"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown"
- H.P. Lovecraft
Hello all! As some of you may know, of late I've finally been playing Bloodborne. Now there are many fascinating things to dismantle in this game, but here I'd like to focus on the game mechanic of insight. You gain insight upon meeting bosses, defeating them, visiting important places, or taking it from others who've gone mad. Basically, the more you know beyond banal reality, the more insight you have. Now what's more intriguing is that there's a game functionality called "frenzy" that procs under certain circumstances. The higher your insight level, the more damage less buildup this affliction takes. Now, frenzy appears to be similar to being driven mad, and can result in death. Some of you may already see what point I'm making, but for those who don't, these concepts directly apply to our daily lives.
The most interesting part yet comes when you apply this to our reality. Now do something for me. Compare your current worldview with a child's. Your worldview will typically be much darker, more complicated, and massive than that child ever dreamed life would be. Telling them this would make no sense to them, and while you could walk them through these steps you've taken to gain such information, it would be traumatizing, as it was for you at the time. This applies with any case where one person has access to knowledge that another has yet to gain. Along the same line of thought, in his book "A Voyage to Arcturus", David Lindsay explored the concept that pain allowed us to see reality for what it was, and that the pain, the trauma, really came from tearing down the illusion of our old reality and stepping through to our new one. He viewed the trauma we receive as a bittersweet blessing, for while it was painful and left lasting scars, it did enlighten us. Whether we like what has been revealed doesn't matter. So insight is simply information gained, usually in a painful way, that drastically changes our reality, whether we like it or not. This is perfectly represented both in the game and in our own reality.
With that being said, just because someone has had an illusion torn down, doesn't mean they accept it. This is where that frenzy concept comes in. When such an occasion arises, you have some options. You can change your gear and runes to offer protection, or you can use bloodvials and sedatives to recover and prevent build-up. These are directly representative of real coping measures, ie mental coping strategies and medications. In real life, when put in this situation, sometimes we will choose to lie to ourselves in order to stay in this prior reality, not wanting to give up the comfort it provides. We can spend our lives trying to forget what we've learned, trying to stay behind, but we can never truly go back, and deep down we all know this. Even more tragically are those who choose not to continue. We can choose to either fight against it, or embrace it, but either way we know about it.
This got darker than I had originally thought, but it's no less true. What I want people to take away from this is that we live in a reality hidden behind countless layers of illusions. While the pain of disillusionment is frightening and can be horrifying, there is only one path forward. Visit the nightmares of others, and try to help them through, but always be careful not to adopt this nightmare for your own. Disillusionment and it's pain are the price of clarity, it's a price I gladly pay, but try to remember that not everyone wants it, and respect that choice for what it is. You all are amazing, those of you who I know read this. I hope that these stoke the fires of your minds as much as they do mine, and that you all never stop searching for what's true and real. Remember, no matter how hard it gets, always keep moving forward, I believe in you.
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