Wednesday, September 23, 2009

The ubiquity of bullshit

I was talking to a teenage family member the other day about her anger issues. As is typical of teenagers, she is often melodramatic and self absorbed. She is also unusually perceptive. One of the things she’s having a hard time dealing with is the staggering amount of bullshit she sees all around her. She’s noticed the hypocrisy, inconsistency, and lack of insight that characterize the lives of her parents, grandparents, and the rest of the family in general. These same dullards who have made messes of their lives are now trying to make her ‘behave’ by rules they don’t hold themselves to, and she resents the hell out of it. She asked me why there’s so much lying in the family and I told her what I wish someone had told me at her age. I explained to her that most people lie to themselves. They sell themselves on their own bullshit and they need their family, friends and other ‘loved’ ones to play along, like extras in a poorly scripted B-movie. I told her that we tend to judge ourselves by our intentions and others by the consequences of their actions. I told her that one of the unspoken meanings of ‘family’ is to be considered part of the circle of delusion that those within use to exempt themselves. I told her they resent facts because facts are hard, cold and inhospitable to their ego-boosting fantasies. I told her that it isn’t just the family who swim in a sea of bullshit. I told her that what I am saying is true for almost everyone. And finally, I told her that should she ever find a way to control her anger, she would be able to use her perceptiveness to her advantage. I explained to her that her insight into the ubiquity of bullshit could equal power.

Like I said, she’s a teenager, so much of what I said didn’t really penetrate her endless self justifications. And I'm sure I bored the hell out of her. She's a smart girl though. When she’s older, she’ll remember my words and hopefully find them useful.

5 comments:

  1. You forgot to mention that that civilization itself is built on lies. Lies are the foundation because our deepest motivations are fear and the requisite selfishness that goes along with it.

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  2. Daniel Birdick said...

    You forgot to mention that that civilization itself is built on lies. Lies are the foundation because our deepest motivations are fear and the requisite selfishness that goes along with it.


    Whoa, man. That means that if everything we know is based on lies then nothing we perceive can be trusted because it's all fruit of the poisonous tree...which means there is no such thing as truth...but, if there's no such thing as truth, then by default there's no such thing as lies...so, like, things aren't truth or lies...they just exist. And, like, therefore reality is just a myth, an impossible concept, we created to gives us the false hope that we can choose our own existence and...wait. Oh, sorry. Nevermind. Someone just spiked the brownies again. Shut it down.

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  3. "Whoa, man..."

    LOL! Nice.

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    Replies
    1. Damn, does that mean the truth is what people believe and not what is actually true? Then if people associate good with truth and bad with lies then are both good and evil perceptions of the human mind?

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  4. Yeah M.e i completely agree!! Bullshit is rife!!! Why can't people just be straight!!...blunt, and to the point! I hate having conversations where people skirt around the actual issue instead of just saying it how... it...is!!, bullshit is time consuming, infuriating and quite frankly in my eyes pointless !! Im finding it increasingly difficult to bite my tongue with certain people in my life as the days go by. So when im pushed beyond my limit, (which actually takes some doing when i think about it) i snap and then thats it!!, il land rather ungraciously in the middle of family arguments, because i will have reached a point by then where i can't stand the pretence a moment longer and i'l want to take down every man woman and child lol. I may not always be the one to start a fued, but i'l be the one to finish it. I have difficulty "pretending" i can't do it unless i reeeeally have to. And when i do it actually makes me feel rather tierd and sick, to the point where i get a bad taste in my mouth.

    ReplyDelete

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