forms, such as anger, nervousness, hatred, anxiety, stress and even
aggression. “What is my prey’s minimum level to feel safe? Is my prey above
or below it?” Most humans behave like cornered and starving animals
because they are permanently below the minimum levels of Alliances (social
recognition and acceptance), Resources (money and health) or Trust in the
Captain (self-esteem) to feel safe. They are in Survival Mode either because
they really do need more Alliances or Resources (like in the case of a starving
animal), or because they confuse needs with wants and, therefore, raise the
bar artificially to need something at a higher level and then become desperate
to get it. It is usually easy to infuriate your prey when it’s in Survival Mode
because it is barely rationale. As a hunter, avoid humans who are beyond the
minimum levels to feel safe; they are difficult to manipulate. Choose an
easier, more desperate target.

7. Vanity, pride & admiration:

“What is this creature’s definition of success? What is it proud of? What is
its Holy Grail?” Knowing a human’s Holy Grail will enable you to be a few
steps ahead. After all, the rule is simple: When a human moves closer to his
Holy Grail he feels good; if he slips farther away he feels bad. Generally,
humans’ Holy Grails are unclear for their Captains, which is strange
considering how much they influence humans’ decisions.

NO TIME, CHANCE OR EVEN WILLINGNESS FOR REFLECTION

8. Rigid Rules:
Humans create internal rules to live in society. Often, though, these rules
ignore human nature and are overly rigid, which makes them impossible to
obey. And because their ‘guides for life' are so uncompromising, humans are
only allowed a narrow set of thoughts, behaviours, attitudes — even
aspirations — and so they spend life unable to access their inner unsettling
truths — Dragons that haunt them for life.

9. Time to observe:
“Has my prey ever explored its Dungeons?” Humans unknowingly spend
their lives denying their thoughts and desires. They think they succeed in
feeling nothing, but their emotions and desires are there anyway, and so
humans end up being at the behest of forces they ignore.
By not paying attention to themselves, and so failing to feel anything,
humans forgo the tools for understanding what affects them and why; they
are condemned to self-ignorance.
As a result, most often, humans’ lives resemble an internal ‘to-do list’
with meaningless outward-looking hobbies that do little for self-
understanding. Unable to access their inner truths, and burdened by self-
ignorance, most humans compare and compete excessively to gauge their
worth; they can’t assess their real situation. The consequences feature on
pretty much every page of this book.
As mentioned at the beginning of this book, only a few of these human
characteristics are unknown to most humans. For example, if you bring up
Repetition, most would say, “Yes, people usually make the same mistakes
again and again. It’s kind of a continuous cycle.” And, they think they
understand. However, their analysis is shallow — far more so than what we
are talking about.
Before we finish, here is another way to see parts of what we have
discussed in this book:
 THE LAYER WHERE THE CAPTAIN EXISTS
Squeezed by the Crew

1 - Crew – Filters reality that is captured through senses such as eyes

and ears.
Decides the fraction of information to send
Edits information using Hidden Association and Drawers
Uses blame and denial whenever necessary

2 - Captain (thin grey circle) – Makes a small amount of the decisions

and thinks he is in control.

3 - Crew – Sends emotions and desires back to the Captain while always
focused on escaping fear and chasing vanity.
Manages:
Organs (heartbeat, body temperature, etc.)
Emotions and desires
Repressed memories
Holy Grail (s)
Rigid Rules
 Levels of minimum requirements
Expanded Self-Interest
The Crew judges whether or not the animal is in Survival Mode, getting
farther away from or closer to its Holy Grail.

Figure 4: The thin layer where the Captain exists.

Lastly, don’t forget that humans are complicated, so it usually takes

several years for a hunter to comprehend fully and apply the teachings of this
book. Mastering the ways of human beings takes practice, but it’s worth the
effort.
Let’s now, finally, meet the Superiors, creatures like no other.
19 - The Superiors - Piloting the Animal

Superiors are scarce, enhanced human beings. Although they look like and
can interbreed with regular humans, the distance between Superiors and
regular humans is greater than that between a human and a chimpanzee. As a
hunter, you must avoid Superiors. You will never trick and manipulate them;
they will mess you up.
Superiors understand the concepts in this book. They are wise kings in
their Castles — they certainly don’t fear Dungeons. You could compare
Superiors to seasoned spacecraft pilots. You see, they recognise that they are
piloting an animal, and they do it pretty well.
How does an ordinary human being become a Superior? Well, he must
first be willing to place the characteristics of a Superior in his Holy Grail,
learn everything discussed in this book and practice. A lot.
Let’s look at the characteristics of Superiors.

