More Wave Less Particle

More Wave Less Particle explores ways we can each gather, direct and apply divine or vital energy to promote self-development, help and heal, optimize opportunities for ourselves and others, increase the number and quality of our choices, and bring greater fulfillment, peace and true freedom to our lives.

We will reference a broad and diverse range of resources to help guide our way from spirituality, science, mathematics, art, philosophy and other appropriate and useful disciplines.

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More Wave Less Particle

The Truth Within

February 17, 2024 • Joe Kornowski • Episode 9

We live in a challenging time for knowing and keeping reality and truth. Today, we have a very different set up than any other time in our history that makes discovering and holding truth infinitely more difficult. I’m referring of course to the mad rush of investors, entrepreneurs, companies — and our enemies — racing headlong into developing a completely new technology based on Artificial Intelligence.

The solution to winning the war of reality against delusion, truth against lies and deception is, first, to understand that our ability to know truth is at the core of the spiritual war against evil. As we know, evil works almost entirely by deception, illusion, confusion and chaos — that makes us question what we think we know and even who we think we are, and whether our friends and family might really be our enemies, or one of “them” who is out to get “us.”

Our next step in the war in defense of truth and reality is to stay out of fear, as we talked about in the last episode of this podcast. Today, we understand how this works. Fear changes our brain neurobiologically in very dramatic ways. Fear distorts our discernment. When gripped by fear, our brain instantly shifts into prioritizing survival over thoughtful reflection or nuanced analysis. Our reactivity kicks in, short-circuiting our capacity for deliberate thinking.

If you are watching news or a video or find yourself in a group situation where what you’re hearing is making you feel afraid, stop! Either remove yourself from the situation or shift your attention completely away from what is being said to who is saying things that promote fear. This is like the mantra, “Follow the money” to find the source of fraud or wrongdoing. “Follow the fear-monger.” Look for who is speaking fear and then ask yourself, what do they have to gain by instilling fear in others right now? This is a form of spiritual and emotional situational awareness. Ignore the message. Focus on the messenger and the likely motives for calling forth fear in the audience.

If you already are in a fear state, then you must “break state.” That means to act in a way that jolts you out of the neurobiological hijacking that caused your reactive state to regain your rational, reasoning and reflecting mind.

One quick and easy technique if you are in your home is called “ice-diving.” This is a skill taught in Dialectical Behavioral Training, DBT, where you literally fill a large mixing bowl with ice — or even very cold water. Then take a deep breath and submerge your full face in the ice or cold water for 10 – 20 seconds.

To find and know the truth, we must look within ourselves to our inner guidance and our connection with the Universe. In Luke 17:20-21, we read: Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, [Jesus] answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!,’ for the kingdom of God is within you.”

Once you reset and return to the calm and caring and open person that you are, you are ready to strengthen your internal alignment by playing your favorite music, walking in nature, talking with friends, or just getting quiet and alone to meditate or pray to connect with your inner guidance, the Divine Truth within you.

Just today I saw another example of a high-quality video of a cat waking up its owner in bed because it wanted to be fed. That video was created within minutes by a new version of generative AI. Another depicted a woman crossing a downtown street in Tokyo at night — it was hyper-realistic. This new AI tool can make a video out of just a still photo or a few sentences of text. This makes the deep fakes of last year look like coloring books.

Discerning the truth has always been a challenge. But now, because of the rapidly improving capabilities of AI, it’s an existential threat.

The solution to winning the war of reality against delusion, truth against lies and deception is, first, to understand that our ability to know truth is at the core of the spiritual war against evil. As we know, evil works almost entirely by deception, illusion, confusion and chaos — that makes us question what we think we know and even who we think we are, and whether our friends and family might really be our enemies, or one of “them” who is out to get “us.”

Even before the existence of generative AI and its public availability, families already were being destroyed because of highly polarized political beliefs and opinions that pitted children and parents, and even siblings, against each other.

Our next step in our war in defense of truth and reality is to stay out of fear, as we talked about in the last episode of this podcast. We looked at how the phrase “fear not” mentioned 92 times in the Bible was actually a divine activation to dispel fear in the listener so the person could hear a spiritual message.

Today, we understand how this works. Fear changes our brain neurobiologically in very dramatic ways. Fear distorts our discernment. When gripped by fear, our brain instantly shifts into prioritizing survival over thoughtful reflection or nuanced analysis. Our reactivity kicks in, short-circuiting our capacity for deliberate thinking.

In this intense and reactive state, we’re especially prone to what’s called “confirmation bias.” That means we actively seek out information or people that confirm and align with our fear and disregard any contrary information. This is part of our primal brain looking for safety in numbers — in some cases we call it “mob rule.”

We pay attention only to news and information that confirms our fears or false assumptions or beliefs, dismissing anything contrary. When we’re in fear, we become more susceptible to deception, vulnerable to those who would exploit our reactive state. Fear creates an amplifier effect, allowing misinformation and deception to spread like wildfire in the middle of a crisis. Fear triggers the “illusory truth effect” where repeated lies gain credibility.

Our perception becomes warped. We see threats where none exist. Paranoia sets in. The most innocuous events, words or actions are seen as sinister. We engage in reverse emotional reasoning: we believe that because we are scared, our fear must be valid. The truth is that feelings and emotions respond to thought, they follow thought, not the other way around. Change your thoughts, your thinking, and your feelings will change.

Understanding the neurobiology of fear and its impact on our ability to know and stay in reality and truth shows us why the divine speakers in the Bible, Jesus and the angels, immediately acted to dispel fear in their listeners before giving them a divine message.

We see, in several passages in the Bible, that Jesus usually prayed alone, in private, modeling the value of personal, intimate communication with God. No distractions, no outside influences.

To find and know the truth,we must look within ourselves to our inner guidance and our connection with the Universe. In Luke 17:20-21, we read: Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, [Jesus] answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!,’ for the kingdom of God is within you.”

Also, in the First Letter of John 2:27, he reminds believers, “You have received the Holy Spirit and he lives within you. He teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true.”

So, it’s imperative that we remain vigilant and situationally aware to guard against fear. Here is one effective tactic:

If you are watching news or a video or find yourself in a group situation where what you’re hearing is making you feel afraid, stop! Either remove yourself from the situation or shift your attention completely away from what is being said to who is saying things that promote fear. This is like the mantra, “Follow the money” to find the source of fraud or wrongdoing. “Follow the fear-monger.” Look for who is speaking fear and then ask yourself, what do they have to gain by instilling fear in others right now? This is a form of spiritual and emotional situational awareness. Ignore the message. Focus on the messenger and the likely motives for calling forth fear in the audience.

If you find yourself already in a fear state, then you must “break state.” That means to act in a way that jolts you out of the neurobiological hijacking that caused your reactive state to regain your rational, reasoning and reflecting mind.

This will immediately reset your neurological system, and get you grounded and focused on the present. The ice or cold water reduces emotional intensity to allow for clearer thinking and decision-making ability. This is safe and effective. And you can do it anywhere.

If you have more time, use Byron Katie’s 4 questions to break your fear state. Write down each fearful thought, then ask:

1. Is it true? IF YES, then

2. Is it REALLY true? How do I know that it’s true?

3. How do I feel when I think that thought?

4. Who would I be without that thought?

That process will help re-engage the rational, presently aware, self-reflective part of your brain.

Once you reset and return to the calm and caring and open person that you are, you are ready to strengthen your internal alignment by playing your favorite music, walking in nature, talking with friends, or just getting quiet and alone to meditate or pray to connect with your inner guidance, the Divine Truth within you.