You can’t trust your mind

There was a crime out on Park Avenue today, so the police are gathering information.

A helpful witness said, “He had a red mustache, green eyes, and a scar by his right ear. He was 6-foot-1 and had a tattoo of a dragon on his right shoulder.”

The police said, “This is great information. How sure are you of this?”

The witness said, “I’m completely sure. 100% positive. I mean, I didn’t see it first-hand because I was inside the back room with no windows, but I think I heard someone whispering something like this.”

That’s your brain, in the dark, inside your skull. It can’t see or hear, or experience anything directly. It interprets little signals sent through nerves, which is not much information to work with, so it’s often mistaken. But it tells you it’s completely sure. 100% positive.

The movies that scare me the most are the ones where the hero realizes he can’t trust his own mind. “Vanilla Sky”, “Memento”, “A Beautiful Mind”, “Jacob’s Ladder”, “The Others”, “Fight Club”, “The Sixth Sense”, and “The Matrix”. It’s terrifying to find out you’re crazy. What you thought was real is not. But if you can’t trust your mind, what can you do?

In each of these movies, the hero gets through it for the better. When he finds out his mind has been tricking him, it’s upsetting, but he adapts. His mind was at odds with reality but can now see the difference. It’s even a relief, because it explains some frustrating moments of confusion in his past.

Since old beliefs were disproven, the hero takes in reality with clear eyes. He carefully proceeds with less confidence and more humility. So can you.