BECOMING A DOT
The great divorce

To become a Superior, a human must undergo an internal separation — a

divorce between his Captain and Crew. He must split the parts of himself that
he can control from the rest, which he can only train (or tame). By doing so, a
human becomes a mere dot inside his head, and he pilots his body like a
spaceship.
This separation doesn’t require forgoing feelings, becoming a
psychopath. Instead, a Superior recognises that he and what he feels are not
the same. Emotions are indicators, not absolute truths. So, a Superior pays
attention to and questions his feelings as if monitoring a control panel, and he
reacts in a manner that he believes appropriate, not how his Crew wants.
Sensations are advisors, not bosses. This divorce between Captain and Crew
allows Superiors to see the world through the lens of Expanded Self-Interest
and better understand themselves and others. Post separation, a human grows
his rational self and defines who he is as an individual.

LIFE AS A PERMANENT OUTSIDER

Superiors are able to view their lives from an outsider’s perspective, just like
regular humans have no problem challenging foreign rituals, cultures and
behaviours. Superiors can question aspects of human life because they are
able to observe from the outside. They examine their emotions, sensations,
Hidden Association, Drawers — their entire reality. By becoming a dot
within their heads, a Superior achieves masterful control of his body and
mind.

BROADER RULES
A requirement for exploration

Superiors know that they pilot an animal with instincts — a creature with
dark thoughts and desires. So, to explore their minds, they destroy established
internal rules for acceptance and behaviour and develop their OWN, which
are broad. Slowly, they create independent rules and defer matters of
judgement to their conscience, not the Rigid Rules of others. Consequently,
they are able to explore their minds and Dungeons, unafraid of meeting
Dragons.
Superiors explore their Dungeons, question their Hidden Associations
and are prepared to face what they find. “Why do I compete with this human?
Why do I hate him? Why do I love that frustrating human?” Things like that.

OBSERVE THE QUARRY

To reach the rarefied state of a Superior takes time, and humans must put in
the ‘hard yards’ to observe themselves.
Superiors understand that the two key words in the line by Sun Tzu
“Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be
in peril,” are “know yourself”. This knowledge is essential for completeness.
Superiors realise that the prey they must observe is, actually, themselves.
By exploring their thoughts and emotions, Superiors escape haunting
memories and are free to chase the future.

HIDDEN ASSOCIATIONS & DRAWERS

The Permanent Investigation

As explained earlier, Superiors use their emotions to their advantage. They

see being irritated as an opportunity to understand better how their minds
work, the meaning behind the irritation, and, when necessary, they try to
change the meaning interpreted by their Crew. Superiors know that as they
gain self-awareness and discover what they want, it makes less sense to
become upset by external things that are not real threats. By paying attention
to, and destroying wrong Hidden Associations, Superiors slowly break the
pattern of angriness commonly seen in humans. Consequently, they hardly
ever get annoyed at others; Superiors are secure and robust.
Superiors are NOT Brain Puppets. Instead, they ‘turn the tables’ and
teach their brains how to react. Superiors are masters of their emotions.
Because their minds have an almost infinite number of Drawers,
Superiors are unafraid of self-exploration. They know life isn’t black and
white, and so they don’t swing from one extreme to another — 100% right or
wrong, winner or loser. No fake threat or small mistake will send a Superior
to the Loser Drawer.

LOW MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

Superiors understand reality better than regular humans, thanks to their

countless Drawers. They know that to manage minimum requirements,
PERCEPTION is essential and they understand that a high need for
Resources or Alliances is a weakness. Therefore, Superiors break their
Hidden Associations, adjust their internal rules and are almost permanently
beyond Survival Mode. Superiors NEED little and WANT big. They are free.

THE SUPERIOR’S HOLY GRAIL

Superiors don’t have to live in poverty to need little. Having low minimum
requirements is a mindset, not a bank balance, and Superiors are, actually,
often wealthy. Despite having low minimum requirements, these
superhumans still search for the impossible without needing to achieve it.
For a human to become a Superior, he must dedicate himself to
introspection and self-development. Also, rather than adopt a pre-packaged
super-self courtesy of his social group, a human must create his own with a
clear definition of success in mind.
Superiors understand the complexities of life and, so, don’t define
success by single events. The dream of becoming a Superior is but one of
many elements that make up their tailor-made Holy Grails.

