Egotism, egoism, selfishness, superiority, inferiority, too high or too low self-esteem, overt and covert narcissism, narcissistic personality disorder, antisocial personality disorder.
Bigotry, dogmatism, chauvinism, racism, sexism, misogyny, unreliability, duplicity, two-facedness, phoniness, self-righteousness, self-pity, bullheadedness, fanatism, fundamentalism.
Gullibility, wilful blindness, superstition, alcoholism, drug abuse, food abuse.
You can lose a friend to alcohol or drugs, to a religious cult, or to a crazy idea. You can lose a friend to the anti-vax movement or the Qanon. You can lose a friend to career-building, to depression or schizophrenia, to marriage, or to simple misunderstandings. You can also lose yourself.
Eventually, you will lose both yourself and all your friends to death.
Some people pretend that they are Christian because they know it is an excellent disguise. Trump, for example, secured plenty of votes in this way.
Others pretend that they have psychic abilities. As psychics, they can attract followers on Youtube and then build a profitable business.
Some people pretend that they have reached a high level of spiritual insight, that they are awakened beings. This can also be financially rewarding.
Others pretend that they care about future generations and say that we have to do something to reduce our emissions of greenhouse gases. In this way, they can come across as very likable and considerate.
However, some people really are genuinely religious, some really do care about future generations and some people really have reached higher levels of spiritual insight. The problem is that you can never determine who is a bluffer and who is truthful and honest. You can never know if the Bitcoins he is selling are real or if his spirituality is a cover. (Well, eventually the truth will come out.)
So, what to do about this? It's simple. Don't trust anybody. It doesn't matter if they appear in mainstream media or social media. Watch out for tricksters and hucksters, high-browed and low-browed.
You know that people also cheat themselves. Therefore, don't even trust yourself.
There are many different kinds of diets. There are religious-based diets. Hindu diets, Muslim diets, and Jews have their kosher diet.
And then there are all the modern diet gurus. All of them are at odds with each other, accusing each other of quackery.
The environmentalists refuse to eat meat because producing it causes too much CO2 emissions while Joe Average sticks to his hamburgers and pizzas.
If you don't follow my diet plan you are an idiot. My guru is the best. He is the way and the truth and the life.
So, you have to stick to your group of people who have the same food preferences, you have to stick to your tribe or your team. Muslims hang out with other Muslims and Hindus hang out with other Hindus. Vegetarians prefer to hang out with vegetarians and keto people prefer to hang out with other keto people. About 690 million people are at this moment hungry and malnourished.
I don't believe that gnomes, trolls, and ghosts exist, except in the fantasy world. I don't believe in gods, angels, demons, and witches.
Einstein said: "God does not play dice with the universe." By that, he didn't mean that there is a God somewhere who did not play dice. Einstein was not religious. He used the word God metaphorically. In the same way, we can use words like angels and demons metaphorically.
I don't believe that the earth is flat and I don't believe that the sun is revolving around it.
I believe that Jesus existed but I don't believe that he could walk on water and I don't believe that he rose from death.
I don't believe that extraterrestrials are visiting us.
For some reason, I believe that there is some kind of meaning or purpose with all the suffering in life. This is not a rational belief, but I nevertheless cling to it. How else could I keep on keeping on? The belief that all forms of suffering are meaningless is a horrible belief.
I don't believe that I have a true self somewhere inside of me. I believe that I have changed over the years. I believe that the self, the observer, or the soul, is in flux. When beliefs change, also the observer change. Very stubborn and rigid people can also change. It is difficult to change but it is possible. Those who have had a near-death experience, for example, will often, what I understand, change their outlook on life completely. Fanatically religious people can become atheists, right-wingers can become left-wingers and left-wingers can become right-wingers. Alcoholics can stop drinking and leave their drinking buddies.
I don't believe that evolution has a direction. I don't believe that we are heading anywhere. We have no destination.
I believe that the end days are here now. I believe that climate change and environmental pollution will make the earth uninhabitable for human beings.
I believe that change is possible, to some extent, for an individual human being, but as a species, we are doomed. In large groups, we become like a herd of bison or a troop of baboons.
I believe that synchronicities and telepathy are real phenomena and that they are not just products of a vivid imagination. I think of matter and energy as magic stuff.
I am aware that these beliefs of mine are just beliefs, mental constructions. I am not proud of them. I wish I had other, more optimistic beliefs.
A dream is a dream, a fantastic night show. The interpretation of the dream is an interpretation. A work of art is a work of art. The review of the artwork is a review. For example, a strange experience, a synchronicity, for instance, is a strange experience. The explanation of the experience, what synchronicity really is, is an explanation. Is it an illusion, a natural abnormality, or a mystic message?
The thinking part of the brain has all the answers. This know-it-all part of the brain can find clever explanations and interpretations for everything. Explanations, interpretations, criticism, and analysis make up a fantasy world of sorts. It can be airy-fairy, unicorns and rainbows, or sensible, dreary, high-brow, or low-brow. Dreams, art, mystical experiences, and life take place in another dimension.
Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them
You cannot serve both God and money.
Matthew 6
