All of society is based on stories. They're not just words, they are alive and powerful. There's a theory about things called memes. In essense, they're ideas that act like viruses. You put an idea out into the world - tell it to a freind, get them to pass it on - and soon the idea filters out into society and everyone begins to alter their way of behaving. The idea - what started out as one persons idea - has actually changed the shape of society. That's the clearest way I can explain it. Stories are memes, very powerful ones, because they speak directly to the subconscious using archetypes. Stories shape lives. They stir passions and change the way we see the world. People pick up little lessons from them, believe a certain way to act is the correct way, grow more like their heros. If you have stories riddled with cynicism, the world will grow more like them, overtime. Our stories today are Hollywood movies and Primetime TV. In the eighties, there was a crime series called Hills Street Blues. The police officers who watched it started to mimic the way the characters acted, altered the way they went about their jobs. An entire culture was changed by one story.
Stories are our dreams; we dream our society and our reality. If we dream hard enough, we can make it what we want. For example: If you see yourself as a good person, you will be. If you see yourself as a sad loser, thats what you'll become. Everything is fluid. Nothing is fixed. There are no boundries, anything can happen. Fluidity. Hope. Expression.
So, what the true story? I believe that is unanswerable. You could strip away one story only to find another lies behind it, and another, and another. We will never find the true story that lies behind it all. Everything is an illusion, each illusion as valid as any other, until you reach that final level, but to find that is to know everything. Wisdom lies in knowing you can never know everything and part of what you know is always wrong. Nobody knows everything. No body will ever know everything - We'll never see the big picture. Our perceptions are not capable of taking it all in. There are to many wonders in the world, too much information. The best we can do is determine our own individual view of how it all fits together. Though most people can't be bothered to look beyond their lives.
Stories are our dreams; we dream our society and our reality. If we dream hard enough, we can make it what we want. For example: If you see yourself as a good person, you will be. If you see yourself as a sad loser, thats what you'll become. Everything is fluid. Nothing is fixed. There are no boundries, anything can happen. Fluidity. Hope. Expression.
So, what the true story? I believe that is unanswerable. You could strip away one story only to find another lies behind it, and another, and another. We will never find the true story that lies behind it all. Everything is an illusion, each illusion as valid as any other, until you reach that final level, but to find that is to know everything. Wisdom lies in knowing you can never know everything and part of what you know is always wrong. Nobody knows everything. No body will ever know everything - We'll never see the big picture. Our perceptions are not capable of taking it all in. There are to many wonders in the world, too much information. The best we can do is determine our own individual view of how it all fits together. Though most people can't be bothered to look beyond their lives.
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