The Sneetches: The Ashen Divide In The Ocean

Well well well, look at what the cat in the hat dragged in. If it isn't Theodor Seuss Geisel. Doc, welcome back to the content critique section of the "Allegedly" blog.

Now in the spotlight for the 2nd time, I can say with absolute certainty that revisiting the wonders of Dr. Seusses' world through the lens of an adult has been an emotional rollercoaster, to say the least. The doc continues his mental table tennis brigade by ping-ponging me with poignant visceral reactions that coincide with existential truths, it's exhausting. This time instead of a Greta Thunberg orange mustache man, the Doc provoked me through an entirely different avenue. Social divide and The Sneetches.

Now, the Star-Belly Sneetches had bellies with stars. The Plain-Belly Sneetches had none upon thars.

The Sneetches is an anecdote on genetic predispositions, and how its arbitrary nature is often victim to severe unwarranted discrimination. It's a beautiful child-like illustration of the toxin that is social psychology.

In Dr.Seuss's famous tale, there are two kinds of Sneetches: Star-Belly and Plain-Belly Sneetches. As far as the reader can discern, the only somatic variance is the stars on some of their bellies. Despite the insignificance of this superfluous phenotype, the Star-Belly Sneetches think they are superior to Plain-Belly Sneetches. This pseudo superiority impedes any realm of possibility that would allow this binary species to live in harmony.

The conflict element of the story begins when a man wishes to sell the Sneetches stars and star removals. This causes quite the stir; none of the Sneetches can recall who had stars and who didn’t. Through a series of events, the Sneetches learn that they are all the same. No kind of Sneetches is the best on the beaches.

So What:

The lesson of this book as far as the internet is concerned is "People are all different. We look different, act different, and like different things. Accept people for who they are, even though they may be different." A gentle honest takeaway, but a far cry from the conclusion I reached. At "Allegedly" we pride ourselves in our faint incisions beyond the surface, manifesting the mantle of truth.

I believe this story showcases how the final shield of sanity can be breached, a guide if you will, to alleviate all defenses against mob mentality mania.

‘Just pay me your money, then hop right aboard!’ So they clambered inside. Then the big machine roared.

The remedy of order in the Sneetches was consumed by chaos the second a Sneetch had the irrational thought pattern that Stars=Precedence. When an exaggerated irrational thought pattern is validated by many, it spreads like wildfire through groups of people with similar ideals. This stems from the arrival of psychopathological states that feed off each other, connecting these victims of distortion. This collective victim complex is absent of any critical thinking, for it is Ideology in its most malicious form.

Ideology is a mask of deceit. It's a group of fleeting thoughts absent of any cogitation. It's a feedback loop of "If I think it, it is true" AKA "I have a star, I'm the best kind of Sneetch on the Beaches". This is a long-term game, with long-term consequences. The ideologue is an academic by proxy; empty cans make a lot of noise.

You are not telling me what you believe, you are revealing what your instructions were.

In the sequence of reaching critical thought, the final progression is taking a chance.

Who is willing to endanger themselves and stand up to the mob?

We know who is who! Now there isn’t a doubt. The very best Sneetches are Sneetches without.

After religiously rereading this story I continued to ask myself, where does this urge to belong even come from? It almost appears that there is an existence of some endogenous prerogative that one must have a baseless conviction, simply to assimilate themselves with a collective. Latching on to an idea seems to be the gateway drug into rather primal actions. This blind desire to belong is a horrific predecessor to deindividuation, a current epidemic that is contributing to the fall of the west.

“I belong to this side or that side” is a mere microcosm of the black and white thinking that continues to plague society. That myopic thinking of the color wheel's anthesis

exists as a blockade for any true progressive school of thought.

What is the solution?

One idiosyncrasy that iv learned is when there is a visible fraction that lies in between you and others that accentuates beyond reasons you can discern. Deciphering the puzzle of where that split begins, almost without exception, elucidates wisdom that was entirely hidden from you.

Where does the divide begin?

Not the somatic variance of the Sneetches, but a Sneetches natural disposition of mental and emotional traits. This is what molds the personality. Personality psychology is where the true variation of cognitive processes resides. I want to know what traits aid in the choice to get a star or not. The substrate in-between the traits exist as a grey middle ground of black and white thinking.

Between black/white thinking is a vast ashen OCEAN.

Deep Blue Sea

According to the OCEAN Model, there are only five main components of personality. These five components are Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. As you can understand, OCEAN is the acronym of the five main traits in the model.

At a later date, we will set sail off Sneetch Beach, and find the grey area. The Ashen divide in the OCEAN.

Inoculating the mind of an individual with propaganda that authenticates a prior cognitive distortion will cut the final thread of rope that upholds the blade waiting to fall on the head of the west.