Surrealist images like Ceci n’est pas une pipe, by René Magritte, work to dissolve one's normalized impression of reality. The contradictory juxtaposition presented by the images of the pipe and the wording claiming that it is not a pipe, sever viewers from their known reality. It also works to sever veiwers from universally accepted truths. Viewers believe this is a pipe because from a young age they have been told that this object, that looks a certain way and preforms a certain task, is called a pipe. This kind of critique offers viewers freedom from current social practices and the ability to generate new, unique viewpoints. 

Some surrealists envision a world where we completely disregard all reason and logic and simply rely on our unconscious mind and natural instincts to guide us. To most thinkers, this seems extreme and absurd, but it would be foolish to completely disregard all ideas born from the surrealist movement. For convenience's sake, we should probably still call the image above a pipe. But, what we should deeply consider after veiwing the painting, is the importance of thinking deeply before blindly accepting everything society deems as true to be the truth. Surrealists believe that much of our thinking is being done for us. Images like Magritte’s serve as a reminder that we have control over our own thoughts and destiny, and warn veiwers about falling into dangerous societal groupthink.