The Illusion of Choice and Truth, page 1


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Topic started on 1-9-2012 @ 03:12 PM by SonOfTheLawOfOne
You may think it's all conspiracy, or you might not believe it's possible that there are true villains in this world the likes of which you've only thought were possible in big Hollywood movies.

But "they" are real.

In order to have an illusion, you must distort the perception of the viewer. Choice is an illusion created between those with power, and those without.

There are 3 types of choices:

Hobson’s Choice: A free choice in which only one option is offered; i.e., “take it or leave it”.


Source

Morton’s Fork: Is a choice between two equally unpleasant alternatives (in other words, a dilemma) or two lines of reasoning that lead to the same unpleasant conclusion. It is analogous to the expression, “between the devil and the deep blue sea,” and “between a rock and a hard place”.


Source

Buridan’s Ass: is an illustration of a paradox in philosophy in the conception of free will. It refers to a hypothetical situation wherein an ass is placed precisely midway between a stack of hay and a pail of water. Since the paradox assumes the ass will always go to whichever is closer, it will die of both hunger and thirst since it cannot make any rational decision to choose one over the other. The paradox is named after the 14th century French philosopher Jean Buridan, whose philosophy of moral determinism it satirizes.


Source

Left, Right, Democrat, Republican, it is all AN ILLUSION OF CHOICE!!! (specifically, all 3 of the above!)

As long as you BELIEVE you have a choice, you will never revolt (Hobson's Choice)... even if the choice is between two horrible things (Morton's Fork)... because you'd rather choose something, than choose nothing and suffer from the pain of not choosing anything at all. (Buridan's Ass)

Thinking "outside of the box" is KNOWING that you are not limited to the choices presented to you. This is where YOU CAN make a difference.

There are well understood aspects of human psychology that show how easy it is to create the illusion of something being true. You see it everyday of your life, but hopefully, this will help you understand WHY.

The Illusion of Truth Effect

Easy to understand = true

This is what psychologists call the illusion of truth effect and it arises at least partly because familiarity breeds liking. As we are exposed to a message again and again, it becomes more familiar. Because of the way our minds work, what is familiar is also true. Familiar things require less effort to process and that feeling of ease unconsciously signals truth (this is called cognitive fluency).

As every politician knows, there's not much difference between actual truth and the illusion of truth. Since illusions are often easier to produce, why bother with the truth?

