Separating the Real from the Fake
Dealing with reality in our messy world.
Let’s talk about Reality. It’s an important idea to wrap our heads around. Unfortunately it’s not an easy one, as there are infinite possibilities that exist.
Why is it important? The most meaningful events and outcomes (relationships, our journey through life, successes, failures, passions, etc.) in our lives happen in reality. When we can better understand it, the greater chance we have for our ideas to materialize. More on this later.
For a moment though, let’s boil it down, for the sake of simplicity.
Reality is all that is real and exists in our world. It can be both known and unknown, it just needs to occupy space within our environment.
From here things get a bit tricky. Realities diverge as people come across and interact with it in their own way. At any given moment, we can identify at a minimum three “base” realities: what we perceive, what others perceive and what the actual reality is.
The merging of these three realities in the world is both a blessing and a curse. It allows for limitless perspectives and possibilities from the combination of chance, ideas and circumstance. It also makes interpretation of it incredibly difficult.
This judgement is a giant hurdle we all face. Often we make it even more difficult on ourselves by allowing what we see to get distorted or pulled into realities that don’t matter.
Things such as misinformation, the people we listen to, narratives created by the media, our behaviours, the way we were raised, the content we consume . . . they all distort our reality in some way.
One element that stands out above all the rest and contributes significantly to a flawed perception is worth a deeper look. Let’s talk about Fallacies.
A fallacy is the use of invalid or faulty reasoning in constructing argument. It can be when we make an error in judgment, when our brain makes an assumption as a shortcut or we consciously say something that is known not to be true. All fallacies.
These reasoning errors fall into two camps: formal and informal. A formal fallacy is when ideas are sequenced incorrectly and presented in the wrong order. Informal fallacies, on the other hand, occur when there’s an error in the content of an argument. Let’s focus on this last type.
Because it happens all the damn time. With dangerous side effects.
We often fall victim to informal fallacies because on the surface they seem to be correct. If we’re in a situation, an unfamiliar situation, with dozens of variables to combine and analyze, a fallacy offers an easy and convenient answer to a hard problem. Remember, reality is complicated and deep thinking is hard.
On the flip side, fallacies can be used to legitimize otherwise unproven or false arguments. This is where things can get dangerous.
Purposely taking advantage of people’s natural weakness in reasoning can allow inaccurate ideas to take root. Done over and over again, a person’s entire perspective and way of thinking can be shifted.
Fallacies that misrepresent the real world are all around us, making completing the puzzle that is reality an even tougher task. The more often we can spot and understand them, the better chance we have of putting the pieces into place.
Common types that misrepresent reality in some way include the Sunk Cost Fallacy. Leading us to believe we should continue with something based on what we’ve already invested, ignoring the future costs we would incur.
When a number of small, rather harmless causes suddenly cascade into an extreme or unlikely future outcome (“Next thing you know”) we’re talking about the Slippery Slope Fallacy.
Limiting options to two when there are in fact more to choose from, is a failure in reasoning called the False Dilemma.
Lastly, the assumption that because one event came after another, the first event caused the second (“If B comes after A, then A caused B”). Better known as False Cause.
These fallacies unfairly alter our reality and cloud our understanding. We then go about building arguments and beliefs built on an foundation of inconsistent reasoning.
Increasing our awareness of these errors can allow us to better see the coming pitfalls and help us determine where “the truth lies” in an argument. Crucial tools in making sense of the everyday.
This brings us back to where we started.
Reality is where we determine our fate. Yet, we allow our reality to get distorted or pulled in directions that don’t matter.
Fallacies are one of those obstacles, preventing us from making sense of the world. The oft occurring breaks in reasoning can be either intended or unintended, each one equally harmful.
Once we’re able to start cutting through the noise, it all starts to become a little clearer.
“If we can improve our accuracy in interpreting reality, we increase our odds of success.”
Success then becomes less dependent on intelligence and more so on how well we can interpret the world.
While knowledge can undoubtedly help in this interpretation, it is not a necessity. What is helpful is having a clear picture of what is happening around us and how best to respond.
Think of it this way: reality is like having a room full of LEGOs. Now, you can create anything you want but only with the pieces available in the room. After playing around for a bit you decide to make a small house.
Later, you decide you want to make something better. Let’s say a castle. Now a castle is certainly better than a small house, but what matters most is having the right pieces. Without them the castle remains just an idea. It’s nothing in comparison to the real, tangible house you already have.
This goes to show the importance of working with what’s in front of us. We all have LEGO pieces that we’re trying to put together (and not step on) as best as possible.
We can use systems, heuristics and common sense to help make sense of what’s happening. Still, we need to be careful as these are often shortcuts: they leave out parts of the reality in order to jump to a conclusion.
Better yet, find allies in patience, curiosity and openness. Qualities that can help to slow down our thinking when faced with complexity.
Reality should be our ever-present guide and not our enemy. It exists only to show us the truth. When we embrace it, forgoing what is false and staying focused on our goals becomes that much easier.
How can we better perceive and understand the realities in our daily life?
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