What is to be done about moral vertigo? The book of Jeremiah records the words of the Lord to a wayward Israel suffering from a kind of moral vertigo: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls” (Jeremiah 6:16). What are the ancient paths? These are the roads that have been trod before and stood the test of time, because they are the ones that lead to and from God’s revelation.

The Federal Aviation Administration estimates that around 15 percent of airplane crashes are caused by vertigo, which is a false sensation that can lead to disorientation related to fluid in your inner ear. In order to guard against this, one exercise pilots go through early on in their training is induced vertigo. My dad is a professional pilot and an Air Force Top Gun who flew the F-15 Eagle. Growing up around aviation, I was inspired to go for my pilot’s license and I experienced this training firsthand.

For this training exercise, you put on a visor that limits your range of vision so that you can only see what’s inside the cockpit. Under this arrangement, you must rely solely on your instruments and not what you can see outside, which simulates nighttime and low-visibility flying. With the visor on, you close your eyes and your instructor puts the airplane in a slow bank, descent, or climb and holds it there for several minutes. This is when vertigo sets in. Your inner ear adjusts to the current flying conditions and the trajectory begins to feel normal—it actually feels like you’re flying straight and level. After a while, the instructor tells you to open your eyes and check your instruments. Herein lies the danger.

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