The exact opposite is also true.
~~~~~~~~~~~

In other words, it's no good repeating a weak argument to people who are listening carefully. But if people aren't motivated to scrutinise your arguments carefully then repeat away with abandon—the audience will find the argument more familiar and, therefore, more persuasive.

This suggests we should remain critical while watching TV adverts or the message will creep in under our defences. You might think it's better to let the ads wash over you, without thinking too much, but just the reverse is true. Really we should be highly critical otherwise, before we know it, we're singing the jingle, quoting the tag-line and buying the product.

When the argument is strong, though, it doesn't matter whether or not the audience is concentrating hard, repetition will increase persuasion. Unfortunately I find it's often people with the best arguments who don't repeat them enough.




Source

We NEED to stop fighting over the illusions that "they" want us to believe!!! As long as we fight amongst ourselves, and the ILLUSIONS, "THEY" WIN and we continue to be their pawns and slaves!

We need to STOP BICKERING OVER THE ILLUSION OF CHOICE and start looking at why we are only being given those choices!

We CAN make real change. It has to start somewhere.

~Namaste
edit on Sat Sep 1 2012 by DontTreadOnMe because: ex tag......trimmed very large quote



reply posted on 1-9-2012 @ 03:53 PM by eleven44
reply to post by SonOfTheLawOfOne


Thanks for taking the time to put this together.

I couldn't agree more: The left vs right paradigm is being used to make you believe you have a choice when in reality you don't.

It reminds me of what my mom told me about parenting 'tricks.' When I was a little kid I always HAD to be in control of my choices, or at least 'feel' like I had a choice. So, instead of my Mom saying, 'Go take a shower and then clean your room," (which leaves no option for choice) she would say, "Would you rather take a shower and clean your room, or clean your room and then shower?" This way I was empowered to feel like I had a choice, when in reality, no matter what I 'chose,' I would end up doing exactly what she wanted me to do.

Politics is the same way. "Do you want the Left or the Right?" Doesn't really matter, either way...they're gonna do what they wanna do, and you'll be screwed.

Cheers!



reply posted on 1-9-2012 @ 04:22 PM by SonOfTheLawOfOne
reply to post by eleven44


Thank you!

I appreciate your feedback and support.

Your analogy of parenting is spot on, and that's exactly what the people in power do, except they use all three types of paradigms. By keeping us fighting against each other, we will ignore why we're fighting and the "why" of the choices we are given. The age old saying "don't ask why, just do it" comes to mind.

The only way we can ever change things is to turn their tools in our favor and stop letting them create our choices when we have the ability to create our own.

~Namaste
edit on 1-9-2012 by SonOfTheLawOfOne because: (no reason given)



reply posted on 1-9-2012 @ 09:42 PM by ancientthunder
reply to post by SonOfTheLawOfOne
great thread, gracias amigo del uno. Yes in that light choice become sinister and as you say that is the best reminder to really think out of the box and do our best to choose what we feel is best.




reply posted on 2-9-2012 @ 02:20 AM by AfterInfinity
reply to post by Murgatroid


I don't get what being smart has to do with cognitive dissonance...


reply posted on 2-9-2012 @ 03:37 AM by TarzanBeta
reply to post by SonOfTheLawOfOne


You continue to have this idea that you will hinder the inevitable.

Which is wiser when you are facing a rabid beast the size of a mountain?

Should you attempt to appeal to its sense of morality and beg its mercy on your weak and frail flesh?

Or should you callus yourself; forge yourself armor, temper your weapons, and prepare for war against a creature bred for war?

You haven't the slightest clue what it is that you are fighting.

This war is not about flesh and blood. This war concerns the soul of every human being.

If the soul is weak, the flesh and the soul will die. But if the soul is strong, then the flesh is a trap. The weak flesh beckons for the beast to crush it. But those with a strong heart and a strong mind; those with a spirit of love and patience and determination will tackle the beast off-guard; thinking that he ripped his enemy into pieces. And yet his enemy will stand back up and call to him while his back is turned, "Hey. Your time is up. You destroyed all those who would and have blindly followed you. You err in your calculation. You let live those that know better. And you turned your back. You reign ends."

The Lord is in control. Your choice is between good and evil - not republican or democrat.

Your choice is not written on a ballot. Your choice is where your heart is. And because most of your hearts focus on money, your choices will stem from the idea that you must protect money. Because you serve money, you will die - because money dies. But when you start serving Love, then you will understand. Who you love is your vote for who rules your soul. Where you spend your money is your vote for who reigns in the seat of Caesar.

But clearly you put so much effort and thought into figuring who is your Caesar. But who is your God?

And is God not greater than Caesar?

Choose your God first. Then you will know how to choose your Caesar. But even so you must understand that Caesar is against God. And also know that the Caesar you choose will also sell you to his god.

For those who are incapable of understanding what I am saying here...

The OP is correct in saying that you have only an illusion of choice. And the OP has perpetuated that illusion by telling you that you should avoid voting for the "mainstream" and to instead take the government over by some other means.

So, then, the OP implies that your choice is but an illusion while also only implanting his version of choice into your mind. Interesting, don't you think?

And then I performed the same act basically by telling you how I perceive. So...

The real message here should be apparent to you. The premise of this thread is just as much an illusion as is anything else you have encountered.

Do your own research. I do urge you to pray, but then, that is your choice.


reply posted on 2-9-2012 @ 04:03 AM by AfterInfinity
reply to post by TarzanBeta


A warped sense of the truth is no less harmful than the most vile lie.

You, my friend, have fed into a warped truth. What will happen when the day comes...the day that your beliefs, your righteousness, is shattered and leaves you with nothing but half-truths and bigotry?

Repent? No...unite. Unite, and love. That is what our philosophy should be. I was just telling a friend today that we are fighting a war between the physical and nonphysical. And even the physical and nonphysical both have many directions that can be followed. For instance, the nonphysical could fight for love, hate, compassion, wisdom, happiness, etc. The physical could fight for survival, wealth, pleasure, violence, etc.

We should be fighting, not just for the nonphysical, but COMPASSION. This is a war between physical survival and nonphysical compassion. When you have sworn yourself to a fate that preaches judgment and fear and condemnation just as often as it preaches love and forgiveness, how can you fight for compassion?

When Eve took the fruit, according to legend, she took the ability to judge. Let us stop judging, and start loving. Any man can judge a flawed brother. It takes true strength and wisdom to LOVE a flawed brother.


reply posted on 2-9-2012 @ 07:28 AM by simplyLOVE
