September 12, 2022 by Brian Weiner No CommentsChanging The World One Thought At A Time., Lessons From The Mountain

If you’re afraid that books might challenge someone’s thinking, you’re not afraid of books, you’re afraid of thinking.

If you’re afraid that books might challenge someone’s thinking, you’re not afraid of books, you’re afraid of thinking.

Last week, when I picked a favorite quotation from Aldous Huxley, I was surprised to discover that Brave New World still ranks in the top 100 books suggested to be banned from libraries in the United States.

That got me to thinking. (Which presumably those who want to see the book banned, are afraid that I might do.)

Thinking causes catharsis. Catharsis gives way to change. Those who control the way things are currently, are almost always going to be resistant to change. It is the nature of Homo sapiens.

Is it wise to ban thought? We are always quick to take the side of the First Amendment, in our rush to protect Freedom of Speech. I most certainly take that stance. But… the intellectual side of my being takes the opposite posture, just to try it on… ie.. “surely there must be some things that need to be banned in order to save others from suffering.”

For example, would you be chill to discover these two tomes in your children’s library?

Hannibal Lecter’s Cooking Secrets
Nuclear Bomb in a Suitcase: Step by Step Instructions

Freedom of Speech is a miraculous concept, and yet it has so many perils attached as to potentially make it the ultimate danger. This is why those in power are attempting to ban the books.

If a culture holds power and sway over a society, they are fully committed to maintaining that power, at all costs. In a free society, those powers are challenged a million times a day in our legal system, and we have found civilized methods of negotiating the most difficult decisions and enabling a societal overview of the world we are living in.

Thinking truly is as dangerous as it is spectacular and enlightening. It is the ultimate evolved quality of our specie and it delivers miracles on countless fronts. Our free thoughts must always be protected, even at the risk of allowing controversial thoughts to emerge.

Happy Monday!

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Written by Brian Weiner

When I was 5 years old, I discovered that the lemon tree in the backyard + dixie cups + water and sugar and I was in business. I have been hooked on that ever since. In 1979, I borrowed $14,000 to create a brand new product... photographic greeting cards with no text on the inside, called Paradise Photography. That was the start of The Illusion Factory. Since then, The Illusion Factory has been entrusted by all of the major studios and broadcasters with the advertising and marketing of over $7 billion in filmed, live, broadcast, gaming, AR, VR and regulated gaming forms of entertainment, generating more than $100 Billion in revenue and 265 awards for creativity and technology for our clients. When I took a break from film school at UCLA to move to Hawaii, my mother did not lecture me. Instead, she took 150 of her favorite aphorisms and in her beautiful calligraphy, wrote them artistically throughout a blank journal. That is the origin of the Lessons from the Mountain series. Since then, on my journeys to the top of a mountain to watch the sunrise, I have spent countless hours contemplating words of wisdom from the sages of all races, genders and political persuasions, constantly accumulating the thoughts to guide me on my life path. I hope you enjoy my books. Please let me know your thoughts, as I highly value your feedback!