self-flattering projections, The Mechanics of Virtue, Matt Berry, aphorism 152
152
We cannot believe in the projectors of consciousness without sacrificing many self-flattering projections. And since the projection is all that is visible to the intellect, it can easily sacrifice the projectors! ... and thus continue to flatter itself as something “eternal” and “all powerful” ... “free.” For example, if one is to believe in the divine origin of a sensation, one must ignore the mechanics supporting that sensation – the good night’s sleep, the bad night's sleep, the two cups of coffee, the failure of a rival, the electric fan even, or that which modesty forbids any mention. The bathos which such an assertion brings upon the argument becomes a premise itself on the side of the intellect and against the machine which accounts for it. The screen of consciousness now believes in itself ... and makes of itself an end ... and means! ... a part and parcel of God.
We cannot believe in the projectors of consciousness without sacrificing many self-flattering projections. And since the projection is all that is visible to the intellect, it can easily sacrifice the projectors! ... and thus continue to flatter itself as something “eternal” and “all powerful” ... “free.” For example, if one is to believe in the divine origin of a sensation, one must ignore the mechanics supporting that sensation – the good night’s sleep, the bad night's sleep, the two cups of coffee, the failure of a rival, the electric fan even, or that which modesty forbids any mention. The bathos which such an assertion brings upon the argument becomes a premise itself on the side of the intellect and against the machine which accounts for it. The screen of consciousness now believes in itself ... and makes of itself an end ... and means! ... a part and parcel of God.