The Delusion of Delusions

I am grateful to the friends and readers who encourage me to keep blogging. This week, a friend said, "Keep it up. It may feel like a voice in the wilderness, but the energy is projected into the universal atmosphere!" Wow, that gave me a much-needed boost.

I'm not sure why I write but it does give me a cleansing feeling when I get things out that need to be said. I find that I write for a lot of reasons. One side of me just wants to empty out all the crap in my brain. Another part of me wants to write to deal with my guilt for not doing more activism. Still, another part of me just wants to say, "I told you so" when we experience the collapse of our economy and environment.

Delusions

When I created a blog dedicated to delusions I wasn't sure I'd find enough to write about, but I'm finding endless topics to cover. I've heard much talk lately about how artificial intelligence may take over and destroy humanity, and then there are the threats of nuclear holocaust, asteroid hits, and viral pandemics. But I believe the greatest threat to humanity is our own delusions. In other words, we create our own realities to comfort us and fit our beliefs, rather than dealing with uncomfortable realities.

Truth

Truth is the antidote to delusions. When I was a journalist I learned how easy it was to distort perception by how a story is worded, and what is included or intentionally left out. All the time people are quoted "out of context" and this is just one tool a propagandist can use for distorting a story.

The one thing that all of us can do to give humanity a grip on reality is simply tell the truth, even when you have to take licks for it. In my pre and post marriage dating years I've had far more respect for members of the opposite sex who simply tell me, "I'm not particularly attracted to you," as opposed to making up a bucket of excuses or dropping the "let's just be friends" line.

If you are truthful and direct to a person, even when it's not pleasant, at least you are keeping them moored to reality. If they are mature, they will respect and appreciate your honesty.

Christmas 1970

It's unfortunate that we start our kids out in life by lying to them — already we are screwing with our children's minds and letting them know that it's okay to have a delusion because it's fanciful and fun. I am embarrassed to say that I still believed in Santa Claus until age 9. I thank my next door neighbor Donnie for curing me of my first big delusion. Even when Donnie explained to me that it was my parents who were buying toys and putting them out Christmas Eve I told Donnie, "I don't believe it!" 

I had noticed that the toys we got for Christmas were the same as crap I saw in the stores. But the lie was so deeply embedded in me that I chose to overlook that reality. I really wasn't sure how Santa's workshop could replicate the same packaging as store-bought toys, but I didn't question.

The whole Christmas thing was a wake-up call for me because I started thinking, "if Santa Claus was a lie, how many other lies have I been told." I think it was then that I dared to do something that many don't even have the capacity to do — I started to question EVERYTHING.

Addictions

I've spent a lot of time lately grieving for people who are addicted to alcohol, nicotine, opioids, or other drugs. Just recently, I did research on the topic and learned about cellular and molecular adaption to the addictive chemicals that a person injects into their body. I've always been amazed at the great energy people put into justifying their addictions, to the point of creating a new reality. But after reading a few articles on how addiction works, I now see there is little else they can do, and little that I can do. While I am deeply hurt by the people who are destroying themselves, I realize that I am no match for a chemically addicted cell. To those of you in my life who I love and are addicted, I will say that the first step isn't acknowledging that you have a problem, rather it's acknowledging that you have a delusion.

Conspiracy Theories

Conspiracies is another place where people really lose it. I think conspiracies sort of tickle and stimulate the brain. For the last time I will say that the moon landing WAS NOT FILMED in a movie studio. I do not believe that the white streaks in the sky have secret chemicals and I don't believe 9/11 was an inside job. I doubt the Kennedy assassination was a conspiracy, although this one just never dies. 

With conspiracies as well as any news I hear, I use the "preponderance of evidence" rule. If I hear something in the news, I try to get the information from several sources and then make a judgement. If I hear or see someone saying or doing something, it's a pretty safe bet that it's reality, but even videos can be altered or taken out of context.

Pastafarian

I call myself a Pastafarian as a joke, but my real religion is Reality. A Pastafarian is a follower of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, a fictitious being who was created as a protest to creationism and intelligent design being taught in Kansas schools. I do appreciate the parody and the point made: that anyone can create their own reality. The Church of Reality, which appears to only have few members, takes an opposite approach — we believe in what really is, no matter how boring, scary, or painful it may be.

Todd's Church of Reality

In my Church of Reality there is no afterlife, no soul, and no reincarnation. There are simply no technical mechanisms to make these wishful things happen. Rather, our evolution has created this fantastically complex thing called consciousness, and when the oxygen is cut from the brain, it's gone, and we're gone.

This reality doesn't affect how I live in any way. After having lies about Heaven and Hell drilled into my head for decades, it simply took another decade to fully de-indoctrinate myself. I now live in peace knowing that I'm simply a highly-evolved monkey. But as a monkey with a conscience and consciousness, I must also live with a sense of responsibility. And, thus, here I am on a Sunday morning writing things that most people would rather not read.

Conclusion

I really love the term "unmoored," which is when your boat breaks away from its moorings and drifts away from the dock. Truth is the rope that keeps you tied to the dock. I know people will argue forever about what "truth" really is, but this is a personal journey and everyone has to find it as best they can. The number one thing we can do to save our country, our world, and our species is to find truth and come to grips with it.

In the end, the Flying Spaghetti Monster won't save any of us, nor will any other fictitious character that was drilled into us as a child. Only you can save you, and perhaps you can save me too. And having said that, I am now going to enjoy a nice plate of spaghetti.

Photo: Greg Rakozy