Fool's Philosophy - by Nate Bartling

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Fool's Philosophy - September 2006

Doublethink - 1984 Today

September 29th 2006 15:57

George Orwell (Wikipedia)

The term 'doublethink' originates in George Orwell's 1984 and along with 'newspeak' (a constant process of slimming down language in order to limit peoples ability to communicate and ultimately think) is an essential part of the 'Big Brother' society. In the novel, doublethink is defined as "The power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them."

One of the main reasons doublethink is so necessary is that it allows the masses to accept being slaves to the system and under total surveillance, while considering themselves free and independent. Party slogans from the book such as "Freedom is Slavery, War is Peace" are typical examples of this, convincing the characters that in order to have the freedom of a civilized society they are required to be slaves to their dictatorial regime. It enables Winston (the protagonist of the book) to work at the 'Ministry of Truth', the governments propaganda machine, doctoring old newspaper stories to support whatever the government is claiming while still believing the claims to be true.

Alex Jones (Wikipedia)

In Alex Jones' documentary 'Terrorstorm: A History of Government Sponsored Terrorism' the film-makers interview random people on the streets of London about their views on recent terror attacks and the war on terror in general. The amount of people that respond instinctively with classic doublethink-style logic is positively alarming. The most extreme example was a woman who believed "we should give up our liberty for freedom", seemingly unaware that they are both the same thing!

It appears that doublethink is no longer confined to the pages of Orwell's prophetic novel but is becoming a prevalent part of our language. Below are some common examples of the way doublethink is used in our society:

UN Peacekeeping Forces (Wikipedia)

Fighting for peace - This is a ridiculous concept. As comedian George Carlin once said “Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity” (source thinkexist.com). Fighting, or any form of conflict, is obviously the very thing that stands in the way of peace.

Peace-keeping Forces - Peace keeping forces are those troops left in a country to help enforce a particular regime. The very fact that a military presence is required would suggest that there is no peace there to 'keep'.

Ministry of Defence - The Ministry of Defence bears striking resemblance to Orwell's 'Ministry of Peace' not only in the classic use of doublethink in the name but also in its actions. Both are primarily concerned with warfare and seem to spend the majority of their time and efforts dealing in attack and invasion as opposed to the implied defence or peace.

Holy War - I am not a religious scholar of any kind but as far I am aware all major religions preach a message of peace and have some variation of the 'Love thy neighbour' commandment. No religion promotes violence or killing, so it seems to me that for a war to be considered 'holy' is a contradiction in terms.

Giving up our rights in the name of freedom - This is possibly the most relevant aspect of doublethink in our society today. With Orwellian surveillance on every corner and acts such as 'The Patriot Act', we are being asked to give up the very freedoms that 'The War on Terror' is alleged to protect, and all in the name of freedom. If that isn't doublethink, I dont know what is.

These are just a few examples off the top of my head. If anyone can think of anymore to add to the list, please let me know

Relevant Links:
1984 by George Orwell at Amazon
Infowars article on Doublethink in London
Watch Alex Jones' 'Terrorstorm'
Wikipedia article on Doublethink

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Posted By: Gareth - Category: No Category

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Creating Your Own Reality - Part 2

September 29th 2006 10:03

"What we think, we become." - Buddha

Buddha (Wikipedia)

If we choose to accept the notion that what we generally refer to as 'reality' is defined by our perception of it and the fact that we can change this perception whenever we decide, we must also acknowledge the implications that this gives rise to both from a philosophical and sociological point of view.

It would logically follow then, that if one was somehow able to convince a person to perceive an object or event in a particular way then you could essentially control the way that the object or event appears to them and hence influence their 'Personal Reality'. If other people were then manipulated in the same way, they would, as a matter of course, provide a 'Social Concensus' and therefore give the object/event credibility in 'General Reality' and make it by definition real.

For example, there are many ways in which we see the variety of people and cultures in the world as somehow different from ourselves. What is the real defining factor that differentiates you from your neighbour?

HH The XIV Dalai Lama (Wikipedia)

I live in Wales, a small country in the UK next to England. In my opinion the only thing that seperates me, as a Welshman, from my neighbour the Englishman is the border, a line drawn across the map by some King or Queen centuries ago (I dont know by who or when, nor do I care). However, there is throughout Wales a fierce patriotism to the degree that the average Welshmen would become offended or even agressive at the thought of being considered English. This, of course, is nonsense. As HH The Dalai Lama says in his book 'The Art of Happiness', "We can always relate to any other human being, at the very least on that level, as human beings". We all have, regardless of anything else, this quality in common. This then leads to a number of other factors that join us all together in our path through life. Birth, death, the pursuit of happiness to name just a few.

However, there are many barriers such as borders, language, culture & religion that leave us with a feeling of seperation & distance from the other humans in the world. These barriers provide the context for our perceiving other people and when viewed within this context we cant help but to see other people as being intrinsically different to ourselves. As soon as this opinion is adopted by the masses it is given 'General Concensus' passes into 'General Reality' and is made fact (when perceiving people in this way we cannot deny that there is at least some kind of difference between Muslims & Jews, Americans & Iraqis etc).

