Corresponding with the PIN coders

On 27 March 2003, I initiated correspondence with some people in the circle of Dr. Douglas Forbes, inventor of the Human PIN Code. I found their e-mail addressess on his website (http://www.humanpincode.com), and addressed my letters to them, because the site does not indicate any address for Dr. Forbes himself. He is apparently not an easy man to get hold of, unless you spend a small fortune to attend one of his workshops.

In the following, my letters are typed in bold, answers from the PIN coders are in normal script while editorial comments are in italics. So here goes:

TO:
Richard Higgins: pygprods@mweb.co.za
Jonathan Crutchley: jonathanc@humanpincode.com
Leif Brauteseth: leif@humanpincode.com
Sabrina Cuerden: sabrinac@humanpincode.com
Robert McClelland: robertm@humanpincode.com

Questions about the Human PIN code

Dear Mr Higgins

I was first introduced to the Human PIN code by a friend, who showed me Dr Forbes' eponymous book. I subsequently read through your website as well, which is where I found your e-mail address. I am writing to you since I do not have Dr Forbes' address; I hope you will not mind.

If it really works as advertised, then it is no exaggeration to say that the Human PIN Code is the stuff of which Nobel prizes are made. I am therefore quite intrigued by it, especially given that it is apparently home-grown in South Africa. I might be interested in attending some of the workshops mentioned on the website, but I would like to get some background information to properly prepare myself. I would therefore like to ask some questions about the PIN code and its creator and in what follows I have conveniently arranged my various questions in the subparagraphs.

1. I notice that Dr Forbes has a Ph.D in metaphysics. He looks like a tremendously interesting person, and I would very much like to read his Ph.D (it likely does not have anything directly to do with the PIN code, but I'm sure it is quite interesting.) With the following information, I'll be able to get hold of a copy via the library service of a local University.

1.1 I would therefore like to know at which university Dr Forbes obtained his Ph.D., what the title of his Ph. D. dissertation was and when it was written.

2. Dr Forbes' book looks equally fascinating and is no doubt an excellent introduction to his theories, but I sometimes like to get into the more technical details of ideas. I would therefore like to know in which peer-reviewed journals Dr Forbes originally published his work, and what the titles of his articles were.

2.1 I therefore kindly request the relevant citations with which I can likewise approach a University library.

3. As far as I can work out, one's date of birth is crucial to what one's PIN code is. I find this very intriguing, given that at least on the face of it, our calendar system is really quite arbitrary. For example, in the Gregorian calendar which we use in South Africa and most Western countries, my date of birth is 5 May. In the Julian calendar, still in use in some of the Orthodox churches, it is 22 April. In the International Fixed Calendar, my birthday would be 13 May. And in the ancient calendars used by the Jews, Muslims, Mayas and Egyptians I would have still other birthdays. Clearly, if one worked out my PIN code using any other calendar than the Gregorian, it would be unusable in your system. Even within the Gregorian calendar, all 5 Mays are not the same, since in Leap years, 5 May is one day further removed from 1 January than in other years. As far as I can work out, the Gregorian calendar is as arbitrary as any other.

3.1 It therefore appears as if one implication of your system is that there is something special about the Gregorian calendar. Is this the case, and if so, what could it be?

I hope answering my questions will not take up too much of your time. (If you get these types of questions very often, may I suggest putting up a FAQ section on your website?).

I look forward to deepening my knowledge of the Human PIN code. Thanking you in advance,

Yours faithfully

Brian van der Spuy

On the same day, I received two answers, which I reproduce below:

Received on 27 March 2003:

Hi Brian,

Glad to hear you are interested in the Human Pin Code. The questions you have asked are best answered by Douglas Forbes himself, as they relate directly to him, or are academic in nature.

I use the HPC Biograph in my Corporate consulting work from CEO down to to supervisory level, Individual Biographs here and overseas, and counselling with very positive results. From all sides the results of the PIn Code enable the individual /company nto bring about changes from a reactive behaviour to an Active one, Without exception, using the Pin code with individuals has resulted in a positive behavioral change, and a deeper understanding of the individuals "toolbox" for life

I hope that you enjoy your research, and you do get to attend one of the courses- The HPC really helps an individual move from reactive to active behavior, and in my opinion, the more people that can genuinely assist with this process around the world, the better for allof us!

