Lying comes natural to a culture believing truth can be told. The dishonesty lies in that leap of faith required by the myth, so ubiquitous it’s invisible, that somewhere there are right answers in the back of some book of life with the indisputable authority to declare all other versions wrong. How tedious; half the folks looking to be told what’s right, the other half claiming it’s their way or the highway. The third half are aware of this tautology, stepped out of it and are, therefore, unable to be lied to. Nor do they rely on being told the truth, knowing variations on the theme of a truth so vast it cannot be spoken enrich the beautiful complexity of what we can only live to behold a smidgen of.
Sure, we can get the names right for things and actions we’ve learned for the stuff and nonsense we’ve invented and what they make us do. All that is written down somewhere in dictionaries and patent offices, psychiatry and pharmaceutical labs, bibles and constitutions. While honest folk endeavor to get those names in the best order to accurately describe past events, present feelings and future intentions, it is just as easy to rearrange those names for different, undisclosed intentions for ears waiting to hear some version of, “…so help me God, (with your authority to make the gullible believe anything, oh mighty writer of the Book).” Courts are busy making judgments on the suspension of disbelief among believers by one person’s version of events being more persuasive than the other, neither of which even need be about the truth.
Considering the variation in reality tunnels among humans as important to the survival of our species as the diversity of species is to sustaining the healthy life of the planet, makes it easy to hear such various reports as purely informational data points balanced against one’s own experience in an evolving probability theory about life in the universe of an open mind.
There are no liars if one’s not looking to believe, there are just different versions of what people think is going on, none of whom I need to believe nor expect or want to believe me. If our realities resonate, great; if not, grater. One thing common among my friends; the only lies we call on each other are the hoods we’ve winked on ourselves. It’s what friends are for.
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Addendum: I'm chagrinned by my omission of a primary inspiration for this post and the coiner of one of my favorite terms, "reality tunnels", Robert Anton Wilson, … yeah you, you old rabble rouser — who got around our tendency to seem to be or to actually be liars when claiming exclusive truth, by finishing every sentence with, "…maybe". Beautiful. Maybe.
8 comments:
the scariest lies are the ones we start to believe, because we have said them enough..
Brian,
That's how we knit the hood with which to wink ourselves. Swearing to things better than which we once knew.
Brian: the scariest lies are the ones we tell ourselves
Yodood: for most the knowledge that they live in delusion is lost - they don't see past the inbred symbols of snakes and evil to see the cage. The apple usually rots on the tree, its core of knowledge unrevealed.
Pisces, … exactly as the Popette master intended the invisible prison to be.
"There are no liars if one’s not looking to believe, there are just different versions of what people think is going on, none of whom I need to believe nor expect or want to believe me."
To have a version of whats going on or even that there is nothing going on, one must have a belief. All versions require a certain amount of faith.
Lies cannot be determined by how much you can confirm yourself in it or not.
I don't expect anyone to believe my version but I do expect what I believe to be revealed to those looking.
Many opinions have been made about my belief but not once has anyone ever asked me why I believe it and what proof exists for my testimony.
Hi there Lilwave, what kept you?
First: is faith required to believe in oneself? If so, then that is as far as I desire to inflict the result of such a small step for me, lest it become such a giant burden on whomever I thrust my trust.
If that is what faith is to you then why can't you hear the words of god have your voice? Oh yeah, then you'd have to trust yourself.
The only faith in my version is that it will evolve with new information, an openness sorely lacking in scripture bound certainty and obedience.
No one asks you to prove your faith because it is a well known fact that faith is only required when you don't have proof. Personally, I don't care what your proof or your version is as far as its proprietary imperative over all personal responsibility goes, but the fact that you believe it to be the only right version for anyone, brings a tear to my eye.
"Is faith required to believe in oneself?"
I guess not if you know everything about everything.
Personally, I don't care what your proof or your version is as far as its proprietary imperative over all personal responsibility goes.
Exactly my point. You don't care, yet you seem to have posting after posting of your opinion about my belief.
The fact that you believe it to be the only right version for anyone, brings a tear to my eye.
Umm...thought you didn't care. You don't care as long as your the one thats right.
you didn't understand anything I said
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