Self Delusion: The Enemy Within
The human brain is a complex organ with the wonderful power of enabling man to find reasons for continuing to believe whatever it is he wants to believe-Voltaire
The mind and its perceiving abilities are terrifying, yet amazing; the way we view something essentially defines our personality. These views are based on the myriad of circumstances that we experience throughout our lives.
Our thinking is the perception of our acquired reality; it is in evolution, influenced by our interpretation of what we hear and what we listen to and most importantly, how we have been taught to interpret these two senses.
This evolution is based on two simple influences — positive and negative influences — As much as one wishes to be blessed with affirmation in life, the excess of either can be dangerous — in some instances worse than any physical ailment; the consequence varies, take the simple example of sugar, for some, its excess might be as simple as a sugar rush; for some, it might be a battle with their fitness struggles, and for some, it might be a battle for life against their empty stores of insulin; Excess deprives. The worst of all is the excess of praise — a constant fire of affirmation, a constant shower of positive feedback, scares me the most. On one side, it gives you confidence; it can make you delusional on the flip side.
Confidence is a necessity that you strive to obtain in life; confidence is hidden in the veil of experience. Whether it is your trade skill or the depth in your speech, the recognition allows you to grow and improve. However, too much praise can make you unseeing— because you stop noticing the things in your beliefs that may be outworn. Too much praise robs you off fair judgement; it steals your ability to look at someone from their perspective. You then start perceiving life from only one angle — which is your opinion, and if anyone dares to say otherwise, it offends you. Too much praise will blind you more than someone with no light in their eyes. The excess will deprive you of reflection — and lack of reflection will ultimately take away humility.
Why do we become self-delusional? Is it the lens of our achievement through which everyone sees us, and we start playing along? Maybe this is what fuels our brain to believe what it wants to believe, and in fact, this is what Voltaire observed.
And maybe that is why we age and God returns us to the state in which he brought us here. Helpless and dependent. Though the difference is, we learned and forgot the first time and the second time, we remembered.
This is beautifully described in the Quran in 30:54
It is Allah Who created you in a state of weakness, then developed ˹your˺ weakness into strength, then developed ˹your˺ strength into weakness and old age. He creates whatever He wills. For He is the All-Knowing, Most Capable.
Self-Delusion grows in you whether you want it or not. One of the purposes of reminding ourselves of our sins when praying to God is to protect ourselves from this ailment. Hence, we put our foreheads on the floor five times a day, a reminder of our worth; to remind us of our place, for we are fragile beings completely dependent on each other and the One above, lest we forget.
But if you let this ailment grow. Self-Delusion ultimately leads to arrogance and arrogance is that one trait that God does not forgive. Like Satan, he was arrogant, and he was banished for all eternity.
A discussion for another time.
