What is reality? Most of us assume reality is what our senses tell us it is. Reality is empirical, it is determined by experience, touch, smell, sight, sound. Or is it? There is more to reality than matter. At least I think so. The dictionary definition is not altogether helpful, stating “reality” is just the state or quality of being “real.” Digging deeper into the meaning of “real” we run across this:
The subject of this article is especially important as it pertains to "conspiracy theories." My 9/11 red pill happened as a result of seeing credible, objective and legitimate *evidence* of controlled demolition due to A: temperatures 1k hotter than jet fuel, B. verifiable free fall of WTC7 and near free fall of WTC 1 and 2, and C: chain-of-custody nanothermite dust samples proven at major university labs around the world. And, of course, planned controlled demolition could not have been possible without the higher-ups knowing about it. This is all compared to the counter-truth narrative circa 2011. This counter narrative claimed that all of this "evidence" was carefully concocted by outrageous "conspiracy theorists" who were trying to make a buck. The problem is, these websites could only offer ad hominem attacks against the major players in the movement and read like high school newspaper op-eds. [A side note here: I get the same feeling about the climate debate....major MAGA luminaries, who I'd otherwise agree with, attack the entire field of anthropogenic climate change with ad hominems against the straw-girl Thunberg and don't seem to offer up any scientific counter arguments].
Also, it seems like the post-modernists Derrida, Foucault, etc., have been hijacked by power hungry globalists who would love nothing more than to destroy any sense of culture and terra firma. The "nothing-is-real-therefore-destroy-dead-white-men-hegemony" ideology has somehow left us with AOC in place of John Adams. I'd be happy with "in addition to" instead of "in place of."
BTW my wife is reading Stranger in a Strange Land and now thinks you're a Martian and a "water brother" because you used the word "grok" so freely and didn't put it in quotes :) These terms may not be used lightly, according to Mike Smith...
Thanks again Todd, what story to believe?. It is when a single story is believed on a massive scale and the impact it can have on people's behaviour.
Over the pandemic I keep coming back to the scene from the movie Network. Where Television can be substituted with newspaper, internet, social media etc
Because the only truth you know is what you get over this tube. Right now, there is a whole, an entire generation that never knew anything that didn't come out of this tube.
Television is not the truth. Television's a god-damned amusement park. Television is a circus, a carnival, a traveling troupe of acrobats, storytellers, dancers, singers, jugglers, sideshow freaks, lion tamers, and football players. We're in the boredom-killing business. So if you want the Truth, Go to yourselves! Because that's the only place you're ever gonna find any real truth. But, man, you're never gonna get any truth from us. We'll tell you anything you wanna hear.
We deal in illusions, man. None of it is true! But you people sit there day after day, night after night, all ages, colors, creeds. We're all you know. You're beginning to believe the illusions we're spinning here. You're beginning to think that the tube is reality and that your own lives are unreal. You do whatever the tube tells you. You dress like the tube, you eat like the tube, you raise your children like the tube. You even think like the tube. This is mass madness. You maniacs. In God's name, you people are the real thing. We are the illusion. So turn off your television sets.
The last 2 paragraphs of this piece resonate most to me . At some point we decided ( the general population) to outsource our opinions / thoughts to others . Not sure why …….whether this might be laziness, lack of confidence or the fall of critical thinking skills . My daughters words when she was 6 or 7 still resonate with me . When I was telling her what to think she told me to stop it “ I am my own me I will decide ” wise words to remember.
I have made such a turnaround in thinking since the covid “pandemic” arrived. I honestly believed whatever the Washington Post said…I truly thought that the Post represented the Truth and would delve deeply into various happenings. I am now at a point that I do not believe initially anything the mainstream media states. Which I realize is a good thing…I question everything…trying not to be cynical at the same time. Strangely, many of my friends on the other side of the fence with the vaccine situation are saying the very same thing…they do not trust the news, politicians, etc….and yet do not question the safely of the vaccine. I find that astounding.
Oct 26, 2022·edited Oct 26, 2022Liked by Todd Hayen, PhD, RP
"French mathematician and physicist Blaise Pascal, though raised in the heyday of Enlightenment thought, found reason inadequate: "Reason's last step is the recognition that there are an infinite number of things which are beyond it." He concluded, "The heart has its reasons, which reason does not know at all"—a statement that soon became the chief critique of rationalism and the starting point for a defense of the Christian faith that still influences people today. Pascal began work on what he hoped would be a comprehensive apology for the Christian faith. This work, published after his death, was called Pensees (“Thoughts” or “Reflections”). In this work Pascal did provide evidences for the Christian faith, but he rejected the idea that one could get to the truth by rational processes alone. After reviewing all the evidence, he said, we are still left with a measure of uncertainty. It is here that we must make a choice, and it is his argument at this point that has made Pascal’s most lasting impact on Christianity. Pascal’s Wager, as it is called, explains that it only makes sense to wager that God exists. If a person “bets” that God does not exist and is wrong, he loses everything. On the other hand, if a person “bets” that God does exist and is wrong, he really loses nothing. Pascal also points out that there is no middle ground; everyone must make a bet one way or the other. Pascal’s Wager encourages those who are struggling with the existence of God, the truth of Christianity, or the possibility of eternal life to consider all the evidence and then proceed on the basis of the only choice that makes sense."
