Something is true if it matches reality.
A true statement cannot contradict reality.
But, the mind can interpret anything into its opposite. All it takes is Black and White Thinking and a Belief things should be otherwise.
If Jeffrey Dahmer's mother thought he was a good son, then, he could not possibly be the guy who is eating people.
If O.J.Simpson was a fine, upstanding fella with a great personality, then, he couldn't possibly have brutally murdered two people with a large serrated knife. A ton of proof means nothing when belief is everything.
Black and White thinking won't permit any facts to slip by the core belief and become refuted.
Are YOU guilty of Black and White thinking?
Ask yourself this question:
WHEN was the last time you were wrong.....and CHANGED your opinion, belief or actions???
Unless it happens quite frequently (because we are all infested with wrong ideas, beliefs, principles and ideologies) we are stuck in Black and White straitjackets denying reality over and over again.
It takes humility to be wrong. You have to be able to acknowledge error to change. This is intellectual honesty: the willingness to allow your strongest ideas room to change.
It is painful, gut-wrenching and humiliating to be wrong about something or somebody very important to you.
Otherwise, what happens?
You end up defending the error! You become intellectually dishonest. You live a lie. Your right to reality is destroyed. You inhabit an alternate universe where delusion is stronger than what is really going on.
Know anybody like that?
Guess what? We are ALL like that to a greater or lesser extent.
We all----each of us---cling to false ideas. We are in love with those false ideas. We defend them. We cannot allow them to change or it will tear us apart.
Why? Why are we like that?
Because we've learned the habit of building our world view around our Black and White belief system instead of operating according to a refutable/probable reality.
How do we escape?
We have to do the following:
1.We must make ourselves a promise to hold as true only PROVABLE things.
2.We must understand what fact, event or demonstration of counter-proof will render our belief false.
3. We must never, ever defend a false idea once it is identified as false.
4.We must develop an honest practice of always listening to, reading about, and exposing ourselves to the OPPOSITE opinion of others.
5.Find the core of what you DON'T believe and ask yourself what makes it believable to others. Ask yourself how YOUR process is any different.
6.Constantly test your ideas...especially those which are challenged by other people. Why are you defending instead of listening? Truth is not the possession of any one person, group or system.
7.Learn to challenge others based on foundational belief rather than process. Never try to refute something on the nitty-gritty details first. Look at the broad foundational premise. A system of belief stands or falls on its PREMISE.
Example:
Jehovah's Witnesses are those who witness to others about Jehovah's Kingdom.
Jehovah's Kingdom is ruled by a King: Jesus.
Jesus is said to be ruling since 1914 from heaven and only through the Watchtower organization and directing the witnessing work.
How do we TEST that premise?
We ask the question: What would prove this premise false?
1.Would Jesus be effective in directing the preaching work or would Jesus constantly provide information which proves to be wrong?
2.Would Jesus give ridiculous or misleading information to his publicists to take door to door which embarassed him and misrepresented his father?
3.Would Jesus rule for 96 years giving false dates for Armageddon and constantly reworking his policies for his true believers?
OR......would all the above indicate an ERROR is at work and that it is a lie?
Once you identify false prophecy, error in policy, faulty and changing interpretations and a worldwide preaching message failing to match predicted outcomes what happens next?
You stop.......makes the decision to never defend such an error.....you change your position and belief to match reality.
In other words, you abandon Black and White interpretations in favor of Reality.
What if you are so emotionally invested in your false belief and defensive thinking it hurts too much to change?
Then you have become Intellectually Dishonest and your Life is a Lie.
You cannot prosper. You will become depressed and your activities will be baseless, empty pretense producing nothing.
Nobody can LIVE a LIE and feel good about their life.
Check your own ideas, premises, core beliefs now; each and every day; listen to the challenge to your Black and White thinking.
Have the courage to stand up to everyday tests of reality and change.
Is your life about SOMETHING REAL or are you an empty, meaningless charade producing nothing but delusion??
It is a question well worth asking.
Facts lead to productivity, progress and a legacy of prosperity for yourself and loved ones.
A phoney life leads to misery, poverty and bitterness.
Where do you stand??
Terry