I try to draw my personal philosophy from many sources and allow it to grow and change over time. One of my favorite philosophy discussions or lectures is from Stefan Molyneux in which there is discussion of the nature of the cage and I've probably read/heard it a hundred times or so at this point, but I always find it fascinating nonetheless. If you are unfamiliar with this lecture, I encourage you to check it out here. So today I'll share my thoughts and takeaways from this particular lecture and I welcome discussion about it below.
Molyneux describes the evolution of human society as one that was basically manipulated to operate based on fear and scarcity mindset. The general gist is that we've been born into a cage that is put into place by society and while I find his explanation of how this happened as relevant and very eye opening, personally I don't think the why or how matters as much as the idea of what to do about it. If we have been born into a system fundamentally designed to make us lose so that others can win, recognizing fear based tactics for control and manipulation is, in my opinion, the best way to escape the cage.
The biggest problem I've seen with learning to recognize these behaviors is realizing how we actually perpetuate the cycles. Barring extreme examples, most of us are born and raised into the system by people that are already complacent to it. Sell your life away for money so that you can have things and some illusion of control. The fear is based on the inherent and implied violence that underlies our very inclusion inside of this system and the fear of exclusion that we put on each other. You should pay taxes because everyone else does, it's not fair for you not to, if you don't then Big Brother will come for you, if you aren't doing your share then you expect me to pay for you, but what if all of these ideas are really just forms of thought control to keep you operating within the guidelines of the system?
To make matters worse, at some point many of us adopt these beliefs and ideologies as our own. Pressure from society and our peers to comply with the system and compete with each other in a never ending cycle of one-ups-manship, all the while we can't see that we're actually doing this for beliefs that were never our own. It's so ingrained that people get violently offended and it take it as a personal insult when you reject the system that they use to keep their own lives in check. That illusion of control while really being controlled is an addiction that we were born into and have to learn how to break free from for ourselves if we so choose.
If you have ever seen the movie Inception, there is a scene where one of the characters describes an idea as the most insidious virus that you can inflict on someone. Once that seed is planted in someone's head, there is no escaping it, because if we recognize it as truth and accept it, we believe it to be so. Our own beliefs and thoughts create the reality that we exist in and only we can break down our own thoughts and beliefs to truly be free. If we think about all of the times we've let others put an idea into our head and adopted it as our own, it starts to become clear what the cage actually is made out of, and it's not some impervious metal, there is no ball and chain, you aren't hardwired to it, the cage is your own mind.
It's a scary concept to actually accept that statement at face value. We are born and grow into a cage that is actually our own mind and the only person that can ever let us out of that cage is ourselves. We can't wait for someone to walk around with a key and let us all free, there is no Neo coming to unplug anyone from the Matrix, there is only self and self must free itself. The only way to do that is to question our own beliefs and thoughts and be free if we want to be free. Some people prefer cages and some people prefer illusions of controlling other people in cages, but some of us do prefer to be free and it is possible. Whichever role we choose to play, from my perspective, seems to always be a self fulfilling prophecy. Namaste.
Hi @clayboyn
Great article, I really like the conclusions to which you come, really the idea that viruses and our liberation always begins changing thoughts. At the same time, people around us act as liberators in different situations, helping and guiding us and as usurpers who rape our nature. In such a situation, it is very important to cultivate your own inner support, a worldview that will allow you to go in the direction of liberation from the cage. As a rule, such a worldview is cultivated by religions.
The second aspect, which you have not touched on in the article, but it is very important - our body. Consciousness is inseparably connected with the body. This means that you can work with consciousness not only on the mental level, changing your beliefs, but also at the physical level. For example, dependence on the sweet is a сage, the dependence on sex is a сage and so on.
Liberation requires an integrated approach;)
Excellent thoughts, that's the true condition of the human being, some of us can break the cage and they will lead the world.
".....most of us are born and raised into the system by people that are already complacent to it."....... That was the high point for me! Thanks @clayboyn
Who told you people want to be led to freedom? Freedom is very expensive, the mind will always optimize for reduced energy expenditure aka survival.
I feel you man, but once you're in the rat race... escaping it is not easy. Sure, the first step is to see things as they are, but that does not change much in the real world. You still have to eat, you still have to fulfill the promises you've made,... Fear isn't necessarily irrational feeling.
What realizing that you're living in a cage, and that the system you've been born into is what it is, changes in practical day to day living?
Unless you're wealthy, I'd say not much.
