Look around. It seems like every day we're fighting to determine which reality we live in. And I'm not just talking about mages. The far right and the left and the center all live in such different worlds they can't even conceive of compromising. You can't convince people of truths that don't fit their worldview, their basic assumptions, what we mages call a paradigm. The other screwy thing is . . .you know how gender is a social construct, and so are so many things folks take for granted?

Basically, in a consensual reality, where everything is determined by a consensus of subjective beliefs...*everything* is a social construct. Sure, that includes gender, gender roles, social norms, clothing, etc...but it also includes gravity, heliocentrism, and whether that's air you're breathing right now. If the majority can be convinced that a thing is true, really convinced, then, for all intents and purposes, that thing is true.

That's the conflict mages face. The war we fight every day. But we have to be careful. We push too hard on reality to make it what we want, the consensus strikes back. Everything we tried to do is damaged, and probably so are we.

This has implications in the mundane world, and is reflected there as well. I already talked about how various groups mold the consensus to their will. Either the mundanes have kinda figured it out and are getting in on it...or there is some serious division in the ranks of the Technocracy, cuz we thought they mostly had a handle on it. But recently, we get, in the public domain, things like quantum physics which straight up is telling normal folks reality is subjective. That kinda damages the stable, controlled company line of the old 'Order of Reason'. It seems like some of the groups inside the Tech have different ides of what to do. Some seem to be socially progressive, changing the paradigms as best they can to fit more egalitarian perspectives, allowing more personal freedom of expression. Hell, maybe that's us doing that. If that's the case, then it makes sense for the Techs to be regressive, trying to hold onto their 'social stability' model by fighting back against the science that seems to be undermining it. But they can't undermine their own science too much without risking handing the world back to what they would call religion and superstition, so they are kind of in a cleft stick. Personally, like I said, I really think some Tech groups, like the Syndicate and the New World Order on the side of control and 'stability' are feuding with the Progenitors over their advancements in bioscience, and probably the Void Engineers as well. Iteration X just keeps pumping out more computer craziness, so they probably are at odds with both other factions, to a certain extent.

On a more mundane note, there's an important piece of revelation in this concept: You can't get someone to change their whole worldview, their paradigm, without there being something in it for them. The new paradigm has to be an improvement, and you have to somehow prove the old paradigm was actively harmful, specifically to the people you are trying to reach and people they love. What's true isn't relevant to the argument, only what's useful and good for them. Which means for some of them, you have to make sure someone they love is negatively affected by the current paradigm. This is often actually easiest to do by getting them to make friends with someone who already is, rather than threatening the loved ones they have. That turns out badly. Of course, if you can show them that situation already prevails, you might get somewhere. Just yelling the 'truth' at them or telling them they ought to want to fix it just cuz it's the right thing to do...well, people don't work that way.

So those gentle nudges and subtle manipulation we talked about before are definitely your friend here, and going slow is better than changing things quick, even if the changes that are needed are obvious and should be done right now. If you want to avoid the backlash (Paradox or people based) you go slow.

But yeah. Regressive policies damn sure look like the NWO MIB’s and Syndicate trying to keep the world ‘stable’. I mean…they had a President who was a poster boy for those two real recently.