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Welcome To The Insane Asylum – Our Collective Psychosis - Chapter One

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Welcome To The Insane Asylum – Our Collective Psychosis
Chapter One

 

All Aboard the Crazy Train.

All amusement park rides have one characteristic in common. Regardless of the twists and turns of the experience, the exit is always at the end. This examination of our collective and individual dysfunction, our insanity, follows a similar path. We start with the identification of a few of the bigger picture issues, then move closer for a critical inspection of several of the individual and cultural dynamics and end with some guidance towards the lighted exit sign and one possible way out.

I’ve never been more confident in humanity’s ability to finally throw off the chains that bind. But (and there’s always a “but”) this can only be accomplished using the powerfully disinfecting sunlight of awareness and understanding. This is usually achieved through self reflection, self actualization and eventually enlightenment. A common misperception among many is that the general population is not intelligent enough to become aware and enlightened. The awakening process has nothing to do with our IQ and everything to do with our EQ or Emotional Quotient.

If we can be conditioned by fear and narcissistic naval gazing to be self destructive, we can be encouraged to be emotionally and spiritually healthy as long as we don’t look to our leaders for guidance. In fact, we must not transfer the responsibility for our own well being to others for this is simply an invitation to manipulate and extort us. There’s no single solution, no magic button to be pushed that makes everything better, allowing us to go back to our comfortable insanity. Ultimately our own unique journey is a deeply personal and individual experience and while the direction is clear, the path is customized by each journey.

There is no softer easier way, no short cut through the maze and no one to walk the path for us. I know this because of my long and at times difficult personal experience overcoming self erected obstacles as well as those placed there by my culture and country. I’ve tried every path I could possibly imagine before eventually settling on the only one I could find with an exit. That alone should be encouraging to many because until a few years ago I didn’t think there was a way out.

And I’m not alone because many people I talk to still feel it’s hopeless. The question (in my mind at least) is no longer can we save ourselves but what’s the process that must be followed in order to make the lasting changes needed to not only survive but grow and prosper. Make no mistake about what I’m saying; there will be pain no matter what we do or don’t do. But there is pain during healing as well as pain during destruction and we have a choice.

Swimming in the Shipping Channel of Life

The answers are deceptively simple, which makes it difficult for most people to accept when we’ve been conditioned to believe that complexity requires complex solutions. Nothing could be further from the truth. When one finds they’ve dug themselves into a hole, the first rule to follow is to stop digging. Since we’ve been trained all our lives that digging’s what we do, it’s almost heretical to ponder anything else. Considering how our narrow view benefits certain select “others” we should question everything we believe once we’ve stopped digging and are looking for a way out.

As with all my work, I ask the reader to consume it in it’s entirely, in the order presented and to leave all sections in context. I’ve broken this essay into multiple parts (5 at this point) for easier consumption. But it really doesn’t work unless it’s read as a continuous thought process. So I suggest you read each section in order because this isn’t 5 independent articles, but rather one article broken into 5 separate pieces.

Each section won’t necessarily make sense on its own unless you’ve read the preceding sections. Even then it might not make any sense, but I’m only responsible for my insanity. You’re on your own. This silliness started out as a one or two page blurb but quickly morphed into Godzilla like proportions. Consider it the insane leading the insane and have some fun while expanding your mind.

May I also suggest that you read each section twice, something I usually do when reading anything new? Reading it the first time trips all the objections my ego comes up with, which exposes my deep conditioning and indoctrination. My ego always defends my consciousness from the inevitable cognitive dissonance I experience when I read something that contradicts what I think I believe.

Basically my ego lies to me and then defends those lies using the pain of cognitive dissonance. The first reading clears out all those trip wires and leads the way for the second reading, which talks directly to the reasoning, common sense and empathy centers of my consciousness. If I really enjoyed what I’ve read, it gets a third reading for the pure joy of it. And of course to make sure the new conditioning has been properly assimilated.

Have you ever noticed how upon reading something a second time, you’ll often find words, sentences, even entire paragraphs you somehow missed the first time around? It’s amazing how blind we are when our ego gets in the way. Since this essay discusses subjects that are not exactly consensus opinion, expect to experience a few ego elevator drops.

I also swim pretty far from the pier of the commonly accepted understanding of “reality” in the later sections of this essay so expect some disorientation and wrinkled fingers and toes. The good news is that I’m beginning to find physicists and various other scientists swimming in the “what is reality” discussion philosophers have had to themselves for centuries. So at least we won’t be alone as we tread water near the shipping channel buoys. I do hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it. I’m sure you’ll let me know in the comments section.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

In an alternative universe such as Disney’s Magic Kingdom or Baum’s Wonderful Wizard of Oz, it’s always easy to distinguish the good guys from the bad, the truth from the lie. It usually has something to do with horned red devils and fire breathing dragons, with cotton tail bunnies and bizarre flying monkeys. We were weaned from mother’s breast with mythical tales of gallant white knights and long haired princesses, ancient stories originally intended to inform us of life’s wisdoms, pitfalls and hazards.

But our modern myths and fairy tales only serve to obscure, propagandize and pacify. Rarely do we question the content of anything we consume that’s entering through our five (six) senses. If a new offering appears to be reasonably consistent with what was recently consumed, access is granted with little or no critical assessment. Just go with the flow dude because it’s coming straight at you in torrents. After all what harm could a few TV sitcoms and dramas do to us, let alone the news? I certainly know when someone’s pulling my strings don’t you?

