The Deceivers and the Deceived
It takes both to tango
We are seeing a tremendous amount of deception being promoted in our world. This differs from the past mainly in that it was there but we were less aware of it and its extent, but the shift represents an(other) opportunity to understand something about ourselves. More are actually seeing the deception, and more clearly.
As I noted elsewhere recently, the situation with deception is a little bit like that of car collisions, where it usually requires at least two drivers to have one (unless it is with a tree, or with the ground after driving off a cliff; that sort of thing). One can be declared legally “at fault”, but both are implicated to some degree in the scenarios that commonly play out.
Deception requires a deceiver and a deceivee, a person deceived. Note that, apart from slang, we don’t appear to have a terribly good word for the latter. I wonder why? And by the way I’m not ruling out mutual deception, but that would be for another essay.
A deceiver’s attempts will fail if the recipient is well fortified against such attempts. Deceivers therefore seek out and probe for weakness in our defenses, and they are often not disappointed by what they find.
A parallel exists with pathogens. It takes both a pathogen and a weakness in immune defenses to “come down” with an illness. Immunity might be weak, or it might have been overwhelmed by the numbers.
As with pathogens, exposure to a deception can produce immunity to it. Sometimes we fend it off, and sometimes we initially succumb. Either way, one degree or another of immunity may result.
I can’t begin to count how many times I have been deceived by something or somebody, and I can’t begin to count how many times I have come down with a viral or bacterial infection. But sooner or later, immunity develops. “Fool me once; shame on you. Fool me twice; shame on me.” Although I do wonder how many more deceptions I may not yet have recognized.
I think we tend to focus upon the deceivers, assuming their victims innocent, and not considering the two-sided nature of deception. Blame for present world events is, by some, being flung far and wide upon the globalists, the politicians, the public health officials, the scientists … any easily definable target. All the while, the primary responsibility lies with us, “the people”. We are the vulnerable, gullible ones that fall for the deceptions, some more than others, but any of us can fall for a really good deception, at least for a time.
The problem is with our nature. We are drawn to things we don’t understand, and we are drawn to things that appeal to our desires. It seems as though we should, over time, recognize this pattern and at least attempt to move away from it, but our history demonstrates that we do not do so, as a rule. Some individuals do, but the learning does not transmit well from generation to generation.
Drawn this way to our desires, we attract leaders that appeal to our desires. This is potentially a viscious circle, a positive feedback loop. And look at what we now have for leaders.
There is an effective way to stand against the deception and harm that is multiplying in the world, but to be effective we must include ourselves as being part of the problem. Admitting this fact seems to be one of the hardest things to do. But it can be liberating to do so.
Admitting our own shortcomings is only the first in a series of things to be done, but it is a terribly important step, one that opens the door to other changes. I have written more about doors and change elsewhere on this blog, but there are many other witnesses as well, pointing the way through as the days grow darker.
Have a look within. See if what I have written is not so.
Related post: Passion
Indeed. 🙏