Change the Way People Think . . .
“Change the Way People Think, and Things Will Never be the Same” -- Steven Biko
In early August I traveled to California on business. I took a recent issue of a magazine with me that featured the war in Congo. I didn’t want to read it, but I thought it was important to read. The war there had killed 4 million people in the last 8 years and currently has the distinction of being the deadliest war on the planet.
Truth be told, I have yet to get around to reading the article. It just seems too depressing. I can only hope that included in that number of 4 million dead are the multitudes of Hutus and Tutsis that were killed during the ethnic cleansing that occurred in neighboring Rwanda and Burundi, but sadly, I do not think that is the case. At its peak, the hatred between those two tribes killed over 80,000 people a day. PER DAY! That is 55 people per minute. Roughly 1 per second. For 10 days straight! 24 hours a day!
Imagine killing every man, woman and child in San Francisco. Or Pittsburgh. Atlanta. Or Denver. Boston. Or Seattle. Every single person. Imagine that and you will begin to understand the scope of this killing. And, for many of those cities you would have to do it almost 2 or 3 times over.
Horrific!
And yet, this is just another example in the long line of examples of how we humans interact with each other. I am not sure whether to be ashamed . . . or amazed.
On the plane ride home, with war heating up again in the Middle East, I stared at the magazine yet again, still refusing to open it. Instead, I found myself getting angry over the lack of love and understanding that exists within our species. I am sick and tired of the immature, un-evolved way in which we handle our disagreements, disputes and differences. It is as crude as the medieval forms of medicine would appear to us now. Why has our thinking in this area not evolved past when that first stone or spear was thrown at a neighboring tribe?
Worse than the current state of humanity however, or the lack thereof, are the hordes of people who tell me that my thinking and expectations for how the human species should interact are not realistic or based in this reality. They tell me my beliefs are naïve.
Thankfully, that never stopped Ghandi.
Still, don’t expect me to choose or accept your “reality” when it comes to how I believe our species should interact. When I consider human interaction I am not coming from a reality, but rather a possibility. My thinking and actions come from a vision and commitment to how things could be. And that is most likely why I see a path to change, while most everyone else only sees and accepts a path to more of the same.
And that is what disturbs me most about the future of the human species; the unwavering belief and acceptance that the current reality is how the world works, and thus, we constantly recreate it as such.
It is not until we fundamentally shift that belief and the way we think – and believe that we can come from love, trust and understanding – that change will occur. So long as people keep choosing the current “reality” rather than the possibility, we will always have what exists now. Always.
So the big question here is whether or not everyone knows that. Are we as a species even aware of this choice between reality and possibility? Because if we are not even aware of it, then clearly we cannot make a choice about it. All we can do is continue to act out the present reality.
And that is why I continue to hammer home these points about who we currently are being as a species and what else is possible, for in order to make a choice, we must first become aware that we even have a choice available to us. Once we are aware of that, then we truly have an opportunity to demonstrate our self-declared superior intelligence as a species.
In early August I traveled to California on business. I took a recent issue of a magazine with me that featured the war in Congo. I didn’t want to read it, but I thought it was important to read. The war there had killed 4 million people in the last 8 years and currently has the distinction of being the deadliest war on the planet.
Truth be told, I have yet to get around to reading the article. It just seems too depressing. I can only hope that included in that number of 4 million dead are the multitudes of Hutus and Tutsis that were killed during the ethnic cleansing that occurred in neighboring Rwanda and Burundi, but sadly, I do not think that is the case. At its peak, the hatred between those two tribes killed over 80,000 people a day. PER DAY! That is 55 people per minute. Roughly 1 per second. For 10 days straight! 24 hours a day!
Imagine killing every man, woman and child in San Francisco. Or Pittsburgh. Atlanta. Or Denver. Boston. Or Seattle. Every single person. Imagine that and you will begin to understand the scope of this killing. And, for many of those cities you would have to do it almost 2 or 3 times over.
Horrific!
And yet, this is just another example in the long line of examples of how we humans interact with each other. I am not sure whether to be ashamed . . . or amazed.
On the plane ride home, with war heating up again in the Middle East, I stared at the magazine yet again, still refusing to open it. Instead, I found myself getting angry over the lack of love and understanding that exists within our species. I am sick and tired of the immature, un-evolved way in which we handle our disagreements, disputes and differences. It is as crude as the medieval forms of medicine would appear to us now. Why has our thinking in this area not evolved past when that first stone or spear was thrown at a neighboring tribe?
