to sleep, which is done by surrounding her (usually) with the correct matrix of evil. Not only has this been done from time immemorial, but it is also an elementary example of manipulating consciousness, which is the important subject I now want to discuss. I hope to show that temptation is only the negative side of consciousness synthesis.
However, I ought to make one thing clear right at the start; I am not suggesting that anyone should go out and tempt anyone else. Indeed for a relationship to be without sin, it must not only be free from sin in the vulgar sense, it must also be free from mutual manipulation, or the taking advantage of the one by the other. Nevertheless temptation, like evil, is one of the facts of life, which everyone has to contend with; and it is as well to know something about its mechanism.
We do all live in a matrix of evil; or to be more accurate, humans behave as though they lived in a matrix of evil. If you prefer theological language: we live in a fallen world. The atmosphere of the times, der Zeitgeist, in any country you care to think of is somewhat debased and inhuman. The practical reason is that life and society could not carry on if it were not so; man is not a perfect social unit, he is an exceedingly obtuse and contrary one. The theoretical reason is that we have not yet reached the end product of evolution; most of us are still living in a flux of evolutionary time, and this prevents us treating our fellow men with that complete charity and courtesy that is desirable. We may, or may not, each have a collective responsibility for the world being as it is; or it may be that statistically the condition of the world at any particular moment is inherent in the evolution of society, or creation. This is a question much canvassed in Probation Reports on young criminals, but it is academic and…