Delusion is a Powerful Drug.

 

         How many people have we encountered with a warped view of the world. I'm not talking about the obvious mental nut case, I'm talking about seemingly well educated, normal people. As I once pointed out to Ben the Ficus- we all believe things that are certainly true and things that are completely bonkers- we just don't which is which.

          As Mr. M (Tommy Lee Jones) in " Men in Black informed Will Smith's character when he discovers there are aliens among us:

 "...Fifteen hundreds ago everybody knew we were the center of the universe, five hundred years ago, everybody knew, the Earth was flat and fifteen minutes ago you knew people were alone on this planet."

         "Delusion" isn't just carried along by a hysterical mob, it's also nurtured by an individual as a talisman against confusing reality. It's a raft to cling to in a sea of constant change. Blind faith, certainty, however slim, is more comforting than reason. Our faith in something or someone can vanish with a single irrational belief  despite all sensible evidence.

         Think about the things you were certain of as a child, a teenager and now as a mature adult. Look back and see what ideas you thought were true are now pure foolishness. "How could I have believed such a thing?" we ask when revelation dawns. A desire to put the world in order and explain the unknown is a very powerful force.