Productive superstitions

Francis Pedraza

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Feb 23, 2017 · 2 min read

It all sounds like new age witchcraft.

I say,
So what?

Who cares whether it’s true?
Whether it’s actually true?
That’s besides the point.

Do you know, I believe it all?
It’s all real!

Reincarnation, karma, myths, aliens, monsters, powers, fantasies, dreams, universes, gods, paradoxes, magic, miracles, heaven, hell, right, wrong, love, ideas, energy, reiki, astrology, destiny
— you name it!

Suspend disbelief.
Do the old logic trick:
Assume the premise!

What if…
What if it’s true?

Let’s assume it IS true.
Hear yourself say:
Oh my, it’s actually true!
Then ask in bated breath:
What do I now see differently?
What do I now understand that eluded me before?
How do I behave now that’s better?

Does the premise lead you to absurdity?
Or does it lead you to sanity?
To healing? To awareness?
Understanding?

If the premise doesn’t lead to absurdity,
Then why argue about its validity in-fact?
It is valid in-practice.
Accept it!

Let it touch you.
If it’s not real, what’s the harm?
If it IS real, oh what a revelation!

Ontologically speaking,
If you let it, at the very least, it is true — in your mind.
And therefore, it exists.

Experience is a valid experiment
Replicated within the chemistry lab of my body,
Published in the journal of my heart.

Is it absurd? Really?
What makes it absurd?
That it’s a contradiction?
Why not violate the Law of Non Contradiction?
Who says that a contradiction can’t exist?

Contradictions are explosions,
So powerful, they must be contained.

If it is productive, in any sense,
Take it in that sense. And if it is a
Productive superstition
You’ll realize with Joseph Campbell
That these stories, these myths, these
Superstitions are technologies.

So, it’s not a question of whether to believe
Or not to believe. We all have an
Operating system, and no human wisdom-belief, no wisdom-truth
Stands up to the relentless scrutiny of science, its
Task is to uncover falsehoods,
Gaining insight through negative-truths.

Play, play with assertion!
Positive-truth games, entertain the
Clouds as they make shapes.

Pascal, I’ll wager you one higher: double or nothing!
Oh, faith-leaping Kierkegaard— I challenge you
To a pole-vaulting contest!
Ponder, mighty Fitzgerald, this counter-paradox:
How can we still function,
Without celebrating these weighty oppositions,
Channeling their infinite possibilities?

Recording available:
Listen to me read this aloud.