The Avoidance Of Truth - Why You Fear Truth

"All the techniques of the therapist are in one way or another truth-
revealing, or are ways of strengthening the patient so he can bear the truth."
- Abraham Maslow

"The good life demands a preoccupation with truth."

• New Year's Address : Leo Gura begins his lecture on the avoidance of truth with a greeting for New Year 2022, stressing the importance of this serious topic despite casual appearances, reminding viewers that appearances can be misleading.
• Truth as a Fundamental Principle of Life : Leo identifies a key insight regarding the deep-seated human tendency to avoid truth, labeling it as a core aspect of human behavior that leads to various negative consequences in life.
• Running Away from Reality and Self : He articulates that people expend considerable effort avoiding truth across assorted life domains, connecting the avoidance of personal truth to an avoidance of reality itself, hinting at a profound link between 'self' and 'reality.'
• Truth as the Highest Value : Leo contends that truth is the utmost value, equating it with reality, and asserts that anything not aligned with truth essentially ceases to exist.
• Humans' Relationship with Truth : He observes that most people only value truth pragmatically, as it pertains to survival or pragmatic purposes, critiquing the philosophical doctrine of pragmatism for equating truth with practical consequences.
• Exceptional Life through Valuing Truth : Leo suggests that valuing truth deeply is essential for an extraordinary life and urges viewers to prioritize the pursuit of truth in every life situation, despite any discomfort it may cause.
• Truth Alignment as a Measure of Character : Leo proposes that a commitment to truth distinguishes an individual and will metamorphose their life over time, setting them apart from those who embrace self-deception and fantasy.
• Corruption of Religious Truth : He criticizes the modern misrepresentation of religious teachings regarding truth, which he believes are intended to guide individuals towards leading truthful lives but have deviated significantly from this goal.
• Development of Introspection : Leo encourages the development of introspection and mindfulness to recognize subtle instances of truth avoidance, and advocates for a proactive approach to facing uncomfortable truths head-on.
• Practical Applications of Truth : He discusses the importance of aligning truth with various aspects of life, including business, career, relationships, emotions, motivations, worldviews, health, diet, and spirituality, to create a high-quality, authentic life.
• Truth Avoidance in New Domains : Leo acknowledges how individuals often enter new areas of life with delusions and unrealistic expectations, and emphasizes the need to align oneself with the realities of life to achieve true success and personal growth.
• Fantasies and New Endeavors : Leo Gura points out that when entering new domains such as fitness, dating, business, or meditation, people often carry unrealistic expectations called 'newbie fantasies' that ultimately must be confronted and dispelled through experience.
• Newbie Fantasies vs. Reality : Individuals entering new fields have to let reality dismantle their naive preconceptions. This process can be painful as it requires parts of their identity and beliefs to be altered or let go, in response to the actual workings of the world.
• The Pain of Letting Go : Engaging in new areas of life requires a transformation in thought and this shift can be painful. Many people opt to quit rather than endure the discomfort of having their misconceptions shattered.
• Avoidance of Medical Check-ups : As a practical example, Leo describes how avoidance of truth materializes in people's reluctance to attend medical check-ups due to fear of bad news, such as receiving a positive STD test result.
• Weight Avoidance as Truth Avoidance : An example of avoiding truth includes reluctance to check one’s weight on a scale due to dissatisfaction with one's body, and how this represents avoiding the reality of one's situation.
• Rationalizing Poor Dietary Choices : People often avoid looking at nutritional information on junk food, and rationalize their choices by misrepresenting their consumption or downplaying the calorie content through various justifications.
• Disconnecting Food Effects from Health : Leo observes that individuals commonly ignore their bodies' negative reactions to junk food, allowing continual unhealthy eating habits which contribute to issues like chronic fatigue and depression, due to a reluctance to connect these habits to their consequences.
• Rationality in Service of Falsehood : He emphasizes the extent to which people use logical and rational processes to avoid difficult truths and maintain comforting delusions, noting that rationality is often employed in service of false beliefs and avoiding painful realities.
• Rationality and Truth Avoidance : Rational individuals often engage in truth avoidance, believing rationality and logic to be inherently truthful, when in fact they may use these tools to shield themselves from uncomfortable truths.
• Perception of Rationality : The perception that logical and rational individuals are immune to self-deception is false, as these individuals can be deeply entrenched in ego games and rationalizations that keep them from facing reality.
• Leo's View on Science : Leo clarifies his stance on science, stating that he is not against it but critical of the rationalizations and ego games within the scientific community that distort the pursuit of truth.
• Changing Channels to Avoid Discomfort : People change television channels or videos when confronted with uncomfortable content, such as the plight of impoverished children or animal suffering, indicating a common truth avoidance behavior.
• Consumer Impact on World Issues : Leo discusses how personal consumption habits contribute to global problems like factory farming, global warming, and sweatshop labor, and the tendency to ignore these connections in favor of personal comfort.
• Confronting Reality's Brutality : Reality can be brutal, and Leo suggests that part of maturing and living a good life involves opening oneself up to face reality in its full breadth, even without the need for personal comfort.
