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Watching Super Bowl Ads with the Little Prince: From Delusion to Freedom

By Suzanne Ross
By Nicholas Wang, derivative work by Poke2001, via Wikimedia Commons
By Nicholas Wang, derivative work by Poke2001, via Wikimedia Commons
Jan 22, 2014
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There’s an absurd character in The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry who reveals more about our capacity for self-delusion than we might want to admit. He’s called the King and when it comes to desire, he is as deluded about his own power as we are about ours. The King’s delusion is this: he believes that the movements of the sun, moon, and stars are the result of his commands. That’s right – the sun rises and sets because the King commands it to be so. Our delusion is nearly identical: we believe that we are the source of our desires, that they arise and fall at our command. Because of our shared delusions, we and the King are quite out of touch with reality. Remarkably, the cure for us is also the same – spending some quality time with the Little Prince.

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By Nicholas Wang, derivative work by Poke2001, via Wikimedia Commons
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