© Elliot Essman 2005. All rights reserved.

These pages contain the complete text of Human Action, public speaking trainer Elliot Essman's philosophy of human achievement.

Elliot Essman Public Speaking Training
Human Action Table of Contents
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Animal—When referring to human beings, that portion of human action, thought or existence that is mechanical, automatic, or oriented strictly toward survival.

Art—The human ability to make something out of nothing; the kinetic human ability to add new meaning to or despite a pre-existing matrix.

Ascending Language—Language that tends to open more areas of interest and controversy than it closes and ask more questions than it answers.

Belief Overhead—The extent to which the holding of a belief shuts off or impairs the gathering of knowledge, the human imagination, human progress or any positive kinetic force.

Biological Imperative—The instinct, characteristic of animals and many humans, to seek stasis, comfort, and certainty.

Catharsis—The creation of a personal atmosphere in which a person can lay the creative and imaginative foundation for a Shock. Also called Kinetic Ablution.

Cauldron—A peak human experience, like sex, that, in combining both kinesis and stasis, pulls the human in opposite directions at the same time. In Trans-Biological Kinesis, a mastery of cauldron situations involves a major Shock.

Certainty—The only certainty in Trans-Biological Kinesis is that there is no certainty. The word certainty is used in a pejorative sense to indicate an arrogant, closed mind-set that short-changes the human imagination.

Choice—An action based on kinetic volition rather than static reflex.

Civilization—The sum total of those creations of humanity that lift the human spirit to new levels of understanding, creativity and imagination. Compare: Culture.

Core Expansion Training—A series of challenging human activities or situations, either planned or spontaneous, that serves to expand the human ability to undergo Trans-Biological Kinesis and tends to enhance Core Reaction Reality.

Core Reaction Reality—The extent to which human beings respond to kinetic challenges or opportunities to reach new levels of human excellence.

Creative Confusion—A communications technique that challenges listeners to Shock to higher levels of inquiry, creativity or imagination. Creative Confusion is confusing because it lifts communication out of standard tracks and ruts, and yet creative because it reflects a sophisticated, disciplined attempt to do so.

Culture—Static human institutions and mores at any given period of time. Compare: Civilization.

Descending Language—Language that ends on a cadence or apparent or wished-for element of certainty or finality.

Discontent—One of the key attributes that make humans human, Discontent reflects the human need to reject comfort and mere static survival in order to achieve. Discontent spurs the imagination and can be linked to most if not all human progress and civilization.

Dynamic Balance—A human action, usually planned, that combines kinetic imagination and courage with a high degree of static discipline with the aim of maximizing human creativity and achievement.

Epic State—A state of mind or imagination that allows a human being to transcend the normal state and create something out of nothing through Trope.

Escape—Any human action such as sexual release, bacchanalian abandon or spiritual or psychological liberation that gives the human being temporary relief from the Pose/Poise cycle.

Human Integration—A mind set that allows the human to carefully use kinetic action while carefully satisfying static and mechanistic needs.

Icon—A word, image or other phenomenon that metaphorically concentrates meaning in a small but powerful package.

Iconic Box—A state of mind in which the power of certain icons and symbols tends to limit rather than expand the human imagination.

Iconic Fuel—The kinetic use of an icon so that it expands the imagination, spurs creativity, enhances personal courage and leads to Shock and Trope.

Imagination—A key human attribute that allows humans to postulate the existence of that which does not exist in empirically provable fact, frequently leading to the creation of something out of nothing.

Interrupt—A state of existence in which automatic and static responses have been temporarily stopped so kinetic responses can take place.

Intimacy—Any exceptional kinetic human interaction.

Inward Validation—The quality of defining oneself based on inward considerations rather than on what other people think. Compare: Outward Validation.

Kinesis—A state of movement.

Kinetic—Movable or dynamic.

Kinetic Ablution— (see Catharsis)

Kinetic Human Core—The uniquely human individuality inside every human being. The Kinetic Human Core is never content and is profoundly disturbed by stasis. The Kinetic Human Core powers the human need to achieve and create something out of nothing.

Kinetic Interrupt—The human expression of dissatisfaction with stasis that causes a stasis situation to be short-circuited and lays the groundwork for a Trope.

Mask—The method, often changing according to the circumstance, with which human beings present themselves to others.

Meaning—A quality of enhanced significance or value based on human actions and perceptions.

Metaphor—A word, symbol, phrase or quality that signifies something else, often suggesting a powerful concept or state, either kinetic or static, positive or negative.

Modeling—Using kinetic aspects of the life of another human being, often famous or heroic, as a source of inspiration and Iconic Fuel.

More—A basic human need, based on Discontent.

Mystery—A brain-opening state based on the abandonment of certainty in favor of imagination.

Neo-Brain—The thinking cerebral cortex and rational facility, including both “right” and “left” brains. Compare: Proto-Brain.

Nurtured Growth—In an analogy to the brewing of beer and the baking of bread, human progress that uses natural and animal qualities and then goes further by carefully adding strictly human input so as to create an enhanced atmosphere for growth.

Outward Validation—The need to define oneself based on what other people think. Compare: Inward Validation.

Pose/Poise—Refers to methods humans use to “present” themselves to other humans and to “society.” Pose connotes specific postures humans decide to take in individual situations, while Poise refers to automatic habits of self-presentation.

Positive Matrix Interrupt—The power vacuum that results when the Trans-Biological Imperative expresses itself in the form of discontent with the Biological Imperative, leaving the way open for Shock and Trope.

Proto-Brain—The most primitive part of the brain, represented by the brain stem and the limbic system, and holding the seat of the senses and the emotions. Compare: Neo-Brain.

Radical Jump—The process of moving to a new and different state of belief often through Shock and Trope.

Reference Matrix—A set category in which human ideas are placed so they can be made more manageable.

Refined Animalism—Mechanistic engineering of human institutions, thoughts, etc. such that sophisticated but static survival and comfort mechanisms are put into place, without true kinesis.

Scalar—In science, a physical quantity with magnitude but no direction. The analogy in Trans-Biological Kinesis is an idea or human effort with force but no direction. Compare: Vector.

Shock—A creative mental or emotional state that involves a challenge to pre-existing belief and opens the way for progress to new levels of creativity, imagination and belief.

Stasis—A state of equilibrium, balance or stagnancy, hence in Trans-Biological Kinesis an unacceptable condition that clashes with the Trans-Biological Imperative.

Static—The quality of seeking stasis, certainty, or other inflexible or non-moving state.

Trans-Biological Imperative—The very essence of the human condition, manifested by human Discontent, by the human need to question the status quo and reject comfort and stasis, and by the human need to create something out of nothing, all resulting in progress and human Civilization.

Trans-Biological Kinesis—The process with which humans express their Trans-Biological Imperative, reject static, mechanistic and animal solutions to existence, and, fueled by Discontent seek to achieve and expand their horizons in strictly human ways.

Trope—The quality of giving anything a new turn, a new side, a change or new existence or meaning.

Vector—In science, a physical quantity with both magnitude and direction. In Trans-Biological Kinesis, Vector connotes focused human effort. Compare: Scalar.

Vector Control Point—A situation in which to produce effective results, creative action must be reigned in and channeled into useful areas.