• Avoiding Eye Contact with the Homeless : The instinct to avoid eye contact with homeless individuals to circumvent feelings of empathy and self-reflection is an example of truth avoidance in everyday life.
• Fear of Checking Notifications : The avoidance of checking phones, emails, or voicemails due to the fear of potentially receiving bad news reflects a broader pattern of truth avoidance.
• Developing Introspective Skills with Micro Examples : Leo recommends using daily occurrences and small acts of truth avoidance to develop introspective skills to understand the discomfort they bring and apply this understanding to more significant aspects of life.
• Avoiding Business Audits : Business owners avoiding audits out of fear of uncovering unfavorable information exemplifies truth avoidance, which can have practical negative consequences like bankruptcy.
• Addiction as Truth Avoidance : Addiction to substances like food, drugs, sex, or behavior like internet use, is essentially a way to evade confronting difficult emotions or life realities, such as dissatisfaction with a job or appearance.
• Facing Trauma : Avoiding confronting past trauma can lead to addiction, as facing difficulties requires dealing with negative emotions many people would rather escape through temporary pleasures.
• Acknowledging Personal Deficiencies : Individuals often avoid admitting personal flaws and may become defensive instead of addressing their issues, leading to rationalizations that maintain these negative traits.
• Selfish Pursuit of Desires with Collateral Damage : Leo illustrates that people's selfish cravings often result in harm to others, which they prefer to ignore to avoid guilt. This can lead to sociopathic behavior in material pursuits and sexual conquests, as they rationalize away the damage done to satisfy their own desires.
• Avoidance of Facing Physical Appearance : Discussing personal body image issues, Leo describes how individuals avoid confronting parts of their appearance they dislike, such as a prominent nose or hair loss. They may even express hatred towards these features, mistaking this aversion for facing the truth, rather than genuinely accepting and making peace with their reality.
• Procrastination on Addressing Deep Personal Problems : Leo points out how individuals avoid taking action on significant issues such as socialization or dating due to fear and discomfort. The avoidance leads to rationalizing and subscribing to ideologies or consuming content online that distracts from the necessary work required for self-improvement.
• Shooting the Messenger : Leo observes that people tend to direct anger towards those bringing bad news, as a method of avoidance, rather than dealing with the unwelcome reality of the news itself.
• Underestimating the Complexity of Projects : He reflects on the tendency to underestimate the time and effort required for business projects. This delusion can act as a motivator to start a project but may have karmic consequences, such as the project becoming more complicated than anticipated.
• Avoiding Other Worldviews and Perspectives : Leo discusses how individuals and groups, from religious followers to scientists, protect their worldviews by dismissing contradictory perspectives. This avoidance hinders the potential growth that could come from considering and integrating these different ideas.
• Rejecting Painful Feedback : Painful feedback is often avoided because it can reveal uncomfortable truths about ourselves that we deny. Leo emphasizes that while such feedback can significantly contribute to personal growth, it is commonly met with anger or defensiveness.
• Denial of Ongoing Problems : He notes how people refuse to admit when something is wrong, be it in personal relationships or broader scenarios like military interventions. This denial can lead to prolonged issues rather than acknowledging and resolving them.
• Reluctance to Accept Unworkable Relationships : Leo mentions the difficulty people face in admitting the need to end unsustainable relationships because of the associated pain and loss of comfort the relationship provides, which leads to a denial of the necessary breakup.
• Avoidance in Personal Relationships : Leo discusses how individuals stay in unfulfilling marriages due to fear of the pain associated with divorce, especially when children are involved, leading to bitterness and depression from avoiding the truth of a dead marriage.
• Denial of Corruption in Affiliated Entities : He addresses individuals' avoidance of acknowledging corruption within companies, political parties, religions, or academic institutions they're deeply attached to, such as denial of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church by priests.
• Difficulty in Accepting Attraction Dynamics : Leo discusses the challenge people face in accepting difficult truths about attraction, such as older women accepting men's attraction to youth and men accepting women's attraction to status and strength, leading to avoidance and resentment when these qualities are lacking.
• Living in Fantasy and Victimhood : By avoiding stark truths in domains like business, politics, or personal relationships, individuals become ineffective in achieving their goals and may feel like victims due to their reluctance to change the lens through which they see the world.
• Long-term Consequences of Self-Deception : Leo likens self-deception to taking out a high-interest credit loan—initially comforting but costly in the long run, as seen in the avoidance of societal changes by the Republican Party and its slide into delusion, culminating in the rise of Trump and MAGA movement.
• Avoidance of Societal Changes and the Constitution’s Relevance : He critiques the Republican Party's refusal to admit and confront societal evolution, such as changes in technology, culture, or attitudes towards gender and race, and the need to update the Constitution to address contemporary issues.
• Truth Avoidance at a Collective Level : Leo presents China's censorship and control over the internet as an example of avoiding truth at a national level, predicting its eventual unsustainability and potential for causing unrest when people gain unrestricted access to information.