Exceptional post my fellow peer. This area of discussion is one of my main motivations for joining up on a social platform such as Steemit, as I believe it will be more well received as it's still in its early stages, striving towards a decentralized idea, and hasn't had enough time to be affected by the domestication of societies. I always try and discover the source of things or at least keep rooting it as far as I can until the day I leave this biological vessel. So far, I think fear is the closest source of control, especially in society today, based off my observation, research, and analysis. I really would love for more people to be aware of this also, but it's a tough system to break due to the numerous layers and confusion. At what point did you become self aware of this?
For me, I've always had this feeling, maybe a type of curiosity or questioning of everything, since a very young age. It's hard to put into words, as language is a form of communication and also is in the constraints of control, as it is limited and can spread like a virus. The real trigger for me becoming more aware of the power of control was the death of my mother in my early adulthood years. It was my greatest fear, and something I didn't know how to deal with...so I completely disconnected. I went through a transformation of dehumanizing myself, because I had lost the most powerful and important connection to me in my life. Life essentially halted, as time kept on flowing with or with out me :).
I went through dark periods of self-manipulation with my main objective being to splice my own conscience open, remove all emotions and thoughts, and try to recreate my own world purely with my mind through various methods. I was in deep thought for years, and delved deep down the rabbit wanting to find source so I could do a fresh install to put it metaphorically. I looked a lot at the government, media, religion, extraterrestrial life, physics, sacred geometry, and just information itself. It's amazing how a piece of data can be interpreted and translated an infinite amount of times with its product being nothing close in resemblance to its origin. It's amazing what manipulation can conjure and transform, and trying to delve through the layers of confusion it exponentially sprouts.
I really could go on forever about this, and all the revers-engineering of all the human constructs, but wanted to get in a reply to your awesome post. I want to be completely free too my friend, and I will strive towards unlocking it until the end. Oh the day to wake up and just pick some berries off a bush and lay under the sun eating them relaxing, everyday! Not that it's not possible to do now, but fear still has a firm grip.
Some of my major inspirations that have helped shape my perception are Pink Floyd, The Doors, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, George Carlin, Tesla, Poe, and Nassim Haramein to name a few :). Thank you for the inspiration to reply to your post, and motivation to keep moving forward. Looking forward to what's to come, and feels good to be more connected.
Respectfully Yours,
BillowSoul
I've been aware of it for a while, couldn't really say how long, but I fully embraced the ideas and started working to change it about a year ago. Glad to hear from you and hope you enjoy steemit!
I really enjoy your opinion on this topic. I myself have very similar beliefs. Society is capable of being a beautiful thing, as humans had once roamed these lands as a part of nature, intuitively interacting with mother earth.
Societal impressions are heavily imprinted in our childrens minds as soon as they go into school. They are already being caged to learn how to be caged and be content with it. I witness this in my family, friends, strangers, and it gives me pain. They have accepted that fate.
I always say it this way.
Don't let somebody else paint your portrait of reality. Don't let go of that brush.
Love the post. Keep Steem in you Hooligan!
You have spoken well friend. I think ignorance and unexposure also contribute to people letting others cage their minds. Once we beginning to attain she certain levels of exposures, ignorance will fade off and we will break loose from the cages of our mind controlled by others. Thank you.
That's the plan. The more people talking about it, the more the idea grows.
i have much interest about psychology subject... i liked the way you write about it. thanks for sharing... 👍
https://steemit.com/esteem/@maxwell95/the-day-i-died-trauma-depression-fear-anxiety-934baf6269825
This is a cage i have been in for sometime now.
I'm mainly concerned with the global collapse. The sheeple are not prepared. People are dying in Venezuela and they will probably start dying in other countries as well. :(
I do believe that this pretty much sums up how we take what happens to us in life. Feelings of guilt and regret can sometimes consume to the point where they can dominate our lives. I made a video recently talking about this: https://d.tube/v/selfhelpyourself/kvdswcgv
How we perceive and share our emotions with others makes all the difference! Great read :)
I love the reference to Inception, one of my favorites. I have a friend who's stuck in a cyclic thinking pattern related to his past, and he is constantly paranoid, and draws conclusions that are bordering the realm of schizophrenic, and I try to drive it home to him, that he is the only one who can break himself free from his mental torture. I've had to make the journey myself. He implicitly suggests that he will live in his insanity, and wait for Jesus to save him. It's not only hard to influence people's perception, it's downright exhausting. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Agreed and I've been there too, so I understand all too well. Just make sure to take care of your own mental health and help when you can, but like you said, no one can fix us but ourselves.
Thanks man. It's nice to know others think like me.
Its a very interesting subject. By looking though history you can see just how slow and methodical it is to change the dimensions of the cage. It’s almost like a painful birth, slow and agonizing.
Very true and it's no surprise that many people compare stepping outside of that cage as a second birth.
