There’s a lot of absolute thinking out there, man. A lot of people seem to think they know what’s best for the rest of us. They figure their world, as seen through their own eyes, will be made better with more people seeing things their way.

They look at every problem with an absolute mentality. “This side is right. That side is wrong. Let’s get those wrong people.”

“…those wrong people.” Got it. “We got ’em labeled man. They’re the bad ones. They’re going to hurt us if we don’t hurt them first. All of them. They’re all the same.”

You know what’s easy? Slapping a label on something. “Good.” “Bad.” “Delicious.” “Gross.” Something good can’t have something bad in it, right? Surely something delicious can’t also be gross. These labels make things easy. It gets labeled and I don’t have to go any farther. Hell, I don’t need to think. I can just simply go through life, check the label, and move on. If it doesn’t have a label, whatever it looks closest to is probably right so just slap a label on it for what it looks like.

Now, if everyone experienced the world the way I do, my labels would make sense. Hell, they might even be genius. I might be an asshole, but I’d always be right.

I’ll let you in on a little secret. You might be surprised to hear this, and it might not even make sense to you but before you slap a label on it, check it out man. This is a big secret and I’m gonna tell you about it.

Most people don’t see everything the way you do. In fact, pretty much nobody sees everything the way you do. So we are not right, and we’re certainly still assholes, which by many measures is probably the worst combination of labels to have. Wrong Asshole.

“Well dude, thanks a lot. Thanks a lot for making things more difficult. You mean I gotta look into everything? I have to look past a label to make sure it’s correct? That seems like a lot of fucking work.”

Yep. It is. It’s constant work. In fact, it’s damn hard to do. It goes against our nature to look past labels. That organ between our ears is a labeling machine. The longer it runs, the more labels it’s got stockpiled up. It’s fast too, man it can label something before you even know what’s happening, and it only gets faster with time.

There’s another problem with labels, both the ones you find and the ones you apply. They lie. The healthiest cigarette is still a cigarette. The healthiest candy bar is still a candy bar. But you might say; “It says healthiest, natural, or no additives; that means healthy, so I’m good.

Now I’m not telling you anything here right? You gotta read the label. Pick it up, read the label, find the truth.

OK, now if you’re keeping up, you know where I’m going next. You’ve already hot-wired that labeling machine. You’re already being skeptical and investigating. You’re already learning the truth on your own, and not taking someone else’s label as fact. You might even be into the next level and starting to hot-wire the machine to investigate before accepting a label.

This complex world isn’t getting any simpler, despite how much we wish it would. There’s people who say it is simple. Just listen to them, use their labels, drink the kool aid, then relax because everything is easy.

Well dude, they’re just Wrong Assholes and the sooner we all realize that the better off we’re going to be.

Take it easy man.

https://www.adudeistblog.com/2024/09/28/everything-is-a-tragedy/

#CheckYourself #Dudeist