SOME CONSEQUENCES

Low minimum requirements and a unique, well-balanced Holy Grail applied

Take this book as an example. Obviously, we, the authors, want it to be
successful, so it’s part of our collective Holy Grail. Without a doubt, some
critics will say the book is rubbish, and their negative views will make us feel
farther away from our Holy Grail. However, with a well-defined and
balanced Holy Grail (that, by the way, should not be based on a single project
like a book), and an understanding of the book’s merits, we, as Superiors, are
not threatened by setbacks or criticisms. We don’t deny critics. Instead, we
listen and learn. Hey, there’s always room for improvements! Do you see?
Criticism is necessary — essential for growth.
At the same time, should this book become a best-seller, we won’t
bathe in the bliss of euphoria. This book is but a small part of our Holy Grail.
Can you see how stable and almost unbreakable Superiors are?

Less comparison & competition

Superiors have high levels of self-knowledge because they continually
explore their minds. As a consequence, to determine who they are, they don’t
compare themselves with others. Superiors don’t need many Alliances,
either; a little social acceptance among close family and friends is usually
enough. As explained, having their own rules of acceptance and behaviour,
Superiors defer matters of judgement to their conscience.
While many humans compete excessively to prove their worth,
Superiors recognise that competitive behaviour is more appropriate for male
baboons wishing to win over a mate than for humans. In modern society, a
human can get a partner and money, etc., without being excessively
competitive.
Superiors needn’t win battles to build Trust in the Captain because it’s
already there due to their deep understanding of their abilities, skills, needs
and goals. They can compete from time to time, for fun or necessity, but not
nearly as often as regular humans. A Superior understands that the real battle
is with one’s self.

An interesting & permanent investigation

Superiors understand that self-investigation never ends. It can’t. Like an elite
athlete who ceases to train will turn to flab, a Superior who stops looking
inward will mess up his mind.
At the beginning, self-investigation is extremely difficult (especially
while rules of acceptance are still rigid). Over time, though, if done right, it
becomes fascinating.
With relaxed rules of acceptance, Superiors live in a Zen-like state.
They enjoy self-exploration. And, due to the multitude of Hidden
Associations humans face every day, it is an endless pursuit, which is the best
part.

From birth to death – seeing the big picture

Regular humans distance themselves from the fact that they are animals,
creatures that eventually perish. Superiors, on the other hand, use their
mortality to their advantage. Doing so provides them with a realistic
perspective on life; they see the futility of comparing themselves with others.
Superiors plan for the long-term while aware that no human’s lifespan
is certain. After all, at any time, every human is one lousy diagnosis or
distracted driver away from oblivion. Though they understand that
overthinking death can be troubling, at the same time, Superiors know not
thinking about it is denial. So, holding death close helps Superiors to choose
which battles to fight and, therefore, make wise decisions.
Mindfulness of their mortality combined with deep introspection
enables Superiors to create ideal Holy Grails, and so everything they admire
points in the right direction. Appreciation of life’s uncertainties helps
Superiors value their lives and the lives of others.

Kicking the pleasure drug

Finally, regular humans are generally addicted to pleasure. They are what we
call “pleasure junkies”, consumed by an insatiable thirst for a new thrill.
Regardless of the goal, once achieved, most humans soon NEED more
— more money, more wins, more friends. Pleasure junkies’ lack of self-
knowledge drives them on a continuous search for signs that they are
worthwhile human beings, that they are socially accepted.
The endless need for thrills haunts most humans. And, when dealing
with such desperate creatures, hunting becomes easy.
In contrast, a Superior’s definition of happiness is inner peace, not
strong feelings. Excitement and happiness are not one and the same. It’s true
that Superiors do all they can to be happy; however, they appreciate that
happiness is pure and if one is unaware of its presence, not easily felt. On the
other hand, regular humans often notice happiness only when it’s gone, and
so their pursuit is never-ending.

