The Shadows that Blind Us

4edges [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], from Wikimedia Commons

"Fascism is cured by reading and racism is cured by traveling."

- Miguel de Unamuno

In his classic The Republic, Plato tells of a group of people, who have spent their whole life in a cave, bound in place so that the only thing they could see is the shadows playing across the wall as those free to move pass between them and the fire behind them.  To these unfortunate prisoners, the shadows are reality.  Only when they are released and can turn around do they begin to understand what is indeed real.  Their discoveries only grow as they leave the cave and experience the outside world.  Plato’s Allegory of the Cave has become a staple of Western philosophy and its truths are more valid today than ever before.

As a fluent Russian speaker and a person who has spent a substantial amount of time there, I am often asked Russia and its leader Vladimir Putin.  Most people expect me to repeat what they hear on the news or to defend Putin.  The problem is, while the human mind wants a black or white answer, most often the truth is somewhere in between. 

If you look at the cave wall from the average Russian’s perspective, things look very different than from an American perspective.  NATO is not an alliance opposing oppression and championing human rights, but a coalition organized to oppose Russia and its way of life. To many Russians, NATO has purposely isolated Russia and refused to welcome it into its fold.  To Russia, NATO is a force marching ever closer to its borders, devouring former allies and even former Russian territories.  It is an existential threat to the Russian values and Vladimir Putin is the only one capable opposing it.  

To many Russians, Vladimir Putin is the man who pulled the country from the brink of economic and social collapse in the late 1990s and the only one keeping it from slipping back. He is the only one able to counter Western hegemony and restore Russian pride on the global stage.

The world we see on our cave wall largely depends on our perspective.  This is determined by where we live, whom we associate with, and where we get our information.  While the human psyche tends to cling to these perspectives throughout our lives, we can only change them for a more accurate understanding of our world if we have access to information that brings these views into contrast with others.

Unfortunately, our world is moving away from liberating people from the bands that tie them to their convictions and is, in fact, binding them ever more tightly to them.  The echo chamber of our mass media and the way we receive it more frequently feeds our biases than challenges them. 

We have more sources of information now than ever in human history.  The Internet, 24-hour news channels, social media, and instantaneous communication allow us to find information on virtually any topic at the push of a button. 

However, with this plethora of information comes the need to separate the important from the superfluous. Our minds naturally seek those things that we know and are comfortable with and avoid those that challenge our beliefs and debase the perceived stability of our world.  Information providers understand this and, in the quest to attract readers, increase the click-through, and garner ever greater advertising revenues, they have developed specialized systems to give us the stability our minds crave.

News outlets today cater to this need and provide a news resource for every view.  Fox or Breitbart for the conservative and Huffington Post or MSNBC for the liberal.  The news these outlets produce is no longer news, but political commentary.  They no longer provide us with the facts and allow us to put them into the context of our own understanding, but the news comes with a ready-made context.  We are told what it means and how to think about it.  Even the algorithms in our search engines look at what we most often seek and provide us with more of the same.  It is no wonder our society is becoming more and more polarized every day.

This polarization has migrated from our own personal cave wall to our collective walls. 

We wonder why our governmental institutions are so dysfunctional.  Why our elected officials can seem to get nothing done other than blame each other for the mess they all have created.  It is because we choose the candidates that make us feel good about the shadow-play before us.  They are a reflection of our own opinions and views. 

“People bind themselves into political teams that share moral narratives. Once they accept a particular narrative, they become blind to alternative moral worlds.”

― Jonathan Haidt

To keep our attention on the shadow play they have created for us, they demonize anyone that offers an alternative view.  Our society no longer cherishes and nurtures diversity, but tells us accommodation is a weakness, a sellout of the “defenders of truth.”

This is tearing our society apart.

The greatest leaps forward in American history have been brought about by cooperation, accommodation, and compromise – by a willingness to listen to alternate views and admit that certain institutions must remain while others must change.  Government for the people, of the people, and by the people and a free market economy are as important as ever, while practices like slavery, Jim Crow, religious discrimination, and gender inequality in any form must be rooted out of our society.  This process continues today. 

While the shadows playing across our cave walls may seem comforting, we must confront them for what they are, as distortions of reality.  We must do all we can to break out of our echo chamber cave, to expose ourselves to alternative ideas, to accept that others may see things from a different perspective and that this is what enriches our society. 

For example, the constant influx and integration of wave after wave of immigrants has played a significant role in making America an economic and cultural force in the world.  While commonsense legal controls are important, shutting the door can only lead to cultural stagnation and decline.

America was indebted to immigration for her settlement and prosperity. That part of America which had encouraged them most had advanced most rapidly in population, agriculture and the arts. 

