Are We Still Trapped in Make-Believe Roles?
Are We Still Playing Make-Believe Roles Without Knowing?
99% of people think not, and thus they are wrong.
Imagine children at play: they’re in a backyard, fully immersed in a game of “cops and robbers.” For a short time, they’re completely invested in their roles—believing they’re the "cop" or the "robber," with each action and reaction colored by these make-believe identities. The game feels real to them; they experience an alternative life, if only for a few minutes. But once the game ends, they shed these labels and beliefs, returning to themselves. Sometimes, even after the game is over, a child may cling to the role, continuing to act as though the label were real for a while longer. Parents who notice this may humor their child, acknowledging the role playfully, knowing that it’s just a game and nothing more.
But what if we, as adults, are still playing a similar game of make-believe without realizing it? From the moment we’re born, we’re assigned labels of nationality, gender, religion, political affiliation, and countless other categories—and are told they represent fundamental truths, heritage, tradition, pride, or painful history. We’re labeled “man” or “woman,” “American” or “Russian,” “Israeli” or “Palestinian,” “gay” or “straight,” “Democrat” or “Republican.” These labels automatically become like costumes we wear, roles we’re assigned to play, with rules and expectations set by society.
Like children in a game of make-believe, we embrace these labels and play our parts, convinced they reflect objective truths, some fundamental facts about our and everyone else's existence. We construct social and cultural systems based on these labels, creating an elaborate world that assumes these roles reflect facts of reality itself.
The Role of Labels in Shaping Our Lives.
When we take on these labels, we instantly and unknowingly accept roles that shape not only how we see ourselves but also how we perceive and label "others," the "world," and more. With these labels, we divide people into categories, creating artificial boundaries that we treat as real and factual. Those who act, think, or live differently are often assigned additional labels and thus seen as “others”—foreign, wrong, or even threatening. This leads to fear, punishment, and rejection. Labels like “criminal,” “enemy,” or even “hero” carry expectations and assumptions that affect how we treat each other. When someone doesn’t fit into a socially accepted role, society may reject, punish, imprison, or try to change them.
Entire systems of law enforcement, government, and social order are built to support and reinforce these labels and the acceptable norm for the role assigned to them. Yet, if we look closely, we see that these labels and roles are no more real than those in a children’s game of "cops and robbers." They are conceptual constructs of our mind, born from habits passed down through generations, with no inherent basis in the facts of existence.
The Persistence of Make-Believe in Adulthood.
Unlike children who eventually set aside their roles in “cops and robbers,” as adults, we rarely step back to question the labels we’ve accepted or the roles, limitations, and falsehoods they impose. We continue playing make-believe with deep emotional investment, holding onto our labels and roles as if they were fundamental truths. We believe we are separate individuals, distinct from everyone else, yet this belief and experience of duality—me vs. them—is an irrefutable illusion.
The reality is that our sense of self as separate individuals, isolated by the labels we’ve acquired, is a huge misconception. Neuroscience, quantum physics, and biology indicate that individual selves do not exist independently in the way our senses lead us to believe. Everything we experience and identify with—our personality, beliefs, appearance—is the product of countless interconnected processes, none of which point to an independent self or unique origin.
This illusion of separateness skews our understanding of reality and fuels conflicts, both personal and global. Just as a child might get upset during a game if they feel wronged, we, too, react strongly to perceived threats against the labels we identify as “self.”
The Harm Caused by Clinging to Roles and Labels.
When we believe in these make-believe roles, we create divisions that exist only in our minds, leading to fear and conflict. Labels like “me,” “you,” “enemy,” “outsider,” or “other” foster fear and mistrust. Wars are waged, laws are enacted, and societies are structured around these false divisions. We marginalize, punish, and even imprison one another based on these labels and roles, rarely stopping to consider that they are arbitrary, grounded in the misconception that there are many different unique selves—a notion that isn’t true but only appears as true due to our senses, corrupted by ignorance of how everything exists.
Consequently, we live in a world where personal and global issues are perpetuated by our attachment to these make-believe roles. We enforce social norms and laws based on illusions of separation, adding layers of conflict and misunderstanding that obscure our underlying interconnectedness.
Understanding the Illusion of Separation.
By honestly examining ourselves and others, we can uncover the illusion of separation, understanding that all perceived differences lack any individual or unique essence but are experienced as such because our mind believes in the labels it invents. Without labels, there is no inherent difference between us and the entire universe. At the atomic level, everything is composed of the same particles recycled for billions of years, with no physical divide between “us,” “them," or "the Universe." No part—from the smallest quark to an atom and beyond—has ever possessed a unique, self-sufficient nature capable of self-generation. Everything is a composite of everything else, a product of external nature, elements, and processes, thus devoid of any individual essence and fully interconnected as a seamless continuum of the whole existence.
Each element is never one self-sufficient thing but is always a composition of ever-smaller parts, which themselves are made up of an infinite number of even smaller parts. Everything has always been a seamless, selfless expression of the universe’s unified nature. Similarly, our minds are not singular or self-generated entities but an ongoing flow of consciousness, where each moment of perception, feeling, or thought is not self-generated but dependent on previous moments and countless external and internal factors. Nothing is ever a fixed, unchanging entity full of its unique essence the way most of us believe we are.
If we could see beyond these illusory labels and understand the unbiased facts of existence, we would realize that the conflicts we experience—whether within ourselves or with others—are built upon misconceptions. With this understanding, we can dismantle the labels that fuel division, seeing through the roles and categories that have held us back.
An Effortless Path to True Peace: Ending the Make-Believe Game.
Ending this cycle of make-believe could transform our lives and the world. By recognizing our shared, interconnected nature, we can break free from roles and expectations that not only no longer serve us but have always brought us unhappiness. When we see that these labels are constructs of the mind and not grounded in reality, we unlock the potential for unity, happiness, and peace. Conflicts between people who have merely labeled themselves "Israeli," "Palestinian," "Russian," "Ukrainian," or "whatever" that once seemed insurmountable dissolve instantly because they are no longer based on any factual separations. The unbiased facts of existence prove that there have never been actual Israelis, Palestinians, Russians, Ukrainians, or any other kind of people without those labels. Bodies exist; they are valid, but labels originate in the mind and exist only there, they are not inherent parts of the bodies we perceive and experience inaccurately as separate from us.
Imagine a world where we stop playing this game of separation of me and you and embrace the reality of our true shared existence. A world where we no longer label each other as enemies, threats, or strangers, but as interconnected expressions of a single reality. This shift in perspective has the power to end wars, resolve conflicts, and create a foundation for genuine peace and unimaginable happiness.
Conclusion and the Way to Happiness and Peace.
As children, we knew to let go of make-believe games when they were no longer needed. As adults, it’s time we do the same. We must recognize that our labels, roles, and identities are constructs, rooted in the same illusions as a game of “cops and robbers.” When we see through these illusions, we free ourselves from the constraints of a reality built on false separations. Only then can we move towards a world that reflects the truth of our existence—a world where personal and global problems no longer arise from make-believe roles, but from an understanding of our shared selfless nature.