Life is a swamp
21st century humanity is the century of living in 'bad faith'. And if humanity survives through it, it will only do so by fighting its bad faith. So what exactly is this bad faith that I am talking about?
I. What is 'Bad Faith'?
Well, it quite simply is the web of lies we build around ourselves to avoid having to make hard choices. Bad faith is when you resist change or you refuse to accept the responsibility of responding to change or initiating change. It is a cocoon made of lies that keeps painful truth outside. It manifests every time we are forced to wade through an uncomfortable or even mildly critical question/ decision. It is a refusal to react/ act. It is a refusal to live consciously.
So the next time someone points out your mistake and instead of acknowledging them or trying to understand why those mistakes were being pointed out, you fill your heart and mind with resentment and anger towards the messenger, you are reacting in bad faith. You are choosing not to correct your mistake. You are pushing the choice onto other person to change.
Or if instead of reacting to inefficiencies or mistakes of others, you react to your expectation of them, then you are reacting in bad faith.You are choosing to not take charge of the situation. You are scuttling the responsibility onto your past.
Or if you let abstract ideas of nationality, caste or religious affiliation define your behaviour towards strangers, then you are living in bad faith. If you react to people's affiliation instead of their actions, you are living in bad faith. You are choosing to dehumanise the other. You are cowardly refusing to be responsible for your own dignity.
II. Matter of skin thickness
None of us are strong enough to experience truth in its entirety. Everyone has his/her's own set of lies that she must tell herself to make it through her life. We all have our insecurities, our fears, our weaknesses, our cognitive limitations. It is a matter of degree. Some have a thick skin, either born with the gift of reason and self-awareness. Some others earn it through experience. While most of us just go on blindly with a thin skin, raw nerves, wary of new experiences - opportunities to unravel the true nature of our existence.
III. The essential truth about bad faith
Life essentially is lived through actions and reactions to/ for other people. Our lives are in relation to other people. And most of us (which includes the others) would be severely incapable of living with full consciousness of the truth or even prioritized appraisal of truths/ lies. And to expect otherwise from people is to live in bad faith. And it is these others living in bad faith who are impacting our lives daily in one way or another.
What this means is, life cannot ever be a smooth operation. It is not an arrow flying through vacuum towards its target. Life will not be reasonable. Life will remain uncertain at all times.You will have to deal with idiots and wise-asses all the time. There is no escape. You will have to deal with mistakes of others and catastrophes that are irreparable. There is no recourse. LIFE IS A SWAMP. And the only option for us is to accept it, assess it objectively and deal with it. Sure there will be opportunities that you can make. Be grateful for those. and get on with it.
The only thing you can do is to ask yourself honestly - "Now what?" .Not why, no blame game... but 'Now What'.
"What can i do now in view of the shit I find myself in?" That is being alive fully. Accept, assess and deal with it.
The global web of bad faith
From what little I understand of evolution, I don't see humans growing out of the cocoon of self-deception. Bad faith is a survival strategy. With the 21st century that strategy now plays out globally on a scale that will make the best human minds boggle. With lies that are 'too big to fail', and lies that have terribly long tail, the global web of bad faith has firmed up its grip on our lives. The only recourse is to fight it out. Enable the 'too big to fail' lies to fail. Enable the long tail and absent heads to be answerable at each end of its tentacles. Question it and react to it at all times.
The individual's survival strategy will not play out well for the collective of humanity. We will end up digging our graves if we don't start addressing the truth collectively.
I. What is 'Bad Faith'?
Well, it quite simply is the web of lies we build around ourselves to avoid having to make hard choices. Bad faith is when you resist change or you refuse to accept the responsibility of responding to change or initiating change. It is a cocoon made of lies that keeps painful truth outside. It manifests every time we are forced to wade through an uncomfortable or even mildly critical question/ decision. It is a refusal to react/ act. It is a refusal to live consciously.
So the next time someone points out your mistake and instead of acknowledging them or trying to understand why those mistakes were being pointed out, you fill your heart and mind with resentment and anger towards the messenger, you are reacting in bad faith. You are choosing not to correct your mistake. You are pushing the choice onto other person to change.
Or if instead of reacting to inefficiencies or mistakes of others, you react to your expectation of them, then you are reacting in bad faith.You are choosing to not take charge of the situation. You are scuttling the responsibility onto your past.
Or if you let abstract ideas of nationality, caste or religious affiliation define your behaviour towards strangers, then you are living in bad faith. If you react to people's affiliation instead of their actions, you are living in bad faith. You are choosing to dehumanise the other. You are cowardly refusing to be responsible for your own dignity.
II. Matter of skin thickness
None of us are strong enough to experience truth in its entirety. Everyone has his/her's own set of lies that she must tell herself to make it through her life. We all have our insecurities, our fears, our weaknesses, our cognitive limitations. It is a matter of degree. Some have a thick skin, either born with the gift of reason and self-awareness. Some others earn it through experience. While most of us just go on blindly with a thin skin, raw nerves, wary of new experiences - opportunities to unravel the true nature of our existence.
III. The essential truth about bad faith
Life essentially is lived through actions and reactions to/ for other people. Our lives are in relation to other people. And most of us (which includes the others) would be severely incapable of living with full consciousness of the truth or even prioritized appraisal of truths/ lies. And to expect otherwise from people is to live in bad faith. And it is these others living in bad faith who are impacting our lives daily in one way or another.
What this means is, life cannot ever be a smooth operation. It is not an arrow flying through vacuum towards its target. Life will not be reasonable. Life will remain uncertain at all times.You will have to deal with idiots and wise-asses all the time. There is no escape. You will have to deal with mistakes of others and catastrophes that are irreparable. There is no recourse. LIFE IS A SWAMP. And the only option for us is to accept it, assess it objectively and deal with it. Sure there will be opportunities that you can make. Be grateful for those. and get on with it.
The only thing you can do is to ask yourself honestly - "Now what?" .Not why, no blame game... but 'Now What'.
"What can i do now in view of the shit I find myself in?" That is being alive fully. Accept, assess and deal with it.
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| Quote by thelastpsychiatrist.com, art by me |
The global web of bad faith
From what little I understand of evolution, I don't see humans growing out of the cocoon of self-deception. Bad faith is a survival strategy. With the 21st century that strategy now plays out globally on a scale that will make the best human minds boggle. With lies that are 'too big to fail', and lies that have terribly long tail, the global web of bad faith has firmed up its grip on our lives. The only recourse is to fight it out. Enable the 'too big to fail' lies to fail. Enable the long tail and absent heads to be answerable at each end of its tentacles. Question it and react to it at all times.
The individual's survival strategy will not play out well for the collective of humanity. We will end up digging our graves if we don't start addressing the truth collectively.
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