I sincerely agree friend, you know just while i was waiting for this thread to load and before i knew what it was about i skimmed over the ATS homepage and saw a thread entitiled "I've got something to say to all you right wing bashers'' or something to that effect and found myself thinking like, SURELY on ats at least, people can see that the whole right wing vs left wing, tory vs labour, republican vs democrat, its the exact same people, Obama and Romney are probably sitting sipping cognac right now laughing at the common man and his complete stupidity, because it doesnt make a difference who you support or vote for, or anything, they all want the same thing, and we're given this whole two party system voting thing and the illusion of choice is painted before us

The sheep are led from one field to another by the shepherd again and again, and the shepherd says 'look how good i am to you sheep, you have two fields to choose from, so you wont ever get bored of one type of grass!' One day one of the sheep thinks his grass is beginning to taste stale so he heads over to the other field and the rest of the sheep follow him, after a few days the grass begins to taste stale again so the sheep head back to the other field and yet again after a few days the grass begins to taste stale so the one sheep says 'come lets return the way we came, to the other field' but as the sheep are squeezing under the fence one of them gets caught and begins to wriggle and writhe and at this the fence simply crumbles, the first sheep says 'Look! this fence is made of rotting wood and cardboard, shoddily made!' and at this the sheep looked down to see that they had been eating tithe and farming refuse trampled by mud all along and that there was only one field and not two. One sheep notices and says 'look, this rotting wood falls apart easily, it is not nearly as sturdy as the fence that keeps us all penned in to this field, and see? there is the shepherd and the farmer and their friends laughing and drinking in beautiful green pastures, they dont even eat grass! let us escape this field and go and eat their grass!'

And the farmer and the shepherd and all their friends had mutton for a week! The end


reply posted on 2-9-2012 @ 07:47 AM by simplyLOVE
reply to post by TarzanBeta


IN MY HUMBLE OPINION (cannot stress this enough!!)

As much as I agree with what you are saying friend I dont think Mr. Son of the law of one is actually disagreeing with you , he's simply addressing this in political terms rather than religious or spiritual which would be a much larger thread. In fact considering his name I would venture a guess at saying that the OP is actually saying that once we break out of this paradigm we can start to see the truth, and the real battle/choice that we have, as you have spelled it out.

And as for the post below with the dragonballz avatar, you and this person are both literally saying the same thing in different words (and i agree with you both) and if you both proceed to fight with each other over specific names and words used to describe the same philosophy in different parts of the world then you are both violating your own beliefs. And both participating in the very kind of illusion that this thread is speaking out against.

I mean I cant help but think that everyone on ats is saying the exact same thing and no one can see it because you are all so determined to gratify your own ego's by saying 'I have the truth' and 'my philosophy is correct" and because of this you cant see, or refuse to see that you all have the same philosophy.

After all, the truth is ONE and the only illusion that really exists (so to speak) and gives rise to all other illusions is the illusion that the truth is not ONE.

Ask the Lord for wisdom because he gives freely


reply posted on 2-9-2012 @ 08:18 AM by JustSlowlyBackAway
Originally posted by SonOfTheLawOfOne
reply to post by eleven44



The only way we can ever change things is to turn their tools in our favor and stop letting them create our choices when we have the ability to create our own.

~Namaste
edit on 1-9-2012 by SonOfTheLawOfOne because: (no reason given)


Could you please give a specific example? Other than opt out of the game where we can, how do we create a "none of the above" choice from what we're given? My experience shows me they've usually covered those bases, and the "none of the above" option has been made illegal...just in case anyone gets too frisky.


reply posted on 2-9-2012 @ 08:25 AM by JustSlowlyBackAway
Originally posted by simplyLOVE
I sincerely agree friend, you know just while i was waiting for this thread to load and before i knew what it was about i skimmed over the ATS homepage and saw a thread entitiled "I've got something to say to all you right wing bashers'' or something to that effect and found myself thinking like, SURELY on ats at least, people can see that the whole right wing vs left wing, tory vs labour, republican vs democrat, its the exact same people, Obama and Romney are probably sitting sipping cognac right now laughing at the common man and his complete stupidity, because it doesnt make a difference who you support or vote for, or anything, they all want the same thing, and we're given this whole two party system voting thing and the illusion of choice is painted before us

The sheep are led from one field to another by the shepherd again and again, and the shepherd says 'look how good i am to you sheep, you have two fields to choose from, so you wont ever get bored of one type of grass!' One day one of the sheep thinks his grass is beginning to taste stale so he heads over to the other field and the rest of the sheep follow him, after a few days the grass begins to taste stale again so the sheep head back to the other field and yet again after a few days the grass begins to taste stale so the one sheep says 'come lets return the way we came, to the other field' but as the sheep are squeezing under the fence one of them gets caught and begins to wriggle and writhe and at this the fence simply crumbles, the first sheep says 'Look! this fence is made of rotting wood and cardboard, shoddily made!' and at this the sheep looked down to see that they had been eating tithe and farming refuse trampled by mud all along and that there was only one field and not two. One sheep notices and says 'look, this rotting wood falls apart easily, it is not nearly as sturdy as the fence that keeps us all penned in to this field, and see? there is the shepherd and the farmer and their friends laughing and drinking in beautiful green pastures, they dont even eat grass! let us escape this field and go and eat their grass!'

And the farmer and the shepherd and all their friends had mutton for a week! The end



This is perfect. What a great analogy.

And this cuts to the heart of why our freedom of choices is quite limited within the rubric of society. We can do little things, but the shackles are on for anything very meaningful, or life changing.

How does the common man, for instance, stop a war? End hunger? End homelessness? Poverty? Greed and waste? We don't because those avenues are blocked by powers we have absolutely no control over.

The vote is meaningless because the choices are already limited to people who play the game the way they are told. No matter who is elected, nothing will change. It's all a farce.

And we are sort of stuck like the sheep, either eating what *%$ is being fed us, or giving ourselves up for the slaughter when we make too much fuss.


reply posted on 2-9-2012 @ 09:03 AM by violet
reply to post by eleven44


Your mother presented it to you in the form of a question instead an order. Nobody likes being told what to do.

An order offers no choice whatsoever, although it can be surprisingly easy to give orders and the person will comply and do something they wouldn't otherwise do. That's because they feel rushed by the command and will only realize afterwards they did something they really didn't want to do.

edit on 2-9-2012 by violet because: (no reason given)
edit on 2-9-2012 by violet because: (no reason given)

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