Symbols and lies

Whenever we are confronted by surprising facts or unintended consequences of our actions, we are presented with a learning opportunity. But since we like to feel “in control” of our lives, we often avoid or ignore these opportunities, choosing instead to defend our beliefs against the facts. We are so good at selecting the facts that confirm our beliefs, and ignoring or denying the others, that we have developed an enormous capacity for self-deception. If we keep it up long enough, we can no longer see the difference between fact and opinion; “argument” becomes a battle of competing opinions, where the strongest (or loudest) wins. Unless we have a healthy respect for truth and a deep sense of our own fallibility, we have no defense against this kind of self-deception. Nor do we have any defense against those who would manipulate our beliefs for their own purposes.

Truths can be expressed only with symbols – and our ability to use symbolic language gives us the ability to lie.

Context and continuation: Communing