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Alan Mairson's avatar

In a world filled with people who believe "My Truth" is somehow true, it's a short step to "reality is a function of my thoughts, so if I don't think or talk about nuclear weapons, they don't exist." Problem solved! 🙃

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Phil Tanny's avatar

Yea, but your emoji is upside down, so I'm not sure I believe you.

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Alan Mairson's avatar

That's what so great about the (post)modern world: you can believe whatever you like. ...

I say this only partly in jest. The problem you're describing is also the hurdle you're trying to clear with Writers As Heroes. Phil Tanny sees a problem and an opportunity -- and he desperately wants people to see the world the same way. But in this brave new world, Phil is standing in *his* truth: "Good job, Phil! Now subscribe to my Substack so you can see me standing in *my* truth!" And so the babbling continues.

(For what it's worth, I think much of your truth is really true.)

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Phil Tanny's avatar

Baba Bozo says nothing made of thought is true, in the sense that everything in thought is just a symbol attempting to point to something real. We get all wound up in the pointers, and are thus distracted from what they are pointing at.

Your comment made me wonder if you are underestimating the power of the Jewish story a bit. It's true that everybody has their own religion/philosophy today, but most of the perspectives seem an attempt to redeem the world, continue marching down the straight line of history etc. Dunno. What do you think? Are we all essentially Jews in some manner or another?

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Alan Mairson's avatar

*Straight* line??!! 😂

And yes, there are many ideas/movements/systems out there, all designed to redeem the world. When I read the Biblical narrative, I hear a voice saying: “Go! Give ‘em all a shot! Have fun storming the castle! But what you’ll discover, in the end, is that all your plans and systems and ideologies will fail. And when you realize you can’t do this alone, you’ll come back to Me. Not because I’ll fix everything, because I won’t. But what I will do is give you some humility, a characteristic most of you lack. It’s your hubris, your pride, your sense of total independence that is getting you into trouble. When do you Return? I dunno. It’s not up to me. It’s up to you. Totally your call.”

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Phil Tanny's avatar

"And when you realize you can’t do this alone, you’ll come back to Me."

According to Baba Bozo, whether we realize it or not, and no matter what we do or don't do, we're all going back.

Perhaps it's easier to see that when one is 72, and almost your entire life just flashed by in what feels like about 20 minutes. I was sitting at mom's kitchen table opening the box of cereal she just handed me.... And then WHOOOOSH! .... I'm an old man with a white geezer beard. WTF!!!

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