What kind of world would it be if we could read each other's minds, or were always compelled to speak our minds truthfully, as naturally as taking in oxygen. As fantastic as that often seems, the very same thought terrifies me. I have the emotional and psychological protection of not knowing. Everything is possible if you never know what's going on in someone's head. The possibility. Anything is possible. It's pure fantasy and humans revel in it. We love fiction, give us what will not happen but is perfectly possible and we will fall unconditionally in love. We don't want to know the truth, we are too fragile to hear it, to bear it. We prefer the bliss of ignorance, lying to each other's faces with smiles of complacency to mask our pitiful, terrified selves. We bury who we truly are in fear. Fear that we won't be liked, our opinions ridiculed, our emotions insignificant, our feelings laughable, and our thoughts dismissed. Instead we gorge on popular culture, we squeeze ourselves into the closest mould to ourselves we can find and then we begin to systematically alter our public persona. Too often we lose sight of how all of humanity is in the same boat together, instead we have a highly evolved defense system to keep us rooted in a demographic, one step ahead of a statistic. We go beyond putting up a wall around ourselves; we mark territory, and persecute and divide all the other people we encounter on the planet. Now we've created a finely tuned ignorance machine that keeps a healthy premium on possibilities. We all want to get along but only on our own terms - it's always a possibility. This drive to conform skews our perspective and fuels our disdain for those who do not. We act out in fear of those who are not ourselves and withdraw our most honest of thoughts. The most hilarious part of the whole process is that all that's usually at stake is our egos. From being afraid of being 'wrong' or not being liked by people to engaging your country in war with another, we are all on defense, in a defiant stand for our pride. We would sooner die than risk losing the comfort that holding onto a mere possibility provides us. So it's true that we can't handle the truth. What a pathetic battle cry that is. Here we proclaim aloud "Lie to us!", obscure what may hurt us, save us from facts, dreaded truths, and realities! The opposite is what we really want but can't admit. Open communication will set us free to wander the new world of social progress. No longer will our advances in technology overshadow and outstrip those made within our humanity. The new evolution could begin, but we're barely able to open a pure dialogue with even close friends. It takes a particularly intimate bond to go almost all the way, but even then, there are limits to how much we're willing to give. I had that once with someone, we could talk about anything, ask each other anything, and were completely prepared and comfortable giving the most honest of responses. We were as close as I think two friends could be, but I couldn't tell him I loved him and how I felt when I was with him or away from him. There's always something you're not willing or able to confront with another person, and that's when we find that pesky pride and ego. We buried it deep, but it's still there. We've been hiding from ourselves, and maybe eventually we won't be afraid to truly be ourselves. Needless to say, I'm not really prepared to introduce the system in my social group. I'd rather hold onto this world a little longer than tell friends when they're boring me, ask the uncomfortable question about someone's past, or wonder aloud about my own secret thoughts. Agreeing to live in this world means agreeing to play by its rules, you'll likely find it a rather traumatic place to reside if you don't take heed. For the time being, that's a trade I'm willing to make.
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
August 8, 2004 2:05 post meridiem
What kind of world would it be if we could read each other's minds, or were always compelled to speak our minds truthfully, as naturally as taking in oxygen. As fantastic as that often seems, the very same thought terrifies me. I have the emotional and psychological protection of not knowing. Everything is possible if you never know what's going on in someone's head. The possibility. Anything is possible. It's pure fantasy and humans revel in it. We love fiction, give us what will not happen but is perfectly possible and we will fall unconditionally in love. We don't want to know the truth, we are too fragile to hear it, to bear it. We prefer the bliss of ignorance, lying to each other's faces with smiles of complacency to mask our pitiful, terrified selves. We bury who we truly are in fear. Fear that we won't be liked, our opinions ridiculed, our emotions insignificant, our feelings laughable, and our thoughts dismissed. Instead we gorge on popular culture, we squeeze ourselves into the closest mould to ourselves we can find and then we begin to systematically alter our public persona. Too often we lose sight of how all of humanity is in the same boat together, instead we have a highly evolved defense system to keep us rooted in a demographic, one step ahead of a statistic. We go beyond putting up a wall around ourselves; we mark territory, and persecute and divide all the other people we encounter on the planet. Now we've created a finely tuned ignorance machine that keeps a healthy premium on possibilities. We all want to get along but only on our own terms - it's always a possibility. This drive to conform skews our perspective and fuels our disdain for those who do not. We act out in fear of those who are not ourselves and withdraw our most honest of thoughts. The most hilarious part of the whole process is that all that's usually at stake is our egos. From being afraid of being 'wrong' or not being liked by people to engaging your country in war with another, we are all on defense, in a defiant stand for our pride. We would sooner die than risk losing the comfort that holding onto a mere possibility provides us. So it's true that we can't handle the truth. What a pathetic battle cry that is. Here we proclaim aloud "Lie to us!", obscure what may hurt us, save us from facts, dreaded truths, and realities! The opposite is what we really want but can't admit. Open communication will set us free to wander the new world of social progress. No longer will our advances in technology overshadow and outstrip those made within our humanity. The new evolution could begin, but we're barely able to open a pure dialogue with even close friends. It takes a particularly intimate bond to go almost all the way, but even then, there are limits to how much we're willing to give. I had that once with someone, we could talk about anything, ask each other anything, and were completely prepared and comfortable giving the most honest of responses. We were as close as I think two friends could be, but I couldn't tell him I loved him and how I felt when I was with him or away from him. There's always something you're not willing or able to confront with another person, and that's when we find that pesky pride and ego. We buried it deep, but it's still there. We've been hiding from ourselves, and maybe eventually we won't be afraid to truly be ourselves. Needless to say, I'm not really prepared to introduce the system in my social group. I'd rather hold onto this world a little longer than tell friends when they're boring me, ask the uncomfortable question about someone's past, or wonder aloud about my own secret thoughts. Agreeing to live in this world means agreeing to play by its rules, you'll likely find it a rather traumatic place to reside if you don't take heed. For the time being, that's a trade I'm willing to make.
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