Cunning Ploy Dreaming Snippett – 02-02-2026

February 2, 2026 ~ quantumdreamer ~ Leave a comment

One of the recurring themes in my dreams along with “somebody else’s mess” is the “cunning ploy / plan” theme.

This theme arose in the dream last night concerning two people I once knew.

There is a certain kind of person which cannot resist trying to be cunning and using “clever” tricks to manipulate and seek some kind of advantage or gather some information. They have a play book of tricks and methods and a modus operandi which changes little. There is an expectation that these plays or ploys can be relied upon to secure similar results. They often have some kind of negotiation in mind usually of a transactional nature.

In never occurs to them to be open straightforward and honest. Their ploys can be “relied” upon to secure similar results.

I am pretty bored with the whole cunning ploy theme…Yawn…

If you play a cunning ploy delivery with a straight bat it can cause the ploy to go badly awry. No cunning required on my part just play straight.

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My mother tried to elicit me to cajole her to come to my second wedding. She said that it was difficult and far for her. I replied that if that was the case then I would understand if she did not come.

Many people try to get some emotional manipulation leverage based upon “rules” to which they imagine others will comply. When it goes pear shaped it can be difficult. I can think of a quite a number of cases when other people’s cunning ploys have gone very badly wrong because I have played straight and not played their game. These ploy attempts have had major consequences.

Some people simply cannot conceive of being simple and straightforward. It is just beyond their ability. They do not approach with open hands or open hearts; they are after something.

It is just yawn-some.

For a while I was in “pastoral care” and many students tried to take advantage of the system / me. Unfortunately for them I was in the habit of taking notes and had a good memory. I was prone to repeat their prior narratives to them. Quite a number of schemes failed and the only people who knew were me and them. Confidentiality was important.

Quite why the “cunning ploy” theme is resurfacing again I do not know, but it has been noted by me…

Yawn…

Dreaming in New Perceptions – Recurring Motif

November 2, 2025 ~ quantumdreamer ~ Leave a comment

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One of the purposes of dreaming, of the dreaming, is to dream in new perceptions. These perceptions may differ from those in normal “conscious” waking thought. I have suggested here that most people while normally awake may not be fully conscious. The lights may be on.

This notion of perception is why I often follow up on dreams to see where the “thread” may lead. I have indeed found out new stuff doing this and it has expanded “research” in sometimes interesting ways. Sometimes it is a cul-de-sac.

This morning I have had an unpleasant dream whose contents points directly at a specific person. The theme along the lines of “perfidious Albion” points at that person seeking to exact revenge upon me {again}, coerce me and otherwise manipulate me. They are perhaps now of big cheese status in England. This theme of people seeking revenge on me has occurred on and off over the years and with a number of people in the role of seeker of revenge, of wanting to score points etc. I think it is sad, Jurassic, Palaeozoic and old. It is the tawdry theme of soap opera.

I personally do not get or understand the revenge / getting even motivation / folly. It is childish and petty. These days even the most powerful still express it.

Last night we watched an episode of Dragon’s Den and in that Touker Suleyman suggested to a hopeful that they really had not thought things through. Many of the schemes in the Den are harebrained and ill conceived. People can remain fixated upon their ideas, their game plan. They struggle to evolve their thinking.

People accustomed to the practice of attempted manipulation also do not always think things through. They are caught up in the “game” and like the “reward” of emotional intensity. However from to time the attempted manipulation goes very badly awry and this really pisses them off. You can play a manipulation with a straight bat.

For example on the occasion of my second wedding my mother played the “it is very difficult to get to the venue” delivery anticipating a “I would really love to have you there, please come” return. Instead she got a relaxed, “if it is so difficult please don’t put yourself out”. The conversation ended and the wedding was mother free.

People accustomed to manipulation are not accustomed to bluff calling. They expect some kind of negotiating argy-bargy. This is what the vampiric manoeuvre is all about. They want to feed.

Those enamoured of socio-political itchy back negotiation often cannot see other perspectives. Not everyone seeks a deal with Mephisto. This does not occur to some. Those fond of argy-bargy cannot envisage renunciation or sacrifice. Such responses can completely nonplus and non sequitur a game player.

On multiple occasions people have initiated a “negotiation” game.

I have responded with my “fuck this for a game of soldiers” mentality and walked away. This has had far reaching consequences unforeseen by those unable to envisage such a behaviour because they have been selfish and very “what is in it for me” oriented. They do not get self-less-ness one bit. It is sub-angstrom to their mentality.

Only the very high functioning borderline sociopath might anticipate a sacrificial or self-immolation response. They may deliberately drive this outcome but that too can have unforeseen consequences. It is difficult to punish someone who is no longer there.

Viewed from one angle I have renounced many things and this has caused turmoil in the wake. It is unexpected to fall on one’s sword in the absence of significant applied duress.

I have the self-sacrificial vibe as a part of my mentality, my core. Some geezer once said, trying to be clever, that I was a part of the equation as to why things were not working. I simplified his equation for him by removing myself entirely from it. I don’t know if he ever found a solution thereafter.

In today’s dream the protagonist wanted to make me pay. I kneeled, prostrated and said that I will pay. I re-iterated many times.

