Where has nuance gone? Where has subtlety fled to? How did society get to a point where you’re condemned if you hold two thoughts in your mind at once?
I’ll give you an example. I disagreed with most things a recently murdered political commentator said. But I am also 100% against his murder.
‘I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
Evelyn Beatrice Hall, The Friends of Voltaire (Often mistakenly attributed to Voltaire himself.)
My Mom Reminds Me
Sunday was the fifth anniversary of my mom’s death. It went by in a flash. Grief is a strange and unpredictable thing. I don’t miss her less but I no longer get a hollow feeling in my chest when I think of her. She was endlessly curious and loved to learn. I’m grateful she passed those qualities on to me. She also possessed a nunnery’s worth of empathy. She could simultaneously hold a grudge like it was the last piece of chocolate on earth.
Mom’s favourite TV host was Jimmy Kimmel. I can only imagine how she would be reacting to what’s going in. Comedians and satirists are the philosophers of our time. I really believe that. They labour to find nuance and angles to what’s happening in our world to help us understand it. It doesn’t matter with whom we agree or disagree. The point is their undeniable right to speak freely.
Finding Common Ground
Simon Sinek isn’t a stand-up but he’s definitely a philosopher. He’s an author and business leadership speaker. And he says we are getting political discourse all wrong. We seek to convince or convert, not to understand. But he says it better.
The viral video that’s going around is posted to Facebook so I can’t share it here. But I did write a transcript. Please take it in. The aforementioned political commentator got empathy completely wrong. It’s not only necessary, it might be the only way out of this mess. (Besides pulling the plug on the Internet.)
“No one thinks they’re evil. Everyone thinks they’re on the side of “good.” Both sides, if you talk to them, actually think that they’re trying to do good. And if you just remember that, that people think they’re on the side of good. They may be misdirected and all of those things are still true. But everybody THINKS they’re on the side of good. If you just start with that basic knowledge, how we interact is very different. Because we no longer seek to criticize because “you’re evil”, that’s my judgment. But seek to understand where you’re sourcing that “good” from. And curiosity is a great way to interact with humans with whom we disagree.” Simon Sinek
You’re right. Even Darth Vader thought he was bringing peace and order to the galaxy.
Well, it’s Simon Sinek’s perspective, but yeah, I can absolutely see that even people who are woefully misguided think they’re doing “good.”