Greetings good citizen, today we shall explore common ground and just how precious that scant bit of real estate is.
Just as yesterday's piece shone a light on how tenuous the average individual's grip on sanity is, we should not be surprised to learn that 'common ground', ain't.
Common that is.
We all arrived here the same way and with precious few exceptions, the majority of us have remarkably similar backgrounds. So why so little 'common ground'? Could 'lack of empathy' [the precise quality 'monsters' are made of] be more prevalent than is currently understood?
The root of the problem is the fact we all live in the world of 'I' and it takes a good deal of effort to put yourself in the other fellows shoes. So much so that we have to be constantly reminded we aren't the only ones dealing with (fill in the blank.)
Like the Donald, many of us only THINK we are 'empathetic' but the reality is 'not so much'...because we see the world through our own, 'personal' set of filters.
What matters to you, I could care less [and there goes our 'common ground'!]
Before you tune out, thinking this is yet another exercise in cynicism, STOP. Most of us do possess 'a degree' of empathy because many experiences are shared and not alien to us. The part that should surprise you is, because of your 'personal filters' you AREN'T feeling the other person's pain, you're just reliving your own!
Now ya getting me?
The road to understanding is a hard one but it's worth the trip. [Show of hands people, how many of you KNEW that what passes for 'empathy' was really just you reliving how you felt when something similar had happened to you?]
I'll discount that because the other thing we humans are 'good at' is lying, especially to ourselves!
We're also pretty fair actors, push come to shove.
But this isn't about our seemingly endless capacity for 'self-delusion' more commonly known as 'cognative dissonance'.
It's just part of the larger picture. More importantly is just how much of this do the puppetmasters understand? They're a few steps ahead of the rest of us when it comes to manipulating delusions so they have a leg up on the awareness thing, important if you want to understand what's going on...
Or, more succinctly, why a world wallowing in squalor and abject poverty isn't rising up against a system that keeps them pinned to the ground?
How ironic is it that we return to the 'personal filter'?
You've been told your whole life things either A.) aren't so bad, with your 'teacher' pointing out whole swaths of people worse off than your humble self or B.) it was patiently explained that yes, you were poor but that's the way it has to be. That many needed to suffer (a 'blessing in disguise' from God himself!) so a few could prosper. You'd get your 'mansion in the sky' for being faithful while all those rich people were going straight to hell to pay for being sinners their whole life.
Not hard to imagine why there is so much 'discontent' among the masses but it's easy to see why they aren't on the same page...Did I mention the manipulators are a few steps ahead of us in this brain twisting game?
It is here that we start to ponder the 'designer's intent'. Did the genetic engineers responsible for our species purposefully block out empathy knowing it would prevent us from making common cause with other abused members of our species?
Not a question one poses lightly, good citizen.
'Human development' may be much older and more advanced than anyone [here] knows. Add 'human engineering' into the equation and we can only wonder what life is like [now] on the 'planet of origin'. [Not that any of us will live to see it...despite the promise of 'the Lord's Prayer'.]
Part of keeping you focused on the future, good citizen, is understanding why things aren't different. Why stasis prevails when the whole situation screams for change.
You must first understand why things AREN'T happening before you can understand how to make them happen!
I wish it were as simple as saying 'you simply need to care more' but that's not the whole problem, we also need to address the 'stupid' problem. If you're a regular reader and you can follow what I share then you are NOT stupid (the first dragon that needs slaying is the one of 'self-doubt'.) You may not process as fast as others do but the ability to process/understand is enough.
Here we go again, unclear on something I shared? That's what the comments are for, if asking questions is embarrasing, use an alias! I'm happy to explain and the only 'dumb question' is the one you're afraid to ask!
At that I once again thank you for letting me inside your head,
Gegner
PS, Sorry about the mess but at least it's not as bad as it was when I found it!
Just as yesterday's piece shone a light on how tenuous the average individual's grip on sanity is, we should not be surprised to learn that 'common ground', ain't.
Common that is.
We all arrived here the same way and with precious few exceptions, the majority of us have remarkably similar backgrounds. So why so little 'common ground'? Could 'lack of empathy' [the precise quality 'monsters' are made of] be more prevalent than is currently understood?
The root of the problem is the fact we all live in the world of 'I' and it takes a good deal of effort to put yourself in the other fellows shoes. So much so that we have to be constantly reminded we aren't the only ones dealing with (fill in the blank.)
Like the Donald, many of us only THINK we are 'empathetic' but the reality is 'not so much'...because we see the world through our own, 'personal' set of filters.
What matters to you, I could care less [and there goes our 'common ground'!]
Before you tune out, thinking this is yet another exercise in cynicism, STOP. Most of us do possess 'a degree' of empathy because many experiences are shared and not alien to us. The part that should surprise you is, because of your 'personal filters' you AREN'T feeling the other person's pain, you're just reliving your own!
Now ya getting me?
The road to understanding is a hard one but it's worth the trip. [Show of hands people, how many of you KNEW that what passes for 'empathy' was really just you reliving how you felt when something similar had happened to you?]
I'll discount that because the other thing we humans are 'good at' is lying, especially to ourselves!
We're also pretty fair actors, push come to shove.
But this isn't about our seemingly endless capacity for 'self-delusion' more commonly known as 'cognative dissonance'.
It's just part of the larger picture. More importantly is just how much of this do the puppetmasters understand? They're a few steps ahead of the rest of us when it comes to manipulating delusions so they have a leg up on the awareness thing, important if you want to understand what's going on...
Or, more succinctly, why a world wallowing in squalor and abject poverty isn't rising up against a system that keeps them pinned to the ground?
How ironic is it that we return to the 'personal filter'?
You've been told your whole life things either A.) aren't so bad, with your 'teacher' pointing out whole swaths of people worse off than your humble self or B.) it was patiently explained that yes, you were poor but that's the way it has to be. That many needed to suffer (a 'blessing in disguise' from God himself!) so a few could prosper. You'd get your 'mansion in the sky' for being faithful while all those rich people were going straight to hell to pay for being sinners their whole life.
Not hard to imagine why there is so much 'discontent' among the masses but it's easy to see why they aren't on the same page...Did I mention the manipulators are a few steps ahead of us in this brain twisting game?
It is here that we start to ponder the 'designer's intent'. Did the genetic engineers responsible for our species purposefully block out empathy knowing it would prevent us from making common cause with other abused members of our species?
Not a question one poses lightly, good citizen.
'Human development' may be much older and more advanced than anyone [here] knows. Add 'human engineering' into the equation and we can only wonder what life is like [now] on the 'planet of origin'. [Not that any of us will live to see it...despite the promise of 'the Lord's Prayer'.]
Part of keeping you focused on the future, good citizen, is understanding why things aren't different. Why stasis prevails when the whole situation screams for change.
You must first understand why things AREN'T happening before you can understand how to make them happen!
I wish it were as simple as saying 'you simply need to care more' but that's not the whole problem, we also need to address the 'stupid' problem. If you're a regular reader and you can follow what I share then you are NOT stupid (the first dragon that needs slaying is the one of 'self-doubt'.) You may not process as fast as others do but the ability to process/understand is enough.
Here we go again, unclear on something I shared? That's what the comments are for, if asking questions is embarrasing, use an alias! I'm happy to explain and the only 'dumb question' is the one you're afraid to ask!
At that I once again thank you for letting me inside your head,
Gegner
PS, Sorry about the mess but at least it's not as bad as it was when I found it!
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