Being aware of outside influences, says Samantha Nottingham, Spencer News Reflection
Among the fast paced rhythms of everyday life, we seldom pause to reflect upon the extent of our own determination over what we believe as opposed to what we are conditioned to believe. Are our belief systems, which comprise our thoughts, values and perceptions of the world a reflection of who we are at the core of our being? Or do we simply give meaning to life through boundaries institutionalized by ‘more powerful’ superiors, be it to our advantage or detriment? To some degree the social hierarchical system of most societies renders it imminent that we accept what our leaders tell us to be the truth. However, as individuals, we must recognise our inner ‘power’ to grasp some sense of autonomy over our reality.
One may choose to perceive reality as a social construction; where certain truths have been created, maintained and institutionalized to form the norm of what contemporary society believes to be true. As George Orwell said, “who controls the past controls the present”. Once upon a time, the orchestrators of our reality collectively decided what we ought to believe to be true, false, beautiful, shocking, just and immoral. These social agreements have been transcendental through generations so much so that present beliefs are a mere reflection of those of our predecessors. Leaders throughout human history have ensured these values were traditionalized and engrained into our collective human psyche.. Thus our values and perceptions are the result of a subtle indoctrination, as we’ve accepted and maintained the truths formulated by powerful groups of past eras to construct today’s reality.
We are conditioned to interpret the experience as both an achievable and worthy cause. Waleed Aly argues in his article, “Terrorism: how we manage it differently now” that “terrorism is a grotesque form of theatre”. Aly claims that terrorism is merely for show, to whip up fear and leave the public predisposed towards terrorism. And what does this do? It maintains the ‘us and them’ sentiment and feeds power to our governments. By surrendering to our leaders’ every ‘truth’ we contribute to the protection of their power and the maintenance of an air of deception.
Certainly acceptance of the social constructs established by the ‘more powerful’ may be essential in providing a sense of direction in life. Is it not from pre-established ideologies, principles and institutions that we are able to derive meaning and purpose in our very existence? Constructive values taught from childhood inform and mould our realities, providing us with an understanding of what is real and ultimately allows us to substantiate our very existence. Similarly, adherents of religious traditions accept the teachings of their spiritual figureheads about the Ultimate Reality as truthful to drive them to lead better lives. Through such spiritual counsel we can grow to become more wholesome individuals, embodying and living out ideals which seek to bring about the religion’s ideal vision for society. The importance of believing the superiors is epitomized through an understanding of the legal system. By aligning our realities with doctrines of the law, which detail acceptable codes of behaviour in a cohesive society, we are granted fundamental rights, such as that to live in peace. After all, what is a society where all disregard the superiority of the law? A total anarchic mess. Often it is in our best interest to believe what those more powerful tell us as a positive reinforcement for the improvement of our reality.
Conversely, submitting to the reality created by the dominant authority has the capacity to leave us feeling downtrodden and somehow stunt our satisfaction in life. If our beliefs and priorities in life are a reflection of the ‘supreme’ ideals and norms of a constructed reality, then naturally we will measure our self-worth and success according to a criterion determined by another. There is a sense that in our attempts to meet these criteria, we may indeed lose our true selves. In this case, let us consider Michael Leunig’s “Thou shalt be attractive”. Leunig argues that the media is a “dictator” which has fostered a consumerist culture that commands us to be “charming, strong, good-looking, successful, groovy, brilliant, amusing or rich” even at the cost of our inner identity. As this powerful entity cultivates our desires, we are made to lead dismal lives due to our constant “fear of being unattractive” and our constant struggle for “aspirational self-improvement”. We become so conditioned by these ideals that we associate a masking of the self with acceptability and happiness yet ultimately diminish our hopes of leading any authentic and meaningful life.
Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” describes a similar reality, where materialistic gain and attractiveness are a prerequisite to happiness and success. Miller explores the ramifications of failure to achieve the American Dream on protagonist Wily Loman. There is a sense that Willy is in a constant cycle of corrupting himself by always trying to mould himself according this idealistic image of a successful salesman which is based on the cult of the personality and the utopian notion of the American Dream.
This existential angst which Willy experiences perpetuates his escape into illusion and detachment from reality as a result of seeing the world through the scope of another’s emphasis on what is true and important. His inability to fulfil the criteria of personal attractiveness, likeability and success propels Willy into what Leunig characterizes as “the emotional exile called madness”. Not only does his so-called ineptitude isolate him from society, but it eventually leads to tragedy as his escapism prompts his suicide. Measuring our worth and potential happiness through the boundaries set by ‘more powerful’ institutions can often harm our emotional wellbeing.
Simply accepting what governing bodies tell us at face value can encourage deception, keeping a society from the truth and subjected to unconscious control. The majority of us will not be in a crazed constant doubt of our government; we tend to believe that their every political move is in the best interest of the people they serve. However, as history has shown us, this is not always the case.
Governments past and present have utilized propaganda to romanticize situations and influence our perspective on world issues; often to fuel patriotism, creating an ‘us and them’ feel, characterising them as ‘the bad guys’ and us, the ‘good guys’. Perhaps it is the way in which these ideas are articulated which makes them effective control mechanisms, as “language creates the reality it describes” (Desmond Tutu). It is through euphemistic and emotive terms that our leaders are able to foster an emotional climate during wars to gain support for their involvement.
To grow as individuals we must place faith within our inner power and thus shape our own beliefs. We must remember that it is we who grant superior entities the power to construct our reality. If we approach our interactions with authoritarian forces with the notion that ‘powerful’ is fundamentally a product of the mind then ultimately, we choose what to believe. This sense of self-awareness empowers us through the realisation that the self plays the greatest role in the construction of ‘reality’. Biff is empowered to free himself from the noose of Willy’s unrealistic expectations of success by deconstructing the illusion that he was somehow destined to “lick the civilised world”. Biff harnesses his inner power, realising his strong affinity for a simplistic life among nature to ultimately reject the conformist belief in a materialistic pursuit of happiness. Often this path can be difficult for us to embrace, as placing trust within our own judgements and shaping our own beliefs about life can be daunting. We fear that our own way may prove inadequate. Yet as Marianne Williamson reassures us, “our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure”. We must take reign of this inner power, overcoming our trepidation to decipher what can sometimes be a convoluted reality. By entrusting ourselves with the power to be the illustrators of our own realities, we can mould our own beliefs.