Where many people feel on more rational ground is in the belief that man’s problems would be solved if all of those whose likes and dislikes of things in the realm of the non-physical, second reality were made to see the errors of their tastes. This approach professes that if all men shared the proper likes and dislikes in politics, religion, art, morality, sports, social and economic theories, that all problems would cease, and ‘twould be paradise on the planet.
This view, (as old as man is civilized), fails to take into its reckoning the obvious fact that civilization itself, (along with man’s unique, comfortable life), is based on individual men helping prop up the illusion that they actually have well-felt likes and dislikes concerning specific ideas or activities within the invented world of their non-tangible culture-of-a-second-reality. But, as life now operates on this orb, humanity is not going to give up civilization, comfort and convenience by all agreeing to like only one particular religion, political philosophy, movie, sports team or style of painting. This jejune notion too warrants no more attention.
There is yet a sub group in all of this. A few people whose primary delusion, (sorry, interest), is not in changing life, but rather their own conception of life. They also frequently become followers of the idea that man is saddled by useless likes and dislikes which serve to distort his common perception of what is going on, and devise disciplines to rid themselves of these needless encumbrances. In their context, they do not attempt to get other people to revise or abandon their meaningless likes and dislikes about things mental and verbal, but instead struggle to free themselves from the grip of these useless distractions. Rather than lecturing others on this matter, they say to themselves: “Shut up! I must stop talking to myself about how much I dislike conservative religious ideas.”
Though they will likely say “people” in place of “ideas,” and you would do yourself well to get in the awareness-habit of remembering to make this distinction to yourself. When you hear your own thoughts speak of a dislike for a certain type of “person,” what is actually being referred to is the words and ideas that come from their mouths, not the people themselves. Ignoring this is the harmless common human way, but for the few who would see more deeply than is the common, it is an easily remedied major hobble.
J.