Primal Mind Primal Games

A mind-opening, game-changing dive into the origins and quagmire of the human condition. For most of us, daily life proceeds as though every thought and feeling arising in our head or heart is the by-product of our freewill beckoned by our soul's desire. But what if each of us, without conscious knowledge or consent, is, in reality, engaged in a far deeper and more complex bio-psycho-social game? One with origins stretching as far back as the dawn of life itself? And what if the many conflicts continuing to arise among humans -- including war, and the wanton disregard for one another and our planet -- were also by-products of this game? Would it not be in our interest to understand the rules governing it? Primal Process Theory offers a new lens that helps explain why we do what we do. In essence, it posits our use of three default mindsets -- Fighting, Defeated and Appeasing. These comprise the basis of our Primal Mind, while their social interplay generate the Primal Games vortex. This book offers a way to extricate ourselves from its many traps, allowing us to lead saner, wiser and more fulfilling lives.

This edition tends to focus on the personal rather than the broad social dimensions of what we call the Primal Process. In essence, the ‘Primal Process’ is nothing other than a meta process that governs much of life, a process whose nature is well described by a theory first developed by Hifzija Bajramovic which addresses the question of victimization. Naturally, none of us likes to think of ourselves as ‘victims’. Instead, we prefer to think of ourselves as powerful agents in charge of our own lives. While this is certainly true to an extent, it is equally true that because we all took birth in human bodies, and our bodies have their own developmental history laden with biological processes that were set in motion a billion years ago, we are also at the mercy of these processes. Try holding your breath for five minutes, and you’ll quickly understand what we mean. In this sense, the life process itself isn’t just our home, it is also the process that has put all life on Earth on a trajectory of experience over which we have a limited range of control. Yet, when we understand how these underlying processes have come to shape the way we think, and by extension, behave, we not only acquire a great ability to navigate life’s endless stream of challenges. We can help chart a course that can prevent us from sinking beneath this stream’s sometimes merciless currents. This process is the basis of both the Primal Mind and the Primal Games that emerge out of it.

Paul H. LeMay, B.A. (Psych) is a Canadian writer specializing in science, psychology and politics. In the 1980s, he served in several national level amateur sports organizations as well as a national health promotion campaign. After working as a freelance writer in the 1990s, he was engaged by the Government of Canada to work in the area of health and safety. Before returning to the private sector, he served on the staff of several Canadian senators, where he was engaged in policy research, speech-writing and other duties. He was commissioned to help research and co-write the two Primal Mind, Primal Games books with Dr. Bajramovic in 2005.