I'm sure I am not the only person that has noticed that since the start of Covid in March of last year, the divide created between groups of people. From pro choice to pro vaccination, mask wearers and no mask wearers and everything in between. It is apparent that a large percentage of the population does not like being disagreed with - on both sides of the fence.
My stance is irrelevant on any of the current issues happening around the world. What I'm talking about here is the very real and scary truth of people's fears not allowing them to be open to other people's perspectives. Since when have we been so closed minded?
Photo by Eduardo Flores on Unsplash
Science, for example, has always been about open inquiry. Being open enough to see the myriad of possibilities has been one of the foundations of healthy scientific debate and discovery. And now it seems as though if you question anything, you are deemed incompetent, irrational and unscientific.
I may not be a scientist, but I have questions and should be able to speak them out loud without being deemed anti anything.
I don't know about you but can you imagine a world where cigarette smoking, once pushed as "healthy" by doctors was never questioned? (It is now an established fact that doctors were paid by tabacco companies to do so); or how about cocaine in Coca Cola? Heroin in cough syrup? What makes us think we know all there is to know about everything just because we are living in the here and now?
To question is a basic human right but somehow has turned into something to make the questioner wrong. We still have so much to learn....we always will. It's ignorant to believe that we know it all.
To take in everything that we are told as gospel without question has the mark of blind faith, reminiscent of religious dogma.
As someone who was once traumatised for just being me by religion, it has given me the heightened sensitivity of knowing when I'm being gas-lighted and manipulated. Depending on how you look at it, it can be seen as a positive or negative side effect of trauma. I personally see it as a super power.
My point - a world without critical thinking and questioning the things that we are being told is hardly the mark of an intelligent society. I can think of many times in history where large populations were manipulated by governments and media for agendas other than what was being reported.
Maybe looking at other sources of information other than media owned by the one person is smart? Maybe following the money is smart? Maybe asking why is smart? Maybe, maybe not. Just don't hate on your neighbour for thinking differently to you. The only way forward is if we work together, be kind to each other and show more love in general.
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