The Anti-Soapbox: Collected Essays

By Aaron Garrison

The typical soapbox comes with strings attached: an agenda to be pushed, an ego to be stroked, a donation box to be filled. This book, on the other hand, attempts to fulfill the soapbox’s original ideal, as a fount of goodwill and ideas.

Aaron Garrison, author of 'Learn Yourself: A Manual for the Mind' and 'Synchronicity: One Man’s Experience,' has taken the soapbox, and the speech has begun. In these collected essays, Garrison explores the ideological, the sociological, and the philosophical, with a healthy spoonful of psychology for good measure. Written from the laymen’s no-nonsense perspective, The Anti-Soapbox takes a practical, real-world approach to some big issues, yet does so with a gentle touch, refraining from the bruising tone characteristic of soapbox oratory.

So step right up, folks! On the anti-soapbox, there’s no shouting, accusation, or ecstatic gestures, just a good old-fashioned reality check.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Aaron Garrison
• Release date: Aug 25, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310048227

Aaron Garrison

Aaron Garrison is a thirty-year-old man living and working in the beautiful mountains of North Carolina, USA.

Book preview

The Anti-Soapbox

Collected Essays

by

Aaron Garrison

©2014 Aaron Garrison

Smashwords Edition

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Table of Contents

Preface

I. P.R.I.M.O.: Five Terms to Know

II. Give Opinion a Second Chance

III. Blurring the Line: Fantasy or Reality?

IV. Help?: How I Learned to Do Nothing

V. Stay Calm

VI. Don’t Forget the Why

VII. Defying Appearances

VIII. Exploring the Illogical

IX. Semantics Revisited

X. Take the Silent-Mind Challenge

XI. Windows to Nothing: The Eyes Lie

XII. The Dangers of Expectation

XIII. On Property

XIV. The New Science

XV. The Nameless Experience

XVI. On Freedom

XVII. Our Progress Thus Far

XVIII. On Transactions

XIX. Ten Thousand Voices Saying Nothing

XX. Three Sides to Every Story: A Primer in Multidimensional Thinking

XXI. The Miracle of Choice

PREFACE

So much the worse for him who took the comedy seriously, who only saw what happened on the stage, and not the machinery behind it.

—Arthur Koestler, Darkness at Noon

It’s been said that, in the confusion and shadow-play of this life, one either shines a light or becomes the darkness. This book is my attempt to do the former and avoid the latter.

I’m no guru, certainly, nor do I hope to pass as one. Why am I publishing some 40,000 words of my views and advice, then? For me, these collected essays are less a sermon than a guidepost, my way of sharing some of the everyday wisdom I’ve learned along this roughshod path of ours. When I feel strongly enough about something to essay on it, I do so out of meaningful experience that’s proved somehow helpful to me on a practical level. Also, many of my essays have resulted from observing a general need in my fellow man. I see myself (and my past mistakes) in so many others; it would be callous of me to hoard the knowledge that has, in my case at least, spared me some suffering.

Consider these writings a friendly comparing of notes, if you will.

Yes, everyone has an opinion, and in these days of super-massive media and super-accessible self-publishing, everyone’s opinion is out there and available. This ubiquity of the written word is, of course, double-edged, as the same wide-open media has removed what few gatekeepers of fidelity and accuracy were previously in place, giving way to as much distortion as communication (a topic explored in one of the upcoming essays, as it so happens). Why pay attention to my writings, then, over the thousands and thousands at your disposal? Only you, the reader, can decide that. Again, I certainly don’t regard my perceptions as special or superior; I hold them dear, to be sure, but only because of the depth of my convictions.

I am not you. Results may vary. The views expressed in this book stand alongside many.

Right off the bat, know that this book is not an academic discourse, or at all formal; you won’t find a single reference made or fact cited. Some selections are, in fact, more instructional in composition, reading like how-to articles rather than proper essays. Though, a casual treatment is not necessarily a negative, for informality should not, I believe, be equated with invalidity. What’s more, some topics come off better when described informally, as to grant a bottom-up perspective that might be hindered by a more rigorous approach. It also bears mentioning that nearly all these essays give their lofty subjects a rather condensed treatment, by necessity of format; though, I do not believe them to be over-condensed, to the point of becoming distorted or losing focus. That said, just keep in mind that, as these vast subjects are squeezed into tiny essays, there is much omitted from these pages.

Likewise, these essays were not written for the scholar. That is, their subject matter might appear rudimentary, perhaps outright obvious, maybe even a little naive. That’s not an unreasonable perception; however, understand that, obvious or not, these ideas are not universally understood. Because our educational systems are often dysfunctional (institutional and social alike), not everyone learns these rudiments of living, however basic and necessary. In fact, I suspect that for every person who was blessed with these truths at an early age, there is someone who wasn’t. For evidence of this theory, look no further than a newspaper.

As it so happens, I was one such unlearned person, well into adulthood. Growing up, I was spared many of life’s most valuable lessons by all major influences in my development—family, school, TV, society at large. As a result, I was blunted at a deep, fundamental level of my psychology, left without the faculty to understand these vital lessons even were I somehow exposed to them—left unable to learn how to learn, as it were. I have suffered because of my ignorance, and I would prefer not to see others suffer similarly. Thus, I have compiled this book of essays, in informal, no-nonsense language, as a synthesis of my belated adolescence. I see this text as a kind of playbook for life, rather than anything artistic, entertaining, or at all elegant. In many areas, these essays parallel and overlap a self-help book I wrote, Learn Yourself: A Manual for the Mind; in fact, some have been circulated, in altered form, in support of that book.

