|
When you can not distinguish between virtual reality and reality, when computer-assisted dreams are more real than real life, when your cult leader answers every question you may have, then the real world becomes the dreamworld and your friends may not have a place your new universe. It's about how we put together what's real and what isn't Our perception and understanding of the world are influenced by what we are taught. A Buddhist will not apprehend the world as a Christian will. So, when a cunning cult leader uses technology to reinforce a certain interpretation of the world: "One of the mysteries which we hope will be revealed, is that Pluto appears to be a very small planet and yet its influence on the orbits of other planets in the solar system should make it heavier. We know that Pluto has an elliptical orbit, much longer and flatter than any of the other planets. And that at times it passes inside the orbit of Neptune, and ceases to be the outermost planet in the solar system... ...We've just come through such a period when Pluto was closer than Neptune. Astrology tells us that should have been a time of great upheavals and changes in the world, and we can see these changes in the events of recent years, both here in Australia, and overseas." thus giving astrology a semblance of rationality, it is enough for some people to start "believing" in that so-called philosophical system. Add to that the emotional stress of a breakup with your lover, some "therapy" sessions overseen by a manipulating leader, the pressure to succeed in a world where if you are not number one, you're nobody and you have the perfect recipe to re-program a human being into a cult member. Dare to dream they say. But you can drown in dreams !
|
