I was recently talking with an old friend about another friend of mine who is unwilling to discuss anything outside of her belief structure – either agree with her or don’t discuss it. This friend I was out with said, “that’s a shame, but at least we can agree to disagree.” I thought this odd since we hadn’t actually discussed anything we were disagreeing about. Then it struck me. He was talking about the problem that I haven’t been jabbed with the C19 jab and he believes in the mainstream narrative. But he wants to enjoy the outdoors with me, so it makes for interesting conversations – or lack thereof. I am willing to discuss my views and listen to things within or outside of my current beliefs. The key point being I am always open to discussion, and I am always ready to scrutinize my beliefs as I gain new information. Unfortunately, I find so many people are so entrenched with their beliefs that they would rather not discuss anything that might cause them cognitive dissonance. This has the unfortunate result of creating denial, so that despite any doubts they still tenaciously hang on to their beliefs and even actively continue to support actions and read sources that confirm their belief structures.
I was talking to a neighbor about sustainability and the Covid C19 information and their reaction can be best summed up as, “That can’t be true – the environment is fine and the mainstream narrative about Covid is correct.” No more discussion to be had. In my PhD research (see prior post Richard’s Research on Worldviews and why he is optimistic about a transformation {June 2018}) I had to figure out why people could have so much Cognitive Dissonance that didn’t seem to bother them? At that time, I did a lot of research reviewing on why people can belief something as true when it obviously may not be. I ran across an early psychological-truth researcher, Tim Levine, who has since developed the idea of ‘Truth Bias Theory now known as Truth Default Theory.’ (For a recent and highly readable overview of this work I recommend Malcolm Gladwell’s 2019 book, Talking to Strangers.) In my reviewing I was trying to understand why some people are authentic in that they act congruently with their beliefs and others accept contradictions until cognitive dissonance finally hits them. What Levine has come to explain is that it is not why people accept doubts despite contradictions, but what is the crucial threshold of doubts that finally pushes them into uncomfortable dissonance. What we see in inauthentic people is that they will not ask questions that may give answers they do not want to see. And hence, live with ambiguity by ignoring anything contradictory (Truth-Bias). It is human nature to believe communication is honest, which in turn makes humans highly vulnerable to deception. Fear of finding out something unpleasant is usually the reason people will not explore their beliefs.
Most people remain manipulatable (hence inauthentic) whenever they are cognitively forced to choose between what seems reasonable, despite contradictions, and what brings something to mind that is too painful to imagine and recognize. After all, who wants to find out they have been misled or lied to by authorities they hold as relatively honest. It’s why false flag events work so well until finally questioned (e.g., earlier my earlier posts on sovereignty {November 2018 and March-June 2021}). It’s the “I believed until the obvious contradictions were something I couldn’t ignore anymore.” Once you start thinking for yourself and being who you want to be is when authenticity starts kicking in. Once you can ask ‘What if questions’ then you can expand your mind to break out of the conditioning and you have personal power (A Do-rocracy as Rob Hopkins would say – see two posts back). What I have noticed more and more is that the previous perception of a stable truth reality has diminished. While many still cling to the old reality, many more are waking up to recognize just how conditioned they have been.
The definition of mental disambiguation is a removal of uncertainty or confusion through considered thinking (meta-cognition). There is resistance by so many to waking up to how modern corporate controlled systems keep us hostage to consumerism. This reminds me a bit of the Stockholm syndrome in that people cope with feelings of being trapped by feeling positive to the harsh economic and socio-cultural conditions imposed up on them. Knowing that people filter everything they see through their consumer worldview of what they expect to see, the solution to breaking out of that constrained reality is to consciously make an effort to decide on personal sovereignty. There is a lot written about self-actualizing oneself, but let me sum it up.
Self-Actualized people find humor in almost any given situation. I wouldn’t say they are Pollyanna’s but more optimistic realists. By being present in the moment (not living for some mythical future salvation) they get more enjoyment and satisfaction out of what is occurring right in the present moment. Understanding what they need in order to gain a sense of fulfillment and retain the ability to feel secure and unashamed in who they are – they are authentic and live with integrity. Self-actualized people are not perfect and don’t try to be. They live life on their own terms with considered responses instead of reacting to every provocation thrown at them. They accept diversity as a positive and not a reason for separation. As such they practice kindness even if they do not necessarily like the people with whom they are interacting. It is important for them to choose Love and Compassion instead of Fear and Derision because it serves them in dealing with life’s chaos by believing in the possible potentials instead of living in despair and anxiety from perceived fears and doubts. Authentic people recognize that there are few objective truths and readily look at alternative perspectives as a natural way of thinking, and are willing to change their minds before making any conclusions in responding to naysayers and/or dogmatic thinking.
If there is one positive aspect of the Covid event during this past two years, it is the growing awareness by many of the need to slow down, rest, concentrate on relationships, and decrease their reliance on the materialistic system. We hear of this conspiratorial New World Order but how often do we consider that we can create the New World? Instead of waiting for some hierarchy to tell us what to do, we can self-actualize ourselves and create a world we want to see. And it all begins locally with how we live in a place with the people we know in making a new kind of society. I always hear the naysayers at this point with their reasons as to why it cannot work, but why not? When we ask ourselves, “How good can it get?” what comes to mind? Note how the question frames a positive potential. As a species we are designed to work collaboratively – it’s in our DNA. It is only the current materialistic system that has set up against each other with a privileged sense of individualism to be dependent on the system. Be authentic, and yet be a part of the whole, working symbiotically and commensally. Think about living in a way that you do things that resonate emotionally with you, things you love to do. That’s how we get to a world that is sustainable and equitable to all life. John Lennon had it right when he sang Imagine.
‘Stop fixating on what other people are doing or saying; the money, the connections, the outward appearance of things. Look inward.’ Robert Greene.
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