Most of us rarely consider the possibility that much of what we “know” isn’t actually based in reality, but is in effect a shared illusion, an unspoken and shared understanding between the natives. Our modern world is readily accepted and acted upon simply because there’s no serious consideration given to alternatives. After all, someone’s watching the store, right? We’re placed on an endless tread mill beginning around age 5 (some would say even earlier) and we’re assured this is normal and natural and everything that can be expected.

I know what I know because my parents and teachers taught me, my government and corporate approved propaganda reinforced it and now my TV and Internet are reinforcing the reinforcement. So it must be true simply because it all adds up to a staggering preponderance of evidence. We’re assured it’s all as real as an eighteen wheeler hard on our ass and trying to pass. Besides, everyone else pretty much believes the same thing we do with only minor variations. They can’t all be wrong! So don’t fight it, just go with the flow.

However, upon closer examination, much of this evidence is validated through circular logic, with Alpha supporting Beta which supports Alpha which supports Beta. On those rare occasions when contrary information enters the system and startles our consciousness, it’s quickly washed out as an outlier or fat finger. Madness and insanity, or dysfunction for those faint of heart who object to strong terms, is always self reinforcing, self perpetuating, self replicating and tolerates no contradictions. It is pure in form and function.

Unfortunately the world we live in isn’t quite as black and white as our story books, moving media and authority figures would have us believe. Instead, like some choking coal smoke that settles into every crack and crevice, we see nothing but endless permutations of gray wherever we gaze. It’s not very satisfying, is it? Where are the clear cut boundaries, where good begins and evil decays? Where are the brightly colored super heroes to contrast the dark evil villains? We can’t always tell them apart when they’re all covered in shades of gray.

I Can See Clearly Now, the Gray is Gone.

But wait, I think I know how to see through the haze. All it takes is an adjustment to my perception, a new set of spectacles for my senses. Like an old black and white TV, our most important sensory control knobs are brightness and contrast located between the ears. Between the two, everything can be brought into sharper focus. I’ll just be the good guy and everyone else can be bad. I can see clearly now, the gray is gone. It’s gonna be a bright bright sun-shiny day.

A consistent theme in various articles and comments are the angry denunciations of those (never ours, always they or them or those) evil bankers and corporations, the complicit mass media, a compliant regulatory authority and droves of corrupt government officials at the highest levels. And don’t forget the dead-to-the-world great unwashed masses. We complain they’re all engaged in an unprecedented (at least for modern times) take no prisoners thieving and feeding frenzy of those very same masses. And somehow we’re different, separated from the masses and the evil doers by our understanding and awareness of the fix that’s in.

Of course (we tell ourselves) this is being orchestrated by the powers that be, which can usually be found cowering behind the heavy curtains of the control system. They’re the ones pushing the levers and pulling the puppet strings, enslaving us with their fiat currency pushed by the black banking cabal without our consent and against our will. Here’s the proof, in black and white. Can’t you see it, there’s Professor Plum in the parlor with the candlestick?

And all of this may very well be entirely true. In fact, I believe much of it is. But it’s also mostly irrelevant to the one thing many of us are searching for in this filthy stinking mess. While it’s not voiced very often in the articles and comments, the great unanswered questions of this epic disaster are basic. Why is this happening? How are “they” able to get away with it? What is it about man that permits this cycle of greed and corruption to build to a climax and then recede, endlessly repeating the same cycle since well before Christ the Son of God or Ra the Sun God?

When will we accept that “they/them/those” won’t fix anything and it’s up to us to lead so that our leaders can follow? In the biggest paradox of them all, the underlying presumption is always that the machine itself works reasonably well if only the madmen were removed from the controls. But who put them there in the first place and won’t they just be replaced with more? We don’t question the basic systems, only the perceived faults of individual parts and mechanisms. We fiddle with the wires, connections and duct tape while the bomb is still ticking, collectively oblivious to the obvious.

I assure you with absolute certainty that I don’t have all the answers. But I can also assure you with equal certainty that we’ll never find the answers unless and until the questions that really matter are not only asked and examined, but that it’s done honestly and openly. In a world gone mad, sanity won’t be embraced or embodied until we examine our own insanity. Otherwise all we’re doing is soothing the savage beast within until this cycle ends and the next cycle of madness begins, bringing with it the next turning of humanity upon itself. While the reader may complain that I ask too much of us, that the problems are too big and the powers too strong; consider that it may only appear that way because we see the issue as one huge problem. This is an illusion.

Icons of Insanity

I’m using the words insane and madness in this essay not only to grab your attention but because I believe those are the proper words to use. But the inherent problem in using them is that the popular perception of insanity has been shaped by novels and TV. When one sees or hears the words insanity or madness, most people instantly visualize a serial killer randomly stalking victims before slashing them to pieces. Or maybe one thinks of a totally dysfunctional asylum inmate zonked out on Thorazine, specks of spittle clinging to his lower lip while drool drips down the side of his mouth. Our popular culture is chock full of these images, from A Clockwork Orange to a Freddy Krueger. For the purposes of this essay, wash those images from your mind because our collective insanity is much more presentable and socially acceptable.

Despite these image problems, I’m still going to use the words repeatedly because the reader needs to understand that I do mean deranged, not fully aware, acting strangely or at cross purposes to one’s own long term survival. Some of the words used in the definition of mad or insane help to explain my meaning further, such as mentally disturbed, extremely foolish or unwise, imprudent, irrational, confused, extreme impulsiveness, unsafe, wildly impractical or foolish, ill-advised, dangerous, senseless, reckless, unsound, maniacal, angry or ill-tempered. You get the picture.

