Any avid reader of this column would attest to the fact that, from the onset, very little reference has been made to ancient quotes and assertions. It is not that the writer has not acquainted himself with so-called world-renowned philosophers and personalities or out of ignorance. Such was intentionally done to demonstrate that one need not undermine themselves by simply adopting beliefs from other people’s experiences and realisation. This is for a mere fact that every human being has just as much potential to learn and absorb realisations from every minute of their life experience if they purposefully or intentionally take the time. It is no doubt that most of the things Einstein or Aristotle said are obvious and common things. The difference is just that they have taken it upon themselves to do what most of the people would not do. It is no doubt that one ingredient to not only self-realisation but to tap into the collective consciousness is solitude. The other one that also can highly be attributed to the attainment of such a mental state is meditation. These are just some of the few but mentioned for the sake of this write up that, as much as they seem to be common, they are also very much underrated – if not ridiculed.

It is no surprise though that such powerful tools get the credit they do not deserve. This is because, for the one who benefits from a populace that is in slumber, the real practice and understanding of these tools would be a great loss. Therefore, the other tools, which are meant to trick and keep one in servitude and subjective state of mind must be guarded with all the might. Hence a vast of resources must also be invested in the trickery to make the opposite look like insanity and ridiculous.

For example, there has been nothing more used to undermine human natural intelligence or the significant power of instinct and intuition than the concept of credibility. When carefully examined, it is not hard to see that even what is highly revered as an institution of knowledge and intellect is nothing other than an institutionalised monopoly of truth. That unless one has obtained some sort of acceptable or qualified merit, only then what they say can be taken as credible. This can happen even at the expense of having concrete evidence beyond any reasonable doubt.

However, what the unsuspecting masses, as well as the individual bestowed with such credibility, may not realise is that they have just voluntarily forfeited their natural mental prowess. It is just as much as handing over a pot of precious gold in exchange for a dopamine inducing brain massage. In such a state of mind, believing that one has attained the highest level of achievement, one turns into an elusive reality of extreme ignorance. This will take one even to a point of ignoring anything truthful just because, from where they stand, the source meets not the standard of ‘credibility’. Thus, in the preservation of true freedom for the sake of the generations to come, it is very important that the veil of the illusion and institutionalised intellectual hypnosis must be lifted. This can, however, not happen without open admission that, for too long, we have not only recycled ideas and relived a lie but have also repeatedly suffered the consequences thereof. Not only do we need to admit though, but to also rid ourselves of some recipes for disaster like political correctness – which is nothing but validation. Only then man can truly live by being true, not only to others but to oneself first.

By Karlos TheGreat

 E-mail: karlsimbumusic@gmail.com

Uncommon Sense is published every Friday in the New Era newspaper with contributions from Karlos Naimwhaka.