Humans 101
Wisdom Begins When You Ask This One Question
Create a better world through curiosity, not judgment
A friend of mine posted a picture on Facebook recently, mocking people with different beliefs than his. I was disappointed but not surprised. This happens when you believe you are right — to support your position further, others who differ with you have to be wrong.
And it’s much easier to do when your beliefs are the same as a larger group because you’ve got the majority standing with you—power in numbers. Groupthink. It’s easy to criticize others when you feel little risk of retaliation.
Social bullying is wrong, harmful, and divisive.
But the perpetrator feels justified because they believe their point of view is the only possible way. They want to promote their beliefs at any cost, even if it means labeling, criticizing, and judging others.
This social phenomenon is not dissimilar to the influence of the Catholic Church in medieval times. During this age of intellectual darkness, religious dogma dictated how people should think and behave. Anyone disagreeing was labeled a heretic and either rehabilitated, persecuted, or killed. The Salem witch trials in 1692 are another example where fear of the unknown, fueled by mass hysteria, led…
