Illusions of Truth

Let’s suppose for a moment that a group of prisoners have been bound together in a cave from birth. The prisoners are positioned so they can only look forward. Behind them is a road on which individuals pass, carrying a variety of objects. Behind the road a fire is blazing, causing a projection of shadows of the travelers and the objects onto the wall in front of the prisoners.

The prisoners engage in what appears to us to be a game; naming the shapes as they are cast on the cave wall. This, however, is the only reality that they know, even though they are seeing merely shadows of images. They are thus conditioned to judge the quality of one another by their skill in quickly naming the shapes and dislike those who play poorly.

The story continues with one prisoner breaking free. When he turns around he is blinded by the light. Once his eyes adjust, he is able to see that the light is coming from the fire. Then he sees people walking in front of the fire that is casting the shadows on the wall. As they speak, the prisoner realizes their voices are bouncing off the wall and appear to come from the shadows. This is a moment of enlightenment.

Once enlightenment occurs, one is compelled to lead one from ignorance toward wisdom.
The enlightened prisoner would go back to the others and try to explain that what they were seeing were mere perceptual illusions.

Due to the conditioning these people have experienced their whole life it will be almost impossible to understand what the enlightened prisoner is trying to tell them.

~ Plato’s Allegory of the Cave


Describing the shadows in health and fitness by so called “fitness experts” is the major problem in helping people overcoming their issues with food. Education is of utmost importance…but if your information is flawed, you will be confined to a life of eternal frustration.

In my profession, personal training, I see this dilemma a lot. People come to me with preconceived notions about the “truth” of health and fitness. Their truth comes to them in the form of family, friends, books, and infomercials. (Shadows) These sources of information lead to illusions of truth.

Take a look at these illusionists…

~“Watch the fat melt away instantly as a healthier, firmer body emerges. Enjoy more energy as well as freedom from the symptoms of everything from diabetes to heart disease.” –Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution.

~“No measuring… No counting calories… Eat anything you want once a day.”
-The Carbohydrate Addicts Diet.

~“If your blood type is O, you should eat meat, cut out wheat and grains, and engage in vigorous aerobic exercise…If your blood type is A you should be a vegetarian and engage in gentle exercise like yoga….” -Eating Right 4 Your Type

~“The Zone is….that mysterious but very real state in which your body and mind work together at their ultimate best…the mind is relaxed, yet alert and exquisitely focused…. The body is fluid, strong, and apparently indefatigable. It’s almost euphoric. There are no distractions, and time seems to slow down to a graceful waltz”. -The Zone Diet, by Barry Sears.

In David Eagleman book, “Incognito”, he speaks of this real world manifestation of implicit memory know as the “illusion of truth effect”: you are more likely to believe that a statement is true if you have heard it before…whether or not it is actually true.

A simple pairing of these nutritional concepts from above can be enough to induce an unconscious association and, eventually, the sense that there is something familiar and true about the pairing.

It is important to understand that human nature has two sides (please understand that I am simplifying)…an emotional side and a logical side. The emotional side is triggered by our unconscious associations/memories. The logical side is conscious thoughts.

Our unconscious memories are stored deep within the limbic area (emotions) of the brain. If we do decide to try one of these diets from above, you are somewhat aware (unconsciously) of the claims proposed by the authors. What this leads to is memories that are stored and incorrect. These flawed memories lead to actions that are destructive to our goals. (The dilemma of perception)

Example of a professional dieter…

The moment you step on the scales and see weight loss, you reinforce your belief that “this is the diet for you”. Your Amygdala (memory) has stimulated the Nucleus Accumbens (brains pleasure center) which creates an illusion of success. (Most times the weight lost on the programs above come from muscle and water loss which leads to a decrease in your metabolism)

Had this person stepped on the scales and not lost weight, their Amygdala would have stimulated their Insula… which would have created and aversion toward their program. (This program may have been working…you could have lost fat and built muscle which would have registered as no weight loss)

Perceiving weight loss as success, verses no weight loss as failure, is the cognitive hiccup in all of our efforts for life long weight management.

So I guess the question is…”What do we do?” To begin with we must pursue knowledge without any interference of our emotions (confirmation bias). Keep in mind the “health experts” (shadows) often pray on our emotions. They attract that deep desire for what we have always longed for. Remember the words they used…“Instant, freedom, no measuring, no counting, anything you want, and almost euphoric.” These words lift us to incredible highs only to bring us crashing back down

Schopenhauer once said… “It’s as if life consists of an unending cycle of needs and need of satisfaction. When the need is satisfied, we experience momentary satisfaction, which last only until another need arises, and on it goes”.

It is very important to enjoy the emotions that gives our World color and brings happiness and meaning to our lives. But it is especially important to acknowledge the emotional responses that bring pain and frustration.

In our search for Shalom, (absence of struggle) logic is required. It won’t always be fun and exciting, but it will always be the best decision for long term happiness.

The secret for happiness begins with personal awareness… then proceed to educating yourself from an empirical perspective. (The scientific method)

Always remember there is nothing harder than breaking flawed neurological patterns of belief.

It is only through awareness and education that we will ever achieve enlightenment…and it is only then that true knowledge will manifest itself in our newly created reality of a healthy mind and healthy body.