Human Action Principles

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  • Jay Stuart Snelson

Lecture #1, The Ideological Immune System Jun 8, 2017

Jay Stuart Snelson 1936-2011   Principles of Human Action February 26th, 1995 Long Beach Memorial Medical Center Van Dyke Theater Lecture Number One https://soundcloud.com/libertydotme/the-lectures-of-jay-stuart-snelson-session-1   Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.  Did all of you answer all the questions? How many of you got all of them correct, a show of hands? Very good. I am really impressed. If you haven’t guessed already, my name is Jay Snelson and I am truly delighted that you have joined us.  Before this particular session this morning is completed, I hope you will be delighted that you have joined us at this presentation.  One...

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Lecture #2, Understanding Causality Jun 7, 2017

Principles of Human Action February 26th, 1995 Lecture Number Two https://soundcloud.com/libertydotme/the-lectures-of-jay-stuart-snelson-session-2   As we begin lecture two you should keep this in mind about the ideological immune system. Again, and I can’t overstress this, everyone has one. Let’s look again at how it operates. Your ideological immune system rejects your acceptance of any new basic ideas that would overturn any of your old basic ideas. You will find that most adults never suppress or hold back their ideological immune system. The result is they are fully protected 24 hours a day from new ideas, and especially they are protected from...

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Lecture #3, The Principle of Prosperity Jun 6, 2017

Principles of Human Action February 26th, 1995 Lecture Number Three https://soundcloud.com/libertydotme/the-lectures-of-jay-stuart-snelson-session-3   Ladies and gentlemen, we’ll continue now with lecture three. Earlier I asked you to identify the primary cause of human failure. What failure, you might ask? Well, you name it. The cause of the failure to build peace in the world, or to build peace in your own home, the cause of the failure to build prosperity in the world, or to build prosperity in your own home. And so, the failure of the individual, the primary human failure, is the failure of the individual to apply science...

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Optimization Theory

Lecture #4, Optimization Theory Jun 5, 2017

Human Actions Principles February 26th, 1995 Lecture Number Four https://soundcloud.com/libertydotme/the-lectures-of-jay-stuart-snelson-session-4   We’re continuing with a discussion of the most important subject of study there is, namely, understanding the causes of things. I hope you will come to the realization that it is also the most exciting subject and the most challenging subject. For our human race, in the beginning, the causes of everything were a great mystery. Why the great mystery? Because the true cause of virtually everything is hidden from view, as I have said, and will continue to say. I gave you this quotation, “Things do not come...

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The Principle of Poverty

Lecture #5, The Triumph of the Principle of Prosperity Jun 4, 2017

Human Action Principles February 26th, 1995 Lecture Number Five https://soundcloud.com/libertydotme/the-lectures-of-jay-stuart-snelson-session-5   Ladies and gentlemen, this will be a good test of your stamina. It is not easy to sit through an entire day at a seminar in a lecture. The only thing I can say is that if you’re able to maintain your concentration, you will get a lot of value out of this session, more value than you’ll get if you kind of fade away. And, at any time, you are more than welcome, encouraged, if you get a little groggy or whatever, to go outside and take a...

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Lecture #6, Cause and Effect Jun 3, 2017

Human Action Principles March 5th, 1995 Lecture Number Six https://soundcloud.com/libertydotme/the-lecture-of-jay-stewart-snelson-session-6-cause-and-effect   Welcome to the continuation of Principles of Human Action. This seminar is designed to give you a maximum understanding of causality, causation, cause and effect, different ways of saying the same thing. So, when I say causality that’s shortcut for cause and effect. We’re going to give you a maximum understanding of causality with a minimum investment of your time. Now, with this promise in mind, I’m going to take about five minutes to discuss the dominant social issues in the western world during the past 500 years. I’m...

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Lecture #7 & 8, Problem Solving Jun 3, 2017

Human Action Principles Van Dyke Theater, Long Beach ­­­­­Lecture Number Seven and Eight https://soundcloud.com/libertydotme/the-lecture-of-jay-stewart-snelson-session-7-problem-solving   Ladies and gentlemen, I cannot overemphasize the importance of Einstein’s advice on problem solving; “the formulation of a problem is often more essential than its solution.” This is not an overstatement. A penetrating formulation of a difficult problem is an integral part of the solution. Problem solving and solution building are one subject. Without problems, there are no solutions to build. In our colleges they are missing another crucial subject. It could be problem solving and solution building 1A and then you have 1B and...