Sincerely yours

Jonathan W G Crutchley

I recieved the following, somewhat more complete, answer from Mr Higgins. He interspersed his answers with my original questions. Following the convention in this article, my original questions are in bold, with his answers in normal script:

From: Brian van der Spuy To: pygprods@mweb.co.za Cc: jonathanc@humanpincode.com ; leif@humanpincode.com ; sabrinac@humanpincode.com ; robertm@humanpincode.com Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2003 7:30 AM Subject: Questions about the Human PIN code

Dear Mr Higgins

Dear Brian

Thank you for your email, and your very interesting and relevant questions. Unfortunately, most of them can only be adequately answered by Doug himself. I will, however, give you my personal opinions as far as possible.

I never mind responding to requests for more insight into the Human Pin Code, and set aside time every day to do so.

I agree with you that this system warrants special recognition and, after doing about 2000 readings thus far, am still constantly amazed at how profound it actually is. I have regular follow-up evenings for the people who have attended my workshops, and for those interested in finding out more before commiting to a workshop. Our next meeting is on Thursday 3rd April at my home in Blairgowrie, so you are most welcome to join us, and meet others who are actively working with the Pin Code, if you stay in the region.

Doug is undoubtably one of the most interesting and intelligent personalities I have ever met. The many hours I spent interviewing him to gather information for the book were some of the most stimulating I have ever experienced. I see, on the sleeve of our book, that Doug claims to have a Ph.D Metaphysics but I have never personally seen any proof thereof. I do know, from our discussions, that he is extremely well-read in this area.

As far as I know the University of Metaphysics in the USA is the most widely accepted institution offering this course by correspondence. They have a list of graduates on their website which did not include Doug the last time I looked, but there is someone else I know who has done three doctrates through them who is also not listed, so I'm not convinced that it is necessarily up-to-date. There are of course other instituions as well, so unfortunately only Doug will be able to enlighten you fully on this particular question.

1.1 I would therefore like to know at which university Dr Forbes obtained his Ph.D., what the title of his Ph. D. dissertation was and when it was written.

See above.

The book is, indeed, only an introduction designed to appeal to the average reader seeking a "know thyself" tool. I, too, would like to have more insight into the technical information on which this system is built but, in my experience, Doug is cautious about sharing this knowledge. The mathematics behind this system are closely linked to some of Doug's patented inventions, and that may be why he is not ready to share some of the information at this stage.

I have no idea if any of his work has been published in scientific journals.

2.1 I therefore kindly request the relevant citations with which I can likewise approach a University library.

Sorry, but only Doug can help.

This is an extremely interesting question, and one that frequently arises at my workshops. I know Doug has looked at this intensely. It was during his studies in athropology that he became intrigued by the fact that the same human evolutionary patterns (eg: the appearance of rock paintings in different locations around the planet), appeared simultaneously within the same narrow time frame. He then began applying his mathematical formulas to the human experience, and eventually developed the Human Pin Code. He made some references to the Julian and Gregorian calendars during our discussions, and I know he will have a fascinating answer to this question. Unfortuantely there was so much for me to assimilate during the writing of this book and, as it wasn't information which we were going to include, I don't recall enough to share with you.

Doug also claims that he investigated the Mayan calendar during his research, and that his system ties in perfectly with it. I have recently begun looking into the Mayan calendar and believe, like Mahatma Gandhi and many others, that it is the "natural calendar" of our planet and we should be working according to it.

3.1 It therefore appears as if one implication of your system is that there is something special about the Gregorian calendar. Is this the case, and if so, what could it be?

I agree with you that the Gregorian calendar is as arbitrary as any other, and would even go as far as to say that it is a "distortion". It is, however, a "grid" which is widely used and can provide a useful "frame of reference". I suspect that Doug has applied the Octagon Theorem and his mathematical formulas to accomodate this fact. How he has done that, only he knows. What I do know, from all my experience with the system, is that it is consistently accurate and must therefore have a very sound theoretical basis. Doug always says that "the proof of the pudding is in the eating" - which certainly applies to the Human Pin Code for me.

