Language Entrapping View

This is something I've been trying to put into words for a very long time while dialoging with my friend screwy, but have always failed at it. it is about the inner machinations of the mind to stick to the status qou way of thinking without ever really questioning the very paradigm within which it exists. without further ado, so eloquently put, here it goes, in the words of Rodney smith.
"All is held by the mind's view, the vast network of assumptions and relationships of one concept to another, which provides the overlay and logic of the structure that ties everything together. The view we hold is most easily discerned through the narrative we tell ourselves about what is happening. as long as we maintain our story line, the view walls us off from contradiction, and inconsistencies are incorporated back into the story's point of view. for example, the current worldview holds that variations from the agreed-upon reality, such as extra-sensory perception, other realms of existence, or ghosts, are not provable. The system of proof is derived from the view that believes these experiences are imagined. Since the view is configured to eliminate any threat from conflicting evidence, the proof is never validated. "Yes," we say. "There are many examples of ghost stories, but these instances cannot be replicated, and most people never see ghosts at all. Therefore it is not logically consistent or scientifically verifiable [which are standards set by the prevailing view]." The real problem is that there is no explanation for these occurrences within the established view, and therefore they must be dismissed in order for things to continue as normal.
The mind's responsibility is to manage the concepts it knows and to hold conflicting ideas at bay in order to firmly fix reality and our place within it. Our inner narrative takes the agreed-upon view and applies it to the details of our life. It becomes our story, and we are the story tellers. When the story is threatened, the wagons are circled and our defenses contract around our view. Most experiences that threaten the view are denied, avoided, or dismissed, and those that reinforce it are incorporated. We end up strengthening the sense-of-self with every perception."
Indeed, if you observe your own opinions and views you will find that most, if not all, are informed by the very current dominant world-view grafted onto our own thoughts. whether democrat, republican, hippie, or conservative, the opposites all fit within this paradigm of pitting polar opposite against polar opposite. to step outside your own self-deception, as Rodney smith painstakingly traces in his book, is the first key to true freedom.

stepping out of self-deception

a quick read about the dangers of the desire to change:
"I teach a number of beginning meditation classes, and when i start each series by asking people about their expectations, inevitably they mention their desire to change. Their motivation comes from the hope of being altered in some way, and their receptivity is narrowed to the language of self-modification. They are usually pragmatic and willing to expend energy for a qualified period of time if the hardship of practicing translates into change.
embedded in our psyche is the concept of change, a sense of growing toward something. We believe in time and we use time to achieve our goals. Evolution provides a sense of meaning, purpose, and direction. It motivates us to see ourselves evolving over time, and it gives us hope and determination that a better life, or at least a better "me" within life, is possible.
The language of change also fits the Dharma's emphasis on impermanence. The teaching of annica, or the transitory quality of all things, is central to the whole of Buddhism. it states that all phenomenon, both mental and physical, are in a constant state of flux. When we incorporate that view into our spiritual practice, we begin to believe that we should be changing right along with the rest of the phenomenal world, and this satisfies the desire to navigate around our problems without having to understand them.
It is true that everything about us is changing, everything except our view that life is always changing. this fixed view looks out upon the field of change and says, "Yes, I am evolving, becoming more patient, steady, and centered. Yes, it is working." The view paradoxically reinforces the sense-of-self that loves to perceive change but refuses to abide within it. everything is changing in body and mind except the "I' that perceives that fact, because the sense-of-I is a conceptual idea and concepts do not change. The self maintains its secure footing by observing change from afar and reflecting upon it. Abiding within change is a threat to its continuity, so "I" keep change at bay by holding a view about it.
"Stepping Out Of Self Deception" by Rodney Smith. Ch. 8- Language entrapping view- pg. 111-112.