“Losing oneself and becoming a rolebot” and how to undo this
Welcome to this week’s Bill Harvey Blog.
September 18, 2026
MIND MAGIC / MIND EXPERIMENTS Book Excerpt Series: Part 9
People run on programs.
Programs are action patterns. For example. the way we get out of bed in the morning is an action pattern. Observe how you do it for a few days in a row, and you’ll see the pattern. The way you throw off the covers, swing your feet to the floor, how your body feels, what you think about, your mood, the people you think about, the emotions that strike you, and your attitude as you stand up, etc.
All this is an action pattern. Nothing is exactly the same from day to day, but everything stays within a relatively narrow range of variation. This is because there are now sets of interlacing programs in our biocomputers upstairs. They bring us through this action pattern daily without us having to consciously think about each move.
These automatic programs run 99% of our lives.
Of course, we all override the autopilot at times.
For example, when some potential danger snaps us into full alertness, we don’t make a move without thinking about it first. For example, when we are able to rise above “automatic-pilot” anger. For example, at moments of “peak realization”, “expanded consciousness”, or “satori”. But most of the rest of the time, although we repress knowledge of the fact religiously, we have no free will in what we do, because the body’s and mind’s movements follow conditioned paths from which deviation is improbable.
We always react to the same types of situations in the same ways. The programs go through their steps while we sleepily look on, along for the ride.
We consciously participated in creating these programs.
Some of the “autopilot” program punchcards in our heads were keypunched by our “conscious-mind-pilot”. For example, when we discovered how well we looked smiling that way, we decided offhandedly to keep doing it that way (at least at those times). Then our “conscious-mind-pilot” forgot about it.
The “autopilot” does it faithfully to this day whenever those times come up. Good “autopilot”!
On the other hand, the great preponderance of our “automatic pilot” programming appears to be of the Pavlovian variety, whereby we grew up addicted to certain shallow rewards without this being anyone’s conscious intention.
Mind Experiments
1. Watch action patterns.
- Pick a day. On that day, from the moment you awaken, stay alert all day and watch your actions down to the smallest gesture.
- When you seem to be observing an action pattern that appears significant to some part of your mind, ask yourself: “Why did I do that?” (Or, “Why am I doing this?”)
2. “Autopilot addictions” meditation
- What were your mother and father “addicted” to (attached to getting or avoiding)?
- How about your peers at school and others known to have influenced you: to what were they “addicted”?
- To what extent do you now automatically mirror any of these addictions?
3. Meditate on the extent to which you “need” approval.
- Whom do you “need” approval from? Why?
- Clue: What do you work hardest at? Who would approve of you the most for working so hard at it?
Love to all,
