By Joe Lu ...
Not long ago ... back when everyone farmed, believed the same God, and lived and died within miles of where we were born ... we had almost no way of knowing the difference between truth and BS.
BS is any belief that is not grounded in reality. We all have at least some BS in our brains, even if we don't want to admit it to ourselves. But the more we can accept that fact, the greater a chance we have at cleaning up our own heads. One way to do this is to talk to new people! People almost never do this unless they have a really good reason. It feels silly to do, and we all feel a bit anxious talking to new people. Until recently, when we humans met new people we either ran from them or fought for our lives. There was no scientific method, and if you believed things that your village did not than you were either killed or banned, which basically meant that you died anyway. People are pretty ruthless when it comes to believing in their BS. That's why we humans are so sensitive to rejection, shame and guilt. It doesn't matter that a lot of the metrics we have used through history were BS. What mattered was conformity, because that helped us work together.
For example, when I was in the sixth grade, "Power Rangers" where considered "Cool" for about a month before said Power Rangers where then considered "Gay" ... something that upset me dearly as I had just gotten a brand new Power Ranger lunch box.
The determination of "gay" vs "cool" based on Power Ranger displays was determined by a boy named Matt, presumably without any deep analysis as the theory did not even account for the many "gay" and "cool" people I would later meet.
Similar levels of sophisticated BS exist all over the world to this day. One can prove their widespread existence in religious and political spheres easily. For example, not all the "God" stories can be completely true given that nearly all of them contradict each other.
In the area of politics ... widespread BS becomes obvious when we observe exceedingly high correlations in political beliefs across areas with no fundamental relationship whatever, such as support for the Ukraine War, LGBTQ, mask wearing, vaccines, gun control, and global warming.
If I can correctly guess nearly all of someone's political views based on knowledge of just one of the above topics chosen at random...then what does that say about the process they used to arrive at these strongly held beliefs?
That's why it didn't really matter much what BS everyone around us believed in. All that mattered was that everyone believed the same BS so everyone could trick each other into believing they were all trustworthy despite not actually having a personal relationship.
BS vs Truth
There is a such thing as truth. We did a podcast about it if you want to dive deeper...but here is the short answer.
The truth is what exists even if you don't know or are not thinking about it. Some truths are easier to see, like the physical world around us. Some truths are harder, like how being respectful and considerate of others generally leads to friendships and a happier life. Finding truth is hard, but a lot easier when you really want to know. The problem is that many really don't. We may say we do, but what we really want is for others to think we know, or at the very least, believe we know ourselves. Truths are embedded in the world’s greatest books. Books like Dale Carnegie's, How to Win Friends, and Stephen Covey’s book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Wisdom from centuries of great thinkers that passed on and form the basis for what makes heroes. Truths that are self-evident such as the qualities we all hope to find in friends and give to our children. Another great way to learn about truth is in this new class on WEquil App!
Yet despite the existence of truths, humans have always had a lot of BS mixed up in defining the rules, expectations and values of their villages.
For example, when my grandparents were born many American's seemed to still believe that ...
Gays are evil and shouldn't be allowed to marry ... 💩
Women belong in the kitchen ... 💩
If you missed Church you were evil ... 💩
Don't trust them black people ... 💩
Believe my God or you are going to hell ... 💩
Thankfully this particular BS has become a lot less popular, but we new BS is created every day!
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Dear Reader,
We are writing a book about the story of WEquil School. This is one of the chapters we are considering for inclusion. Let us know what you think by joining WEquil App and introducing yourself. Everyone who creates an account is given their own private room to meet our founders and share their story! Sincerely, WEquil Family