ExploreTruth

What do we really know? Do we understand how money really works?  Do we really understand how our government is run?  Do we really know what’s in the food we are eating?  Do we even fully understand all the religious rituals we follow and where they came from?

My brother and I were having a discussion the other day, and he mentioned that it hit him, that the citizens of Germany during the time of Hitlers governance, weren’t inherently any different from you and I.

It’s easy to dismiss an entire population as having some sort of evil gene.  But do we understand how a nation could allow genocide to occur right under their noses?  Are you any different?  Is the deep-seated apathy, that is often attributed in part to how Hitler was able to seduce the masses, something that we should concern ourselves with?

“This personal act of true, deep education is really an act of revolution.”

5 Strategies To Fight back

Commit To Exploring The Truth For Yourself:

It’s a statement that screams into the darkness of unknowing, that you will fight its seductive influences.  That you will choose to know, over the gentle ease of ignorance and apathy.  And apathy is really a popular thing throughout history.  I’m referring to that middle ground of knowing just enough, that is fraught with escapism, and a culture of distractions.  Collective assumption.  Knowing just enough that doesn’t threaten my traditional comfort zones.

And aren’t there systems of authority that you could see this state of relaxed apathy working well with?

One ought to be suspicious of all forms of obedience that require certain kinds of blind submission to authority. – Dr. Cornel West

I’m not preaching.  I still struggle to prefer to be awake.  Just like struggling with the idea of 30-45 minutes of physical activity.  It just makes sense health wise…but…

We need to practice Paideia.

According to Dr. Cornel West, “paideia is an attitude of critical engagement with society and ideas – a proactive process of questioning and learning.”

Lifestyle Design:

We are all creative people.  And being intentional about the kind of life you want, and not being afraid to at least consider unconventional ideas is the master artists claim to fame.  Our canvas is life.  Our medium, is how we choose to live our lives.

And its your life, and if its anything like mine, it appears to be going by quickly(I’ll debate Einstein’s Theory on relativity later).

Here’s a question I often ask myself.  Am I doing work I really love?  And how can I creatively design my life around my calling/passion, etc…

Reading:

Turn off the TV for a minute and read a book.  Trust me, I didn’t get to this place of not owning a TV without a little struggle and unforeseen circumstance.  Years ago I had an electrical problem at my place, and the cable wouldn’t work in half of the house.  So I’ll only ride my self-righteous horse for a minute.  But this inconvenience contributed to my rediscovering the joy of reading and independent learning.

Creative Expression

I focus on writing as a way to creatively express forming ideas, and to challenge me into truly articulating my thoughts.  It’s about making your critical thought muscles work.  With each stride in becoming a better thinker, a little part of your sheep nature slowly dies.

But writing isn’t the only way to be creative and fight the brain wasting disease.  You may enjoy music, photography, film/making videos, scrap-booking, poetry, and the list goes on.  The point is to tap into your creative language and use it to express those suppressed emotions, thoughts, and half thoughts.

Travel:

Discovering, and experiencing for yourself is empowering.  Its valuing your eyeballs, as perfectly able to critically examine something, without solely depending on a textbook, the news, or hear say.  My guess is we all wont be world explorers, but developing the spirit of real life exploration, especially to the areas that really turn us on, awakens aspects to our world and reality that we are hard pressed to come by any other way.

Paideia – Deep education that informs and transforms us so we shift from bling bling to a quest for wisdom. – Dr. Cornel West

Are there any strategies that you think I’m forgetting?

Featured pic: Daniela Hartmann