When we watch a program or read something, we are empathetic to it. So we empathize with the narrator. That is how we enjoy a program or book. If we can’t relate, we won’t be pulled in: WE WON’T BELIEVE. The brains behind the media know this. It’s how they get you to buy shit you don’t need. According to them, the empaths are called “the persuadables.” We’ve all had some friends who take advantage of this too. Empathy is a great evolutionary stepping stone, but in the Information Age it’s very vulnerable to exploitation.
What is empathy? We imagine being in another’s shoes and feel another’s pain. We visualize the story. We create an experience within ourselves. On a subconscious level, we think it happened to us. Even though we’ve never actually experienced it. We make beliefs out of it. Even though we never experienced it ourselves. We become more susceptible to believe more information that aligns with the same belief that was fed to us. We believe according to our beliefs.
When we realize the power of our beliefs, it becomes apparent how easy it is for us to fool ourselves. One path from this knowledge about ourselves is to create more beliefs out of our beliefs. As someone said, you must believe it to see it. This is in a very twisted way, correct. We will see according to our beliefs. However, blindly drowning out beliefs with more beliefs, in my opinion, is just creating a lot of noise with no voice. Clarity is key. Instead of continuing to be fooled and swayed by ourselves/others, I think it’s much better to find a way out of the mess.
The most efficient way out of a maze is to rise above it. There are many ancient practices for this. I’ll share them in a future post. Becoming aware of the problem is the first step towards a solution. These are a couple things that you can do in your daily life to become aware.
- Instead of fooling yourself by believing everything you think, cross-examine the crap out of it and still leave room for being wrong.
- Watch or read (or listen to a friend in misery) without getting pulled into it. Notice how you can feel emotions for things that aren’t even happening to you.
You’ve got to get to a point where you can watch your mind work your body so that you can rise above it. Conquer your mind and you’ll conquer the world, as you see it!
Beyond the Anxious Mind 