I know from a previous life what it feels like to die as a sacrificial act. I have often wondered if that is again on the cards.

My next prostrate specific antigen test is due in March…

Talking Behind Someone’s Back and Fait Accompli

February 21, 2025February 21, 2025 ~ quantumdreamer ~ Leave a comment

At the moment there is a bit of furore in the press that Trump et al. are taking with Putin et al. behind the backs of Ukraine, Europe and the UK. They are doing this in the Machiavellian home of Saud.

People seem not to like this yet they talk behind the backs of others on a regular basis. It is a play straight out of the forceful manipulation handbook / playbook, cobble together some cunning plan and then present it to the absentee(s) as a fait accompli. Should they not accept they are branded ungrateful and non-cooperative even if they have to bend over grab their ankles and take it up the arse without lubricant.

The praetorians always know what is best for the plebs. The plebs should thank their lucky stars.

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Behind closed doors cabals are not inclusive. They may pretend and profess to be, but that is bullshit.

These cabals are part of what is euphemistically termed “management practice”. The 1922 committee is an example of behind doors stitch up. I have been on the periphery of such behaviours and perhaps on the receiving end of fait accompli. It is a Don Corleone offer even without the nocturnal equine encouragement.

Wherever actual transparency as opposed to the public relations version of that is absent, gossip spreads faster than Covid 19 at a race meeting / piss up. I saw firsthand on Twitter / X how misinformation and BS spread faster than a Los Angeles wild fire blown by a warm breeze.

A forced “agreement” rarely has longevity. A contract based on gossip and hearsay lacks solid foundations.

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I have never myself appointed a spokesperson or port-parole so if any charlatan pretends to speak on my behalf, they are lying. If someone says behind closed doors that they know what I am after, what I might want / like they are delusional, mendacious and manipulative. Yet I could not stop anyone from casting themselves as such. People may speculate, that is at best inaccurate and at worst dangerous.

Many people are so sure that they know how to sort a situation out, how to bring it to a close. Such premature omniscience is rarely able to hold back adamant opinion. It rarely occurs to these that they may be wrong. One cannot change the view of an adamant dogmatic by persuasion.

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Do you talk behind people’s back?

Do you make cunning plans without inclusive consultation?

Are you a Trump mini-me?

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Confirmation Bias and Conditional Transactional Interactions

December 31, 2024 ~ quantumdreamer ~ Leave a comment

The previous post is an I Ching consultation and I will use it to inform any interactions upcoming which I might have in 2025. I am aware that confirmation bias is a widespread phenomenon. One of the lines speaks about someone withdrawn from the world being seen as aloof by others and not caring about what others think or say about him. That fits me, maybe. Now is my confirmation bias wanting to see that fit or is it by way of an accurate description, an oracle which arises out of six shakes of three coins. It could be a fluke. It is suggesting an increase in interaction. If that happens my confirmation bias might say “look the I Ching is right”.

My confirmation bias, if indeed it is that has found numerous good fits between I Ching consultations and “reality” during the near thirty five years I have been consulting it. I could be delusional. But If I am I am detached and delusional.

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For most people interpersonal interaction or “relationship” is of a conditional transactional nature. This time of year, people send Christmas cards and exchange presents. Good behaviour in children is rewarded by a nice present, if finances allow. This is a transaction. “If you are good, you can have a nice bike.” If we send someone a Christmas card and they don’t return the favour, they may get left off next year’s card list. If don Corleone does you a favour, you owe him one back. If you fund the Trump election campaign you might get the nod for attorney general. You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.

One could say that this normal socio-political behaviour. We could call it conditional because the conditional if is implied if not explicit. Taken too far this behaviour is corruption. Gifts to politicians to curry favour need to be transparent, but a bribe is still a bribe. Bribery is an expectation and a norm in some countries. The confirmation bias of a norm fails to see illegality. “That is the way we do things around here.”

Nearly always with favour is a returned favour expected. People have a confirmation bias that this is the way of the world. Few acts are genuinely unconditional. There is some kind of price, or reward and maybe temptation or manipulation.

If you look back at the I Ching consultation it suggests that some might offer sexual favours easily to gain power. This theme is throughout human interactional history.

Out of the blue we had visitors yesterday. They asked us if we had plans for tonight New Year’s Eve. We don’t. The lack of drama in the festive period in this house is notable in comparison to much of the world. Are we ruining the illusion of Christmas like the grinch? No, it is calm and drama free. Which for some is difficult to understand.

If you live by the mantra of scratch my back… and someone did something unconditional your confirmation bias would imagine that they wanted something back. Recently I asked someone for their opinion on a course of action I was considering and he said I should use the lens of “what is in it for me?”

That is not at all how I think. Our orientation towards the world differs.

I am coming around to an opinion / hypothesis that the majority of people do not understand unconditional behaviour or acts. Most people are on the make, most of the time. They are after something; they want some thing or other. Which means they can be leveraged, by favour, money, kudos, apparent friendship or a New Year’s Honour.

My confirmation bias is that I am unlikely to be on the New Year’s honours list and sure enough we have not yet received anything from The Cabinet Office.

I told you so.