Truth

The main point I want to make here is that the truth is not always the most important thing. In fact people often pretend that something is true (e.g. Santa Clause) in order to do good things for bad or untrue reasons. It comes to my mind the quote from Terry Pratchett’s “Hogfather”. By the way, it is amazing how many deep ideas found their place in this short peace of text:

“Death: Humans need fantasy to *be* human. To be the place where the falling angel meets the rising ape.
Susan: With tooth fairies? Hogfathers?
Death: Yes. As practice, you have to start out learning to believe the little lies.
Susan: So we can believe the big ones?
Death: Yes. Justice, mercy, duty. That sort of thing.
Susan: They're not the same at all.
Death: You think so? Then take the universe and grind it down to the finest powder, and sieve it through the finest sieve, and then show me one atom of justice, one molecule of mercy. And yet, you try to act as if there is some ideal order in the world. As if there is some, some rightness in the universe, by which it may be judged.
Susan: But people have got to believe that, or what's the point?
Death: You need to believe in things that aren't true. How else can they become?”

We have here the problem of truth and fantasy, what it means to be a human, evolution, a metaphor from the Bible, moral duties, the role of beliefs and some physics.

Usually, people try to confirm their experience with their convictions they hold dear as long as they can, but sometimes changes in their lives force them to changes in their belief systems. When looking for the truth we may find different answers than we were looking for. After all, truth is a dangerous thing.

Why nothing matters (nothing)

Why do you think something matters? After all, it is just your personal opinion. It may mean perfectly nothing to other people, nothing at all. An occurrence of something appearing to be meaningful to you is simply a manifestation of your own imagination, a reflection of your own mind. Mind, which does not exist per se; your mind which gives you a false sense of self which derives from all the evolutionary steps which led to Homo sapiens and from all the social programming you have been submitted since your birthday. You cannot even control it. You are so often lost in the narrative of your thoughts. Is not you who thinks them, it is your mind. When you go sleep you switch off your consciousness and you lose all the control you have thought to have; after awakening you hardly even remember your dreams. Something called “you” simply does not exist beyond temporary and fugitive moments.  In a sense, you are an illusion and equally illusionary your thoughts are and nothing matters. 

On the other hand, that sense of you is truly unique; it is all you have got and all you can experience in this very moment. You can make it wonderful, you can make it miserable – after all, it appears you have some choice – at least it is healthier to think in that way – so make your experience meaningful because you matter and what you think matter as well. After all, everything matters.

MG

Paradox

Human race try to preserve its sense of existence through myths, beliefs, religions and ideologies. Whole societies and their particular members give themselves identities through holding various ideas, various beliefs.  Since the dawn of humanity people tell themselves stories about spirits, immortal soul, about going to heaven after death. All of that in order to gain identity, to gain meaning, to preserve sense of existence, to deny death. And yet the same ideas, the same memes often prompt violence and bring death. And that is a paradox

MG