There is a world around us, all the time, that exists independently of whatever we may make of it. For the sake of convenience, we will refer to this world as “reality”.
It is not dependent upon what we call it, or how we see it, or how we refer to it, or describe it. It is what it is. Reality.
If the sky is blue, then the sky is blue. Informing others that this means it will rain soon, does not make it so. Relating a tale about how, once before, a sky of such a colour resulted in a deluge, shortly after, has no effect at all upon the reality of the sky being blue. We may misrepresent things, or attribute other things to certain things, but there is no result to reality in this. Reality does not change, as a result. But something changes. What changes is us, and anyone else who believes what we say.
I used to be a fighter pilot, I say. I say this for no apparent reason. There is nothing to be gained by saying this. Especially since it is not true. But if I say it enough, I start believing it, as I embroider the tale, more and more, struggling all the while, to remember who I have told this to, so that I may remain consistent, and – well – believable.
And the time I saved the whole country from disaster, single-handedly, through my unusual abilities that were – well – whatever they were. Along with being a now-retired member of the elite special forces, so maybe it’s a good idea not to mess with me…
These are big lies. But the funny thing about lies is that there are no small ones. Any lie is a lie. A distortion of what-is into what-isn’t. It does not directly affect reality, even a bit. But it affects, big-time, the human perception of it.
Gather enough lies, from enough people, about enough things, and there is no way back to reality. It ceases to be, in our eyes, because we have overlaid it with enough illusion to completely bury it. It is gone. Without trace. Vanished from mortal ken. For – or as near as dammit – ever.
I chanced, one day, to realize, quite spontaneously, the damage that lying did. Not just to me, although the cost to me was terribly high, but to all my interactions with everyone else, and like a ripple in a pool, moving ever outward to affect all the others affected by all those others…
I undertook to never lie again. To nevermore misrepresent, distort, or falsify, anything, for any reason, whatsoever. And it was amazingly easy to do this. A great weight fell from me, and there were no more stories to keep straight, for anybody else, but most of all, for me. Suddenly I was free of this terrible affliction. Lighter than air. I soared with the certain knowledge that whatever I saw, lived, interacted with, experienced, was real and nothing but.
Of course, people don’t believe me when I claim I never lie, even though it is not a claim, but the truth. Because such a thing, in the experience of those people, does not exist. Therefore it cannot be. For them. But this does not affect reality. I do not lie because I know better.
Virtue has nothing to do with this. Virtue is no reason to become, and to remain honest. Honesty simply works better than dishonesty. And it is unfortunate that the dishonest have no way of knowing this. But then again: this is how reality works.
Imagine: a society in which everybody lies about everything, all of the time. Where nothing and nobody is honestly represented, or described as what it is, or what they are. Where no information accurately reflects that which it informs of. Where every member sees whatever they see, through a distorting lens of chaos, and then describes whatever they see, not as what it is, but as they think it should be described, depending upon who they think whoever it is might be, that they are describing it to.
Does this sound familiar?
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Building a life on lies is like building a house on poor foundations. It might be easier and last for a little while as you bask in the short term gains from it but it will collapse and you’ll be left with all sorts of mess and mistrust. Whats not to gain from the solidity of the truth? Are we that fearful and tired to work to make things right?
People don’t realize that each decision we make about our own behavior, in other words a “moral decision,” determines what future decisions we have. Start with self-deception, and then those lies spread as justifications to others, and soon, you’re lying full-time.
Deception is a battlefield tactic which is very ”modern society friendly”. A city filled with booby traps and mines in an urban battlefield is a good example of what has become of our society as well. Lies are like mines. Hidden. We come face to face with them sometimes and we weigh the pros and cons of pointing them out or dismantling them. We live in fear that they can be buried or hidden and increasingly we watch our step.
I also at some point began to clearly see the damage that even the unexploded mines i had placed in my life had done. I placed some around me for a sense of safety and control but in reality all i had done was shrunk my world and boxed myself in. I have defused many of these mines, not all. But then even outside of myself as i walk a bit freer than i used too, i see how hopelessly entangled people have become with this tactic.
There is a lot to be gained with the skillful usage of lies and deception. I understand why people who deep down inside ought to know better, act as if they do not. It is not my place to be a ”lie hunter” but i believe that i can live the remainder of my life without fear of others use of this tactic. For my purposes in life: seeking knowledge, self mastery ect my biggest incentive for not actively deceiving is to create as much bright open space within me to move around in and grow. No lies or shadows.
