BTG LXVIII – The variety, according to law, of the manifestations of human individuality
*LECTURE NUMBER ONE — THE VARIETY, ACCORDING TO LAW, OF THE MANIFESTATIONS OF HUMAN INDIVIDUALITY (Last read in New York in the Neighborhood Playhouse, January, 1924 )*
This text (in BTG XLVIII), attributed to G. I. Gurdjieff, presents a radical critique of contemporary human nature, arguing that most people lack true individuality (“I”) and function as mechanical beings governed by external influences rather than conscious will.
**1. The Four Independent Personalities in Man**
A complete human being should consist of four distinct, independently functioning parts:
- Automatic Functioning (False “Consciousness”) – Habitual reactions, conditioned by past impressions and daydreaming.
- Emotional-Sensory Reception – Responses to external stimuli based on inherited and learned sensitivities.
- Physical-Motor Reflexes – Bodily functions and instinctive movements.
- The True “I” (Real Individuality) – The conscious, unifying center that should govern the other three parts.
Most people, however, lack this fourth part and are instead a chaotic assemblage of the first three, functioning mechanically.
**2. The Hackney Carriage Analogy**
Gurdjieff compares a man to a broken-down hackney carriage:
- The Carriage (Body) – Poorly maintained, rusted, and malfunctioning.
- The Horse (Emotions/Instincts) – Neglected, abused, and driven only by fear or base desires.
- The Coachman (Intellect/False “I”) – A drunken, daydreaming cabby who steals fodder money (energy) for his own pleasures.
- The Passenger (True “I”) – Usually absent; if present, he is just a random fare (external influence) rather than the true owner of the self.
Without a real “I,” a person is passively controlled by external forces, reacting rather than acting.
**3. The Illusion of Free Will**
- Contemporary man cannot “do” anything consciously—everything happens *to* him.
- What people call “will” is merely the resultant of competing desires, not true self-directed action.
- Humans are complex machines, reacting to stimuli without genuine autonomy.
**4. The Need for Harmonious Development**
- True individuality requires conscious self-observation, struggle against weaknesses, and deliberate self-transformation.
- The Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man aimed to cultivate all four parts of human nature, fostering real “I”-hood.
- Most education fails because it only trains the intellect (coachman) while neglecting emotions (horse) and body (carriage).
**5. The Problem of Language & Miscommunication**
- Words have lost precise meaning due to automatic associations.
- People do not truly understand each other because they project subjective meanings onto words (e.g., “world” means vastly different things to an astronomer, philosopher, or theologian).
- This leads to isolation and miscommunication, preventing genuine collective understanding.
Modern man is not truly human in the fullest sense—he is a mechanical puppet of external forces. To become a real man, one must:
- Observe oneself impartially (recognize mechanicality).
- Struggle against weaknesses (develop real will).
- Integrate all four parts of being (body, emotions, intellect, and true “I”).
- Learn to “do” rather than just react (act consciously rather than mechanically).
This is the path to genuine individuality and harmonious existence.
ADDITION