Читать книгу Manifesto: How To Get What You Want Without Trying - The Doctor Barefoot - Страница 11

The world is a concept. What do you mean by ‘the world’ when you say it? Whatever it is, you can be sure it’s different, subtly or grossly, from what anyone else means when they say it. Yes, there will be common reference points – the planet’s more or less round and it hurts when you bang your head, for example – we all agree on that – but beyond the basics, everyone’s walking around with an entirely different concept of reality. Indeed, that’s the fun of being here. We’ve tried it the other way – the way of forcing everyone to believe the same concept, but the history of divisions even in any single religion, not to mention divisions between the religions themselves, is proof enough that life doesn’t work that way.

believe your world to be a hostile place where you have to fight for every scrap and morsel and that’s the reality you’ll have.

It’s impossible to make people conform fully to an ideology because each of us, no matter how indoctrinated we are, invents our own reality. And as I say, that’s the beauty of being here – the sharing of different ideas, views and gifts – it’s what makes ‘the world’ go round.

So there’s no objective reality, no ‘the world’ from a single point of view, only subjective reality, each of us living in our own worlds and coming together to share them. Then it’s all down to whether you play nicely or not. Whether you share your world with love or defend it with fear and hatred.

And you’re free to change your concept of the world as often or as radically as you like. For the purposes of this manifesto, however, I propose – should you be in earnest about getting what you want – that we conceive things along the lines of the Taoist schema, as follows.

everyone’s walking around with an entirely different concept of reality. and you’re free to change your concept of the world as often or as radically as you like.