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Ideal Society Index report comparing 2006 and 2007
by Global Good News staff writer

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5 December 2007

On the Global Family Chat, broadcast on the Maharishi Channel, Dr Peter Swan (Minister of Communication of the Global Country of World Peace) read a report and showed slides about the Ideal Society Index, comparing the quality of news in the world press in 2006 and 2007 following the establishment of the Invincible Netherlands and Invincible America assemblies.

Dr Swan said that since March 2006, the Ideal Society Index group has been monitoring the world press reports in order to record changes in positivity.

Each day the top ten reports from Reuters news were classified as Positive, Negative or Neutral: Positive articles scored plus 1, Neutral articles scored 0, and Negative articles scored -1. The total for the ten articles gives a daily rating indicating the overall positivity of the news that day. This fluctuates substantially from day to day, but when averaged over longer periods, distinct trends emerge.

For easy comparison, the monthly rating totals are converted into a standard index with a range of -100 for completely negative news and 100 for completely positive news. The results have been posted on Global Good News where one can see the Ideal Society Index.

Dr Swan reported that the monthly averages of the Index have risen over the past year, with significant rises following the establishment of the Invincible Netherlands course in mid-April, 2006, and the Invincible America Assembly on 23 July, 2006.

When the Invincible America Assembly attained the Superradiance number equal to the square root of one per cent of the population practising Yogic Flying together in a group, the values of the Index became positive for the first time. This is reflected in the months of December, 2006, and January, 2007. However in February the Index dropped into the negative again. At the same time it was noticed that the numbers attending the group Yogic Flying on the Invincible America Assembly had dropped below the square root of one per cent requirement. This corresponded to a period of intensely cold weather in Maharishi Vedic City, so it appears that seasonal factors may need to be taken in to consideration.

For a comparison of the changes from 2006 and 2007 at the same time of year, the Index for the last twelve days of March was selected, because during that time there was no strong bad weather. There was a significant improvement in the direction of an ideal society over this time, from -31 to 9.

This change from -31 to 9 is statistically significant as the standard deviation on both values is about 20 points. Ratings have been carried out consistently using the same criteria by the same rater on a daily basis.

If one extends the period from the end of March to the 12 of April, 2006 when the Invincible Netherlands course commenced, there is a slightly greater increase in the Index from -38 to 13. Again, the improvement is about two standard deviations.

Pie charts were shown comparing the news rating from the March-April period for 2006 and 2007. The Positive, Negative, and Neutral sections were shown in different colours and it was noticeable that the proportion of negative news, which was more than half in 2006, has reduced to less than a quarter. Both the Neutral and Positive categories increased from 2006 to 2007.

The criteria for judging a category a news item falls into are the qualities of an ideal society. For example, progress towards peace is Positive. Gain of Knowledge is Positive. Sports results and elections, where one side wins and one side loses, are classified as Neutral, as are trivial events.

War and violence are considered Negative as there is no place for suffering in an ideal society. Conflicts confined to the media are mostly considered neutral. There was a larger section for the Neutral category on the chart for 2007.

Dr Swan said that we can see from the larger areas of the Positive and Neutral categories in 2007, that trends are moving in a positive direction since invincibility groups have been established independent of season.

Natural events of themselves are also considered Neutral, but the social impact is most often reported in the news. For example, an earthquake in Japan is considered Neutral if the main impact is that highways were closed while they were being inspected for safety.

The proportion of Positive events in the world more than doubled after the establishment of large groups of Yogic Flyers, from less than 1/6th in 2006 to more than 1/3rd in 2007. This is the key point to note. In 2006 it was 14%, in 2007 it is 35%, much more than double. This correlates with large groups of Yogic Flyers between 2006 and 2007.

A chart showed the trends for the whole period. Positivity rose significantly since the start of the Invincible America Assembly at the end of July 2006. July was the low point of the Index with a value of -39, the most negative news.

After the United State Superradiance number was reached at the end of November 2006, the monthly averages moved into the positive side of the chart for the first time. That means there was more good news than there was bad news.

In January 2007 the average evening Superradiance tally for the Invincible America Assembly was 1,761, the only month that the average Superradiance number for the United States, which is 1733, has been exceeded. In the same month the Ideal Society Index reached its maximum value so far, which is 7.

Since then the Index has fluctuated around the neutral line and the numbers of the Invincible America Assembly have also remained close to the threshold for invincibility.

More and more nations in Latin America and the Caribbean are rising to the number of Yogic Flyers needed for national invincibility. On May 20, 2007, Trinidad and Tobago reached its invincibility requirement, adding to the effect of the Invincible America Assembly. Bolivia, Chile, Peru, and Colombia have all achieved their required numbers of Yogic Flyers in the schools of those nations and recently there have been moves toward resolving a long-standing civil war in Colombia.

With the continuing growth of the number of Yogic Flyers on the Invincible America Assembly in the United States, together with the influence of Yogic Flyers in Latin America, Dr Swan said it will be very interesting to see how the Ideal Society Index reflects the rising coherence in world consciousness. This will be reported in future Ideal Society Index presentations.

Copyright © 2007 Global Good News(sm) Service.

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