A while back I coined the phrase Reality Translate. A non-existent, tongue in cheek “app” that, though a play on the name of Google Translate, is really a poke at Google AI in general and dishonest people in particular (last time I checked, this morning in fact, January 21st 2025, there’s still no other Reality Translate; so, good for me! Now, about that copyright...).
But seriously, Reality Translate, like the notion of a Self, is just a postulate, or better, an analytical tool for testing one’s responses to the world against the gritty recalcitrance of a Reality that doesn’t give a damn what any of us believe in. In the end it's just my interpretation and makes no claim to be exhaustive. That’s why it works best if one first applies it to themselves.
One can do this by practicing self-criticism without anxiety. That is, they can engage in self-criticism without allowing any anxiety to interfere with that self-examination, especially when it comes to the ideas we live by and cherish the most. An example of this can be found in what the great cultural historian and behavioral theorist Morse Peckham used to tell his students.
“You have to force your ideas to the wall, dig deep into their pockets, and if they yield nothing of value, cut their throats on the spot, and without mercy.”
With a little practice it is a very enjoyable and extremely healthy activity to engage in, and like anything else we learn to love, we miss it when we don’t do it. But, above all, it’s value is to help us answer the two most important questions in life, What is Mankind? and the most important of all, Who am I? And those are the questions that help us learn to ascribe value to ouselves and, just as importantly, even more so, ascribe value to others. In other words, self-criticism without anxiety is an act of self-love that helps us learn to extend that love to others, to move from egocentricity to empathy, and from empathy to justice. Everything else is Identity Politics, ie; a Lie.
In any event, Reality Translate does not claim to know the Absolute Truth of anything, and for a reason, there is no Absolute Truth, just concrete facts and our interpretations of them, which may or may not be reliable. Reality Translate just states the obvious whenever someone is obviously lying.
It’s especially handy when an individual or group wants you to believe that lie, or else. For example, and speaking of Identity Politics, here’s a quote from Gad Saad, a Canadian marketing professor with a youtube channel:
“If I have to choose between a tall, muscular, and fit white heterosexual man, or a short, fat, lesbian of color to rescue me from a burning building, I would always prefer the latter because it is best to die knowing that you are an empathetic person who is an ally to fat lesbians of color.”
Notice he naturally assumes he is going to die. Shows you what faith he has in his own belief-system, which like any belief-system is one’s source of identity and value. In any event, let’s now consider the same quote when applied to Reality Translate:
“If I have to choose between a tall, muscular, and fit white heterosexual man, or a short, fat, lesbian of color, to rescue me from a burning building, I would always prefer the latter, because I hate all tall, muscular, and fit white hterosexual men that much. But, because I am a dishonest and envious person I can’t admit this - ever.
Also, it’s exactly because I’m dishonest that I couldn’t possibly be empathetic, because empathy and honesty go together, of course. Empathy, after all, is about genuine concern and respect, and how can you respect yourself if you’re willng to lie, and how can you have empathy for others if you don’t respect yourself? And the reason for my hatred of white men is because I suffer from a bad relationship - with myself! I mean, of course! How could I not. I mean, just look at me! Cause I sure can't. Too painful.
“This self-hatred has led to dishonesty, and this dishonesty has led to compulsivity, and compulsivity has led to addiction, and addiction has led to insanity. But because this is all culturally validated, it’s a deeply internalized, controlled insanity based on an absence of self-awareness, since there’s no self to devleop, since I am a cultural deposit, a mere social role, in a word - a puppet (as are most people) and not at all a self-actualized individual. The unhappy result of all of this is an aversion to any but the most superficial forms of Reality.
“Also, and ironically, I am a racist, sexist, homophobic, fatphobic, lilliputianophobic liar. Obviously. I mean, really, what could be more racist, sexist, homophobic, fatphobic, and lilliputianophobic than using a short, fat, lesbian of color to feed my Dark Triad tribe’s addiction to hate-based power?
And what accounts for all of this hate, and corresponding need to scapegoat, that even extends to our gullible allies, paid proxies, and useful idiots, and not just to all tall, fit, muscular, white heterosexual men? Well, I've already told you. It's the fact that, as a member of The Dark Triad, I suffer from a bad relationship - with myself! And if it’s one thing psychopaths fear most it’s exposure. And now we’re back to why we can’t admit this - ever.
That's why, unlike Morse Peckham, we could never engage in self-criticism without anxiety. On the contrary, we flee from the truth of ourselves the way Dracular flees from the light of day, or the Devil from Holy Water.
That’s why, not just all tall, muscular, and fit white heterosexual men like Paul Rothwell, but the whole fucking world has to pay for what we hungry-for-power, narcissistic, psychopaths of The Dark Triad can’t face about ourselves! This is why we are willing and able to turn computers and cell phones into explosive devices so as to kill anyone who criticizes us, even when we are lying about them and they are telling the truth about us.”
End of Quote
So there you are! This is what Reality Translate can do to, not just lawyers, but anyone addicted to turning a lie into a truth and a truth into a lie.
Reality Translate is an explosive app (forgive the pun) that can expose hate-based power and turn it into a Reality-based Value - of Life itself.
It is, in a word, Love.
And that is definitely what the world needs now. In fact, all it can get.
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