So, how do we go about changing our perspective on the world, altering our 'personal reality' and therefore taking the steps to creating a new 'genereal reality'?

C.G. Jung (Wikipedia)

I would suggest that it is purely a matter of awareness. Once we are aware of the fact that reality is dependant on our view we can choose to experience it from another perspective. To quote C G Jung, one of the founders of modern psychology, "It all depends on how we look at things and not how they are in themselves".

In reference to the above example we can consciously decide to see all the people of the world as seperated through borders, religion etc. or we can choose to see them all as connected through our relationship as human beings. As Socrates once said "I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world." This principle of looking at things differently can be applied to any situation, the darkest hour of the night can be considered to be then end of the day or the beginning of the dawn. Any problems we come aross in our life can be seen as a crisis that holds us back or as an opportunity for learning and growth. The more people agree with us or view the world from the same perspective, the closer we become to making any given definition or reality 'true'.

We can take back our reality anytime we want and recreate it however we choose.

"Its just a choice right now between fear and love." - Bill Hicks

Peace

Relevant Links:
Einstein & Buddhism
HH The Fourteenth Dalai Lama
C G Jung
Jung article at Wikipedia
Bill Hicks Quotes

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Creating Your Own Reality - Part 1

September 28th 2006 10:19

"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one" - Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

Albert Einstein (Wikipedia)

If what we generally refer to as 'reality' is an illusion dictated by your own perception, it would logically follow that if you were to change the way you percieve the world you could effectively change your enitire reality.

In order for this to be proven there are two major points that must be considered, namely that 'reality' is created or at the very least affected by your perception of it (which will be the focus of Part 1) and secondly that your perception of reality can be altered, and how this can be done (which will be dealt with in Part 2).

The first question we need to ask is what defines reality? In the book "The Teachings of Don Juan" by Carlos Castaneda, the 'man of knowledge' Don Juan says "What we call reality is only one way of seeing the world, a way that is supported by social consensus." In order to understand this, it is convenient to split reality into two levels, 'Personal Reality' & 'General Reality'.
When observing any given phenomenon, we use our senses to judge wether or not it is 'real'.

For example, when hearing an unexpected sound you instinctively look in the direction from which the sound came from so that the sense of sight can reinforce and confirm what the ears have just percieved, or if you see an object & wish to confirm its status as real we can reach out and touch it. Once the sense of touch has agreed with the sense of sight we can assume that the object does exist in a physical sense. In other words, reality is confirmed by a consensus of the senses. However, there is a flaw to this theory, that all the above mentioned criteria can just as easily be applied to a dream, which would imply that dreams are just as real as the reality in which you are now sitting and reading this. But, dreams are experienced only by yourself and within the confines of your mind and as such can only be considered 'Personal Reality' at most.

There appears to be a missing ingredient required before an object can be considered as existing outside of your own mind & therefore real. This is what Don Juan referred to as 'Social Concensus'. The description of the world is created by your perception (the process just described) & when agreed upon by an outside source (another person confirming your description) can be assumed to be correct and a matter of 'General Reality'.
These two levels of reality are best considered not as existing seperately but as a microcosm & macrocosm, for 'Personal Reality' is just 'General Reality' in its pure, innocent state until confirmed by another 'Personal Reality' (which is clearly no more valid or invalid than the description it is attempting to prove or disprove). Or to put it another way, becomes subject to "Social Concensus". Therefore 'reality' both 'personal' & 'general' are entirely defined by our perception of this.

Two different aspects of the same reality

For example, if we were dancing in a nightclub listening to a loud, rythmic piece of music, we have a situation where everybody is enjoying the music, dancing. We are all appreciating qualities such loudness (enabling us to hear & literally feel the track vibrating through us) & the constant repitition of rythym (enabling us to 'catch the flow' of the music & predict the beat so we can dance to it easily & naturally). As everybody is experiencing the same sensory input & enjoying it, it is not only possible for us to assume that is 'real' but also to assume that it is 'good' or 'enjoyable' in some way.

Now, if we had a different situation where we were in a room full of the same people, all in bed trying to go to sleep, we would find that the very same qualities that made the piece of music pleasurable in the last scenario have suddenly become the very things that annoy us. The loudness prevents us from going to sleep, the repitition & rythym just reinforce the irritation & make it seem like it will never end. As everybody in this situation is experiencing the same sensory input yet not enjoying it, we can assume that it is indeed 'real' and that it is in some way 'bad' and not at all enjoyable.

Here we have two different scenarios where our perception not only defines reality but appears to be capable of experiencing the same qualities in completely contrasting ways depending on our perspective or context. I would suggest that from this we can say that we can change our 'personal reality' to make it enjoyable or infuriating depending on the way in which we decide to perceive it, the more people join us in this change of perspective the closer we come to making it a 'general reality'.
Change yourself and you change the world.

Relevant links:
Carlos Castaneda / Don Juan - Teachings of Don Juan
Wikipedia Article

Creating Reality - Library of Halexandria2

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