Mentors' Corner

This page is intended for full Academy members - who having worked through all 18 Segments in sequence, now have a Diploma hanging on the wall and are starting to invite friends to join.

You saw in Segment 18 some suggestions about how to find such new members. Here, there are others about how to help them with the least possible work for yourself. We're learning this as we go, so come back often - the page will be updated.

Most important: don't argue. At joining time, there are really only three bases for anyone to decide about that: (a) your recommendation, as a friend; (b) the Entrance page that indicates what kind of investment he will need to make; and (c) the Benefits page to show what return he can expect on it.

Some, we find, rush on to a subject that interests them and if they see its conclusions don't conform to their pre-judgments (prejudices, put in place by the government's huge propaganda machine) they say "Well, it looks great, but I don't agree with X", where X might refer to TOLFA's conclusions about Defense, or Justice, or Religion, etc. That's bass ackwards!

Of course a thorough study of this Academy will radically change those prejudices! That is its whole purpose. If everyone already agreed with everything it shows, it would not be needed; and as you know it tries always to achieve those changes in the sequence:

1. Premise
2. Reasoning
3. Conclusion

So you should clarify that you're there to help if, while working through the Segments carefully in sequence, the new member encounters a difficulty - but not to debate with him some conclusion he notices before having even started that self-directed homework, in depth. Life's too short!

If he won't join on the bases (a) (b) and (c) above, just ask nicely if you may repeat the invitation in a year or so, and pass on to the next on your list.

Then later if some such difficulty does arise, still don't argue. Refresh your memory of what the relevant Segment says, and point him to where it provides an answer. All being well, TOLFA already contains those answers - but if not, if you're "stumped" by the question, pass it up to your own Mentor and so on until it reaches TOLFA Central and we'll work on it.

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