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Lecture #9, Doctrines and Free Trade Jun 2, 2017

Human Action Principles March 5th, 1995 Lecture Number Nine https://soundcloud.com/libertydotme/the-lectures-of-jay-stuart-snelson-session-9-free-market-vs-interventionism   I will begin this session with a question I posed earlier:  How can we build a science on the qualitative analysis of doctrines? I will answer this question in part with a second question, namely, how can we differentiate between a high-quality doctrine versus a low-quality doctrine? Are all doctrines of equal quality, or are there some doctrines that are of higher quality than others? How can we make such a differentiation? How can such a differentiation ever be more than, let’s say, A’s opinion versus B’s opinion? If...

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Lecture #10, Free Market vs. Interventionism Jun 1, 2017

Human Action Principles March 5th, 1995 Lecture Number Ten https://soundcloud.com/libertydotme/the-lectures-of-jay-stuart-snelson-session-10-division-of-labor-free-trade-is-freedom   I will begin this session by asking two of the most crucial questions of our time. These questions, however, without explanation, sound more innocuous than they sound crucial or critical – which they are. Question one:  How can we determine what is a fair price for any product or service? And question two:  How can we set the price for any product or service? I will show you that for each of these questions, there is a progressive answer and a regressive answer. If the regressive answer becomes the...

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Lecture #11, Division of Labor + Free Trade is Freedom May 31, 2017

Human Action Principles March 5th, 1995 Lecture Number Eleven https://soundcloud.com/libertydotme/the-lectures-of-jay-stuart-snelson-session-11-unfettered-free-trade-will-end-war1   Ladies and gentlemen, this entire session will be on two principle topics. The first is the single most destructive idea in the history of human thought, and the second is a simplex means for the obsolescence of war. Now if we can handle both of those in a single session, I’ll assume you’ve got your time’s worth. Is that fair enough? Have you got your time’s worth if we can bring an end to war and explain how to do it? Because it took the lectures leading up to...

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free trade

Lecture #12, Unfettered Free Trade Will End War May 30, 2017

Human Action Principles March 19th, 1995 Lecture Number Twelve https://soundcloud.com/libertydotme/the-lectures-of-jay-stuart-snelson-session-12-unfettered-free-trade-will-end-war   Some of you may remember that in 1895, the English novelist and historian Herbert George Wells, better known as H. G. Wells, invented – you know what he invented in 1895? You’ve heard of H. G. Wells? He invented The Time Machine. I’m going to borrow his time machine so that we can take a little journey back in time. There’s room for all of you. No pushing or shoving. We’re going to travel back some 6,000 years, and if you’ve never done this before, it’s quite safe. Some...

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Lecture #13, The Freedom to Try Solution May 29, 2017

Human Action Principles March 19th, 1995 Lecture Number Thirteen https://soundcloud.com/libertydotme/the-lectures-of-jay-stuart-snelson-session-13-the-freedom-to-try-solution   Good morning again, ladies and gentlemen. We’re going to once again journey in our time machine to the ancient people who live in Gaul, our friends who live in the great forest. You had such a memorable experience, I thought we’d take another trip back there to illustrate a point. You are now a member of the tribe, and, more than that, you possess all of your present knowledge concerning causality. You are seated with your fellow tribesmen in a great circle that surrounds a giant tree. You can...

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Lecture #14, Entrepreneur vs. Bureaucrat May 28, 2017

Human Action Principles March 19th, 1995 Lecture Number Fourteen https://soundcloud.com/libertydotme/the-lectures-of-jay-stuart-snelson-session-14-what-is-education   Ladies and gentlemen, the question I have for you is this; which is the true means to the greatest good for the greatest number? One, entrepreneurial management of the profit system, or bureaucratic management of the anti-profit system? As always, I will show you how to take a scientific approach to answering this important question. I’ve already demonstrated, where you have entrepreneurial management within a profit system, you have a social system that optimizes freedom of choice. In sharp contrast, where you have bureaucratic management within an anti-profit system,...

