Everyone Has A Structure

Imagine if we all had these structures we formed from a young age. They could be constructed of any material, be it cardboard, wood, steel, whatever we decided them to be. Simple, complex, big or small, the only consistency is that each person's structure is their own. Also, the general purpose or objective behind these structures is their integrity.

Most people don't think too hard about their structure. They find a few materials in life that they like to work with. Most of the design is the same as their parents or guardian. Past the age of 16, most but not all stop working on refining theirs and then they put them away somewhere never to again be tinkered with.

But then there are those of us who can't settle for sub par integrity. We don't just like to take our structures everywhere. We like to find other people's structures to bang them against to see which has the most integrity. In fact, we like to take them to an arena to battle with them like gladiators. To us, every good fight is a win-win. To the victor goes appreciation and respect, and to the defeated goes the enlightened revelation that their structure could be better and stronger.

Now, what I mean metaphorically by these structures and how they actually comport with reality is that these structures are people's personal philosophies and beliefs. Think about it. You get your lower foundation from planks of logic or reason, or maybe you prefer softer material to make it light weight and easy to handle. Corners reinforced by what you see as free will. Center of mass determined by your sense of purpose. Whatever you believe about life, it's in there. The one facet of your thinking that isn't in the structure is your confidence in your structure.

Your Overconfidence Is Your Weakness (Insecurity)

If you aren't comfortable trashing your structure in the arena, that's understandable. Even if you stopped improving it at a young age, you still had to put a lot of work into it and it's your own creation. You might not have time in your life to fix it back up again if it's broken and that can be scary. Being unwilling to change your mind is your right, even if I wouldn't think it ideal.

But when your pride has you boasting to yourself in public about how correct you think you are, I take issue with you being "offended" that someone dinged your structure with theirs. If you don't want your beliefs to be challenged, don't put your beliefs out to be challenged. It's really that simple. Being confident or offended means nothing to those of us trying to find greater integrity. If you want to just believe what you believe and not talk to anyone about it, do just that.

Don't go door to door and ask people to join your movement and then walk away when someone wants to bang the structure you're trying to hand off to them around to see how well it holds up. Don't walk around with a sign saying "This is the most integral structure ever!" and then refuse to consider changing it when people manage to cut it with the diamond fillings on theirs. Sure, find people who want to enjoy appreciating the same structure you have (even if the similarity only matches the general shape and not the material) and get high in a special gathering where you pride yourselves on how perfect your unquestionable structure is, but don't go taking that activity outside or on a public space like radio and tell people that they are assholes if they point out that your unquestionable structure lacks integrity to it's core.

It's like a kite you shouldn't take outside and fly if you don't want to risk breaking it. Don't blame the messenger. Its your insecurity and poor mental stability that has you getting defensive over putting your "indestructible" belief to the test. I mean that part about poor mental stability. A healthy mind would have a conversation that's willing to put a belief into question without getting offended. OR at the least be willing enough to admit that it's weakly supported, thus reasoning that it's understandable why others would think it's ridiculous.

You are a human being with your own thoughts and intentions. The beliefs you hold however, are not people. They don't deserve the same respect that you do. If someone belittles you personally and says things to the extent of dehumanizing you or accusing you of being lesser than them, that's one thing. That's not cool. That is unhealthy. Consider if there would have been a nicer way they could have said something and point that out to them if they want to converse with you. But try to also realize that someone who is saying "Fuck Jesus!" or "Fuck Allah!" or "Fuck Scientology!" or "Fuck Vishnu!" isn't usually intending "Fuck you for believing those things!" in the same breath.

Look at the many supposed indestructible beliefs that are out there. As my hero and present day philosopher, Peter Boghossian has pointed out, "Someone has got to be making stuff up!" Can you empathize, whether correct about your belief or not, that people would have good reason to be upset at the many liars across the board? You say you're not one but you aren't willing to put your belief to the test and talk about it? How does that cognitive dissonance manage to sit so well with you? However that is, people like myself who enjoy the arena can't accept such an obvious behavioral contradiction. If you're confident, you should bring your beliefs into the battlefield to get wrecked. If you're mentally healthy, you should be happy when someone breaks yours because then you KNOW you can do better.

And yes, if you are wondering, I am implying that most of human society is mentally unhealthy in this way.

My friend, @abishai, was nice enough to point out a good quote by Teddy Roosevelt that my metaphor reminded him of:

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

If you're not willing to talk it out, then you don't have any place boasting about what you believe. Even caroling your merry way through the streets to share the high you're on with others is a behavior worthy of criticism. If you can't have a relevant and honest conversation about why others should be convinced of what you believe but you can go on singing catchy ad tunes for it, all that amounts to is being no more intellectually honest than a pigeon shitting on a chessboard, knocking down the pieces, and declaring victory. That's not a valid argument, that's mania. You're not making sense to people, you're just high and self-obsessed.

If you think I'm wrong about any of the points I've made, please, I'm sincerely asking you to enlighten me in the comments below.

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