I expect the reader’s ego response to being accused of insanity might be immediate and visceral and quite possibly insulting. I ask that you push past that initial impulse and understand that there are various levels of insanity, including high functioning and socially adapted. If you’ve come this far in the essay, let’s go the rest of the way. It’ll only hurt until the Thorazine kicks in.

Our Cultural Insane Asylum– Welcome to the Machine

The economic, social and political atrocity we’re not only witnessing but living isn’t their insanity, it’s our insanity; individually, collectively and culturally. This insanity, our insanity, is being outwardly manifested in individuals and groups, effectively in all of us to some degree or another. We our engulfed by our insanity in the same manner some wretched character in a Greek or Shakespearian tragedy is consumed by an angry God, the devil or some other ill-tempered spirit. Today’s modern calamity is the compiled manifestation, expression, reflection and symptom of all the ugly lies, half truths, spin and self deceptions our society leaves unsaid, does not discus, hushes up, hides from view and buries in the back yard of our minds.

Our inner dysfunction, while most certainly affecting us personally, is also expressed outwardly through us individually and collectively and in varying degrees and manner. And sometimes it’s focused within certain people and/or groups of people. Or more accurately, our collective insanity is acted out by or within certain people or groups of people. Does this concept sound farfetched or even crazy? Why is it so easy for us to recognize someone else’s insanity or to see that a group of people are acting crazy or insanely and yet not see it within ourselves or in our own culture? Why can’t we recognize that we might very well have the same insane or unstable tendencies as those we’re pointing towards? Are we pointing our fingers away from us so that we may deny the source?

Why do we so easily accept the concept of herd mentality, that people, either physically grouped into crowds or scattered throughout the world, can act as one (think of the markets) yet we reject this concept when it comes to madness, insanity or dysfunction? Why do we readily accept the phrase “The world went mad during WW 2” yet not think it was our own individual madness that we and the world were acting out? Why do we always exclude ourselves in part or whole from those or them?

Maybe we do accept the statement but don’t see how it relates to us. I know a few people who easily accept the idea that the world can/could/did go mad but not him or her. So are we saying it was everyone else that was insane but not us? If so, does this not illustrate our own dysfunction, to think we would be immune and not affected by what’s tormenting the entire world? We seem to have this serious mental and emotional block that prevents us from seeing the obvious. Of course, it’s our ego that’s blocking our vision and awareness, a subject I’ve examined in more depth in a prior article.

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/end-empire-waking-zombie-nations-psychology-consciousness-and-egoic-mind

Precisely because of our intellectual and emotional inconsistency, helped along by our self deception, we can delude ourselves into thinking we’re OK. Often we’re encouraged in this self deception by outside forces that fan the flames of self delusion for control and manipulation purposes. One of the many ways is through the display of individuals who are obviously and intentionally different from us. They’re usually close enough to us for easy comparison thanks to TV and the Internet. But don’t dwell too long on the comparison because that might ignite self reflection. So the control system relies on quick glimpses that satisfy our need to feel superior, and thus separate, before the next manipulative image is presented.

Cultural Insanity Reinforcement - American Idol Style

Consider that a key component of the American Idol talent “competition” is the initial programs, where fool after fool is paraded before us. The canned laugh track encourages us to laugh and mock their inferiority and non conformity, thus enabling us to feel comfortable with our homogenization and normality. This concept is ripped from the pages of 1984, where the carrot and stick approach is used to corral us into the hamster pens to work another day.

The carrot is acceptance by the welcoming and nurturing hive, where group think is rewarded and uniformity and conformity is applauded. The stick is to publically ridicule anything that the hive considers abnormal and thus subhuman, which of course can’t be a part of the hive. It’s unthinkable to suffer this, a fate worse than death that of banishment from the hive. See how abnormal those dancing and singing fools are? Only a crazy person would allow themselves to sing that poorly or act that stupidly on TV.

Carefully mixed in with the fools are the soon to be “discovered” hidden gems, which look just like you and I. Our mediocrity is validated because those gems look just like everyday people who escaped from the streets. “Oh look honey, another slave has escaped. I could as well if I practiced harder on my clarinet and got that boob job. If I work some overtime for the next few months at the hamster wheel factory ………”

I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the more talented contestants aren’t seeded into the show by the producers. There are many ways to do so. Regardless, the result has the intended effect; wonderfully talented but tragically and unfairly ignored men and women (invisible nobody’s like you and I) are finally discovered, their hidden talents recognized and validated by the world. They’ve hit the big time and they fulfill every person’s fantasy through emotional transference, thanks to perseverance and our 50” HD surround sound LCD TV.

And the fools, after being stripped naked and displayed for the crowd to jeer and stone, are thrown out of the hive as unwanted trash, not even worth the nickel deposit, their part of the charade now complete. Later, as some of the formerly hidden gems rise up the ranks (watch carefully how they’re steadily transformed with coaching, makeup and costumes) we allow ourselves to follow along, nurturing our fantasy that this too could be us. Thus we ascend God like into the glow of the adoring public, enabling us to feel superior while we wallow in our mediocrity.

