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Wed Dec 16 2020
4 min read
One of my favorite movies of all time is a psychological thriller starring Guy Pearce called "Memento" (2000). "Memento" follows the life of a man with short-term memory problems attempting to track down and apprehend the murderer of his wife. While there are easily a ton of reasons why I absolutely love this movie, the most compelling part of this movie for me is the movie's exploration of unspoken universal truths.
A single quote from the movie in particular caught my attention the very first time I watched the movie. In that scene, a character questions his own moral judgement and asks himself, "Do I lie to myself to be happy?... In your case, yes I will.".
What does this exerpt mean and why do I consider it to be so significant?
This single line is my favorite line in the entire movie is because it speaks a single truth - that we all lie to ourselves to be happy. We refuse to believe undeniable truths even when they lay directly in front of us. We make life harder for ourselves and deny our own faults. Why? Because it makes us happy.
Nobody likes to admit that they're wrong. Nobody likes to accept hard facts. We each feel the need to perpetuate our own lies even when we know that we've lost.
Take the 2020 US presidential election as a prime example. Regardless of your political beliefs, this nation endured one of the most intense presidential elections in the history of America. The tide of the election quickly changed on November 3rd from Biden's upper hand to Trump's undeniable win - suddenly falling back again in Biden's favor as the mail-in ballots began to be counted. President Trump fought back against the outcome stating that the ballots were incorrectly counted; however, extensive checks proved no substantial evidence of fraud. But president Trump denied the truth (and still does to this day). He perpetuated the lie, and for what reason? For personal satisfaction. Happiness. He refused to believe that the ballots were counted correctly and refuted the evident truth.
As an aside: I personally do not consider myself supportive of any major political party in the United States. Quite frankly, I think political parties should be abolished entirely - but that's a topic for another time. The fact that Biden won the election is irrefutable, however. They have counted and recounted the ballot multiple times in key states, and most people (Democrats and Republicans included) have already accepted president Trump's loss.
As far-fetched as this example seems, the circumstances do not differ greatly from that of our personal lives. How often do we tell ourselves lies to make us feel better? When we receive poor grades, we tend to blame our lack of sleep, or the inability of our teacher to communicate the subject matter clearly - and overlook the previous nights we spent watching the latest Mandalorian episodes on Disney+. We tell ourselves that our inability to learn is due to the faults of the American education system. The reason we can't hold a stable job is terrible management. We blame our weight gain on stress. We buy things and wonder why we bought them. We say our terrible actions are due to our uncontrollable human impulses.
I don't mean to say that these reasons hold no weight - on the contrary, these are real issues that need to be properly addressed. I only mean that we don't like to take blame for our consequences. No one likes to admit that consequences they face are their own doing. We perpetuate a deliberate ignorance rather than a blissful ignorance.
How, then, can we be intentionally more aware of our dishonest nature? How do we fix our deliberate ignorance?
It comes down to the individual to take responsibility. Only you can acknowledge blame for your own actions. No one else can do that for you. But by beginning to acknowledge your role in every consequence you face, your conscience will be lighter and you will prevent yourself from making the same mistakes again. Let's aim as a society for a less deliberate ignorance.