So the conditioned mind is host to an idea that then builds the cage of limitation. There are plenty of interior decorators that will help keep the caged one comfortable along the way, through obigatory payment through his energy to the belief of scarcity. Equals a consumer mindset...over time. Yet you are going somewhere with the inception idea dialogue...
What could except such a horrifying idea so lodged in consciousness that we have built a society based on needless want.
What a challenging game
Intelligent article
K
The only way I see that we as a species can win this game is to stop playing it, but that requires consensus. The problem is many of us are under the impression we need to play this game to survive or be happy, although I feel many of those are also in denial and believe that things and control/being controlled make them happy. It would be an interesting world if we all just stopped playing the game tomorrow though. :)
I was actually having a conversation with a friend earlier this morning when I had asked what their overall opinion of the job market was, and if it was difficult. Like if you took all the well paying salary jobs in the world and threw them in a box, how difficult would it be to get one of them?
I believe that there is many forms of negative thinking revolving around societal work expectations; where to know if someone is doing a good job, they have to work over-time whilst suffering for a mediocre wage. Doing "what's proven" and "what works" in society, is enforced by fear of abandoning the system that everyone else adheres to.
When we see our colleagues and neighbors cling tightly to the bars of the cage, we fear further what would devour us if we stepped outside.
I like the idea that we are only limited by what we accept.
Thank you c:
It's my experience that thought and perceptions create reality. Perhaps some people just prefer doing what they think they have to do, I like to think I just enjoy doing what I want to do.
You never have to do anything. I like this, to be moved by desire :D
This makes sense, since that kind of mindset was in place long before humanity. Nature and life are all about scarcity, and the fear of missing out. Gobble up your values as soon as you can, because you never know if they'll still be around to be gobbled tomorrow.
Since that is inherent in life as we know it, it's pretty easy to see why it would be a large part of human society without any mastermind pulling the strings to make it so.
That being said, I agree that it's important to recognize these feelings when and if they are unjustified in a particular situation. And it is also important to recognize that such feelings are used to manipulate people all the time. (Personally, I consider all communication to be a form of manipulation.)
This is a strange statement. How can you have a belief that is not your own? In one sense, all of your beliefs come from some exterior place: whether it's societal dogma, or perception of physical reality (except, perhaps, the cogito). Even so, a belief, by its definition, is always yours. The real question is whether or not that belief correlates with reality or not.
Overall though, I think this idea of a cage is a question of perception. Ultimately, yes, there is no such thing as free will, and all of your choices are determined by a chain of causes that stretches back trillions of years. Recognizing feelings of fear and scarcity will never change that. But at the same time, you will never know all of those causes - your knowledge and understanding will always be finite, and therefore choice will always be necessary. In other words, the cage is only there when you cross your eyes a bit. :)
I go into a little more detail about that in a recent post if you want to take a look: The Determined Will
I think it's easy enough to have beliefs based on our observations of our parents and teachers or consequences of not doing what we're told or what we are led to believe is a requirement to exist. Society forces all sorts of beliefs on people that they never would have thought up on their own. I suppose it's all a matter of perspective as to how necessary some of those beliefs are to propogate. Probably the biggest one is that money is necessary. If society didn't exist and we were living off the land, trading tokens of exchange would probably be the last thing on our minds, but nevertheless society adopts them, so we grow up knowing no other way. We then see ourselves in relation to the value of what we have to exchange. I'll be sure to check out your post. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Every word you said was simply told in the form of a fable by Plate- The allegory of Cave.
People live in their caves believing shadows are the real things.
Maybe Ignorance is indeed bliss..
Love this post :)
I can relate to everything you've said from my own experience of life. Often we have people of great wisdom, showing us the path to freedom, to peace. But it is seldom an external freedom from for eg. state oppression, financial freedom, freedom of will or of borders etc.
It is usually a very sublime form of personal freedom. Freedom not of physical shackles but shackles of the mind. Inner freedom where one's soul can thrive and be alive, while the external circumstances remain the same. I doubt there can be external freedom for a member of our society today. We are always bound by the system. Maybe one day in the future, But what is of more value now, and always, is inner freedom. The achievement of that leaves much less to be desired in terms of any other 'freedoms'. External freedoms then become, icing on the cake.
Thank you for sharing this post :)
Wow..very nice post..
good photograpy..thanks for sharing..
freedom is very difficult to get, in a country led by a leader who is hungry for kuwasaan, this is good writing
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Literary, it is the fact that we tend to believe easily what is socially accepted and preached to us, but to escape the narrow mindset can be a hard task.
this article is very helpful in understanding the science of psychology. I really like about this article.
thank you for making this article hopefully can be useful for all.
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