And don’t forget the text voting, that wonderfully democratic principal that allows us all to participate in the crowning of our next plastic Idol on the dashboard of life. It must be true that I’m a singing fool because my fellow slaves elected me to the throne. The genius of American Idol is not in the music, costumes and coaching, it’s the magic that happens in the editing room and the manipulated voting.

Would Goebbels Like Reality TV?

There’s an extremely good reason why “reality” television shows are so popular. While we’re encouraged to suspend reality while watching regular TV dramas in order to enjoy the program, we consciously know it isn’t real, though unconsciously we make no such distinction. But with “reality” television it’s real, right? It not only could happen but it is happening. Isn’t that the entire concept of “reality” TV, that it’s real?

Leaving aside the understanding that “reality” TV is highly choreographed and elaborately staged; the illusion is that it’s real. This allows the viewer to be swept up along with the contestants as they morph from cocoon to butterfly, taking fictional character empathy and self identification by the viewer to much higher levels than previously thought possible. Goebbels, who until now had been the anointed master of the “Big Lie”, must be screaming in a jealous rage as he rots in his grave. And you thought this was just a talent show or a competition of “survival” on a tropical island.

This method of cultural conditioning is highly effective even when the viewer is aware of the dynamic, just as long as that person is somewhat dissatisfied with their life and is searching for meaning and understanding outside of themselves rather than within. And the higher the IQ and financial earning power of an individual, the higher the likelihood they’ll be searching, particularly among those who are growing weary of our consumer culture.

Some are beginning to recognize that we’ve been conditioned to believe happiness can only be found in an automobile or an iPhone. But where do we look when the hive actively discourages exploring anywhere but on the TV. After all, isn’t that the purpose of American Idol, to inform you of what’s acceptable and what’s not?

Look at the viewer demographics of American Idol for the proof. The average Idol (Idle?) viewer is anything but run of the mill in nearly all the demographics, with higher than average IQ and better than average income. This is you and I folks, not simply the average blue collar beer swilling Joe we like to point to as the problem cattle in the mindless herd. I’ve seen the cattle and the cattle are us.

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

We as individuals, as a culture and a society, are only as sick as our deepest darkest secrets and lies. And all those buried and unspoken falsehoods surround us like an endless unmarked and unexplored mine field. On top of that, the lies we tell ourselves and each other in order to ignore this mine field add to the dishonesty that we live with and within. They fester inside our psyche, like swarms of virus bots consuming resources and destroying perceptions and pathways.

Have you ever wondered why confession, the purging of the “soul” of past transgressions, is so therapeutic and cleansing? How could this be unless lies and self deception truly are harmful to the mind/body harmony? I’m not talking religion here, I’m talking inner balance. If one is to believe in personal evolution, isn’t rigorous honesty beneficial to a long and healthy life? When navigating the jungle of life, you won’t last long if you’re in denial of your situation and are intentionally oblivious to that saber toothed tiger or that inner city bus. Though I guess that’s two ways to ineffectively scatter your seed.

So does it really matter whether the dangers are physical or spiritual if the damage is ultimately as severe? I’ve spent some time studying indigenous cultures and very few (if any) developed such a dishonest and deceptive culture as ours is today. These indigenous cultures flourished for hundreds if not thousands of years and many would still thrive today if they hadn’t come into contact with us. We came in peace, my childhood textbook claimed, written by the “winner” if that matters. All we wanted was everything we wanted. What so bad about that?

Ours is a culture that honors the glory and sanctity of God and humanity. And we constantly remind ourselves of this as we hack our way through one culture after another in a desperate attempt to rid the world of the cancer their sanity and harmony with self and nature represent to our own world. Our culture mocked their medicine men and shamans as primitive witch doctors at the same time we were bleeding people of evil spirits and burning witches. Oops, did I say that with my out loud voice? That’s sacrilege after all, with the penalty now my choice, that of being burned at the stake or excommunication from the hive.

The indigenous shaman was by far the most important member of their culture, healing sickness they believed could be traced back to a soul/body/spiritual imbalance. But they also guided the individual and the tribe’s consciousness forward, teaching their fellow man of the dangers and pitfalls inherent in any culture that worshiped self above all else. They warned their members of the hazard of endless accumulation and ego domination rather than harmony with a world in which they must co-exist or perish.

Their spiritual and cultural histories often reached back thousands of years and taped into an ancient wisdom and understanding that withstood the test of time, evident in both their healthy existence as well as the environment they lived within, not on or in spite of. Sounds like deep and valuable wisdom from where I stand and precisely why they were killed as quickly as they were discovered. They were heretics and would act as strong antibiotics if they were introduced into the European and American cultural virus. We couldn’t even take the chance of trying assimilation, instead relying on the tried and true extermination.

Kill Baby Kill

We as individuals and as a culture simply cannot destroy living beings, be they human, animal or plant, in such large quantities and with such speed without imbibing a daily dose of lies and self deception to kill the pain of our own sickness and insanity. To actually comprehend the death and destruction by our own hand with even a minimal level of empathy or compassion would assure its immediate cessation. I wonder if that’s why our soldier’s bodies come home at midnight and the wholesale killing is either sanitized or completely missing from our TV and other mass media.

I certainly don’t have the stomach for this business and I suspect neither do you. While I understand I cannot covet my neighbor’s wife and daughter, I feel no discomfort if I covet his oil and other natural resources. So as a society we ensure the resulting blood doesn’t splatter us and that death remains at a safe distance when we forward position our home grown madmen to oversee our neighbor’s destruction. Kill baby kill.

