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I've always been somewhat absurdly proud of my intellect. I think it's because, growing up, I didn't have a lot of positive things around which to center my self-concept. I was a quick reader, my grades were good, everyone said I was smart, so I ran with it. Doing well on various standardized tests and the like reinforced this idea and so I christened myself one of the smart people, read all the smart people publications, and aped the ideas and values of the smart people set, while still somehow convincing myself I was being an edgy and rebellious free thinker.
I kept putting a lot of weight on the idea that I was a smart person, despite the massive pile of failures I created in the way I actually lived my own life and conducted my affairs. I became an insufferable atheist/materialist, railing against religion and the Bible and faith. I know a lot of people go through this sort of thing in adolescence, but I entered a protracted adolescence that extended into my thirties. The whole thing was a massive embarrassment in retrospect.
I've written before about the tendency that's been observed in the managerial class to go through what amounts to the same process, at least as far as identifying as a smart person and really leaning into it in the face of all evidence to the contrary. I suppose some of my angry ranting was probably shadow projection stirred up by the pressures of the pandemic and lockdowns. I don't regret my writing and ranting, although looking back from a calmer and healthier place some of it feels a bit too personal and raw for publication.
One of the more valuable lessons of the swirling psyops and lies that have been foisted on us these last few years is that I have come to realize that the various appendages of the ruling class have much greater capacity to lie to me than I have ability to ascertain the truth. I have the cognitive resources of one man, busy with the responsibilities of everyday life and survival in a collapsing empire. Arrayed against me (and, ultimately, most of us) are all the apparatus of an entire system designed to ensure we are compliant and ignorant.
I suppose, put like that, it sounds paranoid, but ultimately, I'm the modern-day equivalent of a peasant or serf. What purpose could the royalty and aristocrats of this world have in telling me or my ilk the truth of what is happening in the world, or in their private circles? Obviously, an informed and engaged citizenry is not what the ruling class is hoping to create with their shoddy educational systems.
I guess this is a long way of saying that the old programing adage holds true; garbage in, garbage out. It's almost impossible to find the signal in all the noise. I feel lucky that I found some voices I trust, and of course we all have access to various non-rational sources of guidance, if we have the courage to go looking for them in our inner worlds.
Whatever "intelligence" I may or may not have, I certainly don't have much access to real information about a huge array of events, including many I have opined upon at length! I guess all one can really do is muddle through the storm of bullshit. Socrates had the wisdom to know that he knew nothing. I'm starting to catch up, thousands of years later.
I kept putting a lot of weight on the idea that I was a smart person, despite the massive pile of failures I created in the way I actually lived my own life and conducted my affairs. I became an insufferable atheist/materialist, railing against religion and the Bible and faith. I know a lot of people go through this sort of thing in adolescence, but I entered a protracted adolescence that extended into my thirties. The whole thing was a massive embarrassment in retrospect.
I've written before about the tendency that's been observed in the managerial class to go through what amounts to the same process, at least as far as identifying as a smart person and really leaning into it in the face of all evidence to the contrary. I suppose some of my angry ranting was probably shadow projection stirred up by the pressures of the pandemic and lockdowns. I don't regret my writing and ranting, although looking back from a calmer and healthier place some of it feels a bit too personal and raw for publication.
One of the more valuable lessons of the swirling psyops and lies that have been foisted on us these last few years is that I have come to realize that the various appendages of the ruling class have much greater capacity to lie to me than I have ability to ascertain the truth. I have the cognitive resources of one man, busy with the responsibilities of everyday life and survival in a collapsing empire. Arrayed against me (and, ultimately, most of us) are all the apparatus of an entire system designed to ensure we are compliant and ignorant.
I suppose, put like that, it sounds paranoid, but ultimately, I'm the modern-day equivalent of a peasant or serf. What purpose could the royalty and aristocrats of this world have in telling me or my ilk the truth of what is happening in the world, or in their private circles? Obviously, an informed and engaged citizenry is not what the ruling class is hoping to create with their shoddy educational systems.
I guess this is a long way of saying that the old programing adage holds true; garbage in, garbage out. It's almost impossible to find the signal in all the noise. I feel lucky that I found some voices I trust, and of course we all have access to various non-rational sources of guidance, if we have the courage to go looking for them in our inner worlds.
Whatever "intelligence" I may or may not have, I certainly don't have much access to real information about a huge array of events, including many I have opined upon at length! I guess all one can really do is muddle through the storm of bullshit. Socrates had the wisdom to know that he knew nothing. I'm starting to catch up, thousands of years later.