Over the last two weeks I have made the case that everyone
has a personal mythology. People run stories in their heads about the what and why of everything happening around them. To be heroes of their stories depends on following an underlying mythology that sets the rules for judging noble, moral
behavior. It is this underlying
mythology that drives actions and decisions, not whether people are
inherently evil, greedy or stupid.
Calling them names or shouting them down has no effect, except possibly minor, temporary victories and new enemies.
We look at ISIS or white supremacists and easily recognize their
mythology. Most Americans agree that those
mythologies – one about building a caliphate to wipe out infidels as they usher
in the end of the world and the other about racial superiority – are just plain
wrong. But many mythologies of our
friends and neighbors are not so clear-cut in terms of morality. There are gray areas with strong arguments on both sides, and some people don’t remain our friends long if their
mythologies are too much at odds with ours as each side refuses to budge.
One problem is that some of the tenets of these modern
mythologies lead individuals in the wrong direction. They waste time and money. They lead people to support political
solutions that waste everyone’s time and money.
When confronted, they cling to their core beliefs and coalesce into camps
or tribes to help them support and justify their position.
A second problem comes from the speed and reach of modern
communications. Ideas are flying
everywhere and people are more interested in clinging to ideas of their liking
than taking time to find out if what they are hearing is true. Just as in casual conversation, it’s cooler
to come up with a witty retort or story of your own experience than to check the facts.
The result is what we have today: a deeply divided populace, short on meaningful
debate, throwing slogans, insults and accusations back and forth, and then retreating to their own corners for support and reinforcement.
Many people use kind words about understanding, tolerance and compassion, but it doesn’t play out
that way. Even those who claim to be
most tolerant and compassionate are often the first and the loudest to call
someone with different ideas an idiot or a hater. They ask everyone to be open-minded, that is,
to accept their point of view; but open-minded means listening to and
considering another point of view, not accepting every crazy idea that comes
along. Our politicians lead by example in an increasingly divisive and unproductive use of
accusations and labels. There must be an
end to this!
Our objective should be to unify Americans around the idea
of putting an end to the waste in society and to reduce the number and
intensity of behavioral errors in the key dimensions. This will get the country moving in the right
direction. Doing it through behavior is
the solution and is a viable alternative to gathering into tribes and fighting.
But this will be an uphill battle. The wasteful and dangerous behavior is so
often initiated and reinforced by deep-seated modern myths. It must be an evolution, rather than a revolution, improving choices and decisions by chipping away at the underlying
myths. These myths include: that it’s uncool to be
conscientious; that being complacent about and tolerant of bad habits is
appropriate; that there really is some magic cure to all our ills but doctors
and others are hiding it to protect their own interests; that "natural" or "ancient" is equivalent to good because modern science can’t be trusted; that a
growing economy only benefits a few; that wanting it all and wanting it now
without concern for the future is the way to live; that the government has unlimited funds to bail everyone out; and all the rest. Take for example the housing boom/bust. The crisis sprang from the wrong belief that everyone has a “right” to the American Dream instead of the healthy belief that success requires hard
work and sacrifice.
All these faulty myths are constantly reinforced: by the media to attract an audience, by advertisers to make sales and by politicians to get re-elected. Only a few years ago no one,
except a small percentage with a specific medical condition, worried about gluten-free diets. Now almost 20% of Americans
look for it on packaging, while manufacturers are all too happy to accommodate the
fad by plastering it on more and more labels, even in products where the prospect of
finding any gluten is zero.
And that’s just one example.
Thanks to the rapid and widespread reach of social media, more faulty myths are being created and reinforced daily.
To change people’s minds we must somehow get them to modify their mythology, not just assume that everyone else is stupid and evil. The only hope is for a significant group of Americans to
become more aware of the behavior-consequences link in their lives and the
lives of those close to them. We must begin
resisting impulses, thinking more carefully, understanding the economy better, taking responsibility, improving education for all, working for results
instead of demanding them as rights, and being more selective. We must begin challenging
advertisers, politicians and the news media to give us straight information, instead of playing to our fears, insecurities and social fads. Some myths are just plain wrong leading people in the
wrong direction with potentially harmful results. It is right to be intolerant of behaviors that show a lack of responsibility or make matters worse. Tough love is still a valid response to those
making bad decisions.
Use behavior and consequences to point out problems. Calling people stupid gets us nowhere and is
probably incorrect. They merely have a
different mythology that they turn to first for direction. Treating essential oils like a miracle drug
is no crazier or stupider than thinking the sun is pulled around the sky by a
god in a chariot. It’s just a different
mythology.
Behavior is in a sense infectious. We read headlines about how your friends can make you fat and such - because we share their habits and tastes (and mythologies). By being sensitive to the behavior-consequences link and changing our own behavior accordingly, it may be possible to "infect" others. And as we get more Americans on board with these ideas,
advertisers, politicians and the media may respond by giving us better
information and joining the fight against erroneous, wasteful and harmful behavior. One can only hope.
Well said Jim. The beauty of this reality is the feedback of what doesn't work (and what does), although it takes time to play out before we see the errors of our ways, What if, for example, humans cannot survive long term is groups larger than a tribe (~150 people). Attempts at larger "civilizations" eventually over the millennia show their weakness, and fail. Until we align with Divine Grace, with cooperation, free flowing energy, and diversity as the core values, then our lives will just be a variety of attempts to try human life in discord with the natural order... some of which are entertaining and fun, but which are unsustainable. We can catch on eventually, or trash the earth and see the consequences of our actions.
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