Carol used her mib to talk with Alan concerning which recreation area we would visit first. This reminded me of a question:
'Why do you use your mib to talk with others when you have telepathic powers?'
She laughed. 'With my limited telepathic powers about all I can do is send or receive very general messages. Unless a person is close, my power is not clear enough to maintain integrity throughout transmission.'
'You mean it's like tuning in a television or radio channel?' I asked.
'Yes, that's a good analogy. The quality of your reception depends on how powerful the sender and how sensitive the receiver.' She paused and then said, 'Actually, only ninth and tenth levels can communicate with each other totally telepathically.'
'How about the other Macro powers like clairvoyance; precognition, retro cognition, and PK (psycho kinesis)?' I asked.
'As a rule,' she answered, 'the Macro powers are somewhat limited at the lower levels of awareness. In fact, even third and fourth levels demonstrate far more excellence in the first three Macro attributes of love, leadership, and wisdom than the seven Macro powers.'
'So you have to wait, then,' I said, 'until attaining ninth– or tenth-level awareness before demonstrating complete adequacy with the Macro powers?'
'That's right,' she answered. 'Now you can understand why I didn't try to teleport those water cups we used earlier. The cups alone I could have managed without too much effort, but fill them with water and I would have had to really work at it to keep from spilling. It would have taken a long time and would have left me tired.'
'I didn't realize it would tire you,' I said, surprised.
'You've already begun learning that true power lies simply in knowing acceptance, desire, and belief. When we first begin using Macro powers we, almost without exception, think it will all go more effectively if we try harder. This almost irresistible urge to try takes a lot of energy.'
'You mean, then,' I said, 'that it's just a matter of practice.'
She smiled and said, 'Yes, that and emental discipline. Our problem is that our lives are so happy and peaceful that we lack the necessary desire to practice very often.'
'Hmm,' I said, 'maybe that's true for you who have grown up in the Macro society and have forever to attain your goal, but I've got only three months to attain mine or return to the 20th century for the rest of my life.'
'Exactly,' Carol replied, 'and that's why the level nines and tens were willing to try bringing you here, because you would have more to lose, and thus, greater motivation than anyone in the Macro society ever had.'
'Okay,' I said, 'I'm ready to start practicing. Where do I begin?'
'Great! That's what I've been waiting for. You had to ask, we could not force you to start practicing.'
She threw her arms around me and planted quick kisses about my face.
'Well, well,' I teased. 'I'll bet even old B. F. Skinner of operant conditioning fame would approve of your behavioral conditioning techniques!'
'I don't know about Skinner, but I'm glad you feel rewarded,' she said. 'Now let's get to work and practice some PK. See if you can teleport this pebble at my feet.'
I looked at the pebble she was pointing at and decided that since it was very small it should be an easy place to start. I reached out with imaginary fingers to pick it up. It didn't budge.
'You're trying too hard,' Carol suggested. 'Relax your mind by remembering your Macro contact experience.'
After a couple of minutes of recalling how I almost lost Macro contact I stopped trying, to the best of my ability, and found my mind blissfully serene. I gently reached out for the pebble and easily raised it to eye level. Then I made it dance and weave through the air about us. For the next few minutes I experienced the strange joy of successfully using PK.
I probably would have gone on to larger objects if I hadn't become aware of a rapidly increasing weariness that seemed to be creeping through my body. I dropped the pebble.
Carol smiled wistfully. 'Now you know what I meant about becoming tired. Since you have so recently experienced Macro contact you can probably counteract the fatigue by again recalling the experience. Give it a try.'
I decided that I was just too tired to stand up any longer, so I lay down on the soft, sweet-smelling grass and tried to follow Carol's suggestion. My fatigue seemed to interfere and it was several moments before a strong memory of free-flowing, accepting Macro contact succeeded in restoring much of my vitality.
I got slowly to my feet.
'All right,' I said, 'I've learned my lesson: don't overdo in practicing Macro powers.'
Carol looked at me for a minute, then said, 'How do you feel? Now that most of your energy is restored, would you like to practice some more?'
'No,' I answered. 'I really think I'd better wait until later.' It was then that I realized that the memory of my Macro contact had been so pleasant and soothing that I no longer had any desire to practice my Macro powers.
'That's right,' Carol said, obviously practicing her telepathy. 'The memory of Macro contact can restore your energy, but it can also leave you so pleasantly satiated that any desire to put forth the effort necessary for Macro practice is greatly diminished.'
'My God!' I exclaimed. 'That's what you meant when you all said that the more Macro contacts you had, the less desire you had for growth and change!'
'Yes, that's right,' Carol replied, 'but this is only true at the lower-Macro levels. Once you've reached level nine it hardly applies, and by level ten you are completely free of any micro desire to avoid the failure-success patterns of all growth and learning.'
I forced myself to try moving the pebble again and began bouncing it along ahead of us as we continued our walking.
Carol took my hand and kissed it lightly. 'See, they were right! You do have more desire than anyone else.' Then she laughed and said, 'You're such a good influence on me that I'll help you practice, then you won't tire out so soon.' With these words she began taking turns with me at bouncing the pebble along before us.
For the next few minutes we continued this very relaxed type of simple PK usage, and while I felt some weariness beginning to return, it wasn't so awesomely overpowering as before. We ended our PK practice as we topped a slight rise and walked through an opening in a large broad-leafed hedge. There before us was the first triad playground which, I later realized, was about a quarter of a mile directly behind our Gamma building.
The huge playground was a two-hundred-yard square enclosed by the stream that surrounded it. The stream was punctuated by waterfalls and ponds with broad expanses of sand about them. An array of children's exercise devices, some of which resembled what I knew as jungle gyms, dotted the playground, making me wish I was about one fourth my size so I could enjoy the thrill of the pipe-slide or of going hand-over-hand from one end of the fifty-foot horizontal ladder to the other.
Carol surprised me by saying that such playgrounds do exist for adults in every Gamma location, emphasizing the fun and importance of adult physical play.
There were balls, blocks, and lots of various-sized and shaped toys and learning devices that I had never seen before.
While there were about a hundred children between the ages of six weeks and three years, I was surprised to see that the adults seemed to outnumber the children almost two to one.
Sensing my surprise, Carol reminded me that everyone in the first four triads had older brothers and sisters assigned to them from the older triads. In the third and fourth triads, Alpha mates shared the same 'brother and sister,' who were usually Alpha mates themselves. However, in the first and second triads each child had five elder brothers and sisters of his own assigned only from the eighth, ninth, and tenth triads, along with some other older non-student volunteers.
As we walked about the playground I was reminded that even back in the mid-20th century psychologists know that for maximum mental and physical growth children need far more than just adequate nutrition. However,
