Mistaking The World We’ve Made For The Real World

George Saunders
339 words, 8K views, 8 comments

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The instant we wake the story begins: “Here I am. In my bed. Hard worker, good dad, decent husband, a guy who always tries his best. Jeez, my back hurts. Probably from the stupid gym.”

And just like that, with our thoughts, the world gets made.

Or, anyway, a world gets made.

This world-making via thinking is natural, sane, Darwinian: we do it to survive. Is there harm in it? Well, yes, because we think in the same way that we hear or see: within a narrow, survival-enhancing range. We don’t see or hear all that might be seen or heard but only that which is helpful for us to see and hear. Our thoughts are similarly restricted and have a similarly narrow purpose: to help the thinker thrive.

All of this limited thinking has an unfortunate by-product: ego. Who is trying to survive? “I” am. The mind takes a vast unitary wholeness (the universe), selects one tiny segment of it (me), and starts narrating from that point of view. Just like that, that entity (George!) becomes real, and he is (surprise, surprise) located at the exact center of the universe, and everything is happening in his movie, so to speak; it is all, somehow, both for and about him. In this way, moral judgment arises: what is good for George is… good. What is bad for him is bad. (The bear is neither good nor bad until, looking hungry, it starts walking toward George.)

So, in every instant, a delusional gulf gets created between things as we think they are and things as they actually are. Off we go, mistaking the world we’ve made with our thoughts for the real world. Evil and dysfunction (or at least obnoxiousness) occur in proportion to how solidly a person believes that (their) projections are correct and energetically acts upon them.

Excerpted from here.

SEED QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: How do you relate to the notion that we mistake the world we’ve made with our thoughts for the real world? Can you share a personal story of a time you became aware of your thoughts being within a narrow, survival-enhancing range? What helps you see and hear more than your projection?

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8 Past Reflections

On Nov 18, 2023 Eric wrote :

I was accosted by a mentally ill person one Tuesday. I believe they were of the notion that I must be racist for making eye contact and wishing them good morning. My life was threatened and I was trying to understand what just happened. Later that day I received this email. I didn't think much of it right away. I was extremely grateful but still absorbed in the emotions of what had transpired. That I received this story, on that day, after that particular moment is nothing short of a Miracle. The Divine is Real.

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On Nov 16, 2023 Barbara wrote :

Slowing down, authentic deep Listening helps me see and hear better.

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On Nov 15, 2023 Francis dacosta wrote :

In AI there is a term, Ground Truth. for me that is the Buddha touching the Earth as witness for veracity. The physical senses experienced not inferred.

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On Nov 14, 2023 David B wrote :

Quite enjoyed this article. I would not say our thoughts create the ego. Rather it is identification with our sense of individuality that creates the "I" sense ( which forms naturally in the process of separation from mother). That then drives the self-interest and mental narratives which in turn reinforce the ego. When we awaken to our true nature, that identification breaks. Then all the narratives fall away and we begin to see the world much more as it is. Then we can have a much more harmonious relationship with the world and those around us.

I agree that, in a sense, we create our own world. But it's not a separate world the same way, except in certain cases of mental illness. Rather, it's something of a shared narrative that overlaps a lot with others.

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On Nov 11, 2023 stream wrote :

Tikun Olam Wasn’t that what I was doing all along? But , I didn’t know that I was God. I did not even know if it was okay to feel everything. To feel all of their pangs and tickles, to synchronize my breath with the ones who were dying, or even to gush my tears when bathing in the glowing aura of a newborn’s entrance. The need for justice certainly arose early yet my calls for help which were masked expressions of love came out as whining or violent uncontrolled thrashings that resulted in isolation that made any possibility of effectiveness or even expression hopeless. The work I did in caves of course was unseen and dimly remembered. Yet , there was a beginning, a melting into some communal pool, a chipping of the shell through which the light could enter in. And there were bells. Church, school, news, harbingers, temple bells in the scrub trees of a Himalyan dawn, and rocks ringing in cascades, and laughter of children feeling something untai... [View Full Comment]

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On Nov 10, 2023 Jagdish P Dave wrote :

"Yatha drushti tatha srushti" is an old wise saying in Sanskrit. As is my vision so is my world. What is my vision made of? Is it made up of my self interst, self- seving purpose then my world view will be narow. If my vision of the world is shaped by going beyond my self-seving purpose, then a transfomation takes place in my outlook, actions and ways of living my life. I transcend my ego-what is in for me, and I go beyond my self-serving narow world. I feel othes are me. My consciousness becomes larger and higher. I go thriving beyond surving. I feel a part of the lager world, a citizen of the univese. A universe in which we relate to each other as brothers and sisters. Going beyond onself is a spiritual journey. It has not been easy for me to go beyond myself. My parents were good role models for me. I learned from them how to live spiritually, how to serve others unselfishly, how to go beyond my self -serving thinking and behaving. How not get atteched to my egoistic desires, thin... [View Full Comment]

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On Nov 10, 2023 David Doane wrote :

Wonderful title "Mistaking the world we've made for the real world," and I in the world we've made agree with it. It was probably in middle middle age, more than 20 years ago, that I began to become aware that I see and am conditioned to see a very thin slice of the whole spectrum of what is, and think that is the entire spectrum. I began being aware that my thoughts are within a narrow range that is survival enhancing and survival limiting and even survival threatening. I think the full range would be too much for my limited human self, but the range we created is too narrow -- we do some throwing the baby out with the bath water, some cutting off from the neck down to save our head. What helps me to wake up, see and hear more than my projection is searching, being open, paying attention, discussing, listening, reading, reflecting. I think searching and being open are major ingredients.