If we look at your date of the 5th May, for example, I am able to calculate three of the eight numbers in your Pin Code, and deduce a lot of information. Your "Personality" number would be a "five", which happens to be the same as Douglas Forbes - as well as Einstein and Shakespeare. This is the number of the "intellectual" and someone who functions primarily through logic. It was not hard to guess this after reading the first few lines of your email (who uses words like "eponymous" in everyday correspondence, for instance - nudge, nudge!), so I had to chuckle when you revealed your date of birth. It is therefore totally understandable why you seek additional information. "Fives" never stop reading, studying and seeking new information. My best friend is a "five" and his analytical mind never gives me a break. One cannot merely make a statement without it being challenged and dissected. I would love to be a "fly on the wall" if you and Doug ever got together.

You are also a "five" in your "Social Consciousness", which means that your career will also reflect this energy. "Fives" in this position are often teachers, lecturers or academics of some kind. I also find them frequently in financial institutions, where their grasp of mathematics and "numbers" make them very effective. "Fives" also make excellent teachers, so being a lecturer in economics, mathematics or finances is where you could well be. "Fives" are often attracted to "stress creating" jobs with heavy deadlines, like publishing, advertising and television. They also like travelling, and "five" is the most "restless" number, which is why I often refer to it as the "gypsy". On its reactive side, the "five" is also a rebel, so working within corporate and academic institutions is often something of a challenge. As far as I know, all of Doug's research took place "outside" of traditional academia - possibly for this reason.

You are a "one" in your "Inner Self" position, which tells me what you are like at home and with those close to you. The "one" is the independent leader, and is a creative number capable of coming up with new ideas. They like to be in charge, so at home you will be very much the "head of the household", and will not like your opinions and orders to be contradicted.

The combination of these three "air" numbers shows a quite exceptional mental intelligence and, without having your year of birth to check your other numbers, you probably have diificulty connecting with the "emotional" side of who you are. This combination has to be aware that it can appear very arrogant and critical to others, and that very few will be able to match it it the "grey matter" department.

This, hopefully, gives you some quick insight into the system, and you will be able to evaluate its accuracy for yourself.

I hope answering my questions will not take up too much of your time.

The "five" is also an extremely courteous number, which this line indicates, and has a good sense of humour.

(If you get these types of questions very often, may I suggest putting up a FAQ section on your website?).

Another good suggestion. Doug and I operate autonomiously, so I don't have any say in what appears on his website. I recently launched my own website, which is still being developed, but on which I hope to do as you have suggested. If you would like to take a look at what we have included so far, it is www.chinoukwolf.co.za

I look forward to deepening my knowledge of the Human PIN code. Thanking you in advance,

A great pleasure - perhaps we will meet in person someday.

Kindest regards
Richard Higgins

Some editorial comments:

1. The first thing that struck me while reading the above two letters, is that Dr Forbes remains something of a mystery. Nobody can give me his contact details, and many questions are answered with what amounts to 'Only Doug knows.' So I still do not know what his Ph.D. thesis was about, or whether he has ever published any academic articles in peer-reviewed journals, or what the theoretical basis of his ideas is. In the meantime, his followers seem awfully eager to get me to buy his book, or attend his expensive workshops. (It is especially weird that Mr Higgins, who is co-author of 'The Human PIN Code,' does not appear to know anything of significance about Dr Forbes.)

2. Some issues were cleared up. I initially thought Dr Forbes had a Ph.D. in metaphysics, but it turns out he actually studied through the University of Metaphysics. They have a website (http://www.metaphysics.com), so I shall contact them and find out what and when Dr Forbes studied there. I have to admit, a quick surf around their website raised some red flags with regard to the academic worth of Dr Forbes' formal qualifications.

3. While some issues became clearer, others remain a bit murky. For example, Mr Higgins explains that Dr Forbes does not want to share the details of his mathematical system because it relates to some of his patented inventions. This troubles me because, for one thing, secrecy is the very antithesis of science. Ideas that cannot be exposed to the harsh light of criticism are of rather limited worth. Furthermore, if Dr Forbes has taken out patents, then these protect his rights, and remove all further need for secrecy. In fact, patents are freely available at patent offices for public scrutiny, so I wonder why Dr Forbes considers all this secrecy necessary.

