Human Beings are primates, closely related to monkeys, lemurs and apes. We have all evolved from a common ancestor, beginning about 60 million years ago, and incredibly, when it comes to genetics, we are all amazingly alike. On average, human DNA is 96% identical to the DNA of our most distant primate cousins, and nearly 99% identical to our closest relative, the chimpanzee.           The fact that we have so much DNA in common with our primate family is pretty amazing and to me, and it helps explain a well-known fact about human beings, which is that basically, we are a monkey-see, monkey-do kind of species.           Generally, we're most comfortable being part of a crowd. We find safety in numbers and we like to belong. So, externally, we mirror each other a lot. We look alike, we dress alike and we talk alike, using similar facial and vocal expressions.           But it goes much deeper than that. Critically, we also think alike. We have something called the herd mentality, where we think like everyone else around us. And because of that, for the most part, most of us don't think very deeply. And it's not just about what we think, it's also about the way we think.           Looking into how we think, started to became compelling to me as I first began to explore personal growth many years ago. After I started meditating regularly, it became obvious that my mind was churning out an endless stream of random thoughts. And rather that being served by them, it felt more like I was being imprisoned by them.             Coincidentally, I had been reading a book about Einstein and it mentioned his relationship with a Danish physicist name Niels Bohr. Although they were friends and colleagues I had never heard of the Dane before and started doing some research on him.           He wasn't only a revered physicist; he was a serious philosopher as well. Before long, I was really impressed with the way Bohr thought, always open to new revelations, which constantly filled his mind with insight. Unfortunately, the more I looked into him and Einstein, the more unimpressed I became by how shallow my own mental waters had been running, with tiny thoughts about nothing, unanchored by any reality, leading me absolutely nowhere. But I was still in my early twenties and had a long way to grow.           In retrospect, it reminds me of a line from the 1990s TV show Seinfeld, when Elaine says to Jerry, "Just when I think you're the shallowest man I've ever met, you find a way to drain more water out of the pool."           Anyway, back to Bohr. A contemporary of Einstein's, they both won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1922. Although they were close friends, they actually had very different views on quantum mechanics, the new field of physics that was emerging which required a major leap of thought to even begin to understand it.           As they continued to disagree, they had a series of debates on the topic, with Bohr constantly defending what he called his principle of complementarity. And this is where things started to get truly fascinating to me.           It's not hard to understand at all. Simply put, it's about paradox, holding that that something can have seemingly opposite aspects to it, while still being one cohesive whole. A classic example is that there had been a longstanding argument about whether light is, in essence, a particle or a wave. It turns out that both are true. Believe it or not, light is both a particle and a wave at the same time.           Now the principle of complementarity wasn't just a philosophical theory. It was practical physics and led to incredible advances in science, including the development of the laser, the transistor, the microchip, the electron microscope, as well as the development of the computer itself.           Although it was based on paradox, Bohr was comfortable with it, but he felt that you had to change your way of thinking in order to understand it. It turns out that paradoxical ideas can actually enhance your intelligence because they make you think first, before revealing their message to you.             We're all familiar with them. Here are some common examples of paradoxical statements: Less is more Youth is wasted on the Young If you don't risk anything, you risk everything The more you give, the more you get The louder you are, the less they hear The only constant is change. And here are some famous paradoxical quotes: Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!, from Dr. Strangelove I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse, from The Godfather I had to come to prison to become a crook, from Shawshank Redemption And from Plato – I am the wisest man alive for I know one thing, and this is that I know nothing.           Now a paradox is generally not a welcomed phenomenon in logic and science, but Bohr was a big fan of it. Once, when approaching a new problem, he said, "How wonderful that we have met with a paradox. Now we have some hope of making progress."           But you had to drop your accustomed way of thinking and allow new ideas to form in your brain. This was especially true when it came to trying to understand quantum mechanics, which seemed completely outside of the realm of the logic of the day.           As Bohr said, "It forces us to change our thinking in order to find it. Everything we call real is made of things that cannot be regarded as real Those who are not shocked when they first come across quantum mechanics cannot possibly have understood it,"           "Opposites are not contradictory but complementary," he added. "There are some things so serious that you have to laugh at them. If anybody says he can think about quantum problems without getting giddy, that only shows that he has not understood the first thing about them."           In time, Bohr had become a highly esteemed scientific expert, but he approached his role in a lighthearted way. "An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field," he said. "Every sentence I utter must be understood not as an affirmation, but as a question."           