Health 101 - Article - Belief and Reality

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Belief and Reality - Truth or Consequences
By Don Bennett, DAS

The sun revolves around the earth. If I said that to you, and I was serious, you'd think I was nuts. But if I said it at an earlier point in human history, you'd have replied, "So tell me something I don't know!" Yes, there was a time when everyone believed the earth was the center of the universe. But I'm willing to bet that when most people thought the sun spun around the earth, it didn't, even though everyone believed it did.

So what does this mean today? It means that what you know to be true, may not be so. It means that one's beliefs may not have anything to do with reality. How does this affect your life? If someone mentions to you that something you're doing is harmful to your health, but you believe otherwise, you may be basing your belief on misinformation, or worse, on disinformation (knowingly false information that is purposely made public). And when it comes to health information, there's plenty of both.

Take it from someone who's been seeking truths for over 30 years; there's a lot you know, that just ain't so. When I was in my teens, I discovered that when I asked an adult a question that warranted a yes or no answer, I got definite yes's and definite no's to the same question (and hardly any I don't know's by the way). Imagine asking someone if the sun revolved around the earth or the earth revolved around the sun, and you got an answer of yes to both questions. And everyone answering you seemed so sure of their belief, and could even tell you why they were right, and why the other person was wrong. As a little kid, you'd be confused. As an adult who knew the truth about our solar system, you'd realize that human beings are the only animal on the planet capable of believing in something that isn't true. Only humans have the ability to dismiss, out-of-hand, compelling evidence that challenges their beliefs. For many people, choosing to reject reality, where it concerns their health, will subject them to disease, unnecessary suffering, and premature death.

Being able to choose is a double-edged sword; it can work for you, or against you. Regarding belief, you have a choice. You can believe:

1. What everyone else believes

2. What people and/or industries want you to believe

3. What you'd rather believe

4. Reality / the truth (they're the same)

Which one do you think is in your best interest? Which one is in industry's best interest? Which one would most other people like you to embrace?

If you love dairy products for example (cheese, milk, ice cream, etc.), and someone presented you with evidence that dairy products are not only not good for your bones, but are actually a cause of osteoporosis and cancer, which of the above four choices would dictate your reaction? Would you dismiss the info without a second thought because you didn't want to hear it?

Your decision-making depends on what's most important to you. If your health is higher on your sub-conscious list of priorities than self-indulgent-pleasure-seeking-behavior, then you'll look into it, and you'll try to make decisions that are in your best interest health-wise. If however, self-indulgent-pleasure-seeking-behavior is more important to you than your health, then you'll likely utter those magic words that protect you from internal conflict: "I don't believe it" and you'll continue to feel good about doing something that, in reality, is harming you.

Industries that produce items that are harmful to your health depend upon our ability to dis-believe the truth about the damaging affects of their products. They give billions of dollars to the media for advertising, and to politicians for support (protection), so that truthful information that would have a negative affect on sales is either kept from you or discredited. They do their very best to influence your beliefs so that you are not just a customer, but a loyal supporter who will defend their products by telling anyone who brings you truthful information about the products' dangers that you don't believe a word of it. Every time someone refuses to believe what is true about, say, dairy products for example, the dairy industry sits back with a big grin on its face, delighted that their best-kept secrets are safe from the public, and pleased that you are unwittingly helping to support their deceptive practices as both a consumer and defender of their health-damaging products.

"If you tell a lie big enough, and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it." - Joseph Goebbels

What are the consequences of living in a fantasy world regarding your health? Cancer, cardiovascular disease, stroke, arthritis, asthma, diabetes, osteoporosis, lessened quality-of-life and premature death. Yes, I've mentioned this before, but it bears repeating because there's way too much of it, and most of it is avoidable because it's caused by mistaken beliefs.
Here are some strong sentiments from Michael Crichton, author of The Lost World:

"Human beings rarely think for themselves, they find it too uncomfortable. For the most part, members of our species simply repeat what they are told, and become upset if they are exposed to a differing viewpoint. The characteristic human trait is not awareness but conformity. Other animals fight for territory or food; but, uniquely in the animal kingdom, human beings fight for their beliefs."

To paraphrase W. K. Clifford, if a person, holding a belief which he was taught in childhood or persuaded of afterwards, keeps down and pushes away any doubts which arise about it in his mind, purposely avoids the reading of books and the company of those who call into question or discuss it, and regards as sacrilegious those questions which cannot easily be asked without disturbing it - the life of that person will not be as glorious as it could have been.

Have as glorious a life as possible! Think not with the thoughts of others, but with your own. Truthful information plus an understanding of that information is when knowledge is power. Don't dismiss what disturbs you to hear. Investigate. Set off the "Independent Thought" alarms at corporate offices around the globe. Reality will do right by you, but only if you believe it.

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