Ideology

To understand our world, it is important to understand the concept of ideology. It is a word meant to encompass everything about how we view and interpret the world.

When you start with raw data, you can only make that data valuable by giving it an interpretation. Our brains have certain ways that we do this already. There could be a select few items we notice in our environment, without paying attention to others.

Over time, we start to form a general conception of what is true about the world, and how things work. The ideas that calcify around this interpretation are ideology. It tends to conform to those around us, and it is highly resistant to change. Counterfactual information is not enough, and neither is arguing with opponents. Change can only happen when a person is open to questioning their own ideas and finding a better interpretation that fits the data set better.

The ideology each of us carries around comes in varying degrees from the very fabric of the capitalist society we live in. There are things we accept as true because of all the messages we hear around us from both our media and the people in our lives.

It is not possible to live without ideology. However, it is possible to have more control over our ideology, and reject ideas that uphold oppressive power structures.