4. Mr Higgins' calculation of and comments on my PIN code are also interesting. Without going into details, let me say that he got some things right, and some things completely wrong. The details are not important, because even if he got everything wrong, one can still say that all systems (even the good ones) sometimes fail, and he had only my birthday, but not year, to work with.

What interests me much more, is the nature of his analysis. He claims that these PIN code analyses are very accurate, but I am not at all clear on what he means by that. For example, he says that I am an intellectual, who might well be a teacher, or an academic of some sort, or I might be working in a financial institution because I have a good head for numbers, or I might be in a high-stress job, such as advertising, or publishing, or television. Now that's quite a wide variety of jobs! What if I am a policeman or a bank robber? Will he then also be right (since the job entails a lot of stress)? What if I am an art critic? No stress there, but plenty of intellectualism.

Apart from the utter lack of specificity, his analysis also suffers from internal inconsistency. Academic careers are well known for their low stress nature. On the other hand, as Mr Higgins points out, a career in publishing might well require quite significant resistance to stress. In other words, he covers all his bases: whatever career I happen to be in, his analysis is spot-on.

The above is just one example; his analysis is in fact a long list of pairs of mutually contradicting attributes. I could be an academic, except that I hate academic institutions. I like low stress jobs, but I like high-stress jobs too. I'm an arrogant prick who doesn't like being contradicted, but I'm also very courteous. I work in finance because I have a head for numbers, but also might work in advertising, where I do not need to be numerate. And so on and on; I am actually kind of glad I didn't give him my birth year, or I might have had to plough through an even longer list of contradictions.

5. The fact that Shakespeare apparently has the same personality number as I do, is also significant. As far as I can work out, Shakespeare's exact date of birth is actually not known; it has simply traditionally been assumed to be 23 April because records indicate that he was baptized on 26 April. Even worse, in his time, the Julian calendar was still in use in Britain. So which date did Mr Higgins use to calculate his PIN code?

In summary, given the correspondence so far, it appears to me as if the Human PIN Code is nothing more than glorified numerology, and that a PIN analysis is nothing more than a 'cold read,' in which a vague scattershot of claims are made in such a way that at least some of them must be right. So I have grave doubts about the scientific merit of Dr Forbes' system.

But never fear, some further correspondence might clear it all up!

I originally planned to ask Mr Higgins some further questions, but then, on 31 March 2003, I received the following letter from Dr Forbes himself:

Hello Brian,

thanks for your email and the various questions.

Unfortunately it would take too long to explain in writing, all of your points put before me. Most of these questions are addressed in the workshop I run. So please forgive me if I am unable to answer your questions.

I would be giving a 'correspondence' course if I had to do justice to your questions. The topic is vast and requires some modification of present day belief's.

All of your questions are relevant to the topic and have been carefully researched. The results are some details that have theories - and some have hard facts. The result of my investigation has revealed some interesting new data about our solar system and the universe. To some people it is quite a mind shift - to others, well, they are happy livinng in the world they understand. Every answer elicits another ten questions. For example - one birthday, say the 5th May 1958 - would have 80000000000 combinations. We only have approximately 6,5 billion people on the planet - not enough to fill one day. There are 56780 birthdays to fill. Multiply this by 80000000000 - and we do not have a computer on earth that can accommodate all the combinations.

I hope this is enough to give you a window of what lies beyond - perhaps you have a understanding of why it would take too much time to answer all your questions. They are very pertinent and very relevant as I have mentioned. I look forward to meeting with you soon, you sound like a very well read and interesting person.

I notice from your birthday - you are highly intelligent and do not accept anything without careful scrutiny of all the facts - and even then you are not convinced. You are very analytical and enquiring and quite chatty when you find a subject that you enjoy. You do not suffer fools gladly - and are very sceptical.

Sincerely,

Douglas.

Some comments:

1. I rather liked Dr Forbes' informal style of writing.

2. I do not have the vaguest clue of what he is trying to say.

3. He is less than forthcoming about his formal qualifications, peer-reviewed publications and the theoretical basis of his system.

Since Dr Forbes had taken the trouble to write, I decided not to engage in further correspondence with Messrs Crutchley and Higgins, but to simply thank them for their time and then pursue my questions with Dr Forbes himself.

