Alex Beyman

Image by Dall-E 3 I’ve got bad news and good news. The bad news is, you’ve painted yourself into a corner by committing yourself to a proposition which seems overwhelmingly unlikely to be true. It’s been so long since that trespass that you’ve built your identity around a lie, which is now a load bearing pillar. Too late, by far, to simply change your mind. This unfortunately means that tools like reasoned argumentation, which you likely apply to great effect in all other areas of life, will not avail you here. This time, they are instead antithetical to your goals. Victory is the aim, not truth, which is merely a tool to be brought down from the shelf when it serves you and put back when it doesn’t. The good news is, this is not a new problem. For as long as there have been humans, we’ve been going way out on epistemic limbs we shouldn’t have, tantalized by beautiful mirages which would be heartbreaking not to believe in. Or knowingly framing our worldview around some dubious conceit which stacks the deck in our favor, so we can have everything our own way. Consequently our methods of manipulation, misdirection, deflection, damage control, containment, delaying, disrupting and justifying why we built such elaborate castles of conviction upon the clouds of assumption, have become impressively advanced throughout the course of history. Because you’re starting out at a disadvantage, you’re going to need every edge you can get. This means exploiting every possible vulnerability and pushing the limits of what you can get away with. Truth is the enemy here, whether you realize it yet or not, perhaps still telling yourself you possess a vital hidden truth which just happens to be frustratingly difficult to defend. If that’s the case, likely you’ve already been rug-pulled by someone who seems to you like an insufferable pencil-necked know it all. That’s how it feels to be outmatched, and it sure ain’t fun. What depths won’