Your Feelings Are Ridiculous

Get a grip. Most of your feelings are idiotic.

If your inner ape is offended by your laughter, that’s his problem.

“It’s not my fault!” he said angrily. It was his fault. It was completely his fault, and everyone else knew it. But he had a feeling, a strong feeling, that it wasn’t. Where did that feeling come from, since it wasn’t based in reality?

“It’s all my fault!” she said mournfully. It wasn’t her fault. It wasn’t her fault in any way at all, and everyone else knew it. But she had a feeling, a strong feeling, that it was. Where did that feeling come from, since it wasn’t based in reality?

In a supposedly advanced country recently, more than 70 million people had strong feelings that an obvious pathological liar was “telling it like it is.” They also had deep feelings that this same pernicious, lowlife narcissistic grifter was a superior being, and the savior of their country. Those feelings are ridiculous.

In Russia at the time of this writing, 81% of the population has strong feelings that a mass murderer and mega-thief named Vladimir Putin is a deeply moral person. Those feelings are ridiculous.

Have you ever been in love with someone you later realized was a creep? It happens all the time. Those feelings were ridiculous.

Have you ever watched someone completely overreact emotionally because of a story in their mind that obviously has no validity? Have you ever done this yourself? Those feelings were ridiculous.

Fuck your feelings?

Yes. Because they truly are ridiculous. Not all of them, just most of them, and they are probably not serving you well. In fact, many of your feelings are blocking you from making progress, though you probably have the feeling that they aren’t. 👀

A good way to think of this is to consider what is in your gut. It’s poop. So your “gut feelings” are more than likely full of poop. 🙏

Get some distance, and get a grip

Just as you shouldn’t believe anything you read online, you shouldn’t necessarily trust anything you feel, because just as with online content, it might come from bad sources, and be based in bad motives. You can’t know until you’ve done a thorough evaluation.

Maybe you should trust a particular feeling, and maybe you shouldn’t, but to trust without the slightest evaluation everything you feel is only to be an utter moron undeserving of anyone else’s trust or confidence.

Check your feelings on Snopes. They’re probably either false, questionable or at best misattributed.

Where did all those precious little feelings come from?

Your family, such as it was and is. Your culture, such as it is and was. Your country, with all its defects. Your outlook, such as it was formed by chaotic and conflicting forces you probably still don’t understand. Your ego, always trying to shield you from any painful truth that might challenge you to become a better person.

None of that automatically deserves anyone’s respect, least of all yours.

Which of your feelings actually deserve respect?

Only some. Only a very few. Only the ones you’ve truly and deeply evaluated for their validity, based on evidence and iterative self-questioning. Only the ones that actually matter in the long term.

And if you can’t laugh at your own ridiculous feelings, which is most of your feelings, there are millions of people who can do that for you, and they should.

💋

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