Magic Tricks

This is clearly the age of accessible information. Information is everywhere, and can easily reach anyone who wants it, and even if a person doesn’t want it, it is there. Think of a time when information could only be had by someone else speaking it directly to you. Then came smoke signals, then the written language. Think of how many years humans walked the earth before that written language could be conveyed to the masses with the printing press. Then telegraph, then radio, then television, then, the king of all news conveyance, the Internet. Before the Internet, information that was spread to the masses who were separated by great distances, was filtered. Not everyone could print a newspaper or create a radio station. Only certain pieces of information were conveyed to large masses of people—information was selective and in the hands of the people who controlled that media. Now a big hunk of it (the Internet, unless it is censored) is not.

Since we no longer have people or organizations filtering information (well, we actually still do in a big way, I’ll get to that in a minute). We have to filter it ourselves. I’ve written before about this idea of information filtering. But here I want to suggest a different perspective to that filtering process. Why is it that people choose to filter out certain information and to allow in other types of information? The first thing that comes to mind is news accuracy and factual integrity. OK, let’s say some people are good at vetting the news, or some people have a better nose for BS than others. Well, if that were true, and these people were in the majority, we certainly would not be in the situation we are in today. Part of the problem is that people think they can ascertain truth and facts. But they can’t, obviously. Of course I am assuming that all of you reading this actually can discern truth from fiction, but that ability to discern isn’t really the trick, because I believe if it were, more people would be doing just that.

The real trick I am speaking of is trust. Sheep only trust information that meets certain very rigid criteria including source, stature of authority, parental image, etc. Shrews trust information that meets only one criterion: truth. Easy to say, eh? So what is this truth? Sheep certainly think they too are looking for truth, but the way they determine what is true is the problem. Truth is not always easy to identify since there is so much information flying about claiming to be the truth. Of course we should be somewhat suspicious of any news or news source, but we should at the same time be open to anything we run across to examine. Sheep are not open, for the most part, but more importantly, they look in only one direction. They are not willing to change their mind, to put one idea aside and look at another idea that comes along that seems plausible, or even just more interesting.

Getting back to the comment about there being no news source anymore that is filtered as there used to be. Of course that doesn’t pertain to the mainstream media that is owned and operated by essentially the same power sources. Major newspapers and television media sources no longer adhere to a standard of excellence and integrity, moral and objective, they once used to. This subject is an article in itself, and most of you reading this are well aware of these implications. These mainstream news sources have gripped the mind and hearts of sheep, and there is no pulling them away from them.

Curiosity is another thing that seems to be missing from the sheep mind…they want to feel comfortable, and secure in their decisions, and once they make the decision to stick with an idea, curiosity goes out the window. There is little investigative interest in them. Life is supposed to be easy and fun…. and what else? Well, that seems to be it, fun, easy…and being happy. That’s about it. They know accomplishing that is near impossible, but that really is the only thing they are interested in. Crappy and meaningless jobs get in the way of that prime objective. So do complicated and conflictual relationships. The goal is always to be gratified. Anything that interferes with that is rejected, sometimes by denying, and other times by resistance and conflict. Anger often flares up, “Why are you cutting me off you bastard!” (road rage) or “Why don’t you get the vaccine and protect me you low life!” And, “Oh my god! The virus is going to kill us all!” Stuff like that.

God forbid these people work at anything, I mean really work. With regard to news and information, we all need to work to find the truth. We need to dig through the Internet crap and find out if something is worthy of paying attention to. We need to pass through that wall that keeps us out of the swamp of unfiltered information, where the real truth lies hidden. After applying a bit of common sense and critical thinking we will be rewarded with our prize. Shrews do this. Sheep don’t seem to. They just want someone they trust to tell them whatever they need to hear to assuage their fears, to bring them back to fun and happiness. The truth will eventually do that as well, but once they are set on their “source for safety” (mental and emotional as well) for the solution, they will look nowhere else. The irony here is that the mainstream news sources the sheep look to for comfort is spewing out nothing but fear and mayhem—with one important difference, solutions. “Listen to us, do what we say, and you will be saved,” is the mantra. “Stay at home, wear a mask, get jabbed, you, and everyone else, will be safe if you do what we say,” create the problem first, then offer to fix it. The oldest con in the book.

I have found that shrews, in general, are very curious people. They do not see fun and happiness as being the only criteria for a good, fulfilling, and meaningful life. They like to have fun, of course, and be happy, but they know that life comes with a bunch of other things to consider. Sheep do understand this too, as most of them (unfortunately most of all of us, for different reasons) are miserable. The difference is that sheep will sacrifice truth to avoid misery; shrews will not. Now, before crucifying me here let me say I know I have no business dropping everyone into two buckets and making such broad, sweeping, statements. I actually don’t really know what I am talking about with regard to all shrews and all sheep. And my presentation here is totally ignoring outliers and focusing on the tip of the bell curve. I know that not all sheep are like I have described, the same goes for all shrews. I have done no formal surveys on the likes and dislikes of shrew or sheep. It is just an anecdotal observation. “It seems to me…” So bear with me…be curious about what I might have to say.

So…like in a cult, sheep pick their leader, listen only to them and their chosen conveyors of information (the mainstream media) and that’s it. Everything else to them is like a magic trick. They simply will not believe it no matter how real, how evidential, or how believable it might seem. I am sure most of you have been to a magic show. Did you figure it out? Most don’t, that’s the whole point. No matter how much evidence the magician throws at you to prove what they have done is true and factual you KNOW it is a magic trick, and rather than go screaming into the woods insane with fear or awe, you laugh, and say “wow, how did he/she do that?” It was a trick; it was not meant to be believed. You have banked on physics and other rules of reality as being truth. You may be curious, but usually not curious enough to devote your life to figuring the trick out. Your life doesn’t depend on it, until now.

Sheep are victim to this way of thinking. Their perceived reality is so important they see any other reality as a magic trick, not intended to be taken seriously. They have lost the ability to wade through the muck to find the truth. Instead they roll their eyes when they see it, not believing it is truth they are looking at. Shrews wade through muck, and enjoy it. What compels them to do this are common sense and critical thinking—these things reject the mainstream narrative and see it for what it is, illogical and nonsensical. In order for the sheep to do the same they would have to remove trust from their own choice of reality and see that reality as the magic trick, the smoke and mirrors and slight of hand that has had them tricked all along. Their sense of safety, trust, and the false pursuit of fun and happiness, then goes out the window, and that simply is unacceptable to them.