I’ve accepted an extremely middle-of-the-road attitude towards life. I’m not an optimist, realist, or pessimist. I’m all over the map, but most of the time I can see a given situation from the views of all 3. I recently have been introduced to the word pronoia. Pronoia, roughly defined, is the suspicion that the world is conspiring to help you. Somewhat in opposition to paronoia, the suspicion that someone/thing, or everything, is conspiring to harm you. I don’t think either of these views is generally the case.
I can certainly see why someone in a specific circumstance could see the glass as half full or half empty, based on a myriad of factors. However, I still don’t think either is the case. You will find in this life that whatever you’re looking to prove, you can find plenty of evidence for. Agnostics and religious zealots alike have no problem holding their position. This is because of my previous statement and the simple fact that whatever color your lenses are, that’s the color the world is.
Give me two hours with most any open-minded sixteen year-old and I can turn him/her into almost anything you’d like. The mind is weak and it can be lead, especially an uninformed and open mind. All I have to do is share something good and agreeable with you. Now you’re hooked and I can lead you by the nose. A few more agreeable and good things along the same vein and the trail of bread crumbs is set. If I get you to agree with me for an hour, then two, well, three is going to be easy. From there you’re getting to the point that you believe me based on trust rather than reason. This is where it gets really dangerous, and fun.
So, a person has been sold slowly on something. Nodded his or her head in agreement with everything I’ve said. At first, they did it because I was being reasonable, and playing off of their own desires. Later, they do it because they trust me now, why shouldn’t they? Now I can say things that aren’t so logical or reasonable, they aren’t likely to be alarmed or distressed by this, they’re likely to still agree, because they trust me. So dangerous. Where do I go now? Anywhere. Anywhere I want. As long as I go there slowly, I can twist their trust on them and twist my own words, along with their opinions, into whatever I want. This is the power and the way of manipulation. We’re all prone to it, and we’ve all fallen victim to it many times in our lives. Cults, religions, social structures, and peer groups, are the representative organizations that reach their end goal primarily through manipulative means. Manipulation is an ugly word to most people, and for a good reason. Manipulation represents the quiet and dishonest disfiguration of a person’s own will and desires to help acheive the goals and desires of another. It is a BAD thing. I’ve long been a master of manipulation. I’ve hurt many and didn’t even realize the toll until the damage was beyond repair. I’ve given it up as best I can, choosing the honest and direct approach. My life has improved, as has my understanding of my past choices and their impact on others. My understanding of manipulation has allowed me to see how others use it, and to see it for what it is.
I don’t have a peer group, I have friends. I don’t have a religion, I have faith in myself. I don’t associate with a political party, I decide the issues for myself, individually. The world is manipulating you from the minute you’re born. Political parties, religions, peers… For whatever reason, most people flock like sheep. Gathering in great herds, all nodding their heads in agreement with whatever the heards patriarchal figure-head is claiming to be the truth-of-the-week. What makes this hard for me to watch is knowing that everyone is an individual. The whole point to being an individual is that you are different from everyone else. You have your opinions, they have theirs. WE DO NOT HAVE TO AGREE ON EVERYTHING! It’s okay to be different, you can still share and love and do everything else worth doing even if it’s with someone who holds different opinions than you. However, and again, for reasons I don’t understand, most of us flock. Flock to our religion, flock to our political party, to our group of gossipy or violent and stupid friends. Then starts the group-think. One religion says one thing, another religion says another, now we have two organizations backed by mindless head nodding zombies who are at odds with one another. The outcome isn’t always war, but it frequently is. Billions have died because of this alone. Millions every year. It’s so pointless. People die ‘for the preservation of their culture’.... Their culture? ‘They’ have no culture, culture is a collective historical representation of a specific group of people. It isn’t ‘in’ you, you can’t protect it. It can only be lost because people forgot it. Strapping a bomb to yourself and igniting on a bus is not your idea. It’s your religion’s idea, and it’s a bad one. But you’re a sheep, and you’re just working hard to prove Darwin right, eliminating yourself from the gene pool.
I’m into rant mode, must pull back now… I think everyone gets the point. I hate that the world is occupied largely by group-thinking sheep lead by patriarchs who lead their sheep to destruction for lack of any better ideas!
Think for yourself. I know it’s hard and takes a little time. I also know that your thoughts are never ‘truly’ yours, but largely the product of your environment. Regardless, you have a spark of individuality – use it! Ask everyone what they think first, learn lots, learn everything. But know who you are. Know what you believe and where you stand. Don’t just float out with any tide that rolls in. Be open-minded, but don’t be hooked by the nose and lead. The group isn’t for you, you do not agree with everything they have to say. If you do, it’s only because you’re a sheep who hasn’t taken the time to think about everything HONESTLY. If you did, you’d realize that it’s impossible for any one person to agree with everything that any of these massive manipulative organizations has to say. You may want to believe, but that’s just because it’s easier to let others answer all the questions for you than it is to figure life out for yourself.
I’m sure I’ll rant long and hard on this later. I have to go put my boy to bed.
I’ll read him a story about the sound sheep make, just to top off the night. Baaah!
