It's interresting to watch people argue. Especially when there is no common ground. Which brings us into what is commonly called "reality" but is anything but for most.
When speaking of reality, we are really speaking in terms of our reality. Lawyers are actually trained to attune the reality to so called facts. I'm not spiraling into relativism here, but merely bringing to light something that most people in the world accept.
differences of opinion
I actually am getting to hate the word reality. Most people sling it about like a hammer looking for nails. To the untrained, hitting the nail properly can be difficult. Some have a gift for it.
But I am hating it, because once you realize the power of reality, you understand what is broken in the world. You see, in the dictionary reality is:
That which is real; an actual existence; that which is not imagination, fiction, or pretense; that which has objective existence, and is not merely an idea.
But it IS actually an idea. Because whether people know it or now, our conscious is made up of ideas. That's why people sit around and soak up the TV for hours on end. We tell ourselves that we're merely watching a show, but our physical neurological brain doesn't know the difference. And you are training your brain and tuning the visual memory into ideas. And, depending on what you watch, it's a dangerous, reckless activity. You're just rewarding your brain.
I hear it all the time
How many times has this happened to you. You Mom or Dad calls you up about some issue or event, which you have intimate knowledge of, and says something untrue or skewed. Be it the election, or something in your field of knowledge, you tend to blow it off or sometimes simmer a bit over it.
My point exactly. What you depend on for "news" is simply a caricature of reality. Merely the shadow of the flame, so to speak. Not to say that news or papers or books CAN'T inform you of reality, but what is lacking, ultimately, is the scarriest, biggest, most dangerous and powerful idea ever concieved by mankind.
Truth
We organize Courts of Justce, Criminal and Civil law, and spend billions of dollars a year searching for it. And in this day and age, we are farther from it than in the history of mankind, because we yearn so despirately for it.
What has changed?
Socrates and Plato, indeed most of the early philosophers were in search of the Truth. And they found it in some ways. The Church is centered on the "universal truth." We all want to know it. So what has changed?
Manipulating the truth can be advantageous. We all know that. That's why the stock market is so heavily regulated. That's why "truth in advertising" is regulated by the FCC. That's why Clinton got skewered, and probably by Bush will loose the election or only win narrowly.
What has changed is that people of this day and age believe that reality is truth. And our vision of reality as Adults is largely based on the media, who claim the truth while manipulating us to buy a product in the same sentence. Our children may grow up imitating our behaviours and thought patterns, only to find something missing.
hermits unite!
When reality becomes truth for the majority, then eventually two or more factions will form over disagreements. When neither group can grasp the truth, then suffering is inevitible. Should we all crawl into caves and:
giving over his books, and forsaking his father's house and wealth, with a mind only to serve God, he sought for some place where he might attain to the desire of his holy purpose; and in this sort he departed [from Rome], instructed with learned ignorance and furnished with unlearned wisdom" like St Benedict?
pragmatic methods for living
Lots of people believe the world is going to end.. real soon now. Any time. Bring it on. COME ON!!!!
But it's not what we should do.
I read a story about the bears at Yosamity park. During a period of the last century, people were encouraged to feed the bears from their cars and interact with nature. What happened next will shock you though! The bears forgot how to fish, how to forage for food, how to be fierce... in other words they forgot what being a bear was all about. It took 10 years for the bears to relearn these skills. Ten painful years, actually.
By and large, the first world countries of the world have forgotten what it means to be human. And I can guarantee it will take longer than 10 years to rectify. Western Society has been structured around replacing economic models with more and more abstraction. The market doesn't control the lever of prices anymore, and we are straying from the truth of the environment, our families, and indeed our entire society.
There's a reason the ancients are ancient. Every time, over and over again. The damn reality suddenly didn't fit the truth, and the house/temple/kingdom/empire came tumbling down. That's what made the middle ages so dangerous for "outside the norm" thought! People still remembered the fall of Rome.
We, by and large, don't. And the lessons or a harsh reality are happily washed away with this replacment that places reality outside of our existance, namely mass media.
Civilization, the game
Still my all time favorite game. I used to always get stuck in the part about revolution and keeping my people happy. You see, if you don't keep the majority of them happy, they revolt. No big deal, till you notice they arn't producing anything. In civilization, you can "send in the elvises" which means drowning out the sorrow with entertainment. Or you can build temples, wonders, coloseiums. Using elvises is a global solution but expensive overall. Building worthwhile institutions which society organizes around is local solution, and provides a better solution.
If you think about it, mass communication, even the internet itself, is merely the elvis solution. Sure, there is some organization into institutions, but by and large the populous is merely consuming entertainment.
Blogging is interesting, but in the end ineffective to conveying the truth. I'm not even sure you understand my words, much less care for them.. Perhaps it is even more dangerous than the media, as people come to trust in bloggers.
How to find the truth
Unwrap package and remove plastic. Microwave on high for 8 minutes, or until dish is hot. If you're microwave is puny it might take 10 minutes. Or if it's a radar base station, it may only take a second or two. Alternatively, rub two sticks together and blow the hot particles onto a flamable material.
I don't know what works for you. But all that matters is getting the fire going. First order your life and work. Find quiet time to actually think alone and contemplate. Take a weekend off and help the needy. Offer to watch a family or friends kids so they can get out.
Just eating from the passing cars is going to start you when the cars stop coming. When we're not considered cute enough to feed anymore, or when the roads close from snow. If you don't have the ability to reconcile the truth, then you'll eventually starve yourself of it or become desperate.
But what do I know anyway? Perhaps reality is just a hammer.
