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When is a wall not a wall?

Article Excerpt
HIS AWARENESS OF PAIN AND DARKNESS drifted in and out. The GS Detective lay on his back. He opened his eyes. He couldn't see.

He closed his eyes. He was lying on something hard and cold. Where was he? His head hurt so much, it hardly mattered.

He remembered a noise at his back and expanding pain. Something had hit his head. He felt his scalp. There should be a lump but there wasn't. What do you mean by "should"?

He opened his eyes again. He still couldn't see. The blow had made him blind. He was so cold. With one hand, he felt what he was lying on: cold, smooth, a floor, maybe. He wasn't cold, he was terrified. He couldn't see.

His mind raced.

Think of anything except ... being blind. You call yourself the GS Detective. You say general semantics helps you. You're in serious trouble. Think of one GS principle that can help right now? Anything ... what about ... state your assumptions? Whether you're conscious of them or not, assumptions influence how you perceive, feel, think, and act.

He had conscious assumptions about blindness. It was a serious handicap. He wouldn't be able to work. He'd depend on others for almost everything. It would be unbearable. He was terrified.

He couldn't think his way out of this, but he had to keep thinking to hold down the fear. Some of his assumptions about blindness were obvious. Other assumptions about this and other things were hidden, but could be discovered by analyzing what he thought or did. What unconscious assumptions made him eat too much when stressed? What hidden assumptions made him scared?

Question your assumptions.

He rarely questioned his assumptions about the material world: gravity, solidity, liquids, and such. He had conscious and unconscious assumptions about his inner life and his social world. Perhaps he thought about these more critically. Sometimes.

Questioning his assumptions about blindness could help fight this dreadful fear. Blindness wasn't totally incapacitating. It wasn't all or nothing. There were degrees of impairment. He mustn't think in extremes.

He brought his watch up to his face and pressed a button. The dial glowed.

He could see.

He felt overwhelmed with relief. He'd learned something. He wasn't sure what. He felt humbled, grateful, and numb.

He sat up. His head pounded with such pain that he lay down again and didn't move, his philosophizing forgotten. Slowly, the pain diminished. When he went to sit up again, more pain exploded in his head so ferociously he thought his skull would burst. He stayed on his back. Unable to move, could he just think? General semantics provided mental software for solving problems. Why...

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