And so slowly but surely, helped along with generous portions of self serving propaganda, the dehumanization of those “savage and primitive races” (today aka as terrorists) is complete and our population is infected with blood lust and material infatuation. And the rest, as they say, is bloody history; though you won’t find this version in any acceptably sanitized school text book.

Our culture is plagued with school shootings, serial killers (government sponsored or otherwise) conducting mass murder, state sponsored genocide, fast food obesity and pill popping to kill our emotional and spiritual pain. And of course don’t forget the constant mindless consumption to placate an emotional and spiritual emptiness that can never be soothed by material balms. But we can die trying, can’t we? And we call ourselves sane.

The shaman was a healer in the broadest since of the word and the spiritual center and source of wisdom and guidance for the tribe. The indigenous cultures were dependent upon their shaman to remain spiritually centered and physically healthy. Once they were gone, any surviving tribesmen quickly succumbed to the insanity of the Europeans once their spiritual anchors were uprooted and destroyed.

Have you ever wondered why there are hundreds of stories of early European and American settlers in North America that willingly lived among and within these “primitive” cultures? Once the non natives (the white man) had been thoroughly assimilated into these cultures, why did so many of them want to stay and even fought against their old countrymen in order to remain within their adopted cultural families? These cultural adoptees talked about being the happiest and most fulfilled they’d ever been and how for the first time in their lives they felt at peace, both with themselves and with those around them.

How could this occur in a culture that supposedly had nothing to offer the modern world? What could these “backward” cultures possibly offer the so-called “civilized” Europeans and Americans that would be more attractive than what they already possessed? Is it possible that our culture has lied to us about these things and potentially much more? Could it be that our culture isn’t healthy for us, is in fact killing us? Might it be we’re being used and abused by our own culture for the benefit of others, that this isn’t a natural state for humanity and that this disturbance we feel is the source of our insanity?

I find it very revealing that the North American Indian has the highest rate of alcoholism and drug dependency in this country. It makes sense when you consider that once stripped of their cultural support and defensive systems, their shamans and nurturing culture, the original source of their strength and spiritual health, that they would seek a substitute elsewhere. Consider how you would feel if you visited heaven and felt the warm embrace of peace and happiness, only to be ripped from its breast kicking and screaming and deposited into hell. Maybe we should have their descendants consult our technology Gods to find a solution to their spiritual unhappiness and mental illness. You know what; I bet there’s an app for that.

In Chapter Two, we will continue our exploration of our individual and collective insanity, where we spend some time examining that lovable megalomaniac ego inside each of us, why and where it all went wrong, the sliding scale of insanity with lots of finger pointing, how we certify our madness for comfort and support, our mental toxic waste dumps and the first sighting of light at the end of the tunnel. Or is that just the crazy train express to DC? Here’s one car wreck we can all safely examine as we drive by in our economic suicide machines. 

Cognitive Dissonance - 06/02/2010

 

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Wed, 06/02/2010 - 16:39 | 390348 hbjork1
hbjork1's picture

Pride is actually the manifestation of the superego.  The ego is that element in the makup that seeks to do the right thing as the person has the lights to see with.

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 20:38 | 390821 velobabe
velobabe's picture

yeah, pride's not good or beneficial to the self.

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 16:26 | 390298 Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance's picture

To this day I sometimes wonder why Tyler and company allowed me to join as a contributor since I rarely discuss financial matters. I've often thought they might come to their senses and send me an "uninvited" e-mail revoking my privileges.

On the other hand, all financial matters have their basis in our minds so there is relevance. Whatever.......I'm having a ball. :>)

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 15:56 | 390235 hbjork1
hbjork1's picture

+10

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 13:34 | 389824 Seer
Seer's picture

I try to work from the assumption that I am wrong.  Humility, as you suggest, allows you to be more open to finding truth.

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 17:07 | 390398 Husk-Erzulie
Husk-Erzulie's picture

Which is the basis of consensus- which is, in turn, the basis for a truly free and dynamic society.  As opposed to hierarchical militarism or rule by majority.  Affinity & Consensus FTW :-)

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 11:47 | 389465 Crab Cake
Crab Cake's picture

I've been trying recently (with mixed success) to lose my ego...

I've been trying recently to lose MY ego...

MY ego...

One cannot lose their ego.  It dissipates into a fine mist before the sun, once realized that the ego is not one's self. 

Who are you? 

Answer that question, and there will be no trying, the ego will be no more yours than a cloud passing through the sky.

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 15:04 | 390099 hbjork1
hbjork1's picture

Crab Cake:

IMO, you are absolutely right!  We cannot lose our ego.  But it sounds as though  you already have your Superego (which most people call their Ego) mostly in service of your Ego, rather than you Id.

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 13:00 | 389705 Assetman
Assetman's picture

Leggo of my ego.

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 20:35 | 390815 velobabe
velobabe's picture

you dear ass man, deserve my pic†

Thu, 06/03/2010 - 00:20 | 391149 Assetman
Assetman's picture

You're making me tingle again, velobabe!

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 13:53 | 389884 Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance's picture

Comment of the (admittedly short) month. :>)

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 09:02 | 389085 Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance's picture

Unfortunately we can't get rid of our ego nor would we want to. But I understand what you're saying. I have found that as I look inward the need to repress the ego is itself repressed. There is no need to do so once you understand what's going on.

