There is a certain pestilence in the stream of western thought, a toxic growth that have led many thinkers and philosophers astray, influenced common sense and introduced many mistakes and absurdities in our way of thinking. I'm talking about the sovereignity of reason, the myth of the rational man, the supreme value of the quest for truth.
In reality, if one has the courage, the patience and most importantly the detachement to investigate those common presuppositions, if he have read any Hume, neuroscience or just meditated in a calm and serene mindspace for a moment, free from common prejudices, all these presuppositions will start to crumble.
First of all, who is to that truth is an important value ? That it's more important than let's say feeling-good ? Platon and ancient philosophers have always took it for guaranteed that truth alignates with virtue and with happiness. But if you don't just assume this, you'll notice that there is no reason the two should align themselves. what if after a certain level, accessing more and more truth only leads to lamentation, pain and misery ?
The second mistake is that people are rational and that rationality trumps emotions. In reality not only any separation between the two is more conceptual and theoritical than real in any sense, but rationality/reason can't even function without emotions, it's emotion that guide reason and commend it. People don't want to feel despair, pain, anger, they suspect that if they really accepted the blackpill conclusion, they'll be just desperate angred shells of their ancient selves, writing "It's over for me", or "rope or cope" and spending all their free time ranting in a forum all day. Seeing the state of those who have accepted the blackpill, there is no wonder that organisms have a strong protective tendency against accepting those type of conclusions.
In reality, if one has the courage, the patience and most importantly the detachement to investigate those common presuppositions, if he have read any Hume, neuroscience or just meditated in a calm and serene mindspace for a moment, free from common prejudices, all these presuppositions will start to crumble.
First of all, who is to that truth is an important value ? That it's more important than let's say feeling-good ? Platon and ancient philosophers have always took it for guaranteed that truth alignates with virtue and with happiness. But if you don't just assume this, you'll notice that there is no reason the two should align themselves. what if after a certain level, accessing more and more truth only leads to lamentation, pain and misery ?
The second mistake is that people are rational and that rationality trumps emotions. In reality not only any separation between the two is more conceptual and theoritical than real in any sense, but rationality/reason can't even function without emotions, it's emotion that guide reason and commend it. People don't want to feel despair, pain, anger, they suspect that if they really accepted the blackpill conclusion, they'll be just desperate angred shells of their ancient selves, writing "It's over for me", or "rope or cope" and spending all their free time ranting in a forum all day. Seeing the state of those who have accepted the blackpill, there is no wonder that organisms have a strong protective tendency against accepting those type of conclusions.
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