Courtesy of wikipedia.org
“It’s a complicated world,” said a gun enthusiast after attending a conference that included advocates for gun control. (Supercommunicators by Charles Duhigg, Random House Large Print Edition 2024, pg. 205) No one should be surprised by that statement. The universe is complicated if Stephen Hawking’s theory of black holes is correct. It would suggest that space has 7 dimensions.
Unbounded by time and space, the human mind reaches beyond infinity. New experiences regularly change our view of the world. So does our social status. Are we rich, college-educated, or a member of a racial minority? These circumstances have their effect.
In a world of infinite complexity, reaching out to those who share our point of view seems natural. We find comfort in hearing our values echoed among friends or in the media. Unfortunately, unanimity narrows our sense of truth and morality. With nothing to challenge our thinking, strange notions can take hold. Microlooting is an example. Microlooting is a mindset that allows people who know theft is wrong to justify stealing from retailers whose political views differ from their own.
Murky thinking can open the door to conspiracy theories. For example, many who dislike Donald Trump dismiss the assassination attempts against him as a hoax. Hours after a gunman was arrested at the White House Correspondents’ dinner, which Trump attended, social media roiled with an image of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth laughing. Was his reaction proof positive that the threat had been a hoax? We have no way of knowing. As the photo was undated, it proves nothing.
Admittedly, Trump has earned his unpopularity. He’s dragged the country into a senseless war with Iran, an action which Germany’s Chancellor said covered our nation with humiliation. If humiliation were the only consequence of Trump’s aggression, the country could weather it. America has been humiliated before. The Vietnam War comes to mind.
Trump’s mistakes too often stem from his war against diversity, a stance that places him at odds with natural law and its infinite variety. As a result, his attempts to eliminate “the other” foster fear.
Fear is a basic instinct, intended to keep us safe. But it’s not the only instinct designed for that purpose. We are also social animals. Cooperation is critical for our survival.
Why so many of us chose fear above cooperation is the question. Fear narrows our vision and eliminates opportunities. When we join with others, we enrich our minds, or so says a group of researcher from UC Berkley and Yale University. The gun enthusiast who spent an afternoon talking with people who favored stricter gun laws knows this is true.
We have nothing to fear but fear itself. (Franklin Delano Roosevelt)
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