Discernment is key in today’s day and age, as well as every other day and age. The ability to determine what is true and what is real as well as to distinguish the differences in nuance for axiomatic spectrums of duality like the concept of ‘good and evil’ or any other form of dualistic thought.
The word “discernment” comes from the Latin discernere, meaning “to separate, distinguish, or divide.” It is composed of dis- (a prefix meaning “apart” or “asunder”) and cernere (meaning “to sift” or “to separate”).
Dis + Cern + ment = Discernment
As Time changes, so does our contemporary definitions. In modern day, discernment can come to mean the following;
If you don’t know of or use discernment, then you might scroll social media and see a bunch of AI generated images that look like real photos. You might fall into the trap of thinking that these fake photos are actually real. There are old and young generations of people who don’t know the existence of AI and assume all images that look like photographs to be real photographs.
This is dangerous.
-Because there may come a time when you leverage falsehood and false information to make a decision or even argue or have a dialogue on ‘what is real’. Perhaps people in court have to discern the difference in evidence between a fabricated deepfake video of someone committing a crime. Perhaps people have to discern if there is a voice impersonator pretending to be their loved ones on the phone demanding specific or key personal information or money.
There are already accounts posting fake animals and fake mushrooms, which impose a risk and threat of toxicology to anyone exploring and identifying real things based in reality. If someone were to take an AI fake image or book generated by false information, they could risk their life. Mushroom Identification books, with AI writing and AI images are reckless and dangerous posing a lethal threat to newbie foragers.
Some other examples;
Because the point of this article is more abstract in nature;
Drug Dealers and Cops- if someone aspires to be a good drug dealer, they can’t just watch AMC’s Breaking Bad and think they know everything and treat the show as the base reality itself. Likewise if someone wants to be a good Cop, they can’t just watch True Crime series and shows and use that information to navigate their daily job. As it turns out, reality is different from fiction, and to use the totality of fiction without discerning what is and isn’t true, can lead to professional mishaps.
Magicians, or anyone practicing any form of magic with intent, would be wise to not just watch (and mindlessly consume) random shows on Netflix or Amazon about magic and witchcraft without first understanding that these shows might subvert their actual divination powers and truth. You have to separate what resonates to what doesn’t when watching fiction or reading fiction. And most of all, you might get ideas, but try not to conflate what is your truth and reality with that of not truth and fiction.
Ideologies- Sometimes we have ideal and ideas for how the world should be and how things should work out. We often try to manifest these things into reality, but we are also not aware of things that we don’t know and factors that we don’t understand. We don’t know the full scope of the human condition let alone the full scope of ourselves or those we ‘think’ we know. With so many variables, our efforts to usher an ideal may have the reverse effect, a sort of push and pull of the pendulum.
We have ideals for how we want the world to be or how ‘we think it should be’ but that’s separate from the actual reality of how the world is. It is what it is, and it does not owe itself to conform to our beliefs or expectations of it. That’s just how reality is.
In true fashion, any printed media, any conversation, any audio recording or even television has the capacity to try and convince you of something that is otherwise not true. We often have an idea or latch onto a theory or thoughtform that we have hunches to be true. But that intuition could be a lie and could perpetuate falsehoods.
The idea of discernment is the looking at a map and trying to mark the territory. The map isn’t the territory itself. The map also can be outdated or wrong or fictional. So we have to be the diligent cartographers and explorers to make sure we use our discernment to navigate the path, whether it be in a profession or life.
Simulation Theories
The idea of simulation and simulacra. The fascimile of reality- we can be infected by an army of falsehoods and lies by ushering and allowing fakes to take up our life.
But also know, that this was a traditionalist way of thinking to not usher in fiction. The idea that someone would make up lies and create elaborate stories of galaxies far far away or even their own religion is a form of dangerous thought that threatened established monarchies and theologies. That’s why it was crucial to be on the side of truth, to not spread lies or fictions that would weave stories that could conflate and be mistaken for truth.
What I’m saying is, in many societies, we didn’t have a lot of freedoms back then to just invent comic book superheroes or start our own cults. This is important, because there’s both good and bad in the freedom of expression of fiction.
As a side note, anyone can use fiction and mythology as an allegory to draw metaphors and comparisons to life. That is a useful way of using fiction. But when you conflate the fiction with base reality, and exalt a fictional story to a historical truth with backing of zeal and religious fanatics, then you might be zealous defender of something that never happened. People might even go on tirades and crusades to spread these ideas.
Think to yourself, how many quotes online have you read and what percentage of them were made up or attributed to the wrong people? How much of our reality is a lie hinging on false and fabricated connections between things that weren’t originally connected at the basis of truth.
How many people will it take to say that a falsehood is true, for the mass general public to formulate a mass psychosis, into believing that the falsehood is true. What is the critical mass of society to be gaslit into causing
And what methods and modalities, besides print and media, are used to subvert your subconscious and erode it to willingly accept these narratives?
They do it through signs, symbols, fiction, and other forms of subliminal hypnosis.
So think twice about simply ‘enjoying things’ as that may be when you let your guard down and accept a mental invasion. Use diligence and discernment to ensure you question lies and deception that try to sneak in to your psyche to subvert life.
Yes you can enjoy things. Yes you can use discernment and self-moderation.
Generational-copy of Fiction
Over time, as we recant and repeat version of obscured history and treat fiction with reality. We stray further from truth. We copy and copy and repeat things that warp and evolve through time.
Thus it’s important that there are truth seekers and warriors and real journalists that try to actively discern what is true in reality vice the lies that are perpetuated by other actors or even state media.
If no one looks for truth, it would arguably die in the darkness and we’d live under the oppression of our fiction. The very same fiction that is generationally copied and further perverse, as a copy of a copy creates artefacts and generational loss, the fiction grows more and more fictitious and falls into the Ebby and craggy flows of chaos and entropy.
Perhaps this is par for the course- As they say;
Reality is often stranger than fiction
Epilogue;
All of the above was inspired by a whirr of a dream, in which I was discussing to someone why I don’t watch fake t.v. shows about my ‘dream job’ because then I won’t be able to distinguish my current reality to what’s actually real and pragmatic. Source -my dreams-
It just so happens that my dreams leaked out into reality and I have something valuable worth sharing for others that deem it valuable and see it’s value.
As always, if you’re a truth seeker then here’s Four pieces of wisdom that may sagaciously embolden you;
-Truth never denies the seeker, it is the seeker with their expectations and desires that deny the real truth.
-Don’t mistake disenchantment for truth. The next possible truth after deconstructing a lie, could very will be another lie.
-The big kahuna can handle multiple conflicting truths. To be able to entertain opposed ideas but not be personally nor egoically attached.
-When you see the truth is a spirit in all things, that even lies are based in something true. Then you can refine the essence of truth and reconnect all truths for the grand truth using syllogistic logic and a form of Hegelian Dialectic. The key is always discernment.
In any case, I hope you enjoy this article, and live life in a better way. Keep your guard up if you want, and use your discernment (if you want), always know that;
Words Mean Things
Words Mean Things 
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