Music written by the band duo Twenty One Pilots, is such a gift to overthinkers like me. The meaningful lyrics help to tame the hyperactive mind (ADHD anyone?) in a way that has yet to be matched, apart from God’s divine intervention.

The song Routines in the Night (RITN) touches specifically on the topic/conviction of getting lost in the halls of our heads. From a band that has spoken out about both “we need to try to think” (Car Radio) and “I’ve been thinking too much – help me” (Ride) one major theme throughout their artwork is that we need to find the line (which is interestingly the title of their upcoming single) between apathy and anxiety/overthinking.

This balance or line is not easy to find. While we need to face reality, be present, and be cognizant of what’s going on in our heads; we can take that to an unhealthy level in which we obsess, overanalyze, and get lost in the halls of our heads. The thing that seems to help is to face truth.

Today, much of American culture and Western Civilization adheres to the dogma that truth is something that is relative, meaning whatever is true to you, is your truth. Truth exists whether we believe it or not, as do opinions. However, the line here that is needed, is to call both, truth and opinion, for what they are.

Truth can be subjective or objective. A quick google search renders this quick distinction: “an objective statement depends for its truth on the mental states of no one, and a subjective statement depends for its truth on the mental states of someone” (taken from conceptually.org).

Objective truth is also referred to as absolute truth, or truth that is outside a person and is true for everyone; while subjective truth is internal and true to the subject/person. I know I am making something that is complicated seem overly simplistic, and I acknowledge that both objective truth and subjective truth are valid.

However, the distinction between objective and relative truth is not so much of a distinction, but a contradiction. Objective truth again says that truth exists whether we believe it or not. Relative truth says “if you believe it, it is true for you… if I don’t believe it, it is not true for me” (Gotquestions – Is Truth Relative?). This mindset inadvertently expresses that something exists for one person, while that same something does not exist for another person; I’m right, you’re wrong. Two opposing thoughts cannot concurrently be true.

If we do not believe that absolute truth exists or can be known, then in reality (which we are unsure about as a result of this belief) nothing can be known. The affirmation that truth cannot be known renders everything meaningless. If absolute truth does not exist then, nothing has any meaning, even opinion. I digress…

So, back to Routines in the Night, which this post is accurately titled not only for the aforementioned digression, but also because it is well after midnight and also, a live video from Twenty One Pilots of Routines in the Night was released a couple days ago. The video shows Tyler Joseph in a sea of people, performing the song as he walks through a jam packed arena.

The seemingly simplistic video is noteworthy because Tyler’s performance is so unimpressive in the way that his demeanor represents himself as he’s just doing something that is a routine, which coincidentally is at night. Tyler is surrounded by incredibly overwhelmed, excited fans. But to Tyler, this is his life, it is what he does, and he performs as if he could be anyone on the street (see link for video below).

Twenty One Pilots – Routines in the Night (Concert Film)

Both Tyler and Josh (part 2 of the two-man band, the drummer) make a concerted effort to make their fan base become part of the show. While Tyler is living his reality out in the live RITN music video, his reality, just like every individual’s reality, is different due to our personalities, etc. But Tyler’s reality is true regardless of how different any other person’s reality is. This is the difference between subjective and relative truth:

Subjective – Tyler is a celebrity, his reality is vastly different than mine, but it is true regardless of my reality. Tyler is a celebrity, I am not. We are both right/true because they reflect our respective realities;

Relative – Tyler believes he is not a celebrity (which he may in reality because of his seemingly humble presentation) which may be a form of denial in order to feel like a regular human being, but regardless of his self-perception, both Tyler and I would be wrong if we affirmed this belief. He is a celebrity, it is the absolute truth.

So what I’m attempting to say at this late hour is that, yes-we need to think. We need to think about what we believe in order to know if we can rely on our thoughts. The only way to do this is to believe that truth exists whether we believe it or not, because if it doesn’t we have no business making opinions or self-truths, because well, truth cannot be known which renders thoughts and words meaningless…

We need to draw the line where we get lost in the halls of our heads so much so that we cease the ability to see outside of our own perspectives (which again are meaningless, if absolute truth does not exist) and begin to believe anything that sounds good to our (unreliable) psyche. No one else is dealing with your demons, meaning maybe defeating them could be the beginning of your meaning, friend” Kitchen Sink.

The important takeaway here is that our perspective on the existence of absolute truth determines how we view reality. Either everything has meaning, or there is no meaning at all. Either we get lost in the halls of our heads or we face truth.

Thank you for reading and take care.

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The perspective of Mountain Waffles maintains a Christian worldview and writes on topics including philosophy, apologetics, music, philanthropy, psychology, outdoor adventures and daily happenings. The handle Mountain Waffles is inspired by a chihuahua named Waffles who frequents the WNC and TN mountains with the humans. Writings and blog posts utilize the passion and knowledge which stem from having a B.A. in Psychology, M.A. in Christian Apologetics background, and most importantly a sold out heart for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.