A Martial Arts Reality

They say that the truth doesn’t need defending. I say the truth is no match for perception, and perception can be manipulated.

We are most affected by how we think things are, not how they are. Cognitive biases can lead to perceptual distortion and illogical interpretations of reality. We see it all the time.

The internet is full of delusional “Masters” with mysterious powers. Their delusion runs so deep that they accept challenges from professional fighters.

Some of these Masters have huge followings. It’s hard to comprehend how so many people can “believe” without requiring any objective evidence of these so-called “powers”. But they do.

One way to avoid falling prey to these delusions is to train yourself to ask one simple question whenever you encounter new information.

That question is not whether the information is true or false. That can be a difficult thing to establish. 

The question you should ask yourself is, does this information have real-world applications? Can it be applied in real life to learn a practical skill or to explain and predict phenomena?

From a Martial Arts perspective, this means using the skills you learn to spar against resisting opponents. With that as your benchmark, you can confidently move forward with your training. You will know that your skills are based on utility and not “truth”.

Javier Garcia