𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧.

And the frightening part is that the people manipulating those pieces understand this far better than most of us do.

In 1986, while training in Japan, I had an experience with a Japanese master that changed the way I would see the world for the rest of my life…

It was as though I went from unconsciousness to consciousness. And with it came an overwhelming realization:

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧.

I don’t mean that figuratively. I mean it quite literally.

Not that the world isn’t real. Not that the people around us aren’t real. But that what we perceive as 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 is largely something our minds construct from the tiny pieces of information available to us.

That experience eventually taught me something that I’ve spent nearly 40 years trying to share with others:

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤.

Perhaps that’s why I’ve gravitated so heavily toward politics. Because whether you like politics or hate politics, politics affects you. You can refuse to play the game, but you still live on the board.

In politics there are leaders and followers. There are strategists and voters. There are people moving pieces and people being moved. They aren’t necessarily good people or bad people.

But they’re all playing on the same board.

And every one of them — including the President of the United States — is operating from incomplete information.

𝐍𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐓𝐇.

We receive pieces. A headline. A photograph. A statistic. A speech. A thirty-second video. An intelligence report. A conversation. A poll. A rumor. A correction. Another report contradicting the first.

And our brains take those pieces and assemble them into something we call 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲.

Where you’re standing determines which pieces you receive. The order in which you receive them matters too. That’s why two intelligent, decent people can sometimes look at exactly the same event and see two completely different realities.

Even presidents operate this way.

Look at Iran. Do we negotiate? Do we walk away? Do we attack? Do we wait?

From the outside, changes in strategy can sometimes look like indecision. But imagine the amount of information constantly flowing into a president and his national-security team. Yesterday’s intelligence changes. A new report arrives. An adversary moves. Something believed to be true turns out to be false. Something dismissed yesterday suddenly becomes credible.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐳𝐳𝐥𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝.

And even the President doesn’t possess every piece.

Once I understood that, I began looking at the world differently.

Think about 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒂𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒙. Eventually Neo begins seeing beyond the world everyone else accepts as reality. He sees the information underneath it — streams of information.

That’s a pretty good analogy for how I’ve learned to look at politics.

Behind every headline, every speech, every advertisement and every talking point, I try to ask another question:

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐊, 𝐅𝐄𝐄𝐋 𝐨𝐫 𝐃𝐎?

That doesn’t mean everyone has some evil conspiracy behind what they’re saying. They don’t. Sometimes the motive may be perfectly honorable. Sometimes someone genuinely believes persuading you is in your best interest.

Sometimes it’s about money. Sometimes it’s about power. Sometimes it’s about votes. Sometimes it’s about fear.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞.

Political professionals understand this better than almost anyone. Entire careers and billions of dollars are devoted to understanding voters — what frightens us, what inspires us, what angers us, what motivates us, which words move us and which issues get us to the polls.

Republicans do it. Democrats do it. Advertisers do it. The media does it. Donald Trump does it.

And yes, even 𝐈 do it when I write these posts.

I’m trying to make you think.

The difference is that I’m not particularly interested in telling you 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 to think.

𝐈’𝐦 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.

And here’s where this gets uncomfortable.

Because the Grand Illusion is incredibly easy to recognize when 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 is trapped inside it.

Take what people call Trump Derangement Syndrome. Most of my followers recognize it immediately. Someone can become so emotionally conditioned toward Donald Trump that merely hearing his name triggers a response.

Trump says something. They don’t examine it first. They react first.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧.

And people standing outside that emotional response can see it.

But here’s the part some of my own followers aren’t going to like.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐩𝐬𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐞𝐟𝐭.

I’ve watched it happen recently with one word:

𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐦.

Say the word and, for some people, the emotional response occurs before the evidence is even examined.

Muslim. Islam. Sharia.

And suddenly everything that follows gets filtered through an identity block that has already been constructed through religion, personal experience, media, fear, history, politics and years of reinforcement.

That’s not everybody. But it’s enough people that I’ve watched it happen repeatedly right here on my own page.

And don’t feel bad.

𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬.

I do too.

The difficult part is discovering where they are.

Because the Grand Illusion is easiest to recognize when somebody else is living inside it.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐖𝐄 𝐚𝐫𝐞.

Which brings me to something I’ve learned to do very differently when I write these posts.

I don’t begin by trying to prove myself right.

Quite the opposite.

𝐈 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐖𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐆.

That’s an enormous difference.

Because proving yourself right is easy. Give me almost any political belief and five minutes on the internet and I can probably find something supporting it.

Believe Trump is a dictator? You’ll find evidence.

Believe Trump is saving America? You’ll find evidence.

Believe Muslims are taking over America? You’ll find evidence.

Believe there is absolutely nothing to be concerned about? You’ll find evidence for that too.

Believe socialism is wonderful? There’s evidence.

Believe socialism is catastrophic? There’s evidence.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐡𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐭.

That’s confirmation bias.

And it’s one of the strongest walls holding up the Grand Illusion.

So when I see a headline that concerns me, I don’t begin by searching for information proving the headline correct. I start trying to destroy it.

I look for the other numbers. The missing context. The argument from the other side. The information that contradicts what I already believe.

I ask:

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐖𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐆?

Because if you’re trying to prove yourself right, the search ends the moment you find what you wanted.

But if you’re trying to prove yourself wrong, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠.

Sometimes I discover my original belief was basically correct.

Sometimes I discover it was completely wrong.

But most often I discover something far more interesting.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧.

And that’s where another lesson from 1986 eventually became important.

There may never be a moment when any of us possesses the whole truth.

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐚 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡.

That’s uncomfortable for people. It used to be uncomfortable for me.

We want certainty. We want GOOD and EVIL. RIGHT and WRONG. US and THEM.

We want the puzzle finished.

But reality doesn’t care what makes us comfortable.

Another piece can arrive tomorrow. And if I’ve already convinced myself that I possess the entire truth, that new piece becomes dangerous.

My subconscious may reject it before I’ve even considered it.

Because I’m no longer defending a conclusion.

𝐈’𝐦 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐲.

And once politics becomes identity, something very dangerous happens.

My side’s mistakes receive explanations. Their side’s mistakes receive condemnation.

Information supporting me becomes truth. Information challenging me becomes propaganda.

People agreeing with me become informed. People disagreeing with me become stupid, brainwashed, evil or traitors.

At that point I’m no longer investigating reality.

𝐈’𝐦 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐲 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧.

Which is why perhaps the most dangerous person in the Grand Illusion isn’t the person who is wrong.

We’re all wrong sometimes.

𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠.

Because the moment I KNOW I possess the whole truth…

I stop looking.

And the moment I stop looking, I guarantee that I will eventually miss the next piece.

That experience in Japan nearly 40 years ago didn’t teach me that I had somehow escaped the Grand Illusion.

It taught me something much more valuable.

𝐈’𝐦 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐨.

So are you.

So is the media. So is Congress. So are Republicans. So are Democrats.

And yes…

𝐒𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬.

None of us has the entire puzzle.

We have pieces.

Some of us have more pieces than others. Some pieces are accurate. Some aren’t. Some haven’t arrived yet. And some may never arrive at all.

So perhaps consciousness isn’t finally discovering 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐓𝐇.

Perhaps it’s developing enough humility to understand that what you believe today is simply the closest truth you have been able to assemble from the pieces available to you…

𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬.

The question isn’t whether you’ve escaped 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬…

𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐢𝐭?