And now, to continue down the path of crazy a little bit longer, I will like to present to you my dear reader, more uncomfortable conundrums. I know you love them so much, specially because it makes you hover over the flag button every now and then, and that is always fun.
Very good question, yes... we need a purpose for this little journey of ours. Let's call this whole thing self imposed mental defragmentation. I think that is the proper way of looking at it. Just like the hard drive on your computer requires maintenance to make sure its working properly and to make sure the files are not "corrupted", I think asking difficult questions to ourselves might have the same effect on us.
I mean, all of us get set in our ways over time and get too comfortable. In that process we adopt sometimes without conscious effort, ideas that don't really belong inside a healthy mind. I will grant you that some of these ideas are not inherently bad, but they are no doubt dissonant and work very much like mental parasites eroding our capacity for critical thinking.
The word parasite might be a little harsh to some, but then again I'm comfortable with the notion that I may not be harsh enough about this whole phenomena. After all, many of the bad things that happen to humanity are byproducts of terrible, and I do mean terrible ideas. What is a corrupt organized religion with extremist ideologies but the cusp of parasitic ideas celebrating stupidity with loud voices.
Mental Immunity
May not exist, even though we tend to think that intelligent people are logically completely immune to parasitic ideas themselves. After all, logic is their weapon of choice, and most of these toxic ideas lack it completely. I'll admit I used to believe in mental immunity myself, in the ability for someone to shield themselves from adopting notions that do not pass muster through mental fortitude. However, I also remember distinctly being seduced, because that is the correct word, and adopting a few ridiculous ideas into my own world view unknowingly.
The truth is that human brain is within itself a none mono-entity, and what I mean, is easily observed. We tend to have conflicting opinions and desires all the time. It's even common speak to say - "I have two minds about this"- The saying, although illogical is accepted as completely sound, because we experience it ourselves often.
Within that complexity, within those somewhat feeble barriers between logic and emotion, lies the vulnerability for the mind to be hacked, to put it bluntly. This is to say, that a parasitic idea, finds its way into the core of "the self" by attaching its memetic properties onto logical/emotional conflicts.
Painting a Picture
I don't think I can continue this somewhat abstract exploration without giving some more palpable examples. The truth is that to some, I may be speaking in another language all together and I would not blame anyone for such criticisms of my writings. The subject is quite complex, and requires a solid common ground to move forward.
In an effort to help anyone feeling a little lost, let me paint a picture, a plausible scene that should explain exactly how a parasitic ideas grow roots.
Imagine a broken relationship, imagine someone who just got divorced, just left his long time spouse. Attempt to dive into those emotions for a second. Inside this man's mind, life seems to have lost some meaning. Some of the plans, specially the long terms ones have eroded to meaningless dust. Some of the things he achieved mean little to nothing, and all of the sudden the home or the car they bought together is not an asset anymore, but a point of conflict.
Imagine this person algo being really bright, attempting to be pragmatic about everything. Spending all of the emotional currency into the suppression of emotional non logical responses. Imagine this person feeling lonely, feeling weak at times, attempting to regain center, to regain purpose.
Then one day, someone friendly offers a solution. Someone tells this person, that they know how to regain happiness, how to find purpose again. The messenger is charismatic, seems happy himself, so to our character from this made up story, this does not seem suspicious. What does he have to lose anyways? So he takes the pamphlet, he decides to get together with these people and see what happens.
In this new place, engulfed by the positive experience, our lost soul from our little story starts to feel a glimpse of hope again. Everyone is so friendly after all, everyone is so welcoming. They even speak differently, they talk about the beautiful future to come, they talk about self improvement, they have these books, these resources on how to succeed in life, how to take back control. They have examples, members who lost it all and are back at the top.
Once all those connections are made, once our intelligent character has surrendered his mental barriers of doubt, the memetic parasitic messages start to appear, start to gradually take root. You might think I'm making a joke, but this exactly how Scientology recruits its members, and after that long process, this is precisely why highly intelligent people seem ok with accepting XENU, the ancient prophetic alien.
Do I have a mental Virus? Can I remove it?
I happen to think that we can, but it must start with the recognition of our own flaws. Meaning, that we must be frank with ourselves to the point that we know we are not, cannot be immune to parasitic ideas. In that false notion, when we think ourselves too smart to ever allow one in, we might end up justifying them with our own ego. Thoughts like "That could never happen to me, I'm too smart" are part of the reason why these things exist and propagate so efficiently.
Maybe the answer to questions regarding the health of our beliefs are more connected to the reasons why we believe them, than the beliefs themselves. Meaning, that If the reason why I believe in something is because it makes me feel good, that might not be a logical reason to believe in it, and maybe that belief should be revised. Is it bad thing? Is it toxic? those are questions best answered by the results of one's life.
Have I extirpated happiness from my existence? Have I reduced my connections with other humans? Have I walked away from love because of my beliefs? Do I deny my nature? Do I feel anxiety? Do I feel guilt? Do I constantly have to work in justifying my actions, or my lack of them? Why do I need a leader to keep me in check?
We need Questions... The hard ones, the difficult ones, the painful ones, the ones you hate sometimes.
I strongly believe that's the only way to be sure...
