Sometimes one might come to a point in life where nothing satisfies, a moment when nothing fulfills, and consequentially, individuals (and often congregations of individuals collaborating as one entity) will attach to an idea, a religion, nationalism, some sort of human construct of metaphysical existence in order to satisfy the belief in some higher order, a greater good, a right, ethics, being correct, and sequentially people venture deeper into an apparently infinitely deep cavern with a great source of light emitting from it, until the select few reach the point where they realize that the cavern is not infinite, and they can begin to see the source of the light. Some people stop here, some turn away, and some keep venturing. Should one venture deeper, this person would discover that the source of all this light, the cause of this whole great trek into the cavern, is a blindingly bright mirror, reflecting the light emitting from the eyes of the individual, showing back what has been fabricated by the immense Homo Sapien mind. When there is an entire organized religion staring into the mirror, when an entire political movement’s supporters gaze like infants at some confounded new object, when an entire culture rallies behind circumcision as a requirement, heterosexuality as a law, partnerships set to a singular limitation, the light emitting from that tunnel is the reflection of millions upon millions of individuals, staring, walking into what is truly the darkest place in life as if they were mindless shells of human, zombies if you will, staggering, mumbling about their world and their values, and their lives, and their gods, and their system, until they all crowd together and just feed off of their own light, but once people see that mirror, look into their own eyes, the light vanishes, because the metaphysical magic is gone, because they realize that they’ve been deluded, and that they’ve deluded themselves. Now they’re in the deepest cavern the world knows, and the light has stopped showing the way. They can still see the mirror, still see the millions gaping at the light, but now they can see that there are other caverns parallel to their own, with translucent walls dividing.
Chris McCandless found such a light once. It was coated in obstinacy yet logicality, rebellion yet loyalty, and it lead to his death. Chris McCandless never got out of his cavern; he died in there, with every other person who has ever succumbed to the ideas of self-reliance against all odds. Krakauer almost killed himself this way too. The sheer allure of the light is not the only reason why people stumble into the caverns; many times people grow attracted to it due to their pain, their sorrow, their experiences, and other factors. Like a drug, metaphysical truthism is addictive, and gobbles up millions by the millions into its grasp of placebos and delusions, but the real gag is: we created it, we fuel it, and we drive it. Some people just ride, accept whatever comes down the pipe as their own, but many people make their own personalized adaptations to the group perception, like all of us do. How can there be an absolute when everything is reformed by the individual’s perception of the “facts” given? McCandless was dead before he could show any signs of understanding this, whether he did or not.
Krakauer writes with incredible sympathy for McCandless, which doubtlessly influences the opinions of the reader. The subliminally persuasive tone is an excellent propaganda technique which draws a reader to sympathize with the author’s sympathy. Yet, the key to passing by the metaphysical attraction is to focus on the plain facts, and formulate truths and subsequent realities after. The physical is where analysis must begin.
Chris McCandless found such a light once. It was coated in obstinacy yet logicality, rebellion yet loyalty, and it lead to his death. Chris McCandless never got out of his cavern; he died in there, with every other person who has ever succumbed to the ideas of self-reliance against all odds. Krakauer almost killed himself this way too. The sheer allure of the light is not the only reason why people stumble into the caverns; many times people grow attracted to it due to their pain, their sorrow, their experiences, and other factors. Like a drug, metaphysical truthism is addictive, and gobbles up millions by the millions into its grasp of placebos and delusions, but the real gag is: we created it, we fuel it, and we drive it. Some people just ride, accept whatever comes down the pipe as their own, but many people make their own personalized adaptations to the group perception, like all of us do. How can there be an absolute when everything is reformed by the individual’s perception of the “facts” given? McCandless was dead before he could show any signs of understanding this, whether he did or not.
Krakauer writes with incredible sympathy for McCandless, which doubtlessly influences the opinions of the reader. The subliminally persuasive tone is an excellent propaganda technique which draws a reader to sympathize with the author’s sympathy. Yet, the key to passing by the metaphysical attraction is to focus on the plain facts, and formulate truths and subsequent realities after. The physical is where analysis must begin.
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