• Tyranny Founded on Falsehood : He asserts that tyranny is based on falsehood and the suppression of truth is only a temporary tactic; eventually, the cost of such falsehood will catch up and lead to the downfall of tyrannical systems.
• Valuing Truth as a Lifelong Commitment : Leo emphasizes the importance of taking truth seriously and committing one's life to it, even though this path can lead to resentment and challenges from others who may attempt to pull you back into their delusions.
• Steadfast Conviction in Pursuit of Truth : He explains the necessity of having the conviction to pursue truth, despite the potential backlash from society, which can go to the extreme lengths of punishing truth-tellers through imprisonment or even death.
• Proactivity versus Avoidance in Seeking Truth : Leo compares the daily proactive seeking of truth to the avoidance of truth, suggesting that small daily confrontations with truth are preferable to allowing falsehoods to accumulate and exacerbate over time.
• Continual Work on Truth in Relationships : He advocates for constant work and truthfulness in marriage as an example, to avoid the buildup of issues that could lead to a 'nasty divorce'.
• Recognizing and Overcoming Defense Mechanisms : Leo urges the practice of introspection to recognize and overcome the mind's defense mechanisms and excuses that prevent facing the truth.
• Contemplation Questions on Truth : He poses several profound contemplation questions to help individuals stop avoiding truth, such as assessing one's value of truth and the personal costs of avoiding it.
• Developing a Love for the Pursuit of Truth : Leo recommends cultivating an appreciation for the pursuit of truth, likening it to a weightlifter learning to love the burn of exercise – to endure the 'sting' as part of the growth process.
• Vision of a Truth-Oriented Future : He encourages envisioning a long-term future where handling truth is a strength that inspires trust and leadership in others.
• Identifying Areas of Personal Truth Avoidance : Leo suggests making an exhaustive list of personal truth avoidance areas and contemplating the fears that underlie this avoidance.
• Truth and Love as Identical Values : He clarifies that truth and love are, ultimately, identical and the highest values, explaining that loving the truth involves accepting reality exactly as it is without succumbing to fantasy or selfish desires.
• Living in Truth as the Foundation of a Good Life : Leo describes the reward for aligning oneself with reality as a life filled with love, truth, and fearlessness, and he identifies the avoidance of truth as the root of a dysfunctional life.
• Intellectual Integrity as an Essential Quality : He argues that intellectual integrity is a pivotal quality for truth-seeking and advises against taking seriously those who lack it.
• Societal Structures Pulling Towards Falsehood : Leo observes that societal and cultural norms often pull people towards falsehood, making a life based on truth rare and requiring courage and independence.
• Historical Patterns of Truth Avoidance : He notes the historical pattern of truth avoidance and suppression throughout human history and beckons to question why this pattern persists.
• Devilry Defined in Relation to Truth : Leo defines devilry as elaborate methods and mental gymnastics used to avoid facing the truth.
• Importance of Intellectual Integrity : He suggests planning an episode on the significance of intellectual integrity and highlights the necessity to identify and dismiss those who lack this quality in public discourse.
• Dismissing Individuals with Low Intellectual Integrity : Leo Gura emphasizes the importance of dismissing individuals with no intellectual integrity from serious intellectual discussions. He uses Donald Trump and Fox News hosts as examples, warning that taking such individuals seriously allows them to gaslight and intellectually abuse you, ultimately debasing your own understanding of the truth.
• Proper Function of Healthy Society : A healthy society, according to Leo, should assist its members in staying honest and provide a variety of perspectives to help avoid individual self-deception. However, he criticizes current societal structures as dysfunctional and toxic, contributing more to mutual deceit than to mutual understanding and growth.
• Confronting the Pain of Truth : Leo advocates for recognizing moments when we avoid truth and urges us to confront the associated pain, fear, and inconvenience. Committing to facing the truth is pivotal for living the "highest life," which he describes as grounded, real, and free of drama.
• Psychedelics and Contemplation for Revealing Truth : He introduces psychedelics in combination with contemplation as powerful methods for exposing lies and delusions, provided there's an intention of pursuing the truth. He cautions that without this intention, psychedelics alone may not lead to enlightenment, as society often demonizes truth-revealing substances to maintain collective delusions.
• The Ultimate Truth Avoidance - Love as Infinite Selflessness : Leo identifies the ultimate truth people avoid as the realization of infinite selflessness, or love defined as there being no difference between anything. This concept parallels the idea of God, with all fear being rooted in an avoidance of this infinite self.
• Questions for Facing Truth : He offers a series of questions to aid in confronting personal truths, such as biases, fears, traumas, and areas of life misaligned with truth. Leo recommends using these questions with a notepad to facilitate deep introspection.
• Being Honest with Oneself Before Others : Leo advises honesty with oneself over honesty with others. He cautions against using truth as a weapon against others, as recognition of varying capacities to handle truth is critical for cultivating the highest love and avoiding traumatizing others with challenging truths.
• Truth as a Path to Health : The connection between truth and health is discussed as a fundamental equation for living the 'good life.' Leo stresses that health encompasses not just the physical aspect but also mental, spiritual, and societal health. Without truth, gaining holistic health in these areas is unattainable.