A month ago I spoke at TED, a global academic forum for “Ideas Worth Spreading.” Speakers get eighteen minutes to present a world-changing idea, and I presented The Code. I talked about the fact that less than a thousand experts know The Code’s five laws, despite the fact that all seven billion of us live by them every moment of our existence. I then revealed the five laws, and got a lot of great feedback.
Well, not all so great. Soon after, a reporter did a write-up of the event, my talk in particular. “It’s amazing the human race has survived so long without such a code,” she said. “It’s hard to tell if the ‘elite 1000’ are just people who have bought Van Alstine’s product, or if it’s some sort of Masonic club.”
Thanks for the poke in the eye, lady. Obviously, she didn’t watch the whole talk, because I revealed the thousand experts right in the middle. I also revealed that I’m not one of them. The “elite 1000” aren’t Freemasons or Disciples of Erik. Reporter Lady leapt before she looked. We all do on occasion, so I shrugged it off.
What her report did reveal is just how crazy it all sounds. Grand claims about the fundamental laws of life set people on their heels. So I’m on thin ice with some. But it’s worth the risk, because, again, anything less is injustice. We’re talking about the laws of human nature here. The secret of effective living. The driving principles behind every purposeful thought and behavior. Shouldn’t we at least know them? Shouldn’t someone say something?
To be clear, here’s my point again. We run our lives from five laws. These laws drive everything we think, say, and do. But no one can say what they are. This is a big reason we have so many problems and miss so many opportunities to improve, as individuals, organizations, and societies.
Learning these laws will radically improve our lives.