The experienced rider

In our view, regular humans (specifically their Captains) control their bodies
and minds like cowboys in a rodeo — they attempt to stay mounted while the
bull does its utmost to throw them into the dirt. Control is minimal.
Remember, humans are, in essence, animals. With time and training,
however, Superiors learn to ride and dominate the bucking bull.

CONCLUSIONS

Superiors are masters of their minds — superbeings. They are complete and
have low needs and well-defined Holy Grails. Every Superior knows which
prey each human should observe.
Finally, hunters, avoid Superiors — they will mess you up. Humans,
try to be one.

###

The End
FINAL WORDS
Counter-attack
Some will view my writing The Art of Hunting Humans as akin to crossing
the Rubicon — a villainous act of no return that will brand me an eternal
enemy of humanity. As you digest the closing pages, though, I hope you
realise that this book is not a guide for hunting humans; rather, it is my
quirky explanation for why humans behave in the ways that they do and how
their minds work.
I wrote this book from the point of view of an outsider — a visitor from
another world — which I believe was necessary to expose human
characteristics and the problems we all face.
No author is an island, and my influences comprise a broad range of
theories, philosophies and books — no, not all books are for losers! Many are
great, but I needed to get your attention. Psychoanalysis and psychotherapies,
such as cognitive behavioural therapy, have impacted me — so too has
neuroscience. I also get inspiration from philosophers and business strategies,
such as Blue Ocean Strategy. Change management principles, and sales and
marketing techniques, have also impacted me.
I must state clearly that I am not a psychologist, nor a professional
writer. My background is in engineering and finance, which may, in part,
explain my sceptical life view. Above all, please note that this book is a work
of fiction.
The concepts in this book are simplistic and are my interpretations of
several books and theories. Of course, humans are far more complex than the
framework I suggest. However, I believe a simple approach is necessary — a
tome the size of War and Peace couldn’t do justice to the topic of Hidden
Associations alone. So, I offer just a glimpse. Some kind of ‘rustic wisdom’,
let’s say.
Simplicity, though, doesn’t make the concepts easy to understand and
apply. To master them, many hours are required. After all, it’s one thing to
convince the Captain, but getting the Crew on board is something else
altogether.
So, I am well aware that this book isn’t for everyone. Just a few. Let’s
face it, most people want simple solutions for complex problems. And, so for
them, a guide that espouses positive thinking and correct posture (known as
“power positions”) would probably be more appropriate. The problem,
though, is that those books and techniques don’t come close to addressing the
problems humanity grapples with.
I also make some harsh criticisms and express several controversial
opinions. Do I want to stir hate? No, not at all. Those who truly understand
my concepts will know that is far from the case.
My purpose is to raise attention to the importance of self-reflection and
the pursuit of wisdom. These things are often undervalued in society due to,
in my view, poor marketing by the psychology fraternity, which,
consequently, stigmatises those who pursue inner knowledge or attend
therapy.
I want to get people talking, regardless of whether or not they agree with
me, so I’ve tried to be as controversial as possible. Accepting or rejecting my
simplistic explanations of the human mind is less important to me than
getting people to recognise the need for self-reflection focused on self-
knowledge and wisdom.
I call those who have mastered my concepts “Superiors”, which may
seem provocative and arrogant. I’m just trying to tease you and counter-
attack centuries of humanity undervaluing the pursuit of wisdom and self-
knowledge. Call these wise humans what you will.
While at first, the general message of this book appears to be that
humans are weak and you must explore and exploit their ignorance and flaws,
you probably now know that isn’t the message. Given you have completed
this book, I hope it’s clear that I have tried to explain the advantages of being
more aware of our perceptions, beliefs, Hidden Associations, Drawers, Holy
Grails and minimum requirements, and not spending our lives led by
invisible forces. That’s the real message. I wanted to create a sense of
urgency for change, highlight the importance of self-knowledge and wisdom,
and expose problems with the status quo.
The truth is that to change anything, we first must confront reality by
exposing the problems humans face and articulating a convincing argument
for change. So, that’s why I expose what, in my view, are human flaws and
explain how to explore them.
I believe it’s time for humans to escape Survival Mode and be proud of
trying to know themselves. They need the tools, and they also need to admire
others who pursue self-knowledge. It’s time to fix vanity.
Last but not least, my first child will soon be born, and this book is for
him. I want to make sure my child understands humans — just in case I’m
not around as a guide. I don’t want to leave things to chance.
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