During my long absence away from writing and going to college I began doing a lot more heavy research than I had originally done, on anything. What I am about to share with you is the basic core idea of the new book that I am currently working on. In order to get the full details on the entire structure as well as information on how to carry out the necessary tasks you will need to survive you will have to purchase the book.

Not only have I learned a lot in the past two and a half years at the time of this writing but I have actually managed to create what I would consider my first real contribution to the field of psychology, or perhaps many other fields as well. It is called the Long Term Survival Model. And it is the reason why we are alive on this planet.

This is a bold claim to make but let me first point out that what I am really talking about is why we are here in terms of Darwinian evolution. It is obvious to first say that we are actually here for just about any reason we would like to pick. Some theists (or those who are religious believers) have told me that they do not believe there would be a point to our existence if evolution were true. Of course, this will not be a post debating the existence of evolution because as far as I am concerned there is nothing there to debate anyway. This entire model assumes that evolution is true and is constantly in motion.

The two driving forces to Darwinian evolution are 1) natural selection and 2) mutation. Natural selection is the process by where survival of the fittest allows the organisms with the best traits suited to their environment to survive while mutation keeps the traits changing every once and a while. When a mutation is beneficial we could say that it is ‘adaptive.’ Adaptation is the very name for the process in which organisms continue to grow, evolve, and exist throughout time.

Under the assumption of these main two mechanisms it would be safe to assume that we are actually here for more of a reason than just to survive; we are not only here to survive but to replicate. And here in lies a bit of the problem that is sort of philosophical.

If we are only here to survive and replicate then that means that whatever we do to get there does not really matter. Under a traditional viewpoint in much of modern society, there lies a view that evolution is taking place on a wholly individualistic sort of scale. This is actually not the case because everything exists on an entirely interconnected network.

In fact, not only are all people on the planet connected to all other people on the planet but all organisms to organisms and even people to all other environmental factors. On enough of a scaled breakdown we could actually say that on a molecular level everything is fundamentally connected. This is part of the basis for what is known as “chaos theory.”

Chaos theory is irrelevant to the Long Term Survival Model but I will go ahead and just explain briefly what chaos theory states. Chaos theory assumes a number of different properties about the universe but one of its main points, or benefits that is, is to be able to predict very complex events and occurrences such as the flow of water or the stock market trends. Many scientists agree that certain patterns are taking place among seemingly totally unpredictable events but the only reason they cannot make accurate predictions is that the formulae for predicting the events are changing at every moment.

The stock market, for example, creates a brand new set of conditions every single time someone makes a trade. When you change the market, even by a little, it changes the state of what predictions will be made about the future regarding the entire market. The amount of data that you have to put your hands on and interpret all at once is horrendously large.

The entire universe functions this way and we are not living in a state of exception.

At any moment, the constantly shifting state of the universe could cause a giant, deadly meteor to come hurling in the direction of our planet or some cosmic event could destroy us in the blink of an eye that we theoretically would not be able to predict. Our entire existence continues on in this fashion. When we consider how each and every one of us, along with the very way in which everything we say and do affects other conditions on both our planet and inevitably the rest of the universe – we realize that survival and replication is not the only thing we should be doing.

When considering the rest of the big picture, we actually have three goals for the survival of each of ourselves as individuals and it lies with ensuring the survival of our entire species. We must:

1. Survive. And when I say survive, I am referring to it in the traditional sense of the word because by the end of this article I will change the definition of the word ‘survive’ to mean how we survive in the long term over millions, billions, or trillions of years.

2. Replicate. We should replicate but replication lies in more than our DNA. One of the primary driving factors behind DNA replication, or human reproduction, is our ideologies and behaviors. Biologist Richar Dawkins coined a term for these known as “memes” similar to the genetic term “genes.” Replication lies not just in our biology but in our memetics as well.

3. Empower. Empowerment is the third and final step in the basics of the Long Term Survival Model. Essentially, empowerment is the ability to enable others in the population to perform the same tasks in steps 1 and 2 – to survive and replicate. In its most common form, empowerment is teaching.

Empowerment is where things get complicated. Not only must we figure out what empowerment really is but we also have to have a vehicle for getting there. Empowerment, just like surviving and replicating, takes time, energy, and resources. This third step operates under the principle that if we aid the rest of the population then we will increase our chances for long term survival. Without taking into account how we are connected to everything else – we literally have no hope of prevailing as a species.

Take a moment to consider how lucky we are. Not only have 98% or more of the biological organisms that have ever existed on this planet gone extinct, we happen to be among the lucky few that have not. On a broader scale, we also happen to be lucky enough that our planet is tipped at just the right scale and distanced just the right length away from the sun that human life is able to exist at all, for any period of time, on this planet. At our most basic level, we are the universe growing some form of consciousness and asking itself questions like where it came from, where is it going, and where does it lie now?

At the same time, we are doing dumb things every single day. We are flushing toilets that use 10 gallons of water per flush. We are eating fast food that kills us. We have countries constantly going to war over religion and resources. We are killing off species after species with our relentless expansion. In every possible way, countless different members of the homo sapien species are ignoring the first and most important fundamental truth of our being connected to absolutely everything (and by that truth: affecting everything else in existence).

For more information the Long Term Survival Model, sign up to my newsletter. You will get a free eBook, Principles of Social Attraction, as well as videos, audio files, and other resources which will provide you on more information relating to the LTS Model.

Uh oh, I said it. Some of you may have heard about this guy, Steve Pavlina, because of his successful blogging ventures but more importantly because he is the author of a book which hit Barnes & Noble shelves a while back known as Personal Development for Smart People: The Conscious Pursuit of Personal Growth. Now, do not misinterpret my respect and love for Steve – I think in many different areas the guy is an absolute genius. He has over a million readers and there is a reason he does: he provides a huge amount of value to readers all over the world who find benefit by reading his articles.

