Written by Kim

 

If you are expecting revelations, the publication of some shocking ‘truth’, statistics or conspiracy theories, then you may be wasting your time reading this article.

Right now we are awash with theories about what is true and what is false. After all, we are being constantly threatened and frightened. Collective anxiety and fear create questions, and conspiracy theories flourish.

We look for who to blame.

Where do we start, when there are so many rabbit holes? There is the climate change burrow, Covid-19, the money hole, allopathic medicine, governance, elections etc. to explore. Some of these burrows are connected lower down where twisty-turny tunnels intersect or lead to similar conclusions. So easy to lose one’s way, so easy to be misled.

Our investigations are driven by doubt, suspicion, a loss of trust, questions unanswered, conflicting stories, contradictions, and unexplained anomalies. The healthy mind will want to know, as learning gives even more of a buzz than sex.

In arguments we take sides. We may think we sit on a fence or stay detached, but eventually, deep down, when we are alone, when we are honest with ourselves, we take sides. But there may be more than one side, more than one cause, or indeed more than one solution. The important point is that we debate. Keeping open minds to other perspectives and new information is essential.

There are those who do not want this very natural process to take place, either to maintain their power and influence, for fear of looking ignorant, or they may feel threatened by the very truths being sought. Are they to blame?

Their denial does not make them an enemy; it makes them a victim and a slave to ignorance. Such a shame as it does not have to be like that.

But then for the real rogues perhaps it does.

While we construct these analogies of burrows and journeys to seek truth, we debate, discuss, exchange ideas, and compare notes. In this process our minds may be changed and we may change others’ minds. We join dots, we rejoice in discoveries and become shocked by exposures. There is happiness in learning, even if that changes our perspectives, our lives. There are also moments of sadness and outrage. This is a healthy and natural process.

Ideas, like life are subject to evolution with the survival of the fittest. To deny these natural processes is to deny truth as truth is seated in time and nature. To say that truth is relative is to misunderstand the deeper meaning of the concept.

But bring on the circus! Homo sapiens with their oversized cerebrum will be what they are, denying the very natural systems they are a part of. They will saw away at the branch they sit on in the vast tree of life. They will mess with the mechanisms that keep them safe or make their lives bearable. If something is not broken don’t fix it. But something is broken. It is our society with the slow corruption of hard-learned lessons, lessons learnt over a long time.

Never has there been a time when debate and discussion is more needed.

That alone would relieve the tension, the frustration, and the despair. If we are not slaves (and that can be debated another time) then we may certainly be entitled to feel like slaves if we cannot talk about those things that trouble us.

Here is the nub of the problem and the reason for this essay. There is conflict. Not natural conflict where we all benefit from outcomes through knowledge and understanding by debate and discussion, but conflict through imposition, inhibition, and impropriety, suffocating debate.

This unhealthy conflict leads to discrimination and victimisation.

We can understand the manipulation by those who are guilty, those who are being chased down the rabbit holes.

But what of those who have little investment in lies?

Why are people so nasty? Have they secrets to hide? Why would anybody stop debate, freedom of speech and choice? Could it be the maintenance of a lifestyle or prestige, blackmail, peer pressure, an escalation of commitment that goes beyond rational thinking, risking wrong over right or bad over good? Obfuscation, strawmen, and prevarication; every wriggle and weave to sabotage or stop debate.

“There were humans chained to the side of a cave, facing a blank wall. Because they are deep inside the cave, they cannot see the outside world — all they can see are shadows of things that pass by the fire. Consequently, they give names to each of these shadows. These shadows are the prisoners’ only reality. One fateful day, one of the prisoners breaks free and ventures out into the real world and is astonished by what he sees. Feeling sorry for his fellow men, he returns to explain how amazing the real world is, and that all they have seen and known is an illusion — merely shadows on a wall.” ~ Socrates

They rejected his message out of fear of the enlightenment beyond their cave.

“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” ~ attributed to Plato

Perhaps one of the big mistakes we make is to believe that we can trust others, that no one will knowingly harm you and all those around you. Perhaps those that you trust are the ones that you should not, and others that you do not trust are those that you should trust.

We can play Cowboys and Indians and pit Devils against Angels, but in the end the games must stop.

Beautiful faces become angry and distorted with hurtful words that are said without meaning. While the battle rages hearts get trampled on, love gets trampled on, and truth is forgotten in the smoke. Then we are only left with regret.

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