Self-Fulfilling Philosophies

Follow any line of reasoning in this society, and it returns back to justify itself.
The problems that we see at the surface (such as climate change, mass shootings, and the list go on) are all founded upon systems that are only justified in terms of themselves. The self-justification can’t be seen from just looking at one element. You have to look at the whole thing.

If you only look at the surface, such as current events, then you might think that you have an explanation for it, and that you can solve it based on that explanation.

But everything that exists now exists as a result of tangled circular reasoning throughout time and imagination.

It’s an amplified self-justifying process of reality and beliefs. It’s a 5-dimensional sphere…physical reality (3d), through time (fourth D), and reflected in the mind (fifth dimension).

Cycling through these 5 dimensions are real things and beliefs about them. Real things like human behavior on a specific date, what people are motivated by, how our massive social systems work, and so on. Then there are the beliefs about the things I just listed. The beliefs about those things are amplifying them in the direction of the belief. So if people are acting selfishly in reality, and then people believe that everyone is selfish, then the believers will also act selfishly in response, and create more of the given behavior in reality.

Our social reality moves in the direction of our beliefs about ourselves, collectively.

If we imagine going back in time to see that phenomenon happen, we will see people who take the behavior at the time and spread a belief about human nature. As we go back in time, we will see that the beliefs pushed reality in the direction of those beliefs. And we can see that the social systems that we live in, that are creating what we see at the surface: events happening today, systems existing today, etc, are just a manifestation of beliefs.

When we realize that, we can change our beliefs to change reality. We have to acknowledge that our beliefs about humanity are not just the effect of people’s behavior, but the cause of it too. Our beliefs about each other or ourselves (however you want to phrase it) are the cause of our behavior. If you change the beliefs, the behavior changes as well.

I call that phenomenon “self-fulfilling philosophies.” And that is the essence of humanity.

If there is a widespread belief about how we are, whether it’s positive or negative, it will become true because we all believe it.

Our beliefs about our collective selves are both cause and effect of the reality that we see in front of us.

When we understand that, and also decide not to take any of society as a given, then we have the opportunity to redesign society from positive beliefs, from the ground up.

Vanessa Molano is a systems thinker for social transformation who’s creating Vision for a Voluntary World, a course that puts forth comprehensive social alternatives.