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Lecture #15, What Is Education? May 27, 2017

Human Action Principles March 19th, 1995 Lecture Number Fifteen https://soundcloud.com/libertydotme/the-lectures-of-jay-stuart-snelson-session-15-money-is-just-another-product   Aristotle 384 B.C. - 322 B.C. Ladies and gentlemen, this session will be what I promised you on one topic, namely education. I think I asked you, on the assumption that most of you have gone to school for 10 to 20 years, what is education? What would you put down? Especially if you’ve gone to school for 10 to 20 years. How many of you think the subject of education is a rather large subject? Several of you. Most of you. Since the time of the ancient civilizations...

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Lecture #16, Money Is Just Another Product May 26, 2017

Human Action Principles March 19th, 1995 Lecture Number Sixteen https://soundcloud.com/libertydotme/the-lectures-of-jay-stuart-snelson-session-16-money-is-just-another-product   I’m going to talk now about something that came up at the first session. It’s been on your mind. The problem is one of pollution, and in particular bad idea number 12. If the government does not maintain slavery, the natural resources will be squandered and land will be rendered uninhabitable by pollution. Well, how do we deal with this one? If you think the problem of pollution is a serious one, you’re right. The potential for a pollution catastrophe is so great it threatens to destroy our entire...

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Lecture #17, Attenuating Crime and Maximizing Urban Security May 25, 2017

Human Action Principles March 26th, 1995 Lecture Number Seventeen https://soundcloud.com/libertydotme/the-lectures-of-jay-stuart-snelson-session-17-attenuating-crime-and-maximizing-urban-security   This lecture will be devoted to one of the most important subtitles of the principles seminar, which is, science on the attenuation of urban crime, and the optimization of urban security. A number of you have asked me questions about this whole area of what do you do about private acts of crime. We’re going to deal with that now. If we are going to apply science to attenuate crime and optimize security, as always, we have to begin with a few precise definitions. Now, on the assumption that...

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Lecture #18, Failures are Essential to Success May 24, 2017

Human Action Principles March 26th, 1995 Lecture Number Eighteen https://soundcloud.com/libertydotme/the-lectures-of-jay-stuart-snelson-session-18-failures-are-essential-to-success   Wright Brothers in 1903 Ladies and gentlemen, as we begin this lecture, we are once again stepping out of my H.G. Wells time machine into the great forest of giant trees to visit our friends, our old friends, the Galls. You remember them. At any moment, their enemies who live just beyond the giant hill may cross over that hill and attack them. Tribal members, as always, are relying upon the wisdom and leadership of the tribal elders to protect them from their enemies. Their wisdom gave birth to...

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Lecture #19, The Grand Solution May 23, 2017

Human Action Principles March 26th, 1995 Lecture Number Nineteen https://soundcloud.com/libertydotme/the-lectures-of-jay-stuart-snelson-session-19-the-grand-solution   Ladies and gentlemen, we'll continue now. During this seminar, I have made repeated references to the fact that the more important a particular subject of study is, the more difficult it is to get people to take an interest in that subject. However, if you are progressing in this seminar, and I hope you are, toward the acquisition of what I call an accelerated intellectual evolution, then at this junction, you should be an exception to this generalization. Earlier, I asked you to identify what you consider to be...

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Lecture #20, Peace, Prosperity, and Freedom in Perpetuity May 22, 2017

Human Action Principles March 26th, 1995 Lecture Number Twenty https://soundcloud.com/libertydotme/the-lectures-of-jay-stuart-snelson-session-20-peace-prosperity-and-freedom-in-perpetuity   Good evening ladies and gentleman and welcome to this final session of Human Action Principles. I congratulate all of you for having the stamina and good sense to stay with us. Five weeks ago, in the first session, in the first lecture, I identified the seven most significant and critical problems of our time: One - international war Two - world starvation Three - wide-spread poverty Four - economic depression Five - monetary inflation Six - epidemic crime Seven - failing education. The methods of science have been applied...

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