Stress Is Simply Uncertainty
You don’t know how things are going to come out, therefore you expect the worst and experience stress. But certainty doesn’t mean Truth. You can be absolutely convinced of something that’s completely wrong. Just because you think you know doesn’t mean you actually do. But if you think something is going to come out all right you won’t experience stress like you would when you don’t know. If you have a big presentation and you “know” you’re going to do well, you don’t stress about it—right up to the point where you begin and discover PowerPoint ate your presentation.
This is why people reject evidence that threatens their foundational beliefs. It causes stress. Your worldview toppling is the ultimate uncertainty—maximum stress. When the foundation of your life crumbles—what do you do then? This is why people resist to the core of their being accepting any such evidence.
Progressives will never accept that Marxism doesn’t work, or that in practice it leads to poverty and mass murder. It doesn’t matter how many countries it’s been tried that ended up that way. “This time it’ll work, because this time we’ll do it right.”
I saw a debate recently on Youtube where Christopher Hitchens, an atheist and author of How Religion Poisons Everything, was pushing the usual arguments about religion leading automatically to oppression. His opponent countered that atheistic regimes have killed more people in just the 20th Century than all religions and religious wars combined from the beginning of recorded history. Hitchens replied that Stalinist Russia, Mao’s China, and North Korea aren’t secular atheistic states—they’re “religious” because of their cults of personality. Therefore, all their atrocities actually count as “religious” crimes against humanity. This in spite of those regimes own claims to be atheistic, and in direct contradiction to Karl Marx, the inventor of Communism, who attacked religion as “the opiate of the people.” In spite of a century of obvious evidence of the horrors of regimes liberated from bourgeoisie Christian morality, Hitchens cannot accept the evidence. It’s too stressful.
This is why people stay in cults. The certainty of clinging to the obvious lies of the cult is less stressful than the uncertainty of leaving—not to mention the pain of accepting that you were a dumb-ass for falling for it in the first place.
People dismiss “conspiracy theories” without even examining them because the possibility that they might actually be true is just too disturbing. It’s the same with UFO reports—it’s just swamp gas. This is not because people are too stupid to recognize the validity of the evidence. If anything, the more compelling the evidence, the more firmly it will be rejected—it’s a greater threat. They simply don’t want the stress involved in having to reevaluate their beliefs. A convenient lie is more comfortable than an inconvenient truth.
But do you want to live a life based on lies? Socrates said the unexamined life is not worth living. What he meant was basing your life on lies because it’s more comfortable than seeking the truth makes your life not worth living. And that’s true, but most people prefer comfort to authenticity.
* * *
If you are a truth seeker you might be interesting in reading:
How to Tell a Lie [https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...]
The Truth About Conspiracy Theories [http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/...]
The Red Pill. The ultimate book on conspiracy theories. [https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...]
A paranormal investigation: Why Do Ghosts Wear Clothes?
[https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...]
This is why people reject evidence that threatens their foundational beliefs. It causes stress. Your worldview toppling is the ultimate uncertainty—maximum stress. When the foundation of your life crumbles—what do you do then? This is why people resist to the core of their being accepting any such evidence.
Progressives will never accept that Marxism doesn’t work, or that in practice it leads to poverty and mass murder. It doesn’t matter how many countries it’s been tried that ended up that way. “This time it’ll work, because this time we’ll do it right.”
I saw a debate recently on Youtube where Christopher Hitchens, an atheist and author of How Religion Poisons Everything, was pushing the usual arguments about religion leading automatically to oppression. His opponent countered that atheistic regimes have killed more people in just the 20th Century than all religions and religious wars combined from the beginning of recorded history. Hitchens replied that Stalinist Russia, Mao’s China, and North Korea aren’t secular atheistic states—they’re “religious” because of their cults of personality. Therefore, all their atrocities actually count as “religious” crimes against humanity. This in spite of those regimes own claims to be atheistic, and in direct contradiction to Karl Marx, the inventor of Communism, who attacked religion as “the opiate of the people.” In spite of a century of obvious evidence of the horrors of regimes liberated from bourgeoisie Christian morality, Hitchens cannot accept the evidence. It’s too stressful.
This is why people stay in cults. The certainty of clinging to the obvious lies of the cult is less stressful than the uncertainty of leaving—not to mention the pain of accepting that you were a dumb-ass for falling for it in the first place.
People dismiss “conspiracy theories” without even examining them because the possibility that they might actually be true is just too disturbing. It’s the same with UFO reports—it’s just swamp gas. This is not because people are too stupid to recognize the validity of the evidence. If anything, the more compelling the evidence, the more firmly it will be rejected—it’s a greater threat. They simply don’t want the stress involved in having to reevaluate their beliefs. A convenient lie is more comfortable than an inconvenient truth.
But do you want to live a life based on lies? Socrates said the unexamined life is not worth living. What he meant was basing your life on lies because it’s more comfortable than seeking the truth makes your life not worth living. And that’s true, but most people prefer comfort to authenticity.
* * *
If you are a truth seeker you might be interesting in reading:
How to Tell a Lie [https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...]
The Truth About Conspiracy Theories [http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/...]
The Red Pill. The ultimate book on conspiracy theories. [https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...]
A paranormal investigation: Why Do Ghosts Wear Clothes?
[https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...]
No comments have been added yet.