The subject of this article is especially important as it pertains to "conspiracy theories." My 9/11 red pill happened as a result of seeing credible, objective and legitimate *evidence* of controlled demolition due to A: temperatures 1k hotter than jet fuel, B. verifiable free fall of WTC7 and near free fall of WTC 1 and 2, and C: chain-of-custody nanothermite dust samples proven at major university labs around the world. And, of course, planned controlled demolition could not have been possible without the higher-ups knowing about it. This is all compared to the counter-truth narrative circa 2011. This counter narrative claimed that all of this "evidence" was carefully concocted by outrageous "conspiracy theorists" who were trying to make a buck. The problem is, these websites could only offer ad hominem attacks against the major players in the movement and read like high school newspaper op-eds. [A side note here: I get the same feeling about the climate debate....major MAGA luminaries, who I'd otherwise agree with, attack the entire field of anthropogenic climate change with ad hominems against the straw-girl Thunberg and don't seem to offer up any scientific counter arguments].
Also, it seems like the post-modernists Derrida, Foucault, etc., have been hijacked by power hungry globalists who would love nothing more than to destroy any sense of culture and terra firma. The "nothing-is-real-therefore-destroy-dead-white-men-hegemony" ideology has somehow left us with AOC in place of John Adams. I'd be happy with "in addition to" instead of "in place of."
BTW my wife is reading Stranger in a Strange Land and now thinks you're a Martian and a "water brother" because you used the word "grok" so freely and didn't put it in quotes :) These terms may not be used lightly, according to Mike Smith...
So true..I get get most of my news from Substack- I trust what I read here far more than what is reported on CBC!
Thanks again Todd, what story to believe?. It is when a single story is believed on a massive scale and the impact it can have on people's behaviour.
Over the pandemic I keep coming back to the scene from the movie Network. Where Television can be substituted with newspaper, internet, social media etc
Because the only truth you know is what you get over this tube. Right now, there is a whole, an entire generation that never knew anything that didn't come out of this tube.
Television is not the truth. Television's a god-damned amusement park. Television is a circus, a carnival, a traveling troupe of acrobats, storytellers, dancers, singers, jugglers, sideshow freaks, lion tamers, and football players. We're in the boredom-killing business. So if you want the Truth, Go to yourselves! Because that's the only place you're ever gonna find any real truth. But, man, you're never gonna get any truth from us. We'll tell you anything you wanna hear.
We deal in illusions, man. None of it is true! But you people sit there day after day, night after night, all ages, colors, creeds. We're all you know. You're beginning to believe the illusions we're spinning here. You're beginning to think that the tube is reality and that your own lives are unreal. You do whatever the tube tells you. You dress like the tube, you eat like the tube, you raise your children like the tube. You even think like the tube. This is mass madness. You maniacs. In God's name, you people are the real thing. We are the illusion. So turn off your television sets.
This is also interesting
https://dancingparadox.substack.com/p/a-minds-entrapment
The last 2 paragraphs of this piece resonate most to me . At some point we decided ( the general population) to outsource our opinions / thoughts to others . Not sure why …….whether this might be laziness, lack of confidence or the fall of critical thinking skills . My daughters words when she was 6 or 7 still resonate with me . When I was telling her what to think she told me to stop it “ I am my own me I will decide ” wise words to remember.
I have made such a turnaround in thinking since the covid “pandemic” arrived. I honestly believed whatever the Washington Post said…I truly thought that the Post represented the Truth and would delve deeply into various happenings. I am now at a point that I do not believe initially anything the mainstream media states. Which I realize is a good thing…I question everything…trying not to be cynical at the same time. Strangely, many of my friends on the other side of the fence with the vaccine situation are saying the very same thing…they do not trust the news, politicians, etc….and yet do not question the safely of the vaccine. I find that astounding.
"French mathematician and physicist Blaise Pascal, though raised in the heyday of Enlightenment thought, found reason inadequate: "Reason's last step is the recognition that there are an infinite number of things which are beyond it." He concluded, "The heart has its reasons, which reason does not know at all"—a statement that soon became the chief critique of rationalism and the starting point for a defense of the Christian faith that still influences people today. Pascal began work on what he hoped would be a comprehensive apology for the Christian faith. This work, published after his death, was called Pensees (“Thoughts” or “Reflections”). In this work Pascal did provide evidences for the Christian faith, but he rejected the idea that one could get to the truth by rational processes alone. After reviewing all the evidence, he said, we are still left with a measure of uncertainty. It is here that we must make a choice, and it is his argument at this point that has made Pascal’s most lasting impact on Christianity. Pascal’s Wager, as it is called, explains that it only makes sense to wager that God exists. If a person “bets” that God does not exist and is wrong, he loses everything. On the other hand, if a person “bets” that God does exist and is wrong, he really loses nothing. Pascal also points out that there is no middle ground; everyone must make a bet one way or the other. Pascal’s Wager encourages those who are struggling with the existence of God, the truth of Christianity, or the possibility of eternal life to consider all the evidence and then proceed on the basis of the only choice that makes sense."