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The Ultimate Act of Freedom
The Ultimate Act of Freedom
By
Cognitive Dissonance
Which came first, the chicken or the egg? I ask not because I require an answer, but rather because I desire to ask better questions both of myself and of the world around me. Asking a question that seems to compel the questioner to chase his or her tail is not as pointless as it may seem if the query can be redirected to challenge ‘common’ knowledge or long standing beliefs.
So let me try again with a different question. Which came first, the sociopathic leadership or the seriously dysfunctional populace? I suspect the answer is both and neither.
As with most symbiotic codependent (dysfunctional) relationships, there is no Yes or No, Right or Wrong, Black or White answer. Asking which came first is missing the point since one component of the relationship cannot exist as it does now without the other, at least not for long. A better question might be…..why do we believe there is a defined cause and effect relationship that creates the present day insanity when the very nature of insanity itself requires none in order to exist?
As I have said several times before in my comments and contributing articles, insanity is the ultimate in perfection. It is self replicating, self sustaining and most importantly self affirming. Nearly all sane (or near sane) entities cease and desist wasting energy on useless or self destructive tasks once its futility or danger is obvious and affirmed, often by outside forces or authorities but occasionally by self examination which prompts self awareness.
Insanity on the other hand is its own sole and ultimate authority which in turn acts as the energy source to keep the perpetual motion insanity machine marching forward toward a parabolic blow off of self annihilation. The potentially lethal mistake we all tend to make is in believing that there is only one flavor of crazy. There are in fact seven billion variations of the base product, uniquely customized in cut, color and clarity to meet our own individual needs and perceptions. So in effect the problem is not they, those and them, but us, we and me.
A Mind of its Own
I’m certain you have seen any of a dozen variations of the comedy routine where out of the blue the comedian’s arm or hand becomes possessed and tries to choke the comedian or otherwise attack the body that the arm is attached to. Suddenly the appendage has a mind of its own and that mind is usually extremely self destructive. It can be hilarious stuff when performed well, with a classic example being Peter Sellers as Dr. Strangelove.
Of course we all know this can’t really happen. A person’s brain controls all the appendages via the central nervous system, aside from certain special conditions such as a disease of the body. So while the body’s ‘operating system’ pretty much functions independently of our conscious awareness, essentially utilizing its own firmware/software routines, we (as do all other animals) command our assorted joints and appendages with broad commands to suit our needs and wants.
For example we think ‘I want that over there’ or ‘I want to pick that up’ rather than thinking about moving individual muscles. Though I suppose it could be argued that we don’t even ‘think’ about these commands in the same way we think about those financial problems that have been bugging us. We just sort of see or perceive that we want to do something and the internal software routine figures out the details. Either way, the only (perceived) difference between ‘we’ and the flea is that ‘we’ are conscious, and we believe the flea is not.
Perhaps it is this ability to command our appendages that afford us our false sense of perceived independence from, and control of, the body. Yet in so many ways it is our body and not our mind/consciousness that actually controls the appendages, though not in the direct sense of the word ‘control’. We spend our entire life attending to the needs of the body; feeding, sheltering and tending to all its various needs whether physical, emotional or psychological. And yet we maintain to our dying days that ‘we’ are in control of the body, rather than at a minimum acknowledge the obvious codependency.
Codependently Dysfunctional
In so many ways the human mind and the body are engaged in a symbiotic codependent dysfunctional relationship. Dysfunctional because for as long as the conscious mind believes it is the master of its domain (when clearly it is not) the relationship is not a healthy one by any stretch of the imagination. This error of perception (actually a deliberately staged continuous deception perpetrated by external sources) is one of the reasons I often speak about looking within, of understanding our motives and dependencies in order to move deeper down the rabbit hole.
We carry this potentially fatal disconnect with us when thinking about and interacting with not just the physical world around us, but with the social order and the so called powers that be, aka ‘our’ leadership. We believe ourselves disconnected from the world around us; particularly from those who we believe ‘control’ us or who are ‘leaders’ in our world. We speak of this phenomenon by using distancing terms such as they, them and those. We consider ourselves divorced from the cause and only subject to the effect.
And yet all around us we see on a daily basis various examples of nature interconnected, of animals moving and acting as one even though they are seemingly as disconnected from each other as we perceive ourselves to be separated from one another. Watch carefully as birds flock, fish school and cattle herd. Even a stand of trees or a patch of wild flowers will communicate with each other either through interconnected root systems, pheromones or other (un)known methods or processes. But communicate they do and it is only our denial that prevents us from recognizing the same in ourselves and others in the human herd.
Choice and Free Will
That which we try to ignore, outright deny or reject out of fear controls us, oftentimes on a deeply subconscious level. This concept as it applies to ‘them’ is very difficult for most of ‘us’ to grasp, let alone accept, principally because we believe ourselves to be ‘in control’ of ourselves, but not at all in control of, or responsible for, ‘their’ actions other than possibly in the most indirect and inconsequential way. No one rain drop feels responsible for the flood, yet here comes the rain. Can you say hip waders?
Why is it that throughout history every so called leader has demanded consent (some demand more nicely than others) from the population, regardless of whether the consent is coerced, connived or freely given? Think about that carefully for a while rather than to just dismiss it off hand with any of a dozen rote responses. A symbiotic relationship, no matter how dysfunctional or self destructive, requires consent from all parties at some level to function as it does.
As ridiculous as this may sound nothing truly compels us to consent even when the ultimate violence is threatened if we do not comply, that of (extreme) distress and/or death. We can choose death, though many will argue that to choose death is irrational or insane. However as I said earlier, that which we try to ignore, outright deny or reject out of fear controls us, oftentimes on a deeply subconscious level. And the vast majority of ‘us’ ignore, deny or reject seriously contemplating ‘our’ own death, whether by natural causes or externally applied violence.