All in all, these essays are my light. Some might perceive them as such; others, as the very darkness I hope to forestall. Either way, I must shine, for better or worse.

There is, no doubt, something of the liberator in my intentions. When asking myself how I might affect some type of real, lasting change in the world, that which would help prevent the mind-numbing non-education that characterized my upbringing, the answer was to write and inform, to the best of my ability. Naturally, this answer was inconvenient, but it was, also, what I knew in my heart to be right, at least in regards to my current station in life. After all, change is supposed to be visible, and dynamic, and instantly gratifying, perhaps with some fame and money thrown in the mix—not a collection of self-published books and other small-circulation writings, the equivalent of the proverbial drop in the ocean. Yet my humble writings are, I believe, the only truly effective action that is within my power to enact. It’s a soft approach, of course; but in my experience, idealistically trying to force change rarely sees lasting results, and often just adds to the problem.

So, yes, this book is a drop in the ocean. Then again, without the individual drops, no ocean would exist.

* * *

One final note.

This book’s title is meant to be a statement in itself. I attached the anti- because typical soapbox oratory has strings attached: an agenda to be pushed, an ego to be stroked, a donation box to be filled. Also, it tends to be rather contentious and inflammatory. Today’s soapboxes—be they lecterns, pulpits, microphone-studded podiums, or actual crate-board crowning a street corner—are more like violent weapons, instead of founts for goodwill and ideas.

This book, on the other hand, attempts to fulfill the soapbox’s original ideal. It is presented as humbly, candidly, and transparently as I know how, without stake in its approval. Consider everything in it open to debate. Take it or leave it, accept it or reject it, love or hate or indifference—it’s all the same to me. I offer these views in the spirit of casting bread on the waters, and I would hope my reader approaches them with a similar detachment. Feel free to close this book at any time.

I. P.R.I.M.O.: FIVE TERMS TO KNOW

Greetings, fellow citizen of Earth. Did you know there’s a perpetual war for your mind, waged in clever and invisible ways?

In much of the world today, we are constantly bombarded with a flurry of information, symbols, and images; and, unfortunately, a significant percentage of this flow originates from unscrupulous sources seeking to influence your thinking. So powerful is this influence, it can alter your perception of yourself, those around you, and even the very reality in which you live and breathe. That is to say, this influence allows highly questionable people to get in your head.

To keep this as an essay rather than a book, I will not address the great many individual forms of this influence, those various lies and misconceptions that flow through our society’s psychological underbelly. Instead, I will familiarize you with five vital terms, to imbue you with the scrutiny necessary to independently identify such influence yourself—so much teaching fishing, rather than distributing fish.

Term number one: platitude, defined as a flat, dull, or trite remark, especially one uttered as if it were fresh or profound.

Ask yourself: How many times have you been forced to consider a given piece of information purely because it was offered in a loud, imperious manner? And, how many times have such empty remarks been used as substitutes for real substance, such as evidence and objective debate?

All too often, we are blasted with platitudes from the likes of media personalities and other attention-seekers, usually as persuasively loud sound-bites being substituted for strong, substantial argument. To amplify the effect, platitudes are often supplemented by heartwarming music or cued fits of applause (think political campaign speeches). If the speaker is a bit more rough-and-tumble, the platitudes might include manipulative tactics such as psychologically punishing rhetoric, designed to inflict the greatest sentimental impact and exert the fullest amount of control. The platitude is, thus, a good friend of sociopaths and manipulators, used as a psychological weapon.

Suffer enough platitudes, day in and day out, and one runs the risk of being conditioned by them. At such a saturation point, we can be affected and influenced despite conscious effort not to, even when aware of what’s at play. Such is the nature of the subconscious mind, vulnerable to the attrition of simple, brute-force repetition (see term number three).

To defend oneself against the dastardly platitude, train the mind to respond only to clear, understandable, and demonstrable ideas, not to thin tripe that sounds good but, in reality, is all show and no substance (if not an outright manipulative attack).

Now, term number two: ridiculous, defined as worthy of ridicule or derision.

Ridiculous has a broad range of meaning in today’s lexicon, but here I use it in the literal sense, as something or someone that should be ridiculed. Why is this term included in this little guidebook for mental warfare? Because ridicule is a potent weapon in that war; namely, as it relates to social control. With public disapproval being one of modern man’s utmost phobias, ridicule gains use as a manipulator’s tool, leveraged against others as a quiet, yet highly effective, measure of control. It’s why some people fear public speaking more than death.

The psychology behind the fear of ridicule is a book or two on its own, but it can be summed up as a powerful subconscious complex. When activated, the complex will, generally, distort one’s self-perception and other psychological parameters, resulting in a potent, paralyzing sort of mental pain, as to dictate one’s behavior to a degree where other control schemes fall short. In a culture rife with social neuroses rooted in disapproval, fear of ridicule has gone viral, almost to the point of ubiquity; thus, the fear of being labeled ridiculous is, in many circles, the equivalent of social excommunication, nothing less than a scarlet letter. Whether deserved or not, the effect has its impact (if one lets it); and therein lies the source of ridicule’s power, which is immense enough for