The most powerful thing in this world is a clear conscience – not money, not a gun, not rhetoric, not a hurricane, not a nuclear warhead. It is a never ending source of power. When you have a clear conscience you are utterly unstoppable!
That, Ted, is something I hadn’t considered before.
But now you mention it, I recognize it, bigtime.
Nice one :)
I think lies do affect reality, in the sense that any human action can affect reality.
To say that all the other humans who are lying have no affect on my life and the reality in which I live would be a lie…because they do. They degrade it.
Then again, I think it can sometimes be good to lie to oneself. Perhaps ignoring all the liars is the only way to thrive. Perhaps believing in something is the only way to survive.
Question: How would you characterize Belief — religious or otherwise — in relation to Lies?
You plumb the depths of Paradox. I had wondered who would.
Quantum reality can not help but intrude upon the mundane.
Yet if one changes reality, what has one done?
Responsibility needs be exercised.
Belief is an odd thing. It implies a lack of knowing, which may be dealt-with by the even odder phenomenon of hope. To teeter on the edge of neurosis, and consequently, a very human condition.
I’ve often wondered why people believe in God.
It is just as easy to live one’s life in the certain knowledge that it must be so, as to live in the hope that it is.
Perhaps, for some, belief is like ego. A stopgap measure until reality crystallizes.
What’s the difference between a belief and a lie, then? I’m not talking about truth vs. belief as we talked about some time quite awhile ago. I’m just talking about things I see all the time, especially on conservative web convos. There’s lots of talk about the media, liberal thinking, etc. and it all makes me feel distressed.
I seek to be completely honest with myself about whatever is my own business, and lately I’m trying to stop having an opinion about what’s someone else’s business, or the Creator’s business. It leaves me feeling insecure and yet it liberates me to do things that are my own business to do.
Thoughts are possibilities that hover in the ether, based on things we think we’re perceiving. We don’t think thoughts, they think themselves and we adopt them or just look at them and say they’re interesting.
Also, what about the lying thoughts that sound real?
I dunno what I’m getting at but I know if I’m honest about my own business I can feel integrity inside and from what I see and hear. Or lack of integrity.
Ive always found it easier to orient myself to the source of my own train of thoughts by gradually slowing them down. i throw a ‘minus 20 percent of the perceived tempo of my inner monologue’ in there and observe the effects. Somewhere after that, some inner layer of who or what i think i am naturally picks up the slack. this usually frees up enough relaxed focus and attention to orient itself to some of the stuff that i could not perceive when my mind was moving a little faster. all kinds of emotions and thoughts can come out of peeling away the layers like this. I let them pass as best i can.
A variation of the “shepherd’s exercise”.
i used the ole google on that one. are you talking about the mathematical looking equation called shepards method? i think that i might be using a variation of that in a few things that i do. pretty cool either way.
I was talking about this one:
Nice. That’s a very useful contribution, and a fine first-thing to read, today.
Thank you.
the very fact that such a person as Evola existed has been more than enough to inspire me greatly. Outside of the profound writings of his which ive had the pleasure to read and which have often led me to silently utter “OMFG” in amazement to myself, the fact that he existed so recently and faced modernity without flinching and documented it is heartening. I look forward to reading yoga of power. it is one of the ones ive wanted to read increasingly recently, but that excerpt above will surely hasten the process.
Belief: asserting something is true when you don’t know it is.
Lie: asserting something is true when you know it isn’t.
A very efficient and valuable distinction.
“Thoughts are possibilities that hover in the ether, based on things we think we’re perceiving.”
That’s an interesting thought.
Have you ever read this?
http://books.google.com/books?id=Kza7tTkiytUC&pg=PA107&dq=the+doctrine+of+awakening+defense+and+consolidation&hl=en&sa=X&ei=6wHmUOTnDMTcqAHJxIAo&ved=0CDwQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=the%20doctrine%20of%20awakening%20defense%20and%20consolidation&f=false
checking it out
The next phrase started out even more interesting:
“We don’t think thoughts, they think themselves…”
Which immediately reminded me of another book by Evola – “The Yoga of Power”…
WAll truths were once lies, and all lies were once truth. The problem with lying is that you can’t have your lie and believe somebody elses lies.
E=Mc^2 was once a lie?
It still is.