Dear Douglas

Thank you for taking the time to write to me. I have some brief questions and comments; I hope they will not take up too much of your time:

1. I understand your reluctance to present what will amount to a free correspondence course. Unfortunately, I cannot at present afford to attend your workshops, but I am willing, for the moment, to do this the hard way. You will have noticed in my letter to Mr Higgins that I was curious about the theoretical basis underlying the PIN code. I am also willing to study this without tuition. It is for that reason that I requested Mr Higgins to provide me with citations to the relevant peer-reviewed journals in which you first published your work. He informed me that only you would have those citations. I would therefore appreciate it if you could give me the titles of any such peer-reviewed articles, and the names of the journals in which you published them. It will then be a simple matter for me to to get hold of these articles via my local university library. I will study them on my own time, and if I find them as ground-breaking as I think they are, I might scrape together the necessary funds to attend your course.

2. I would appreciate it if you can give me the title of your Ph.D. dissertation, so that I can request a copy from the University of Metaphysics.

3. Mr Higgins mentioned that you have taken out several patents based on some of your ideas. I am curious about these. I would appreciate it if you could provide me with the relevant patent numbers and the office at which they are registered, so that I may go look them up. (Since the patents already protect your interests, you do not need to worry that I might steal your ideas! I am merely curious.)

4. A friend of mine who recently completed one of your workshops assures me that your system is entirely based on solid science, and that there is nothing at all occult or esoteric about it. Would you agree with that view?

I look forward to your reply. As I said, I do not expect you to do engage in extensive correspondence; the above brief citations will suffice for the moment.

Thanking you in advance,

Yours sincerely

Brian.

I wrote the above letter to Dr Forbes on 1 April 2003. I have not received any replies. Is it possible that the good doctor cannot give me a straight answer? Or is he just a very busy man? Let's try to find out:

Sent on 10 April 2003:

Dear Dr Forbes

I have not received any reply to my previous inquiry with regard to the Human PIN Code yet. A more skeptical person than I might have concluded that you have not published any articles in peer-reviewed journals, that your Ph.D. is bogus, that you have no patents and that your system is entirely occult and non-scientific. Personally, I think you are actually just very short on time, so I have decided to trim my questions down to a single one:

I notice on your website that you believed you have (solved?) uncovered Pythagoras' Octagon Theorem. I have been unable to find any references to this theorem anywhere on the web. Could you perhaps briefly outline what it is, and how it relates to the human psyche? Perhaps there is a web page or standard text on mathematics where it is all explained, so that I can go read it for myself?

Your assistance is much appreciated.

Kind regards

Brian.

Received on 14 April 2003:

Dear Brian,

unfortunately I am unable to give my full attention to work just now. The reason - my mother passed away on Friday after a short illness (1 month) in which time I had to attend to her and help most of the time. The funeral is tomorrow - I am sure you will understand my reluctance to get into debates right now.

My certificate hangs in my office - I did not print it - it has an official stamp - you are welcome to come and examine it.

My Patent cover most of the questions concerning the black hole - you are quite welcome to contact :-

mtingle@mweb.co.za Mark handles all queries regarding the patent.

Douglas.

Well, I can't go pestering Dr Forbes in a time of grief, so I decided to let it drop for a while, and instead take up correspondence with Mark, as suggested by Dr Forbes.

Sent on 16 April 2003:

To Dr Forbes:

Dear Dr Forbes

My condolences on your loss. I shall leave you in peace for a month or two, and take up my questions with Mark, as you suggest.

Regards

Brian

And to Mark, on the same date:

Dear Mark

I was referred to you by Dr Douglas Forbes. Due to the recent death of his mother, he cannot at present answer some of the questions I have concerning his mathematical system, the Human PIN Code and his patent(s). He told me you might well be able to help.

On his website, Dr Forbes informs visitors that he has uncovered Pythagoras' Octagon theorem. I wonder if you could tell me what this theorem is. Is there perhaps a website where I can read more about it, or perhaps a mathematical text of some kind that explains the problem?

I am also interested in Dr Forbes' patent, which apparently consists of a miniature black hole. I wonder if you can tell me more about it. Has the patent been registered yet, and if so, at which patent office and under which patent number? On which principle does it work?

I would appreciate your help with the above questions.

Yours sincerely

Brian van der Spuy

Up to now, no answer yet...

� 2003 Brian van der Spuy