 Living in a Fantasy of False Consciousness
Have you ever had a conversation with someone close to you and thought you got your point across well, but they just weren't catching on? Or at work you feel like you do all the work and everyone else just sits around? You may be living with a false consciousness. You believe something to be true that isn't. It is basically a misperception. False consciousness has many other meanings as well, and if we look deep into Marxism or Sociology there will be many meanings of the term.
Simply put, false consciousness is believing something to be true because someone tells you it is. A great example is the story "The Emperor's New Clothes". If you haven't read the story it goes something like this. Two con artists came into a kingdom and claimed to be weavers. They told the emperor they had some of the finest fabrics in all the land. This fabric was also magical because only those of high intelligence could see the fabric. They pretended to weave him a new outfit. When the outfit was presented to the Emperor, everyone believed if they couldn't see the garment they were incompetent. As the emperor pranced around town in nothing but his underwear, the townsfolk cheered and complimented his outfit. It wasn't until a small child spoke up and announced he was naked, that the townsfolk began to believe what they really saw. The con men were long gone with their money, laughing as they ran.
This is a story of false consciousness. The con artists claim they are weavers, and through some minor manipulation convince a whole town to believe what they say. These are perfect strangers who have the power to make people doubt what their own eyes show them.
Many people today live in with a false consciousness. We allow people to tell us things and convince us of things when our inner conscious is telling us otherwise. It is so easy to allow others to manipulate us to the point that we doubt ourselves. Governments tell us how they spend our money and we believe them without seeing the results. Our bosses expect us to do our job a certain way because they believe it is the right way.
Learning to become aware of our thought process can take away false consciousness. No one wants to look like a fool or be treated like an idiot. If we can do a job in half the time and still do everything we need to, should we ignore that way because someone tells us we are wrong? No, getting more work done in a shorter amount of time is wiser.
The Buddhist monks believe in teaching the Truths. Once they teach these Truths, they also encourage the people to make sure these are really truths. They teach against false consciousness. They don't tell you the Truths and then force you to believe it. They give you the Truths and then challenge you to prove those Truths right or wrong.
Life should be lived this way. We should never just accept rules and laws for what they are. We should do the research and find out what the reasoning is behind it. There is no need to live with false consciousness. Becoming aware of each passing moment will help you live without false consciousness and teach you to search out your own truths.
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