The Truth or Illusion

This is why I love psychology. This was a simple sentence out of a somewhat interesting chapter on social psychology written by the author of the book. It was not said by a great philosopher or past American president. Just a simple line in a textbook. But it hit me like a hammer to the head:

"does happiness come from knowing the truth, or from preserving illusions?"

Do not we all want to say: well, that's simple. Knowing the truth. In society, great emphasis lies on knowing and speaking The Truth.

We tell our children not to lie.

We condemn people to a lifetime in prison (or death) if we perceive injustice or mis truth, or if a person is convicted of withholding truth in a court of law.

We can be fired from our jobs for lying and stealing (a form of lying).

We are told to seek redemption when we lie.

We can even be classified as having a mental disorder if we are a habitual liar.

Let me challenge The Truth. Is the picture you see below a lie or an illusion (I'll give you a hint: one of each)?

Is this artist a master manipulator and liar or an illusionist?

Does the product on the left realllly get a man the effect on the right?

Our society is duplicitous when it comes to The Truth and illusion. While we preach to be natural and love our bodies, and let-it-all-hang-out-because-anyone-who-loves-us-will-love-us-the-way-we-are, we at the same time are over crowding our gyms, young women are under feeding themselves, and we see ads such as the first picture as our non existent ideal of beauty.

We have made the magician above a multi millionaire based on his talent of telling us lies. We walk into the theatre where he is performing, knowing full well we are about to be lied to. And we pay for it. Illusion is a form of escape and surrealism. We are infatuated by it and will crowd show after show to get a taste of a well executed series of "lies". But wait; liars are bad, right? Well...not if everyone knows they're lying and pays for it.

Huh?

Men are told that if they wear a (most obnoxious) scent, young beautiful women will flock to them in a rather automatic and senseless response. I personally figure the reason the woman above is motioning for the man who is wearing that crap to 'call her' is because she can't stand to smell it on him in person. Doubt that's what the advertisers were going for.  :)

Most anyone in our society will agree that lying for the purpose of malfeasance is "bad". And yes, I agree. But my point here is that we do it all of the time. To ourselves, about ourselves, to each other. We make illusions of our ideals in everything. Everything. And what personifies The Truth to you may not be The Truth for me. Your Truth may be my illusion.

Is it better, than, to be content in illusion? Ignorance is bliss? Yes- that model above on the right is actually the way that woman looks, yes the magician is sawing helpless women in half, and yes of course wearing that spray will get you girls. The problem is- our children believe this without the proper guidance. Illusion over Truth and reality.

It is The Truth that I can't answer the bolded quote above. I'd like to say what I have been raised to say: always tell the truth. Of course. But how is that possible in a world of illusion?

Take Plato's allegory of the cave. The people in the cave who saw their own shadows dancing on the walls did not know that what they saw were their own shadows because they had no point of reference. To them, The Truth was that those shadows were whatever they construed them to be. In their minds, that was The Truth. To others, it is evident that shadows are an illusion.

The Truth or preserving illusions. What causes you greater happiness?

Necessary Evil

I am a bit of a geek. I like the Batman movies but I can't figure out if that's just because of Christian Bale (:-)). Probably, but that doesn't explain why I also like Superman, Spider Man, etc. I digress...

The latest villian in the Dark Knight series, Bane, had a line that spun my mind into analytical psychologist mode. It was in a confrontation with Batman in which Christian Bale (I mean Batman ;)) growled that Bane is "pure evil". Bane replied simply:

"I am not pure evil,
I am necessary evil."

Wow.
If I had to classify the character of Mr. Bane in the DSM, I'd say he was an antisocial psychopath. Of course, The Dark Knight Rises was said to be of the most "dark" in the trilogy and I found this to be true. The Bane character really took psychosis and superheroes to a new level beyond a creepy joker or a guy who thought he was a scarecrow. Bane is a scarred human being who at one point had the capacity to empathize and truly love. Besides the obvious villainous strength, Bane is witty, well spoken, extraordinarily manipulative, and in a very non-positive way, genius. Many antisocial individuals are. It's sort of part and parcel with having the foresight and capacity to plan and execute the terribly destructive actions that they commit.

So back to the concept of necessariy evil. My question is: is there such a thing as necessary evil? I think back to the Biblical story of Noah's Ark. Perfect example of what we can call: necessary evil. I doubt many Christians would like the taste of that concept but would God not agree that destroying civilization, of whom had imploded on itself, in order to bring new life and order- was "necessary"? He likely would. Similar in concept, I wonder if the apple tree in the Garden of Eden was also not a "necessary evil". It was placed in the Garden as a deterrent and a true test of man's faith in God. It was "necessary" for this to be proven. Hmm.

Can we recognize true goodness without evil? Can true goodness stand on its own accord if not being compared to negativity? I think so. I think a person can be "good" without the very nature of their goodness being based on the ideal that they are not "bad".
But I also think the tendency Americans have to band together in the face of a true crisis, is a case against this. It is like something needs to threaten our homes, families, livelihoods, in order for us to be truly good.

Similarly, this was Bane's master plan: destroy mankind from the soul outward- by manipulating the citizens to believe in a hope that was non existent. The idea of destroying someone psychologically and on a soul level rather than on a physical level is a very dark and disturbing concept. To break a human's spirit is to truly torture. The body is a shell that can be repaired or die. But a broken spirit resonates on every cellular level within that body and can literally poison a person from the inside
out.

Can there be a black without a white? Can there be a Yin without a Yang? Can there be good without evil? And if so, does "evil" then become...
Necessary? If so, by whom? What...or who decides this?

If so, this is a slippery and very dangerous slope.
Because I believe we are born inherently GOOD...it is not my belief that the good is only ratified in the face of bad.
Good exists because it is homeostatic. In nature, as in human beings. We strive toward good. Not toward evil. We don't need evil to prove we are good. It is not...
Necessary.

Sorry, Bane. You lose.