His communications with his fellow colleagues were also legendary. Once, when responding to a new proposal that had been submitted to him, Bohr had shown it to his group and then replied, "We are all agreed that your theory is crazy. The question which divides us is whether it is crazy enough to have a chance of being correct. My own feeling is that it is not crazy enough."           Then he continued, "We are trapped by language to such a degree that every attempt to formulate insight is a play on words. You're not thinking. You're just being logical."           Again, he and Einstein were great friends who had a lot of respect for each other, but they had different and often seriously conflicting views about some very significant issues. In this day and age, I find it refreshing that these two extraordinary men could seriously disagree, but still respect each other and enjoy each other's company.                After Einstein famously said, "God does not play dice with the universe," Bohr responded, "Stop telling God what to do with his dice." Then, in a letter that he wrote to Bohr in their later years, Einstein said, "Not often in life has a human being caused me such joy by his mere presence as you did."           Although all of this had a deep effect on me, there is one last observation by Bohr that was in a league all by itself.  It was best expressed by his son, Aage Bohr, who also won the Nobel Prize in Physics.  Interestingly, Neils and Aage are one of only seven sets of parents and children who have both won a Nobel prize.           So, Bohr divided truth into two categories: Small Truths and Great Truths. According to him, the opposite of a small truth is a lie. But the opposite of a Great truth is another Great Truth.           Now this might not sound like much, but when I got exposed to it, it caused a seismic reaction within me, reverberating throughout my entire consciousness, creating major changes in me that continue to this day.           The first part of it is easy enough to understand. Right now, I am sitting down and writing this episode on a computer. And that is a Small Truth. But if I said I was standing up and dictating it on a voice recorder, that would be a lie.           So, the fact that the opposite of a Small Truth is a lie is pretty simple. But how in the world can the opposite of a Great Truth be another Great Truth?           It seemed like a quite a baffling paradox and I started giving it some thought. What's an example of a Great Truth? How about the idea that the universe is infinitely large? Well, that seemed like it could be a great truth. It was certainly big enough. What would the opposite of it be?           Obviously, it would be that the universe is infinitely small. Now, is that true? Yes, of course it is. Science is now measuring distances of less than a millionth of a billionth of a billionth of a billionth of an inch. That would be a decimal point followed by thirty-four zeroes and a one. And there's a whole universe of subatomic strata in there. So yes, the opposite of this one Great Truth is another Great Truth.           This led me to apply the paradoxical idea to God which produced a truly kilowatt  lightbulb moment for me.           There has been a long-standing, theological argument about that I had been caught up in for years. On one hand is the belief that God or whatever finite term you want to put on infinity, is not really involved in human affairs and our personal lives. He (she or it) doesn't get his hands dirty. He just sets things up and let's them run their course. And when it comes down to it, we're basically on our own.           Then there's the other side of the coin, the belief that God is intimately involved in every single thing about us and our personal lives, like a truly loving mother and father combined, only a billion times more so. Two quite opposite view points.           Suddenly it hit me, what if they're both true? What does that do to this big argument? What if one didn't exclude the other, but rather complemented it. This was a really big deal for me and it released a flood of new observations.           For instance, it always bothered me that good and evil could exist at the same time, both in the outer world in general, as well as in the ideas and concepts within my own mind.           But now, I had a new perspective on it. What if the good and the bad, the positive and the negative were just polar opposites with the potential to highlight the differences between the two? And what if, through understanding that, I could learn that I had the power to choose between them, to decide which I wanted to nurture and which to release?           I know to some, this may seem fairly rudimentary, but for me it was seriously revelatory stuff. And it still is. It's amazing what a change in your inner outlook and mode of thought can do for you.           Now, one last time, back to Bohr. He and Einstein helped break ground on this new world of scientific understanding, quantum mechanics, that began to emerge over a hundred years ago, which revolutionized science and ushered in the modern age. Of course, it's been an age filled with paradox, tremendous advancements and wonders mixed with horrible suffering as well.           But going forward, maybe this monkey-see, monkey-do species of ours can learn some new tricks, some new ways to use this vast intelligence of ours. Maybe we can find methods of unraveling the paradox we face and help bring about a much brighter future for all of us.           Who knows? As Neils Bohr put it, "Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future. But the exponential increase in advancement will only continue." Of course, nobody knows what's coming next in this life, but if it's an exponential increase in advancement in the right direction, it certainly sounds good to me.           Well, that's the end of this episode. As always, keep your eyes, mind and heart opened, and let's get together in the next one.

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