Our default biological setting predisposes us to pessimism. We are descendants of the most skittish of our ancestors, whose hypervigilance selected them for survival as our species struggled for a foothold. Meanwhile, our footloose and carefree great uncles and aunts got eaten by lions. Or so the story goes. But the tide has turned. Now all that twitchiness is wreaking havoc on our health, and it’s the “who, me worry?” individuals possessing extended lifespans with good health. Nature’s priority for a species isn’t quality of life anyway; Once we’ve procreated, our biological purpose is fulfilled.

But our anomalous gift of consciousness seems to confer some cheat codes. It allows biology to observe itself and take actions based on cognitive models rather than hard-wired instinct or experientially learned behavior. These abstract models can predict and explore hypotheticals. And the hypothetical seems to be woven into reality itself; we are still trying to wrap our heads around the quantum discoveries that matter exists as a range of possibilities rather than a discrete substance.

“Pessimism is for lightweights. There is no straight white line”

And the Overton window has trouble letting go of the white line.

In a world inundated with doomsday scenarios and anxiety, it has become fashionable and chic to bet on oblivion and give in to despair. But what if pessimism isn’t an objective truth, but just a bad habit? According to the methodologies of consciousness expansion, optimism isn’t naïve wishful thinking; it is a highly practical, strategic survival choice. Rather than succumbing to the group hypnosis of defeatism, we can treat optimism as an experimental gamble that actively transforms our lives. By consciously metaprogramming our minds, we can reject the idol of existential despair and take control of our reality.

NO “EXTERNAL” SITUATION MAKES A MENTAL STATE “INEVITABLE”

Whatever is going on around you, your experienced reality-tunnel is still a synergetic product of both internal and external environments (set and setting). You do not “create your own reality,” as Pop Mysticism says, but you create the larger part of it by how you evaluate, respond and give “meaning” to what happens. Your freedom is much, much greater than you realize until you start experimenting with alternative reality-tunnels and rapid brain change.

Sex, Drugs Magick – A Journey Beyond Limits by Robert Anton Wilson