Aside from the felt sense (tactile gut feeling) that something is very different about what’s happening in our world, every day I see more and more examples of it.

More and more riots and protests are occurring in developed countries where people are fed up with the state of their lives or the actions of governments.

The existing political power in the US is trying to jail one of its opponents for similar level things virtually every other president has done. Isn’t this the type of thing Western countries call out developing countries for doing?

On mainstream radio channels, I consistently hear of the mass loss of trust in governing institutions and how it is reaching “dangerous” levels. The Broken Window Newman, Jonathan R Buy New $9.99 (as of 04:00 UTC - Details)

People appear to literally be losing their minds trying to make sense of what’s happening, the speed at which it’s occurring and what we can possibly do about it.

I can understand why some turn it all off and don’t pay attention, it can be overwhelming. Perhaps for a short period it’s helpful to do that. But if we did that consistently are we not just avoiding something we can play a part in resolving? In our own lives, if we avoid and ice out a problem from our consciousness for too long, what happens? Chaos, destruction, and illness.

I believe we have to look. We have to face what is happening and become curious about its cause. With that, I believe there are healthier ways to stay in touch with the state of our world than simply scrolling through social media or listening to every video that shows up in our feeds.

I laid out thoughts on this healthier approach here, and I believe we have reasonable proof that this healthier approach works as seen here after over a decade’s worth of practice. But for now I want to keep going.

Using Double Standards To Avoid Being Uncomfortable

There are many things we’re told by mainstream sources of information, including government, that are false and misleading. But I could say the same about antithesis voices as well.

What I’ve noticed is that on most things that truly matter, there is actually a lot of overlap when it comes to the facts, but it’s hard to find synthesis because it can be uncomfortable having to address the rigidity of our beliefs and ideas.

We begin to use double standards to avoid the recognition of complexity and seeing overlap.

For example, collectively, we don’t apply the same scrutiny to mainstream media as we do alternative, or vice versa. The same can be said for politicians from differing political parties; on one side there are criminals, and the other are heroes. An honest look tells a very different story.

The same can be said for other beliefs we hold. Hat tip to my friend Madhava for helping to point out some of the following examples.

Can we honestly say the mainstream is applying the same rigor to prove vaccines have worked in developed countries to eradicate disease as they do in debunking those asking to test the safety of vaccines?

The Bible in a Year Co... Fr. Mike Schmitz, Jeff... Best Price: $12.14 Buy New $18.64 (as of 02:44 UTC - Details) Imagine, someone dies of COVID, an unreliable test proves the virus was the cause and that is laid out for the entire world to hear. Yet if someone dies after a COVID vaccine it can only be linked if we do an extensive autopsy to prove if it was causal, and almost no one will hear of this story. Double standards indeed.

But the same is said in reverse by some. The COVID vaccine is the cause of any untimely death these days, without further investigation. Yet those people want a huge amount of rigor to prove COVID caused the death of someone who died while testing positive.

The point here isn’t to prove one or the other, but to illustrate where our double standards are and how quickly we will turn to them to prove our point while ignoring the rest of the story. These double standards are birthed from a desire to fight the opposing side.

Can we truly be OK with the explanation that this human behaviour is normal? That we are somehow JUST animals and that is why we always forgo logic to fight the other side? or have we come to accept something as normal that really is only the side effect of something deeper?

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