For example, once you understand the tricks of the magician, it becomes second nature to see what's really going on. At that point the "magic" no longer affects you. The same with the ego. Once you have looked inside and have washed out not only the lies and self deceptions but the need for the lies and self deception, the "magic" of the ego is no longer effective.

Think of it this way. When I was a child I can remember being utterly surprised and horrified that my parents could see directly through my lies, as if I was transparent. Of course, from their point of view, I was. As we learn more about our inner self, the lies and self deceptions offered by our ego become transparent and we laugh at the silliness. Preventing or blocking the "magic" is no longer needed because the "magic" is magic no longer.

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 17:14 | 390408 Mesquite
Mesquite's picture

> CD #389085

You're good..Pleasure to make your aquaintance..Be safe..

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 16:38 | 390342 Almost Solvent
Almost Solvent's picture

You must be familiar with the eneagram?

 

Many consider it bunk, but it certainly has 9 types which all men can fit within.

 

Certainly speaks to the masses who are "asleep" and unaware of their point on the eneagram.

 

Those who awake and see themselves can then look about and quickly ascertain the point of others.

 

Very helpful when trying to see through not only the BS, but why that person acts/says/does what they do.

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 14:53 | 390071 hbjork1
hbjork1's picture

CD:   Stunning!

Freud, or at least a summary of Freudian theory might  be a useful read. Oversimplified summary is that trouble starts when the Superego remains in service of the child Id wishes rather than in service of the adult ego.  His writing makes interesting reading from several standpoints and may help rationalize why people are as they are. 

It is safe to say, that this animal man has been destroying other men, other animal species and the environment for hundreds of thousands of years.  It is one thing to be crazy; quite another to be ruthless. Crazy is self destructive.

Another favorate philosopher, that I am sure everyone on this board has read from many times wrote:

"O wad some Power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us!
It wad frae monie a blunder free us,
An' foolish notion:
What airs in dress an' gait wad lea'e us,
An' ev'n devotion!

!"

And then there is my father's observation: "We're here because we're here." 

Implicit in that is that we sustain ourselves or we won't be here. And, IMO, also implicit in this is that mankind must take care of his environment or some other species will be a million years from now.

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 09:55 | 389192 downrodeo
downrodeo's picture

Yes, the need to supress ego becomes an ego. One of the little jokes Universe plays on us, I suppose (lol silly human--- 'you're doing it wrong!'). Thanks again!

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 09:09 | 389096 Gully Foyle
Gully Foyle's picture

Cognitive Dissonance

"Before I studied the art, a punch to me was just like a punch, a kick just like a kick. After I learned the art, a punch was no longer a punch, a kick no longer a kick. Now that I've understood the art, a punch is just like a punch, a kick just like a kick. The height of cultivation is really nothing special. It is merely simplicity; the ability to express the utmost with the minimum." - Bruce Lee

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 08:42 | 389055 gookempucky
gookempucky's picture

Consider that a key component of the American Idol talent “competition” is the initial programs, where fool after fool is paraded before us. The canned laugh track encourages us to laugh and mock their inferiority and non conformity, thus enabling us to feel comfortable with our homogenization and normality. This concept is ripped from the pages of 1984, where the carrot and stick approach is used to corral us into the hamster pens to work another day.

Great work CD

By way of cognitive dissonance---- 4.5 billion year old ROCK found along road 11 years ago is valued between 20 and 40k--this is what makes the headlines for public consumption. Funny thing though I always thought this planet formed 4.5 billion yrs ago. American idol via meteorite.

looking forward to rest of the story.

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 16:05 | 390258 Ragnarok
Ragnarok's picture

They bumped back the age of the earth to 4.9 billion years.  I believe the evidence for this came from the Canadian Shield.

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 10:59 | 389345 DosZap
DosZap's picture

Rock by the road..........and news, expressly for the SHEEPLE.

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 08:52 | 389045 Miles Kendig
Miles Kendig's picture

One of the keys to the whole concept here at ZH it seems to me is the drive for introspection while we seek out information, and others take on it to satisfy our insatiable craving for the same.  It is this capacity to be willing to challenge and allow others to challenge within ourselves some our most deeply held convictions that really makes this place for me.  Many of us that have been here for some time have witnessed this process first hand and it is one of the primary "hooks" of the ZH/Fight Club motif.  In this I cannot be agree with you CD that having witnessed this process time & again on an individual to individual basis that makes my belief in the potential of broad based disinfecting sunlight not only possible, but probable. I look forward to this unfolding article as you post it.

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 08:28 | 389036 InsanePonziClown
InsanePonziClown's picture

okay, i'm excited, first installment is good, of course I'm sometimes Insane, sometimes a Clown, and at times involved in Ponzi's................of course that may be reality, lol, always has and always will be

 

are we going to discuss the speed of cognitive dissonace, the volatility bespate on us by 24-7 media and always being connected to the hive

 

fwiw, imho, 1997 marks a spot of hiveyness rising, and if you know compexity theory, all kinds of feedback loops come into existence

 

good luck my man

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 08:19 | 389023 Popo
Popo's picture

> "A popular definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results."

I've always thought that this definition of insanity was silly, as it fails to account for randomness (or any real-world environment with unnacounted variables). 

I can think of thousands of repetitive actions where one would be insane to expect consistant results.

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 12:25 | 389579 seventree
seventree's picture

"A popular definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results."

The flaw in this aphorism is that it is impossible to exactly duplicate any previous action. So when does a different result become unlikely?

