“Use to understand. Do not use to operate.” — Chris Montgomery
The Origin – The Code of Life
The TFB proposes that there is a common element present in every form of life that sustains action and continuity. This element does not appear only in the adult and rational human being. It is present from the simplest forms of life to the most complex levels of human experience.
"The axis is not explained, just as thought is not explained. No one can point to where a thought begins, how it arises or where exactly it comes from—it simply happens. The axis is even deeper than that."
"Everything real comes from the invisible."
— Key phrase of TFB · 2025
Supported by logical and empirical evidence registered from 2019 to 2025.
The Theory of Fundamental Belief (TFB) suggests that every manifestation of reality — physical, emotional, mental or spiritual — is born from an invisible field, shaped by belief. Therefore, belief, through the TFB lens, analyzes what has been called by different names and contexts throughout the entire human trajectory, and reduces it to a single common element. One without which the human being would collapse — supposed, by logical and epistemological factors, to be the only element that could not be removed without human life fragmenting in its continuity.
The Binary Axis: Two Poles in Balance
The foundation of all human experience begins with a simple binary record.
Key concepts from "The Origin – The Code of Life"
Before there was any attempt at formal explanation, there was already something working. Patterns repeated themselves, decisions happened, movements continued even without guarantee. From experience to observation, for years, attention was focused on human behavior in real situations—not in ideal or controlled scenarios, but in life as it happens.
There is a common difficulty when trying to understand how the human being organizes itself. What comes first is not thought—what comes first is functioning. The cognitive Axis is the basic mode from which the human being begins to operate and register the world. It is formed before language, before reflection, and before the construction of the self.
The first record is binary, anchored in only two possible poles: accepted or not accepted, safe or not safe, loved or not loved. These are not thought ideas nor conscious internal phrases—they are translations that come later from a structural record that has already been installed.
Throughout life, the cognitive axis is shaped by adjustments that form sub-beliefs. They shape the functioning of the axis, expanding or restricting our responses with combinations and incomparable details. Two people can go through similar experiences yet register opposite poles.
Belief is what moves us. Every action, no matter how small, requires belief—even getting out of bed in the morning. Without belief, there is no movement, no decision, no continuation. It is the invisible engine that precedes every gesture, every choice, every step forward.
Before emotion exists, there is already feeling. Feeling is not organized emotion, it is not a nameable emotional state, and it does not depend on interpretation. It is the organism's first living contact with experience. It is direct perception, immediate reaction, a primary reading of what is happening, prior to any internal elaboration.
Before organized thought, language, or reflection exist, the human being already feels. This feeling manifests through simple responses: crying, laughing, reacting to discomfort or pleasure. Emotions do not depend on cognition in order to exist; they precede it. Cognition does not create emotion; it interprets it afterward.
Thought is an exclusively human capacity. At all previous levels, functioning was already in operation before thought. However, there is a specific point at which something new emerges: conscious cognition. Thought emerges after feeling and emotion. It does not inaugurate functioning, but rather attempts to explain what is already happening. Cognition enters as a later layer, responsible for interpreting, justifying, organizing, and giving verbal meaning to lived experience.
From the moment thought emerges, a new layer of human functioning also appears: behavior. Unlike feeling and emotions, which can exist prior to cognition, conscious behavior becomes mediated by thought. Behavior does not arise directly from the axis, nor from feeling in a raw form. It emerges when thought interprets experience and transforms that interpretation into action. It is thought that defines how an action will be carried out.
The order of human functioning, according to the TFB, can be understood as follows: Axis → Sub-beliefs → Feeling → Emotions → Thought → Behavior. Removing the TFB lens and using simpler language: Axis → Functioning → Feeling → Emotions → Thought → Behavior. This sequence shows that lasting change does not occur because the individual forces themselves to act differently, but because they begin to function in a different way.
In safe environments, the cognitive axis operates in a more flexible way, using later records. But when pressured, the axis automatically returns to the primary record. This does not happen by choice, nor by conscious memory—it happens because the primary record is the oldest.
This element does not act only where reason reaches—it also acts when reason fails, when explanation is not sufficient, and when control is not possible. Even so, it demands action, continuity, and persistence, to the limit of understanding and beyond it.
The cognitive Axis is the basic mode from which the human being begins to operate and register the world. It is not born from an idea, nor from a conscious conclusion. It is formed before language, before reflection, and before the construction of the self.
The axis is not explained, just as thought is not explained.
It is an invisible structure, prior to thought, feeling, and any attempt at understanding.
What can be observed are the records it makes, the sub-beliefs that form, and the patterns of functioning.
Author's Note
"This book was not born from an editorial plan—it was born from a process. Over the years, I have repeated countless times that each case is a case, and that nothing is by chance. This is not a catchphrase, but rather a realization that only appears when we look back with enough honesty to see the connections."
— Chris Montgomery
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