Perceptual Constancy?

An illusion is a distortion of the senses, revealing how the brain normally organizes and interprets sensory stimulation. While illusions distort reality, they are generally shared by most people

Funny, I was listening to a song by Prince and there's a line that says the two-party system gives the ILLUSION of choice and all for money which is nothing but ink and chlorophyll.
And as you know GENEuine readers, that got me to thinking about my Apprentice experience, the economy, magicians and what IS reality. So, bare with me as I ramble with my thoughts and try to make sense of things...

As a child, I was fascinated by magic. I begged my grandmother for a magic set. I thought How cool it would be to make things disappear and reappear at will, what I learned is that what I thought was "magic" turned out to be VERY simple, deceitful slight of hand and my magic set was quickly placed under the bed.
The relevance of this, is that now, many of us are finding it more palatable to believe the illusion. We PREFER to swallow the fallacy that as long as things LOOK good, why seek what's real? Is there any wonder why prescription drug usage has increased tremendously and the majority of us HATE to be alone?
Here are cases in point that may strengthen this idea...
As the great recession WAS happening, the unemployment rate was at record levels and the mortgage crises reaching a crescendo, the majority of us ACCEPTED the ILLUSION that it wasn't as bad as being reported...So, we kept shopping, acquiring more credit card debt and god forbid we stopped eating out 4 nights a week! I mean this recession was effecting SOMEONE ELSE! There was an Apprentice candidate that stated in the premiere commercials that "The recession SLOWLY crept up..." HUNH? SLOWLY crept up" what was HE smoking? But, I digress, the malls REMAINED packed....gas prices went up, movie tickets went up and of course we kept buying and buying and buying....and not just sale items, big luxurious purchases were being purchased as well.
And it's been more so problematic that we are choosing to live lives where we edit out what we don't like and ONLY focus on what we WANT to hear? I'm of the mind that catching a virus is a good thing, because the body builds antibodies to fight the virus and is ready for it next time, so...negative isn't always bad...or is that just me?
I'm concerned because more and more of us are choosing the illusion, breast too small...enhance them...pecs too small? enhance them....does ANYONE not know about BOB and his "performance" commercials? ewww, no thanks bob...overweight? bypass being healthy...BUY SOME SPANX? WHAT THE FREAK!
How long can we keep doing this to ourselves?
Isn't it curious that with so much availability to live HOW we want to and keeping the facade alive, that we are far less happier and more and more of us medicate ourselves with drugs, alcohol and whatever else we so choose! Isn't falling off a bike a good thing? failing a test a learning experience? Some people win and some people lose...This whole concept that EVERYONE's a winner...uh....okkayyy...can I get that in writing from the Lottery? I mean...since EVERYONE'S a WINNER?
...and that's the problem...it's not that we just CAN'T deal with reality, it's now we have the means to MANIPULATE reality. But, what we fail to understand is that no matter how much we try to conceal ourselves in the illusion there will ALWAYS be the lingering penumbra of our TRUE selves and there's no amount of drugs, plastic surgery or level of denial that can change that.
Perhaps, the TRUE source of magic isn't the illusion, but in embracing reality, accepting the blessings in ALL things and being able to laugh or smile and find love anyway....
Now, that's REAL magic!