Many simple rules promising shortcuts to wisdom are less useful than they seem, because the wisdom needed to properly apply them would have sufficed to solve the problem at hand without applying the rule. There are many other examples, such as Occam's Razor, which I believe gets more respect than it deserves.

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 14:12 | 389939 ZerOhead
ZerOhead's picture

Especially the part about merely accepting sacred scripture!

From Wiki...

The version of the Razor most often found in Ockham's work is Numquam ponenda est pluralitas sine necessitate, “For nothing ought to be posited without a reason given, unless it is self-evident (literally, known through itself) or known by experience or proved by the authority of Sacred Scripture.”[11]

Of course I'm just a self confessed idiot and have been wrong so many times I don't even know where to begin... now if I can just figure out how to get rid of all these indented quote thingees...

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 14:46 | 390049 seventree
seventree's picture

You have taken this much deeper than I intended with that quote (which is entirely accurate).

I was referring to the commonly used simplification often found in modern writing: "the simplest explanation is usually the correct one" which is also included in the Wiki entry. Such reasoning is very appealing to Archie Bunker types, but serves mainly as justification for shallow thought. As a guide to critical thinking, "the simplest explanation which accounts for all the facts is usually the correct one" might be of more use. This however assumes a priori knowledge of all relevant facts, which is really the hard part. In other words if I was that smart I wouldn't need the damn razor.

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 16:49 | 390353 ZerOhead
ZerOhead's picture

Yup... knowing all the relevant facts beforehand certainly helps. I just thought that the deferal to the 'sacred scriptures' was hilariously illustrative of the 'chains' imposed on independant critical thought even then.

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 23:55 | 391111 tip e. canoe
tip e. canoe's picture

"knowing all the relevant facts beforehand certainly helps"

true dat, but how often does that happen in 'reality'?

Sun, 06/06/2010 - 11:36 | 397858 Sneeve
Sneeve's picture

Sorry, don't read english so good. Whats a Fact?

Thu, 06/03/2010 - 12:03 | 391967 ZerOhead
ZerOhead's picture

ZerO?

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 12:40 | 389632 MayIMommaDogFac...
MayIMommaDogFace2theBananaPatch's picture

because the wisdom needed to properly apply them would have sufficed to solve the problem at hand without applying the rule

THAT IS DAZZLING.  You should get started on your BOOK right away.

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 08:50 | 389063 Landrew
Landrew's picture

That quote is applied to failure, as in BP, failed once with siphon pipe and continued to use the pipe in failure over and over and over. Problem solving 101 if it doesn't work try another approach.

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 11:44 | 389434 Popo
Popo's picture

> " Problem solving 101 if it doesn't work try another approach."

 

Scientifically, this is invalidated by countless real world examples.  What if the best possible solution to a hypothetical problem has a 34% success rate?

To make the blanket statement that successive, similar attempts at solving any problem are "insane" after the first attempt has failed, is to make the bold hypothesis that all possible solutions must have boolean results.  An assertion that is clearly false.

Scientific success rates are "rates" for a reason.  They represent a percentage of successes over the total number of repeated trials.   (And repeated trials are necessary because it is impossible to control and account for all variables in any real world environment)

The definition is silly.

 

 

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 12:35 | 389606 MayIMommaDogFac...
MayIMommaDogFace2theBananaPatch's picture

I've always thought that this definition of insanity was silly

Well Popo, if you put a little effort into your pseudo-intellectualizing (rather than just trusting your mind as the best source of your own information) then you may have stumbled upon the fact that this definition is usually attributed to Albert Einstein. 

I won't waste time trying to convince you that Mr. Einstein was likely smarter than you are or at least more considered on matters like Epistemology and Human Behavior -- because I don't actually think you come here for the mental challenge...

You come here to spout nonsense intentionally, don't you?  Does it pay well?

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 08:21 | 389030 papaswamp
papaswamp's picture

"A popular definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results."

Looks like the Chaos theory to me.

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 07:59 | 389008 Sudden Debt
Sudden Debt's picture

You really sound like a happy person don't you?

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 12:20 | 389335 DosZap
DosZap's picture

He's/She's, a REALIST................

Ask yourself when your were happiest/most free in life, and under much  less stress.( aside from the NOW).

Freedom from slavery, and totally happy with what you had,wanting better, more,but still CONTENT.

When did that change in your life?...............I know, do you?.

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 13:21 | 389780 Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance's picture

"He" thank you very much. And thank you for defending reality.

People today see speaking truthfully about our current situation and condition to be "negative" simply because it appears to be so dire. So rather than talk about what can be done and then do something about it, the machine teaches us to reject this "reality" and go to that happy place, be it TV, food, drugs, booze, anything to stave off "reality".

Best not look too closely at the pile of shit you're rapidly sinking into. Just pop another happy pill and turn on the great American dream machine.

Calgon, take me away. :>)

Thu, 06/03/2010 - 00:15 | 391137 G-R-U-N-T
G-R-U-N-T's picture

After reading your piece, not bad by the way, I seem to have been transformed.

 

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 07:50 | 388999 williambanzai7
williambanzai7's picture

Nice work. I have been wondering what you have been working on. This looks like an epic in the making.

Escape from the machine can, for a few of us, be as easy as saying two simple words...I quit!

For too many, LEXAPRO winds up being the breakfast of champions. Ever notice how success requires Bi-polarization?

Can't wait for your next installment.

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 09:15 | 389114 Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance's picture

Thank you for your kind words.

