There's a wonderful optical illusion which involves a graphic of a ballerina spinning around on one leg. It's called:

"The Spinning Silhouette Optical Illusion"

This illusion elucidates a very important principle concerning subjective reality, and helps to illustrate a point about the vastly differing views people can hold about events such as 9/11. Some people who look at the spinning figure will first affirm that she is bouncing on her left leg while twirling in a clockwise direction. Others may avow that she is instead bouncing on her right leg and spinning in a counterclockwise direction. Indeed, you can have many people looking at this animated graphic at the same time and not agree as to what is happening. This idea is not really foreign to many people who have made the journey from one belief about 9/11 to its diametrical opposite.

First - we must try and deconstruct the illusion and find out what is going on. When you look at a silhouette of a figure it is not possible to determine if it is facing you, or facing away from you. There is no depth to the figure, it's just an outline - our Left/Right designation of what we visually perceive will set the stage for our belief of what follows. If the human cut-out is interpreted to be facing you then you will assume it is her left foot touching the ground, and vice versa if not. The information is not sufficient when viewing a black and white silhouette, our brain makes an assumption at first glance and then proceeds toward a logical eventuality based upon that assumption.

When you first look at the optical illusion you are subjected to your own implied interpretation. It's interesting to analyze our mindset while going through the entire process of discovery in figuring out this type of problem. I looked at it initially and told myself to concentrate on which leg she is bouncing on - I was sure it was the left, how could anyone doubt it - you can see it, can't you? You would have to be an idiot to think otherwise - anybody who does not see it must be a lunatic. But then something happens, there is a period of thought and analysis, and then a question of our belief. As we catch ourselves seeing the right leg touching and the figure rotating in the opposite direction, there arises doubt concerning our convictions. We come to the ultimate realization that we can be fooled, and it is embarrassing to admit that those assertions we would stake our lives upon, and the derision we feel toward those who do not agree with us, are after all only based upon an illusion.

"When you change the way you look at things - the things you look at change" - Wayne Dyer

It's just a trick - now I can look at the spinning figure and see it going either way - usually by focusing my attention below the dancer upon the movement of the shadow - yes, it's her left leg touching the ground while going clockwise, and yes it is also her right leg touching and she's going in the opposite direction. This understanding of the illusion cannot be achieved until we take the time to study it, as well as our part in viewing it. The key is an awareness of ourselves as witness to illusion that passes for reality, followed by a willingness to discover the nature of the phenomenon. One must in a sense step outside of oneself and watch the watcher. Now I'm ashamed that I could be so sure it was her left leg touching and everyone who disagreed must be stupid, moronic, unpatriotic, knees painted purple, whatever. If we do not take the time to study and understand the trick we will forever be stuck inside this reactive mindset that is subject to misdirection or assumption. Any guesses where I'm going with this?

Years went by and I believed it was the planes hitting the towers of the World Trade Center which caused them to fall. It's simple isn't it? It was those radical Muslim guys, wasn't it? And we should be afraid of them and hate them shouldn't we? NO - it's a lie. If you still believe these things it is because you have not educated yourself about the event and have based your opinions entirely upon what you've been told. Optical illusions are fun, and when we discover the trick we can understand that it is only a matter of subjective reality - both realities being true depending on how you look at it. It is not the same thing as a real world event like 9/11. Now we must look at physical objects and dynamic processes, and more to the point, we must consider the fact that thousands of people were mass-murdered on that day. Then we made war in Afghanistan and Iraq, then a few million more were killed and displaced, now we've got innocent people being tortured, shoes off at the airport, Department of Homeland Criminals . . .we could go on here for a bit. You owe it to yourself and your country to find out if there is any shred of evidence to support the assertions made by the 9/11 truth movement. This is much more than a mental exercise where we can train ourselves to believe both realities depending on interpretation. There is only one reality about 9/11 - yet we have two diametrically opposite belief systems about what happened. I'm telling you that if you still believe the official "conspiracy theory" about this tragedy, it is because you have not taken the time to educate yourself and study the event and realize the trickery being foisted upon you by the US government. Ask yourself how you would react if you found out that they were truly responsible, ask what you could do about it when the mainstream media is controlled by the same people involved, as is the Congress, the military, the courts.

