We all exist in our own bubbles of reality. We have our own ideas of standards, morality, beliefs, ideas of right and wrong, etc. Someone who is religious and interprets the world around them as a gift from God will have a very different reality from an atheist who sees the world around them as a result of a beautiful scientific accident.

I had heard a quote many years ago by Friedrich Nietzsche so powerful that it took me months to fully understand what it meant and it was like a curtain lifted. Like Neo when he could finally see The Matrix code. So here it is: “All things are subject to interpretation. Whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth.”

Some of you may understand it right away while others may fumble with it. I thought it was simple enough that I thought I understood it at first. It wasn’t until I started seeing it in the real world that it started to make more sense and I finally got it.

I used to be very very poor in an urban neighborhood full of crime. In my early 20s I had to move back in with my mother and was barely working. Despite all this I still wanted a successful dating life while at bars and clubs.

One of the things I started to tell women was, “I never go on dates.” I’d usually get an eyebrow raise followed by “why not?” as a response. Maybe you think I would explain my predicament to these women? That I was living at home and didn’t have much money to afford all the dates with the women I was talking to. But my pride wouldn’t allow that and everything I had learned about seduction was not to go the pity route if you want to get laid. So instead I would tell them, “Dates add too much pressure to an interaction. I like to be non-chalant and carefree while we get to know each other. Like two friends going on an adventure together. Plus I don’t want you thinking that if you paid for everything that I owed you something at the end of the date.” Which usually gets a laugh and because they never heard someone put it that way before they never had a counter argument to what I said.

So is what I said the truth? Sure I think there’s some good points there that I truly believe in. But the actual truth is that it doesn’t really matter. My interpretation of dates won because of the power of conviction behind the statement. Not necessarily because it was true. And I was able to save what little money I had at the time.

When you fully embrace this quote you begin to see how little objective truth actually exists. Most of it is simply interpretations and those things can be changed with a more powerful interpretation. And you can see how little people care for the truth if something aligns with their bias. This skill is definitely very manipulative and should be treated with care and not to abuse someone. Use it to meet someone special you otherwise wouldn’t get a glance from because of all the horrible guys that have approached her in the past.

I hope this has helped some of you. If you already knew this stuff then that’s great too.