As this series unfolds, I hope to show that not only is "escape" impossible but to think so is simply a symptom of our insanity. As I work through this series and the concept, I will show that there is a way out. But it requires we break from the old ways of thinking. I believe many people are nearly ready for this step. And it doesn't take 100% of the people to make 100% of the change.

But it all begins within. If we aren't settled within, nothing will change without. And I believe people are getting ready to take that step as well. There is a massive awakening happening below the surface, mostly unspoken about by the mass media, but there non-the-less. And this change will unfold exponentially.

People that I know very well who have been very stubborn in their insistence that things will work out are quickly coming to the conclusion that they were wrong. Which opens their minds to alternatives. As the various control systems, internal and external, lose control and begin to panic by gripping the wind pipe of the host, people will begin to understand where the power really lay, which will be explained in later chapters.

I can't wait to help this unfold.

Sat, 06/12/2010 - 06:01 | 409513 fxrxexexdxoxmx
fxrxexexdxoxmx's picture

The human race will survive this round of mass suicide as we have every time in the past. Those living today are no more sane or insane than those who came before.

We do have at our hands the capability of mass murder/sucide once unimaginable which creates an illusion of inevitability. But we, those species who recognize life as a gift, will survive.

Have you ever read " Galapagos" (1985)  by Kurt Vonnegut. Mr. Vonnegut outlines the possibilities of survival I mean. If you have not done so already you should. It will take no more than an afternoon of your time.

CD you are intelligent and a creative writer. If you have not already been published you will be one day. You have the desire and the discipline to put your thoughts to paper, virtual or not. This discipline will guarantee your success. 

Best to you and yours, highpockets aka freedomxxxxxx

Tue, 06/08/2010 - 00:10 | 400976 dnarby
dnarby's picture

Keep looking deeper until the view improves.

Eventually, it will.

Fri, 06/04/2010 - 18:56 | 396100 Mrmojorisin515
Mrmojorisin515's picture

i think my infrequent uses of mushrooms helped me break the mental mold, any thoughts on that?

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 16:12 | 390272 Ripped Chunk
Ripped Chunk's picture

Thanks CD. I have been awaiting your message. Great work.

A complete change in mindset is the only way to restore the middle class.

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 15:35 | 390044 anonnn
anonnn's picture

A Ben Franklin view of deliberate insanity:

[from gCaptain site

http://gcaptain.com/forum/offshore/4805-deepwater-horizon-transocean-oil-rig-fire-76.html  ]

Originally Posted by TroubledByThis

...Benjamin Franklin, “Stilling of Waves” ... "The learned, too, are apt to slight too much the knowledge of the vulgar.” (1773)
These accounts can be said to report four types of facts. First, there is the smoothing effect of oil or whale oil leaking from or being pumped out of ships. Second, there is the practice of fishermen and divers who use oil to be able to see under water. Third, there is the practice of suppressing the breakers when entering a river or landing on a beach. And fourth, there is the practice of pouring oil on the sea during heavy storms in order to prevent the waves from breaking over the ship in distress. Neither these practices nor the implied natural phenomena had ever been the subject of scientific investigation. Franklin wondered “to find no mention of them in our books of experimental philosophy.” This only proved that both ancient knowledge and the traditional knowledge of seamen, fishermen and divers were being disdained by contemporary philosophers:
“I think with your friend [James Farish], that it has been of late too much the mode to slight the learning of the antients. The learned, too, are apt to slight too much the knowledge of the vulgar. The cooling by evaporation was long an instance of the latter. (meaning, sweat?)
This art of smoothing the waves with oil, is an instance of both.” The first is the experiment at the pond at Clapham Common, where on the windward side “not more than a tea spoonful produced an instant calm over a space of several yards square, . . . , making all that quarter of the pond, perhaps half an acre, as smooth as a looking-glass.”
http://www.benfranklin300.org/_etc_p...st_Mertens.pdf

 

 

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 13:58 | 389904 ZerOhead
ZerOhead's picture

Awesome work CD... I've been down the road of self examination and ego destruction before and have concluded with some degree of certainty that I am a complete and utter idiot! It's a very liberating revelation that has improved my life and relationships immensely.

If you can... spend some time on the evolution and effects of tribalism in ancient and modern societies... it's one hell of a cheap and effective control mechanism.

It's 'us' vs. 'them' after all... and if you're not with us then your clearly against us.

"Kill Baby Kill" indeed!

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 17:02 | 390383 Mesquite
Mesquite's picture

Awesome all around...

For almost 60 years, I have been of the opinion of the dangers of the many religions of the world, as practiced.."us against them.." After all the track record, in history, has not been too sterling.. (Command & Control..??) Spirituality-yes!! Religion-no!! In my opinion, Spirituality joins peoples together, Religion divides- often leading to wars..And yes, I believe we all need to practice Personal Responsibility for not only what we say and do, but also what we think..!! Keep an Open Mind..I am not above praying to my HP, or Great Spirit...Just not anxious to join any 'exclusive' crowd..

"I am Responsible.." Thanks for letting me share.. 

Wed, 06/02/2010 - 23:52 | 391107 tip e. canoe
tip e. canoe's picture

thread thoughts

-in latin, religion is religio: linking back.  if this definition still applies, the question is how far do we wish to link back?  our tribal warrior selves?  or back even further than that?  who's stopping us from going there?

-khrisnamurti said something once to the effect, there should be as many religions as there are people on the planet.    say what you want about mr. K, he was definitely on to something.

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