Mr Francis Keith Robins

I was born on the 21st December 1945 in Birkenhead, a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside. If you search for it on Google Maps, you will find Birkenhead just to the west of Liverpool. It would be a part of Liverpool but the river Mersey which derives its name from the Anglo-Saxon lan- guage and translates as "boundary river", separates it from the big city. The shape of the estuary is unusual and creates a nar- rows between Liverpool and Birkenhead which is only 0.7 miles wide. Once upon a time, the river was the border between the ancient kingdoms of Northumbria and Mercia.

I am the son and only child of Frank Robins and Mary Farmer. My Father worked as a secretary and director at Hunt Bros, a timber’s brokers. My mother was a housewife and took up em- ployment in a wallpaper showroom later on. She took up paint- ing at age 60 and went on a painting holiday and won the first prize for the best painting, beating art teachers who also took part in the competition.

I have always lived in the same house, a typical British red brick building, surrounded by a garden. From my childhood I do recall a den at the bottom of the garden which was made up tea chests, bricks, gents toilet door and clothes to dress up – rule no dogs or girls allowed.

My parents were excellent and I had a brilliant childhood, de- spite the economic distresses that accompanied the challenging times after World War II. However, there was one uncommon

thing and that was that both of my parents were hypersensitive. I inherited their hypersensitivity. I have only very selective memories, e.g., I cannot remember going on holidays to Aus- tralia, South Africa and Cyprus.

I went to Wallasey Technical Grammar School and got my A levels in chemistry and mathematics. I was awarded the school prize for chemistry and the prize was a book. The book that I chose was the “History of Western Philosophy” by the famous British Philosopher Bertrand Russell (1872-1970). I thought that this was a book that I should read. I was interested in thinking but because of my hyperactive mind I could never read a book cover to cover.

I then went on to Bradford University and gained a BSc in Math- ematics. I chose mathematics because of my love for numbers. Having a hyperactive mind meant that it is difficult for me to write essays and read. The love of numbers has always been a part of me. I can recall some memories of my early childhood when I sat in my pram and was asking what the numbers of the houses we passed by were. When travelling on a train my mother occupied my mind hyperactive mind by setting maths problems. Maths and objective thinking provided a solid foundation for me, a territory in which I have always felt safe and at home.

Being hypersensitive, I do not like mistakes. I am simply afraid of making mistakes. I realised early on that the information on which reality is based can be either true or false. Therefore I re frained from living in the realm of perceptions. The narrative of my life is that I do not create perceptions because of my hyper- active mind. I became a genius in my perception less way of dealing with life as a result of being a victim of circumstance.

I cannot control my life as far as the word “control” is understood, I can only live for the moment. I tend to leave things behind when I go on holidays because my mind rushes on.

After university, I worked for 29 years as a Civil Servant and then as an Auditor for several Councils, among them Wirral MBC, Knowles MBC, Cheshire County Council and Liverpool City.

When I was having problems to meet work deadlines, my em- ployer asked me to seek help. So I went to Victoria Central Hospital Wallasey and saw a psychiatrist. She spent some time ana- lyzing the way I think and found it different from the norm,

i.e. fundamentally based on thinking in sets and she suggested that I publicise it, so that other people could learn about it.

I use set thinking instead of creating perceptions. I do not create perceptions because of my hyperactive mind. My objective thinking strategy helps me to live the best life that I can live.