The individual is handicapped by coming face to face with a conspiracy so monstrous he cannot believe it exists" - J. Edgar Hoover

Jet fuel can't melt structural steel, molten metal does not appear unless there is sufficient explosive energy involved. Freefall speed cannot be achieved unless sufficient mass is removed as in controlled demolition. NORAD does not stand down unless directed. You do not remove and destroy evidence unless you are guilty of the crime. Gag orders are not issued unless you want the truth suppressed. Video tapes are not withheld unless you are lying. Patriot Acts are not made into laws unless you want to institute a fascist state...we could go on here for quite a while. Look at the answers I get from people when I bring up these points - they tell me I'm a moron, I'm not an engineer, etc. Thanks folks, you explained the melted steel really well with that answer, and you are obviously well-versed in the sciences AND classical literature, and let me help you along with your line of reasoning - I'm also overweight, I'm getting older, balder, blinder, etc. But none of this ad hominem stuff bespeaks to any of the central incongruities being raised. It only illustrates that you are in a certain stage of understanding about the event, and would rather get angry with the messenger instead of dealing with the message, and I'm still standing here trying to explain X. I've been in your spot and I've felt the same anger, I've looked at myself carrying erroneous baggage contrived by others to provoke me towards hatred, and I can understand the indignation of people who are disgusted at the 9/11 truth movement. Once, I felt exactly the same way they do. Until we receive factual information about what's going on, our first response is always going to be hostility against anyone who can't plainly see the spinning ballerina so obviously bouncing on her left leg going clockwise. That is the critical difference between myself then and now - information.

“Strange times are these in which we live when old and young are taught in falsehoods school. And the one man that dares to tell the truth is called at once a lunatic and fool” - Plato

I went to pick up my child from school the other day, and while waiting outside the classroom I looked at a big mural put together by the students. This bed sheet sized piece of folk art displayed a person's head in the middle, with all these circles around it containing one word messages like hope, understanding, curiosity, character. Inside the graphic head which occupied the centre were similar messages and aphorisms, obviously representing the dynamic of learning, growth and development, and all presented in the most positive and uplifting way. When my children were born I was awestruck with the miracle of creation and the sanctity of life. What happens to us? Why can I not feel that sense of wonder when considering most of the adults in this world? Moreover, if that mural in the school is really indicative of our society's values and its hopes for our young - why do we witness so much deceit and corruption by our political leaders and governmental institutions. Obviously, there is a lot that happens to us between that state of being newborn and becoming an adult.

"The moment a baby is born a collective effort is made to chain him to servile dependency on various beliefs. This is all the educational systems have ever done, and yet they say their aim is to liberate man. But what really happens is that a shrewd and subtle mental slavery slowly overtakes the mind of the individual. This system does not teach people how to think, it simply pumps them full of beliefs. It does not encourage doubt, it does not allow rebellion, and the products of such an educational system are usually unable to think for themselves" - osho

The ability to think for yourself is of paramount importance in this survival game. If you allow your opinions to be formed by society through the media, you will inexorably be led down a path of moral contradiction and unconscious collusion. Everybody I know who is "switched on" about the current situation has shut off their TV a long time ago. When you unplug yourself from the daily lies and misdirection there unfolds new possibilities for awareness - when you change the things you look at, you begin to redefine what is actually important and relevant in your life. It's a funny thing - when it comes to our personal computers we all have anti-virus programs as well as various other utilities for filtering out the steady barrage of trojans, worms, spyware and everything else that is constantly being thrown at us. We realize the importance of protecting ourselves from the harmful elements that might corrupt our personal computer - but what about our brain? What about the constant bombardment of garbage we are inundated with on a daily basis through network news, advertising, sitcoms and infotainment? One of the most significant things you can do to start the detoxification process in your life is to shut the TV off. Talk to a real person, read a book, go somewhere, build something, experience through your own senses instead of sitting there for hours at a time entertaining yourself in front of the CIA controlled electronic brain manipulator.

"Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose" - Helen Keller

There's something else that unifies many people I know within the 9/11 Truth movement. That is an awareness of a bigger reality of which 9/11 is only a part. Once you start down that road of inquiry and discovery it is truly a bumpy ride - layer upon layer of deceit and manipulation unfold until every precept we may have once held about our society and our role in it gets called into question. You begin to see a different side to many issues - it's like your new-found ability to look at the spinning ballerina both ways and understand that it is but a contrivance. You realize that certain people will purposefully manipulate the information we receive toward an agenda, only instead of being hidden, it is so blatantly obvious to you now.

The frog who lived in a well thought that his entire world consisted of the well, himself, and the portion of the sky that he was able to see from the bottom of his home. The frog bragged and felt very proud of his home in the well - the walls, the water, the mud and all of the lowly creatures it ruled over. One day, a sparrow flew down to the well and greeted the frog. The frog boasted to the sparrow of its grand kingdom. The sparrow looked down into the well and laughed. Then she told the frog about the sky, the earth and the vast span of water. She described the miles upon miles of deserts, the lush grasslands and endless mountains. After listening to these words, the frog in the well was shocked into realization of the things he was willing to see and hear in his own small world - Ancient parable

These malevolent forces that have set upon their task of controlling humanity have always been with us. As we widen the circle of our understanding through education and awareness, the circumference of darkness also increases as we begin to imagine what we do not know, but so does the sense of fulfillment in our lives as we engage our environment and affect change toward a more dignified realization of our humanity. I haven't met one person yet who is sorry they embarked upon that journey.

“When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be” - Lao Tzu