Because our personal memory cannot extend beyond our lifetime, neither before our birth nor after our death, we tend to view the world with narrow blinders on. In addition, since we alone occupy our mind (unless of course we are of two minds) we tend to perceive the world interpreted through our conditioning, training and experience. We believe ourselves to be credible and intelligent, even though nearly all our working capital, our knowledge, is corrupt and seriously tainted.

This is the functional equivalent of seeing the world through a pin hole camera lens while wearing dark sunglasses. Essentially this leaves us myopic at best, and functionally blind at worst. We stumble and bumble through life believing we have near perfect vision when in fact we have been sleepwalking since birth. Seen from this point of view is it any wonder “We the People” can be so easily herded and controlled?

But it gets worse, much worse. While we see ourselves as a large community, a nation of individuals gathered together under a common cause, on a day to day basis the reality we experience is far different. The problem we face as a nation of individuals is that while we ‘perceive’ ourselves as part of a greater group, we myopically pursue our own goals and aspirations and leave the bus driving to someone else, mostly those who claim authority to drive in our stead.

As anyone who has participated in “Orienteering” will tell you, one must constantly be aware (mindful is the term I like to use) of where you are in relation to where you wish to go. And might I add, where you have been. Spatial awareness is of utmost importance when navigating the four axis (longitude, latitude, altitude and time) of unfamiliar terrain, something modern men and women have mostly ceded to GPS enabled Garmin, smart phone mapping apps and a benevolent government who would never steer us wrong on the really important stuff.

When attempting to efficiently navigate to a destination there are several items, tools let’s call them, of utmost importance we must possess. One, we must know where we presently are in relation to where we want to go. This requires not only a map or some other type of document displaying a ‘concept’ of ‘reality’, almost always created by others, but also the proper mindset, one that requires (demands) curiosity, critical thinking and creativity in order to adapt to an ever changing set of circumstances and terrain.

In addition, on this map of reality there must either be an ‘X’ to mark the spot where we presently reside (you are >here<) or some method must be offered that is used to determine where we are in space (and equally importantly time) and how that relates to the map in hand. Most often we are ‘told’ where we are by way of signposts, route numbers, word of mouth information, intuitive guesstimating or a benevolent government (and its lackeys, sycophants and mainstream media) who would never steer us wrong on the really important stuff.

Two, we must know where we wish to go and the route or routes we will travel beginning from where we are now. As obvious as this may sound to someone who thinks they know where they are and where they are going, after some careful consideration and reflection it becomes increasingly apparent that our spatial knowledge is mostly derived from group think and common ‘beliefs’ than by a careful examination of available information and a critical and suspicious eye towards disseminated propaganda.

All too often we willingly absorb and act upon untested ‘truths’ simply because they come from ‘trusted’ sources we have been ‘told’ are impeccable. Examples of this are our primary school system, the mainstream media, experts such as lawyers, doctors, scientists and institutions such as corporations, governments and centers of higher education. And lately for those who claim increased awareness, the vast universe of alternative ‘news and information’ sources of equally dubious credibility and quality.

We accept with little suspicion and rarely question that the map as it is laid out before us is complete and accurate, that the reality depicted is as it actually exists just beyond the horizon. See, it’s clearly marked here on the map. This way be dragons and monsters, but that way over there is the land of milk and honey. Those bad brown, yellow, red or black people just beyond the mountains are our enemies and these folks over here are our white friends and companions. You know….the good guys with central banks and natural resources to exploit.

This brings us to number three in our orienteering exercise, that of understanding where we have been before ‘now’. Of critical importance to us is learning, and then applying to the present situation, where and why we were previously back there and what we have learned from that journey. Without (fully) understanding where we have been and the lessons learned, any subsequent journey we undertake is always a first time for us, virgin territory in all aspects for us novices.

The time of greatest risk of failure is when we have never gone before, even if we really have and just don’t remember….or are deliberately misinformed. Not knowing ‘our’ history (actually more often the history of those who came before) dooms us to endlessly repeat past mistakes, wrong turns, dead ends and abject failures.

If the map has been subtly modified or altered (or even worse, continuously changed) yet we are repeatedly assured it is true and accurate, a ‘fact’ confirmed by group think, consensus opinion and official authority proclamation, we are left to aimlessly wander the landscape, begging equally befuddled random passersby for clear directions or possibly even a better map.

Under these conditions who among us can declare with any degree of certainty that they ‘know’ that the reality spread out before them as depicted on the map is true and accurate, an honest representation of what lies over the hill, thus alleviating the need to actually travel there to confirm the authenticity of the map in hand. How could anyone trust a document of such dubious pedigree and lineage to do anything other than to help start a camp fire on the side of the road and warm our hands while we gather our bearings?

And yet even those among us who claim to be awake, to see more clearly through the cognitive fog than the average Joe, still use the same pin hole camera lens and cheap sunglasses to view the world. They attribute their new found clarity to the discovery of several flaws in their map or possibly a new and improved map produced by others who also claim excellent vision and insight. Oftentimes the new map is declared better simply because it is different, the more radical the change the better in some eyes.

Since we no longer trust the presently popular Oracle of Delphi, the one worshiped by the surging herd as the purveyor of the one true map, instead of attempting to widen our field of vision and remove our Ray Ban’s in order to properly see and perceive, we cast about for another self proclaimed authority to declare with utmost confidence that dry land is most assuredly that-a-way.

By swapping one leader for another rather than seeking truth independently, who is to say another wild card hasn’t been slipped into the deck to wreck havoc and poison the well. Trading dependencies accomplishes nothing for the dependent and everything for the entity(s) depended upon.

Being personally sovereign requires the complete removal of any and all visual impairments and the application of critical thinking to new information presented to the sovereign as truth. Since ‘our’ history has been, and continues to be, repeatedly obscured, edited and rewritten over countless generations to suit the control needs of each map maker, to simply swap maps is to swap problems, not find solutions let alone the truth.

To declare that because we have found our map defective, therefore we need a new one, simply invites the control system to infiltrate the process at any point along the way and once again obscure the results, leaving us in even more precarious straits. At least before with known damaged goods in hand, we cast doubt upon the validity of the old map and ventured forward carefully, deliberately. Now that we have embraced the substitute we are even more easily led astray because our faith and belief has been restored and the chain is again secured around our neck.

Once again sleepwalking through life, though this time with the belief we are wide awake, the damage we subsequently do to ourselves and to others by our cries of Eureka is magnitudes greater than before. Every rebel voice, every rebellion, contains its own seeds of destruction when it finally 'wins' and goes mainstream. And make no mistake about it; the alternative press is ‘our’ mainstream media. The personally sovereign never declares victory when still surrounded by the enemy, for to do so is to be quickly overwhelmed and assimilated.

04-07-2014

Cognitive Dissonance

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