The Unexamined Life: Questioning the Narratives We Accept

"The unexamined life is not worth living." — Socrates
This ancient wisdom resonates today more than ever. My interpretation of Socrates' famous declaration is this: if you go through life accepting the mainstream narrative without question, you're intellectually dormant. While this might seem extreme, it's entirely comparable to what the Greek philosopher originally proposed.

The Questions We Should Be Asking

Are we being deceived by those in power? Is there one truth for public consumption and another for the elite? Do our everyday experiences reflect this pattern of mass deception? Can we find historical examples that mirror what might be happening today?
Only by examining both the narratives we're told to believe and their alternatives can we determine which is more likely true, based on the balance of probabilities.

The Children's Conspiracy: A Pattern Emerges

Consider the elaborate deceptions adults perpetrate on children. We justify these as harmless fun, and if they help those "little ones" behave better, few object. Santa Claus springs to mind, along with the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, and the Bogeyman—at least in Western culture.
Could this storytelling be fractal in nature? Do things done on a small scale translate to larger scales—as above, so below? Perhaps these childhood myths hint at the same pattern of "make believe" and "don't tell" happening on a grander scale, where those with certain knowledge (power elites, the initiated) deceive those who accept what they're told without question.
On this larger scale, we might consider religious dogma, scientific theories like dark matter and dark energy, or even the democratic voting process.

Santa vs. Jesus: A Revealing Comparison

Let's examine the striking parallels between Santa Claus and Jesus Christ:
Both figures:

  • Reside in inaccessible places
  • Have main celebrations in mid-winter
  • Require compliance with rules of obedience for benefits
  • Use threats as means of control from those "in the know" to those who aren't
  • Are protected by those who know the truth from revealing it to believers
  • Lack evidence for their historical existence as described
  • Exist powerfully as legend and myth
  • Teach good behavior through their stories
  • Prompt personal growth when the truth is discovered
  • Continue to influence behavior even after truth is revealed

The Crucial Difference

Here's what's remarkable: it's extremely rare for a child told Santa is real to maintain belief in him through adolescence, marriage, or parenthood. I know of no child who determines Santa doesn't exist without being told the truth first.
Yet people often learn about Jesus as children and maintain those basic beliefs throughout their entire lives, despite academic and ecclesiastical acknowledgment that mid-winter festivals and Easter were culturally appropriated by Christianity. The new deity Jesus was superimposed over millennia-old solstice celebrations as a means of population control.
In my lifetime, I've witnessed gradual acceptance that Jesus's birth didn't occur on December 25th, and that our traditions align more with winter solstice celebrations. However, the false premise that mid-winter celebrations are primarily Christian persists, overriding everything except consumerism.

Historical Precedent

Roman rulers used stories of afterlife salvation to keep plebeians, peasants, and slaves subservient and prevent uprisings. The Roman ruling class were "in the know," and Caesars constantly attempted to deify themselves, ultimately leading to the creation of the Catholic Church. The first few "god-like" Pontiffs came from the old ruling Flavian family of Caesars, who literally claimed to be God's representatives on earth.

The New Religion of Science

Today, something similar occurs with what could be called the new religion of science. If you still hold the same beliefs in stories you learned in school, you're enslaved to those beliefs. You are controlled. Your thinking is done for you by your rulers. You lack critical thought. You are closed-minded.

Layers of Deception

This raises a fascinating question: how many levels of deception exist? Santa, Jesus, God, matrix reality, personal divinity, reincarnation, the hierarchy of consciousness—perhaps elephants are more evolved than humans. Maybe we're specimens in a petri dish in some giant alien laboratory. The possibilities are endless.
How many of these layers can we traverse in a lifetime's pursuit of enlightenment?
The journey of questioning everything we've been taught to accept may be uncomfortable, but as Socrates suggested, it's the only life worth living. Universal laws of free will, karma, and natural law would prevent benevolent beings from "saving" us from ourselves—we must do the work of awakening ourselves.
The question remains: will you continue accepting the narratives handed down to you, or will you dare to examine the life you're living?