Worse than the current state of humanity however, or the lack thereof, are the hordes of people who tell me that my thinking and expectations for how the human species should interact are not realistic or based in this reality. They tell me my beliefs are naïve.
Thankfully, that never stopped Ghandi.
Still, don’t expect me to choose or accept your “reality” when it comes to how I believe our species should interact. When I consider human interaction I am not coming from a reality, but rather a possibility. My thinking and actions come from a vision and commitment to how things could be. And that is most likely why I see a path to change, while most everyone else only sees and accepts a path to more of the same.
And that is what disturbs me most about the future of the human species; the unwavering belief and acceptance that the current reality is how the world works, and thus, we constantly recreate it as such.
It is not until we fundamentally shift that belief and the way we think – and believe that we can come from love, trust and understanding – that change will occur. So long as people keep choosing the current “reality” rather than the possibility, we will always have what exists now. Always.
So the big question here is whether or not everyone knows that. Are we as a species even aware of this choice between reality and possibility? Because if we are not even aware of it, then clearly we cannot make a choice about it. All we can do is continue to act out the present reality.
And that is why I continue to hammer home these points about who we currently are being as a species and what else is possible, for in order to make a choice, we must first become aware that we even have a choice available to us. Once we are aware of that, then we truly have an opportunity to demonstrate our self-declared superior intelligence as a species.
Copyright 2006, RL, All rights reserved
posted by EvolutionUS | 6:33 AM
4 Comments:
War. It is human nature to hate those who hate you. What makes people rise above that debased level is the understanding that all human life has value and meaning. When others think that human life is worthless and expendable, especially for the mere gain of profit or for whatever self-centered motive there is perceived to be, then war is a possibility... and sometimes an inevitability.
My own family had been touched by war during the First Gulf War. Though no relatives died in the conflict, the emotional scars it left in its wake on the military personnel in the family never completely faded.
I know families who came from war-torn African nations. More specifically, Liberia and Sudan.
Some of them still bear the physical scars of torture or the emotional scars of living in refugee camps. Stories of how they ran to the Ivory Coast or into Ghana for a brief rest from war, only to run again, still resonate in my mind. Some escaped across the sea, such as on the ship that carried the "Lost Boys of Sudan". Some escaped by plane as visas finally were granted to them to come to America. Some told of how their families were split up. Some told of family members who died during the years of running. Some couldn't remember anything, as they have blocked out much of the horrific experience, prompting older family members to explain to me what really happened.
Mind you, these are children, aged 10-18. I tutor and mentor them, all the while praying that I can show them that this life is not all filled with horror.
At times, it leaves me with such angst. But what can one person do to give hope to those who have endured such atrocities?
Show them the love that we all inately crave in this world. Show empathy and compassion. And if no words are sufficient, just your mere presence and listening ear are often enough. Show them by your silent encouragement that they are worthy of living.
So what is war? The inability for humans to see and hear on the same level. A lack of compassion. A selfish desire for power. I have learned that it usually takes a generation to see change in the way people perceive another culture.
An example that comes to mind is my parents' generation, also known as the WWII generation, who saw Japan as the enemy. The generation after it, my generation, did not see this. My generation did not have to deal with the war aggression from that country.
Unfortunately, the call to war is often necessary to defend the weak through protection. Even after months of negotiations and break-downs in talks, sometimes aggressors cannot and will not see peace as a viable option, as the only language they speak and hear is aggression and often perceive the peacemaker as a weak thing to conquer in their quest for dominance.
Yes, war is the reality. With peace as a possibility, my wish for it lies in the next generation, as was once our parents' wish for us. Was it not?
To my joy and surprise, I had learned from several of the older African children that at one time, long ago, many of their respective families back in Africa had been from warring tribes, but here in America, they have found a peace and have let their differences go.
My hope is in the next generation.
First and foremost, I think we all would agree with you that killing and murder is bad. While I would argue that there are no moral universals, this rudimentary principle of "murder is wrong" when "murder" means "wrongful killing" is generally accepted as a universal moral line. But let's move past the black and white for a moment...just for the sake of devil's advocate....
