In recent years, even the mainstream press has begun to discuss the idea that addiction to certain behaviors — social media use, for example, or pornography consumption — can be every bit as serious as addiction to drugs. In both categories, remarkably similar processes unfold in the brain, and in both cases dopamine — one of the chemicals that governs brain activity — plays a central role.
What receives far less attention, however, is that the very same mechanisms are also activated by the discovery of a hidden truth about the world. The revelation of concealed truth affects the brain in much the same way as hearing that you have just won a hundred million in the lottery.
Suddenly the world begins to make sense. Contradictions and absurdities disappear, and everything becomes perfectly clear. At the same time, you begin to feel superior to those who are still trapped in illusion. A person simply feels better — often euphorically so. And the brain protects this new state. It starts filtering information, blocking out facts that conflict with the hidden truth. The convert eagerly explains this truth to others who have not yet been enlightened, while gradually losing interest in contact with anyone who rejects it.
But a one-time transformation is not enough. Like any addict, the seeker of hidden truths requires constant reinforcement. Before long, ordinary revelations no longer suffice, and he needs to uncover ever more horrifying secrets. Things that once would have seemed absurd now pass without resistance, because he has already “seen through” the deception, and ordinary logical safeguards no longer operate.
You may recognize the pattern from the film The Matrix. Whoever swallows the blue pill remains in a world of uncertainty, doubt, difficult inquiry, and competing theories. Whoever takes the red pill discovers the “real world” instantly and without effort. In reality, however, the red pill does not bring us closer to truth. It merely makes us feel far better. In this respect, The Matrix is lying.
I remember a sad heroin addict who told me decades ago that he would never again feel as good as he did under the influence of heroin.
But then again — what if someone truly does reveal to us an important reality that had remained hidden all along?