'Captainitis' — The Plague on Modern Society.

The most tragic airplane crashes that have been investigated by the US Federal Aviation Administration occurred because the captain made a critical (sometimes obvious) mistake, but the crew failed to respond appropriately and avoid imminent disaster due to their blind faith in the captain's authority.

Captainitis — "If an authority figure says it’s true, then it must be true."

One of the oldest, most basic and stupid heuristics that we fall prey to — which causes us to forsake our critical reasoning abilities (as well as our well-being and life enjoyment).

Now, this doesn’t just apply to questioning the obvious authorities that clearly have something to gain from deceiving and controlling the narrative that the masses consume.

(i.e. Federal Reserve, governments, legacy media outlets, monopolies, etc.)

If you’ve NEVER questioned these entities’ authority and thought critically through some of the narratives that are pushed, then you may be too far gone and I can’t help you.

But if you have dabbled with some critical thinking in your life, and are already aware of the terrible case of Captainitis that affects 90% of the populous…

Then this article might serve you.

Because I think ‘Captainitis’ can be the ultimate meme to describe this terrible plague on society.

This mass surrender of our reasoning abilities and intuition which would make everyone from Plato to Jesus Christ be extremely disappointed in us.

The Illusion of the Self

As children, up until the age of 13, we operate predominantly under what is called the Theta Brainwave State.

Neuroscientists have observed that this state of mind is linked to creativity, intuition, daydreaming, and fantasizing. Thus, making it a repository for memories, emotions, and sensations.

This state, which you've surely experienced before through meditation, internal focus, prayer, or any sort of mindfulness practice — can be understood as a sort of "Twilight Zone".

A state somewhere between sleep and wakefulness which allows you to access information in your subconscious mind, as well as making it highly receptive to new information.

This mental state is abnormal in awake adults, but dominates a child's consciousness.

Thus, as children, at the time we are most susceptible and receptive to the information that will shape our belief systems, identity, and worldview — we are domesticated.

Trading in our nature as creatives, builders, thinkers, and innovators for the indoctrination of society; bestowed upon us by the 'Captains':

Mom. Dad. School. Media. Religion. Social Norms. Governments.

We tried to resist.

We'd cry, whine, and complain because we wanted to play.

We wanted to create, to build, to sing and dance, to laugh and cry, to open up the bag of Skittles in the store and spread them across the floor displaying our majestic abstract art piece.

But the 'Captains' were bigger than us, stronger than us, more powerful than us — they had authority.

This is when we first fell victim to the idiocy of Captainitis.

As children, we were told what to believe, "don't do this and don't do that", "this is wrong, and this is right", "those people are like this, we're not like that", etc.

We accepted the 'truths' we were told, simply because the Captains said so.

We surrendered our God-given gifts to use reason, intuition, and creation – because "if an authority says this is true, then it must be".

Over time these beliefs and half-baked truths became so deeply engrained within us, that we no longer needed authority figures to tell us what to believe, we became autodomesticated.

We began to judge, punish, and reward ourselves according to the same belief and value system we were given — a belief system we did not choose.

This is the cause of human suffering.

Let's illustrate this with a simple example:

Imagine you get into an argument with someone you love, and it's one of those big ugly topics that most people tend to avoid: religion, politics, finances, gender & identity, etc.

At some point, the other person says something that you STRONGLY disagree with.

And all of a sudden all logic goes out the window, you feel this electrically charged wave of emotions possess you.

Feelings of anger, frustration, disappointment, sadness, guilt, shame, pride — all wanting to burst out from inside you.

You start yelling, they start yelling, the conversation goes nowhere, and you both leave feeling worse than before.

We've all been there.

But why did this happen?

Well, it's because we've all been domesticated.

Those beliefs, ideologies, and value systems that we learned from childhood, that we've further reinforced into ourselves over the years, have become so deeply engrained within us that we've attached them to our identity, to our sense of self.

So now the disagreement is no longer just that – a disagreement.

Others' arguments become a poisonous and personal attack to your sense of self.

You are no longer arguing to discover the truth or to be proven right, you are fighting for survival.

Free Yourself.

It was 440BC, and Pythia, a high priestess known as the Oracle of Delphi, declared Socrates "The wisest man in Athens".

Upon hearing this from a friend, Socrates did not boast or feel any pride, he immediately took to the streets of Athens to prove her wrong.

He sought out the 'wisest' and most respected people in Athens: politicians, craftsmen, poets, educators, etc.

He established that "all I know, is that I know nothing" and then engaged in debates with them, questioning their understanding of fundamental ideals such as beauty, truth, and justice.

Most of them were unable to provide adequate logical support for their positions, and thus Socrates encouraged them to give these beliefs up.

To make a long story short, this caused the 'Captains' of Athens to fear Socrates, as his incessant probing and challenging of conventional beliefs could put their authority in jeopardy.

Socrates was thus sentenced to death and in his famous Apologia he stated:

So here lies the key to freeing yourself from Captainitis: Socratic Wisdom.

QUESTION EVERYTHING.

Science is often wrong or corrupted by the individual interests of one party.

I mean just look at the "fat is evil, have some sugar instead" scam that occured in during the 1960s, where scientists from Harvard came out and admitted to be paid off by sugar industry giants.

For decades, the tobacco industry denied the link between smoking and lung cancer, manipulating scientific research and funding studies to cast doubt on the health risks associated with smoking.

Pesticides like DDT were once proclaimed miracles, then later found to cause cancer and sever environmental damage.

Close to 50% of all scientific research is later proven wrong, most of it can't be replicated, but narratives are created and propagated for commercial interests anyways.

Big pharma would rather sell drugs to people, than have governments intervene with simple healing methods: reducing sedentary time, improving sleep, aerobic and resistance training, nutrition, breathing properly, etc.

"But no, have some "givemeyourmoney-phenol" instead."

Lobbying and corrpution is an inevitable part of politics and government.

You only believe you're bad at public speaking because you shit the bed one time, during a high-school speech and haven't deliberately practiced since.

You don't believe money is abundant, because you had none when you were younger and your parents struggled to make ends meet.

You think you're not athletic because you struggled with sports in elementary school, overlooking the possibility of improvement with practice and maturity.

You avoid pursuing leadership roles because a teacher once criticized your leadership skills in school, influencing your belief that you're not fit for such positions.

You believe you're unattractive because of awkward teenage years, and a couple of rejections, failing to recognize that physical appearance often changes and evolves over time, and you can dramatically improve your looks through things within your control.

etc. etc. etc. etc.

You get the point.

Thus, the way to thrive in the modern world is to be a free thinker.

Questioning everything, deconstructing your self-bias, and becoming a non-binary thinker.

It's sad that this has become a lost art, but by simply questioning everything, being extremely open-minded, actively seeking to challenge your own beliefs, identity, emotional reactions, convictions and pursuing Truth...

You become a force to be reckoned with in any field and industry.

You become a more loving and present partner, son, father, mother, friend.

And you learn to fall in love with consciousness itself.

Experiencing flow, bliss, joy, and gratitude far more often.

Remember you are not your thoughts, you are not this incessant stream of thoughts in your head, your roles, titles and duties that your ego has attached to... you are awareness – consciousness itself.

“Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the LORD." – Jeremiah 17:5

So this is what I want to leave you with:

No belief should go unexamined, no thought unobserved, or dogma should stand without challenge.

And hopefully, now that you're equipped with the meme of Captainitis, you shall be able to recall this reflection easily and at will.

Subsequently, building a beautiful life with meanigful work, great relationships, and an encouraging internal dialogue.

All because you killed Captainitis, and became a free thinker.

I hope this serves you.

With love,

— Mikey