Believing badly

Califorina counter-culturist Robert Anton Wilson once left the following as a footnote:

 

“Believe” or “convince yourself” – mean to do what an actor does: pretend until the pretense begins to feel real. Or, as Jazz musicians say: “Fake it until you make it.”

 

If you have to believe, by way of convincing yourself, then we’re clearly talking of a belief you don’t already hold.

 

Why would you want to convince yourself of something that you don’t already believe?

 

If it were me, I’d turn that question around.

 

Why would you want to hang on to beliefs that don’t serve you?

 

If you could convince yourself of anything, why wouldn’t you convince yourself of the best, greatest, most beautiful, uplifting, and useful beliefs you could imagine?

 

You can think many more thoughts than you can believe.

 

For some reason, people like to take the self-destructive thoughts and limiting thoughts and thoughts about what’s going wrong and make them into beliefs.

 

I’m reminded of what Blaise Pascal wrote, how even the king himself can’t stand to sit alone with his own thoughts. All the riches, comforts, and power a man could possess and still the king can’t wait to get away from himself.

 

We’ve built a culture on the founding idea that rock-solid truth is the highest goal. Whether that’s won through religion or science, the highest value is seeing things as they are, without delusion or doubt. More information, more facts, more data.

 

Belief can’t be a tool when having the right beliefs means everything.

 

We’ve got more beliefs than ever and things are falling apart before our eyes.

 

Once you see that beliefs can work for you, everything changes.

 

If it’s so simple as make-believe, pretending until the mask feels like the real thing, why don’t we do it?

 

The answer is simple and terrifying.

 

You don’t believe.

 

 

Matt Perryman
https://matts.email