I once revealed to a group what I had seen while infiltrating radical networks. I expected concern, and taking action, together!
Instead, I was met with silence, nervosity and hostility.
That moment I understood: people are not afraid of the darkness itself. They are afraid of those who dare to name it.
When you reveal the presence of darkness, people rarely thank you...
They recoil.
They dismiss.
Some even turn against you!
It seems absurd, but it is not.
The messenger who carries "bad news" will often receive more hostility than the enemy who embodies the threat itself.
And that is an ancient law of human psychology…
Let me explain:
1. Denial as survival
Denial is a survival mechanism. To admit the existence of violence, hatred... forces a collapse of one's entire mental architecture:
- Security: "if this is true, I am not safe".
- Trust: "if this is true, those I rely on might betray me".
- Values: "if this is true, the foundations of my moral universe are unstable".
It's very uncomfortable... For most, this collapse is unbearable.
So they choose blindness - aggressively! Because seeing would annihilate them.
2. From fear to aggression
The problem with denial is that it - too - rarely stays passive. When you insist, when you push the truth into the light, denial transforms into aggression.
Why? Because you become the ONE threatening their survival!
Not the "evil" itself, but you, the revealer.
That is why friends, allies, even family can respond with anger, ridicule, or cruelty when you try to show them what lies beneath.
Don't take it personally, even if it hurts.
They are not fighting you...
They are fighting for their right NOT to see.
3. The weight of lucidity
If you are the one who dares to look into the abyss, you carry a double burden:
- The burden of what you have seen.
- And the burden of being rejected for having seen it.
This is the true violence of lucidity: not the darkness itself, but the loneliness of clarity.
It is exhausting to fight monsters. But it is even more exhausting to warn others of their presence, only to be dismissed, attacked, or abandoned.
4. The real danger
Nietzsche warned us: when you fight evil, corruption, or injustice (the "monsters"), there's always the risk of adopting their methods, their cruelty, or their logic in order to win. In doing so, you become what you set out to destroy.
This was the topic of a previous article about fascism... and antifas.
Nietzsche is right.
But incomplete.
The greatest danger is not only that you become like the monsters you fight...
The danger is that you sink into bitterness, isolation, and despair. That you lose faith in humanity because you confuse the cowardice of denial with malice.
I know personally individuals that have crossed the line: from lucidity, they shifted to nihilism, cynicism. They see nothing but darkness.
Lucidity sees the darkness, yes... but it also sees the light beyond it. And more than just "seeing", it ACTS upon it.
Most people cannot carry the weight of reality. They will betray it to preserve their inner balance.
5. The strategy of "the seer"
What to do, then?