How to Think Clearly in a World That Wants You Divided

Photo: Micah & Sammie Chaffin

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Let’s start with this:

The second you attach your identity to a “side,” you’ve already cut yourself off from seeing clearly.

Not because having a stance is wrong, but because the moment it becomes who you are, you stop looking. You stop questioning. You stop seeing what’s real.

That’s how people lose their grip on reality without even realizing it, and that is exactly what we are seeing in society right now.

We live in a time where everything is tribal.

Political, spiritual, cultural, even personal development, it’s all fractured. People don’t just believe things, they are tied to them. That’s the real problem.

When you are tied to a belief, you’re no longer engaged with reality. You’re repeating old narratives, defending inherited ideas, and reacting from emotional memory rather than awareness. And in that state, clarity is impossible.

So the work isn’t just to become more open minded. It’s to wake up enough to see how programmed we’ve become, and how that programming plays out in real time through our reactions, decisions, and relationships.

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Identity and Reaction: The Root of Manipulation

Let’s be clear. Most of what people believe isn’t based on evidence or logic. It’s based on emotional wiring. Childhood trauma. Cultural influence. Psychological defense.

That’s why people get so triggered when you challenge their “side.” Because you’re not just questioning an idea, you’re threatening their sense of self. And if someone has no deeper foundation beneath that identity, they’ll either lash out or collapse.

Or worse - they will murder people. As we are seeing today.

So when you see people foaming at the mouth over headlines, arguments, or ideologies, you’re not looking at informed citizens. You’re looking at emotional systems running on autopilot. You’re looking at robots.

That’s what makes modern society so volatile, and why self awareness of this is no longer optional. It’s essential.