This particular blog entry, however, is about how Steve Pavlina is wrong about a number of different things.

Raw food and vegetarianism – One of the primary topics that Steve talks about in his blog is vegetarianism, which he had seemed particularly proud of when he first started writing about it, and raw food. He claims that not only has he felt better and been more healthy but that if you consume the same diet as he does you will feel better and be more healthy too! Not so, folks. And there is a few different reasons why.

• Vegetarianism and its benefits, or especially veganism, have been grossly over-exaggerated. In fact, according to some, vegetarian diets will actually harm you because you are not getting essential vitamins.
  • Raw food is also a bad idea, no matter what the raw food community is trying to tell you. Steve has also said that people from the raw food community “seem nicer” than that of other communities. He may not mean bad by saying such a thing but to me that is a bit pompous.

The problem, which Steve has hinted at, is actually in the foundations of how modern food is prepared and processed. A much more credible sort of work on the problems with modern meat processing might be the documentary Food, Inc. or a very delightful read I had the opportunity to experience during a vacation of mine: Twinkie, Deconstructed. I would also highly recommend the work on Al Sears MD.

To get a handle on what foods we should consume we should really examine the diet of our native ancestors and how the most healthy of them survived. The best hunters ate plentiful portions of meats, vegetables, fruits, and while yes – some of it was raw – they also enjoyed cooked meals over an open fire. A lot of advocates of raw food diets like to preach that raw food somehow is what we need because of nutritional value when in reality: the real culprit is food processing, sugar, preservatives, chemical additives, high fructose corn syrup and an excess of corn products, and other simple problems that have only emerged in their worst form during the past century.

Sorry, Steve, but the fact of the matter is that the majority of people who consume a raw food diet not only will not stick with it – they will not think it tastes very good either. On the other hand, if you let me have my grass fed beef with green beans and my daily multivitamin I will be very happy.

In fact, his entire attitude is pompous by his site’s motto: “Personal Development for Smart People.” Who the heck does he think he is? So if you are not smart, then apparently you will not be reading his site. To his credit, he often responds to this anecdote with a good deal of humor, wit, and charm. He has a big problem with his overall ending response, though, when he claims that anyone who “doesn’t get it” or disagrees with it is somehow not among the ‘smart people’ he is writing for. Steve, the doctoral degrees and some of the biggest experts in the field would say that a lot of what you are writing about is complete rubbish. One reason he could write a lot about things that are so sensational, of course, is that it probably generates a good buzz and brings in a substantial number of readers. Still, Steve: the doctoral degrees know a thing or two as well.

The guy’s an ex-Scientologist for crying out loud… In fact, that could be a bit of an understatement.

• If you dive deep enough into Steve Pavlina’s history, you find out he is an ex-Scientologist. Not only does he not regret the decision, he also claims that it was a beneficial time of his life. The amount of stuff that is just absolutely nutty and crazy with Scientology and the horror stories of the cult-way in which it has taken advantage of its members is enough to get me to steer clear from reading even a single word of L. Ron Hubbard’s Dianetics.
• The fact that Steve supports this and then goes so far as to say he actually buys into his now ex-wife’s psychic abilities says enough about his intellectual integrity to me.

Of course, the ironic part is that even while Pavlina completely ignores rational thought processes he still manages to give some extremely sound advice that people not only listen to but many actually find tremendous benefit from. I think guys like Pavlina and other big industry gurus who are pushing the Law of Attraction, however, are giving people unrealistic hopes and dreams.

If you know me personally, you know that I have absolutely no issues what so ever with the idea of thinking BIG! I do it all the time myself and I also follow my ideas with an intense drive and motivation that few other people I know have – the problem lies in how he is telling people to get there. This trend of “think about it and it will happen” type of mentality needs to end and Steve Pavlina has done little to actually help end its existence. Instead of turning to scientific thought processes people are turning to more abstract, almost pop-culture like philosophies preached by guys like Pavlina. Even in his book, he is not giving rational strategies for practical things that can aid you in the real world but is instead telling you abstract concepts that you must somehow figure out HOW to apply.

All the while he is leaving some sense of vague uncertainty in the readers’ mind but manages to present it in a way that is appealing enough that it keeps you reading entry after entry. Some time ago, I actually stopped reading Pavlina’s entries because they all grew to sort of repeat themselves about the same general concepts. He has also, as much as he has tried to avoid it, hit the problem of trying to make his website one that appeals to multiple different markets while still dropping everything he writes about under the category of “personal development.” Sometimes, the stuff he is writing about is arguably nothing to really do with personal development itself at all. Perhaps he only wants the term to be broadly defined.

On the other hand, there are a lot of people that would argue that Steve Pavlina “invented” personal development in the same sense that people liked to say that Al Gore “invented the internet.” Obviously, I disagree with even this sort of a metaphor.

A good friend of mine, Bill Perry, who I have often worked with on various different research projects, wrote a review of Steve Pavlina’s book here. Steve, if you’re reading this, I admit that I will soon purchase a copy of your book and read it the book in its entirety – it seems the stuff that you are putting out onto store shelves is a bit more valid and well constructed than certain things you have touched on in your blog. Congratulations on your success.

As for others, I highly recommend you at least read some of the best, popular articles that Steve has written. If you are just now diving into a journey of personal change I think he is a wonderful guy to start with. But for those who are serious about wanting to push past their long term sticking points and to come out on top in a way they have never done before, we need someone a bit more scientific in their approach.