A major occupational hazard of being a dissident is the tendency to get black pilled.
In terms of theology, aka real psychology, black pilling is the condition that results when someone’s powers of observation have become so acute at detecting negatives – i.e. “noticing” – that they’re dulled to discerning positives.
This dulling effect is a result of man’s body-soul composite nature. Our physical senses take in data that are impressed upon the immaterial mind like comic strip ink on silly putty.
And due to the way our intellects learn by abstracting from particulars (the mind references sense impressions stored in memory to figure out which categories stuff goes in), referring to the same impressions over and over again habituates us to hyper-focusing on what we pay attention to most while dimming our vision of other things.
NB: A habit that runs contrary to the truth is called a vice.
For those with a melancholic disposition, developing vicious negativity was already easy enough. The 24-hour news cycle and 24/7 social media have now made it everybody’s problem.
Because as everyone in the new counterculture knows, the news isn’t there to inform.
It’s there to make people angry, sad, and fearful.
So-called journalists know sense impressions can affect the mind. And they’re experts at using just the right words and images to instill vicious negativity in their audience.
Therein lie the roots of information age phenomena like [Media Target X] Derangement syndromes.
That’s why Leftists still think Donald Trump is Hitler. They’ve swallowed a constant torrent of clips and sound bytes that have trained their minds to put him in their “Hitler” category.
The same goes for people – even Catholics – who have overwhelmingly negative opinions of Pope Francis. The media they consume has led them to develop a negative habitual disposition that blinds them to anything good about him.
It works a lot like an addiction in that a sensory trigger elicits a mental association and a knee-jerk response.
Which is perverse because our intellects are made to seek and know the truth, ultimately to behold God.
So having a habitual negative view is as disordered as always wearing rose-colored glasses.
The truth lies in having an accurate perception of a given subject.
Not a gloomy view of it, not a rosy view of it; an honest view of it.
The good news is that any bad habit can be broken.
You can say no to negativity.
But it takes self-reflection, discipline, and commitment.
And thanks be to God, Fr. Chad Ripperger is here to help us.
Watch him now:
And for exciting tales of a post-future world where the Great Schism has been healed, Christian monarchs crusade against space bugmen, and they fly giant robots into battle, read my hit military espionage thriller:
I must admit I find myself scrolling looking for trouble which is a habit I intend to break. I recall ZippyCatholic’s (RIP) warning, “Your browser has a ‘Go to Hell’ button.”
It has several.
If the defining characteristic of Francis Derangement Syndrome is not constantly being an anti-Bergoglio swj, but to have a sad inability to see any good (sounds like a lack of charity to me) in him, I might be guilty as charged. Glory to God, thanks for the insight. My bros at the OFS are borderline Francis worshippers, and would smash Latin Masses if there were anyone around, so it might be a reaction. I love Gregorian Chant (Gregorian Chant Academy and Harpa Dei are awesome channels) so the pop slop they subject the chapel attendants to doesn’t help either, nor that some people like to dance to it moving their butts during mass. I’ve always found fascinating that fr. Ripperger’s name is CHAD. God bless.
Praise God for the grace of humility.