We wish to believe that we live in a cooperative society; that we participate of our own ‘free will’. And yet when we see those flashing lights in the rear view mirror or open that demand letter from the IRS or ‘Justice’ system we do not actually participate of our own ‘free will’, but simply because a threat of (ultimate) violence is implied if we do not.
Still, this is consent simply because there is/are alternative(s) available. We consistently take the softer easier way and comply, then rationalize and justify it as reasonable, rational and sane. It is important that we recognize the difference between ‘free will’ and ‘consent’ because in so many ways they are very different concepts.
Since we make the (un)(semi)(fully)conscious decision to comply in many ways we are ‘willingly’ part of the very system we rail against as predatory and abusive. While many might argue that this is all just semantics, I contend that the world would be a very different place if we had the courage to consider the always available alternative choices other than the softer easier way of complying. Please notice I said consider, not agree. One must always (seriously) consider everything even if one does not agree.
In most, but not all cases, our pain comes not in knowing what we should do, but in actually doing it. In fact most of our emotional/psychological pain springs from the cognitive dissonance of trying to ignore, deny or reject that which we know to be true and correct.
The ultimate act of freedom is to seriously consider breaking the chains that bind us. And those chains are not physical and won’t be found binding our wrists or ankles, but rather they are self imposed upon our own minds. Freedom, true freedom, can only begin when we willing choose to start down the path of personal sovereignty and total personal accountability.
01-17-2014
Cognitive Dissonance
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the comedian’s arm or hand becomes possessed and tries to choke the comedian or otherwise attack the body that the arm is attached to.
Perhaps Obama and Company are just a comedy troup. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/16/us-comedians-psychotic-idUSBRE...
In the TV show Kung Fu, Kwai Chang Caine said:
"I seek not to know all the answers, but only to fully understand the questions".
"The chief cause of problems is solutions." - Eric Sevareid
It was this quote (much like Caine's) that pushed me more so to question any "solution" (from anyone). Further, the very word "solution" implies permeance, and, well, nothing is permanent. When viewed this way it becomes only an issue of "change," in which we ought ask for what purpose and for how LONG, AND then it should be asked: "And then what?"
Whoa dude! Eric Sevaried? You must be like, old, or something.
I suspect Seer is an old fart like me cus I remember Eric Sevareid well. And just for the record I considered him (Eric) to be an old fart at the time. :)
May I beg to correct- old farts like us. K?
I didn't wish to presume. But since you outed yourself as an old fart........ ;)
"Further, the very word "solution" implies permeance, and, well, nothing is permanent."
We are obessed with the pursuit of 'answers' and rarely do we consider if we are asking the right questions.
"We are obessed with the pursuit of 'answers' and rarely do we consider if we are asking the right questions."
That is true, and what you wrote is correct. But I dare to try asking the "right" question, and that would not be what we are doing, but how we are doing it. I don't doubt that you are aware of this - but it has to be mentioned, time and again!
This post is your best work ever! Thank you.
Freedom, true freedom, can only begin when we willing choose to start down the path of personal sovereignty and total personal accountability.
it starts the minute we wake up- is your significant other being suported with kind thoughts? disagree with respect? would you treat yourself the same? true freedom (plus) come from the synergy of two as one which opens doors to even moar freedom.
free to explore what one will never achieve alone.
i add this as most of us are with someone else and we over look this aspect because we treat each other the way we do because we know we can get away with it..
thanks for your insights
Thank you for that perspective. Mrs. Cog and I are relatively new as a couple and this lesson occasionally comes back to haunt us. Respecting others is ultimately a form of respecting yourself.
this thought came from observing how we treat each other. first we are nicey nicey. then as we get to know each other we explore to each others tolerances. then upon bonding for life we take this to extremes. because inside we know we can get away with it and not be rejected. most of the bad feelings we experience come from this behavior and i feel it can be avoided-kind of a chicken egg thing. this is form of control ussualy. and most important-why would i want to contol the freedom of the very person i want to be totally free to share that with me? but we do it...ps 28 years of mariage and we been through a lot. two childern that are totaly out on there own and have thanked us for being tough love asshole type parents(with tons of love of course). oh i have my faults as anyone reading my comments will detect...
your stuff is what really can make a better world because it all starts with the individual.
I'am onboard with you guys on interacting with our mates. Suppose however that we accept the fact that certain times in the month the female body inevitably goes through those hormonal shifts, then interacting with one another becomes a high wire pas de deux.
Those who can manage that, will always achieve symbiotic harmony.
ha, and that is why i say to all, that me and my wife are getting along great-we just don't speak to each other.
which leads to body language speak, of course.
don't ignore this-it almost always tell the truth!
best way to know someone lying is when verbal doen't coinside with body lang.
learned the art with 20 years of selling new homes from model home.
childern are not capable of lying very well. they tell everything about the parents(actions).
on your comment - i hear ya. trust me men have monthly issues too. we just don't have a biological reason-ha...
Senora K, mi companera del alma, after many thousands of years what you describe remains still a delicate matter, within the aura of feminine mystique. Allow me, please, to politely suggest we return to the discussion/thread in the abstract form? I do believe the content is all-encompassing of the nature of relationships between a Man and Woman. The reference to such a specific topic may be cause for a certain amount of unease among, say, men who are attempting to define what is manly behavior as part of a higher purpose in life. There is much for one such as myself to learn, and the opportunity does not present itself often. Please, everyone, let us continue...
What has been lost...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gb3e1eWAcHs
What has been gained...
http://www.toofab.com/2013/12/12/party-down-south-cmt-reality-show-jerse...
I feel this adequately illustrates my concerns.