- James Madison

When we buy into the extreme narratives that immigrants are a threat or that all who want a secure border are racist, we push the possibility that we can find a compassionate and secure solution ever farther away.  Dialog and a willingness to consider all views is the only way forward.

As we emerge our the cave, we must accept that not everyone will see things as we do, and this is not only all right but essential.

Polemical Gorges and Their Bridges

Polemical Gorges and Their Bridges 

Stephen B. Willson, Global MBA

 Source: www.pdpics.com

A group of friends decided to go on a hike in the mountains near their hometown.  They met at the trail head early, ensured everyone had the necessary gear, and started up the trail.  As often happens, some moved out ahead while others lagged behind.  Whether this was due to varying physical stamina or varying interest in the scenery, it doesn’t matter.  The main point is they began to move apart. 

Unbeknownst to each other, at a fork in the path each group took a different route.  To complicate matters, they had lost cell phone coverage.  The gravity of the situation only became clear when they spotted each other on opposite sides of a deep gorge.  It was only then they realized they were too far apart to communicate.  Each gestured to the other to try to get them to turn back and take the path they were on, all to no avail.  Neither side would budge.  They had moved so far apart that they had lost common ground and the ability as well as the desire to effectively communicate.

Our society is fractured.  We have well-meaning people on opposite ends of the political spectrum, who, while desiring the best for the people, are nevertheless convinced of the veracity of their positions and the error of those on the other side of the ideological gorge.  Such attitudes lead to the stalemate and dysfunction we see in domestic and international politics today. 

Blame who you will.  Lay it at the feet of the a la carte mass media, which feeds us news that, rather than informing us and challenging our preconceived notions, tells us exactly what we want to hear and thus feeds our own biases.  Accuse the political interest groups, which push their own narrow political agenda at the expense of wider societal benefit.  You can even lay the blame at the feet of the conspiratorial “fifth column,” which is trying to undermine our freedoms and enslave us in whatever post-apocalyptic dystopia you have in mind.  The point is, we are talking past each other, working at cross-purposes and refusing to find compromises; which while not our ideal outcome, could nevertheless provide acceptable outcomes for society in general.  

Lack of compromise leads to what ecologist Garrett Hardin called the Tragedy of the Commons, where all look out exclusively for their own interest and selfishly deplete limited resources to the final detriment of all.  This zero sum approach means no one wins in the long run.  In contrast, cooperation and compromise could lead to more equitable use of these limited resources.

Life is not simple.  Some would have us see it as purely black and white.  It is not.  All too often, though, the black and white view is the one being propagated and believed.  That is because it offers simple, albeit flawed explanations of the issues at hand.  Each situation has its nuances and is seen by the different parties to the issue in different ways.  While these views may be distorted by perspective, lack of information, or outright disinformation; in order to understand the true nature of the issue, we need to understand the various facets of the problem, not just from our own view, but from the view of the other interested parties.  When we do, we may be able to find solutions we can all live with. 

As long as compromise is vilified and compromisers are ostracized, we will never be able to bridge the gulf that has split our society.  Compromise is not getting everything we want and sticking it to the other guy, but about finding a way to maximize the benefits and minimize the costs for all involved.  Rarely will all parties be 100% satisfied with the outcome but at least we will be able to live with the result.

While leading a discussion on arms control, I was once asked why one side had signed a specific treaty when it contained so many provisions that did not benefit that signatory.  Not long before, I had read commentary from analysts on the other side stating that the treaty wasn't fully to their advantage either.  My response to the question was that if both sides felt they didn't get everything they wanted from the treaty; that they had been forced to give something up to achieve it; it must be a good treaty. 

In fact, both sides often agree on the higher overarching goal of a given negotiation, they just don’t agree on the way to get there.  Compromise navigates the contradictions in the two sides' approach to the matter and finds something both can live with.

The ability to compromise and work together is what has allowed humans to progress and innovate.  If our ancestors only accepted doing a task their way, we would still be living in caves and hitting each other over the head with sticks.  Instead, they worked together and learned from people with different ways of thinking to improve their tools and methods, allowing them to build prosperous societies.

Communication requires listening.  While we may not always agree, we can at least try to understand and take into account the other side’s needs.  Tolerance and cooperation begin not when we forcefully conquer others hearts and minds and force them to accept our world view, but when, while disagreeing with them, we nevertheless value others and accept them as individuals with values, needs, dreams, and passions.

 Let’s try to build bridges, not gorges.  Let’s find what unites us.  When we do end up on the other side of the valley, let’s try to understand how the other side got there, what they need, how they see the issue, and find a way to bridge the gulf that lies between us.   

If we are to overcome the challenges facing our country and the world, we need to find ways to move closer together and not further apart.  This does not mean the capitulation of our deeply held beliefs but does require working together to ensure that in pursuit of our own interests, we are not unduly hurting the interests of others.