The law class that changed everything

A rare occasion when education thrillingly shakes your reality

I think it was in my 3rd year of studying law.

It was a jurisprudence class (theory/philosophy of law), a subject that most find dense and boring.

The topic was legal fiction.

Legal fiction, a rule assuming as true something that is clearly false.

It’s how corporations are treated as individuals and can own property, enter contracts, sue, and be sued.

It is what allows for two individuals to be considered a single entity for certain purposes, like taxes or property ownership under the label of marriage.

It is what makes the arbitrary age of 18 the legal age of adulthood.

It is what defines nations and their borders.

And of course, turns paper into Money!!!

All of these are taken as truth because the law says so. Otherwise, they are only as real as Hogwarts and Wingardium Leviosa.

It got me thinking… a truth wasn’t a truth because it was true. But because it is accepted. So, if the law chooses to disapprove it tomorrow, then the truth and reality change with it. All your money could just be paper with no value overnight. Heck, we have actually had that happen in India.

This blew my mind! And sent me down the spiral: what else is fiction that we just accept as truth?

Turns out, almost everything.

God, divine justice, worship, karma—religious fiction. The stories we cling to for meaning, purpose, and morality, none of which can be proven but are lived as if they’re absolute.

Love, beauty, success, work ethic—cultural fiction. These are deeply ingrained ideals, but they shift across societies and time, changing as easily as fashion trends.

Even the self—the idea that we are constant, unchanging beings, when in fact our identity, our very sense of who we are, evolves as time passes. Yet we hold on to a stable, fixed image of "me."

Almost every construct that forms the foundation of how we live is fiction!

Not in the sense that it’s a lie, but in that it’s a shared belief—a story we’ve collectively agreed to believe in. And as long as we believe, it becomes real. But stop believing? The whole thing crumbles.

For me, this was a humbling and liberating realisation - that reality is as flexible as the stories we tell ourselves.

If you could rewrite any fiction into your own story, which one would it be?

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Little Joys

“Joy is always around if only we pause to acknowledge it.”

With life's burdens and big ambitions, it's easy to overlook our everyday joys. These are my small joys from last week -

• My best friend is back in India after over a year!! I picked up from the airport in the middle of the night!

• I conducted Joy Circle for my work team and it went so well. This is particularly special because I work for and with my inspiration.

• I got whey protein and it made me feel like I’m very serious about my fitness… which is a new feeling!

• I made really good coffee - Iced Honey Filter Coffee

  

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P.S. If you enjoyed this, here are a few pieces I think you’ll love:

👉 Sometimes the Best Practice is to Ignore the Best Practices

👉 To make 'struggle' easy, celebrate it - A page from faith and culture for personal growth