By Rami Mansi
Every generation tends to take ideas from the older generations and reinvent them in their image. In the case of having confidence, we’ve turned away from the simple “fake it til you make it” to the idea of being delusional.
Delusional is defined as “a false belief or judgment about external reality,” in other words, being delusional results in a distorted view of the world around you. However, in casual Gen Z fashion, we’ve reinvented that negative word into something that has more light-hearted implications. Being delusional now is thinking your crush will text you back after being delivered for 12 hours, thinking you’re gonna get the job even though you have extreme self-doubt, and even just reaching out towards your goal not knowing if you’ll accomplish it.
Now with this newfound form of distortion, the negatives might outweigh the positives if you expect being delusional will work in the long run. Being delusional has been the driving force for Gen Z and, albeit motivational and self-controlled, it’s the double-edged fantasy that plays on ignorance.
A common denominator of being delusional is the use of fake scenarios, a daydream-like space where you imagine the life you wish to create. People always daydream about their future, but when you imagine your fake scenarios as if it’s a day-to-day hobby, that’s when you become delusional.
Being delusional and having these fantasies started with positive energy to manifest your future through having a goal. However, done in excess, the once lighthearted trend and attitude towards your goals have turned into something companies have begun to capitalize on. This is where we see being delusional take a turn for the worse and start to do more harm than good.
Within the past few months, AI technology has been used to bring fantasies to life. Having access to that type of free reign lets companies capitalize on the distorted views of people.
When you have dreams and a need to visualize them combined with a seemingly perfect AI generator with a small paywall to get over, the sky seems to be your limit. With the idea of making a mood board, using AI as your virtual mood board is not the healthy way to go about bringing your dreams to life. It’s worrisome to imagine that people’s imaginations will gutter to simple tech when it could be brought out by using one’s creativity to muster up enough energy for truly living out those fantasies.
Yet, the ignorance that protrudes when being delusional is a cause for worry among young people especially in today’s day and age, being ignorant is a dangerous trait to possess.
Being delusional has thrown a protective blanket over current issues with more gravity and consequences. By allowing actions to reflect a closed viewpoint and dismissing problems just because you aren’t involved, you allow your delusion to become ignorance.
To move out into the world and progress as a society, we need to be aware of our problems and try our best to fix them as a whole. Ignoring the problems due to self-righteous delusion doesn’t fix any of our mainstream difficulties. If we want to love the world we’re in, we can’t stay hidden under the protective blanket that is our thoughts.
With all that being said, if you choose to stay delusional through ironic jokes or lighthearted goal-seeking, by all means, do as you please. I even implore you to try. But remember that anything done in excess is toxic, no matter if it only stays in your head.
Maybe being delulu is the solulu for many personal issues we face, yet we cannot let our fantasies take over. Live out your fantasy, but stay true to the facts and stay aware.