I find it interesting that you characterize our species in such a way. You point out that those in one "in group" are attempting to establish their superiority to that of another "out group". It surprises me that you are surprised, or discouraged. We are part of a much larger social and physical construct. I once read that over 140 different species often attack their own, in order to protect their particular family line and pack.
Now of course, you will say, that we as humans have one distinguishing factor- that of morality. And choice. and awareness. While I wholeheartedly agree with your philosophy that possibility is a choice, my social construct defines that we would align in this way- we are mere products of time/culture, combined with social, historical, and personal circumstances, much of which you and I share. And because of this, we cannot objectively define morality for that of the rest of the world.
Members of every cultural community assume that they are parties to an agreement to uphold a certain way of life, praise or permit certain kinds of actions and practices, and condemn and prohibit others. But to assume that those in other nations "ought to" think, live, and believe the way we do, is short sighted. In fact, it is this perspective that often times LEADS to wars and conflicts.
First, the stance is prescriptive or normative in intent. It tells people how they ought to behave, with regard to the management and development of the self, with regard to other members of society, with regard to nature. Secondly, it seems your argument derives its prescription from either "reason" or "facts about what is right and good". Thirdly, the stance implies or presupposes in one way or another that the world of human beings (and perhaps even the universe in general) is reigned over by a transcendental moral force. The moral force you describe seems to be transcendental in the sense that its moral principles are authoritative and binding whether or not they happen to be cognized and understood by the contingent (and merely human mind) of particular living beings or leaders of particular nations.
My point is, that while I commend your idealist perspective, when you state:
"...When I consider human interaction I am not coming from a reality, but rather a possibility. My thinking and actions come from a vision and commitment to how things could be. And that is most likely why I see a path to change, while most everyone else only sees and accepts a path to more of the same..."
...you seem to imply that your construct of what is "possible" is what is "right"...which can be very dangerous to apply cross culturally.
But then again, I am only playing devil's advocate....
To all who read this comment, and previous comment authors... I know the article author. I know his thoughts are but true, idealistic, and child-like -- this is not meant as an insult, but rather a compliment. He views the world as a child might -- the way a child will envision the purest form of life, love and happiness. The way one would look at a butterfly and smile. Bend down to a flower and sniff. This is the author. He embraces what the world provides to him in its purest form and I believe he is disgusted with what we HUMANS have done (...as am I)to the land by which we live. We have progressed to not only destroy the environment, other creatures, but now -- each other. As if destroying forests and endangered species wasnt enough, we now are determined to wipe out all forms of life. Would it not be easier to let the Universe just remove us all and start over? Can the "higher power" ask for a "Do-over?" As my scientist Father would say -- is this [earth] just one crazy experiment gone arye?
All the author is really asking you to do.. is THINK. Create the openness for the realm of possibility. THINK about it. THINK about what your perfect world is -- and bring that THOUGHT to reality. CReate that reality. JUST IMAGINE what the world could be like if we all created our perfect world...
Some back of the napkin calculations show that the number of Jews killed in the Holocaust averaged about 3 per minute....for about four years. Can we wrap our minds around that? Hardly. It is beyond true comprehension, and the fact that it has been repeated at some level several times since then is perhaps testament to its incomprehensibility. It is just too mind-boggling to most to even react to properly. It is just not obvious that there is anything you can do about such evil.
Which is why I guess I still have a problem with the way you frame the issue. You say you see a path to change, but what is it? You rail against those who accept the status quo as human nature, but provide no evidence that it is not.
Ghandi, to me, isn't a great example. He's hardly the first or last to use nonviolent tactics, but moreover he a) did not try to change human nature, he tried to change a political structure, and b) while he did not use violence he repeatedly used massive economic damage as leverage.
But I digress. My point is that while I certainly agree with your goal and agree that the future of human society can and should be a peaceful one, I believe that we are going to have to transcend our essential nature, as we have been doing for thousands of years. It's maddeningly slow going and there are lots of setbacks, but we are, in fact, heading in the right direction.
It's a choice we have to make as a society, but it's not a "let's choose what's behind door #3" choice. It is going to take leadership, and above all, money. It is going to take a level of economic equality in the world that allows us all the luxury of making that choice, and picking leaders that represent that choice. It's not going to be pretty and it may even take some of us imposing our will on others who aren't moving along the curve fast enough. But we'll get there. I know because I watch Star Trek, so I've seen the future. ;-)
Post a Comment
<< Home