our beliefs are like fire.
providing warmth, comfort, and light in a puzzling world.
however, when gasoline is poured on them, they devour everything,
leaving charred bits of hope not even vultures could peck at.
here’s the issue with our society:
we cling to beliefs like puppies to their owner.
every time someone challenges our beliefs, we erupt in a fiery pit of rage.
we yell and scream and shout on twitter.
write hit-pieces and exposes in news outlets.
all because we tie up our beliefs with our identity.
no, beyond identity.
with our sense of being.
of existence.
our beliefs are our bedrock of being.
billions of individuals cling to “God” and religion.
so much so that we’ve started wars and killed billions over it.
so called “intellectuals” and “academics” put science aboe all, claiming it o be some prophet heralded from the Cosmos!
and don’t even get me started on new-age spirituality and all that.
none of these belief systems are inherently right or wrong.
they’re just troublesome.
troublesome when you accept them as undeniable truth.
Camus talks about this in the notion of Philosophical Suicide.
the complete acceptance and clinging to any set of beliefs or behaviors in order to quell Existential Angst or Uncertainty ultimately limits the human experience.
ok that’s a lot, let’s back up.
why do we cling to beliefs?
humans hate uncertainty.
we dislike chaos. a lot.
thus, we cling to beliefs that bring order and meaning to a chaotic world.
essentially, we put a condom over the penis of our mind, protecting it from the ills of the outside world.
this rids us of uncertainty and angst surrounding the mystery of life.
but it also shuts us off.
it shuts us off from the inquisitive nature of the human.
and without this part of the mind that is curious and embraces new ideas, we die.
we stop growing.
we stop expanding.
we stop living.
and we descend into beasts.
fueling polarization wars and bullshit in-group vs out-group dynamics.
we fight and yell and bicker and bitch.
we do anything to prevent human cooperation to create a better world.
what gave our human ancestors advantages on the African Savannah hundreds of thousands of years ago?
cooperation.
banding together.
how the hell can we band together and cooperate in the 21st century if we’re constantly bitching about?!
we have lost sight.
lost sight of the fact that the usefulness of beliefs comes from their consequences.
and right now, the human desire for certainty and clinging of beliefs has created a blanket of darkness.
we have embraced suffering, tragedy, and disease in the name of clinging to beliefs.
a malaise of the mind, not from food or drink, but intolerance.
don’t think you’re so right that no one else could be right either.
oftentimes, the opposite of a good idea is another good idea.
thank you.
memento mori.
stay curious :)
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