This morning, going through my social feeds, I happened on this pronouncement:
“If any of my friends are supporting, [Insert the other party’s candidates], please unfriend me. You are entitled to your opinions, but I have no desire to engage with you…..”
While this was the most pronounced articulation, I see too much of the same thing happening. Family members can no longer talk to other family members, neighbors will not engage with neighbors, ……..
This is particularly heightened in the current US political environment, and I suspect in other countries. But we see versions of this in so many other parts of our lives and business. In my LinkedIn feeds, I see too many shutting down, narrowing their perspectives, discounting any others as irrelevant or, “You don’t understand….”
Over the past few years, dozens of books on Polarization have been published. Each citing what is happening, some tracing through how we become more polarized.
There is nothing happening in the world that frightens me more than what I have described.
In fact, virtually every problem we face, finds its roots in this mindset.
Our growth as human beings, in business, and in our society has always been based on our abilities to engage with others, even those who have views that are very different than those we hold.
How do we learn, how do we grow, how do we try new things?
I learn more from those that disagree with me, those that have different experiences, those that have different beliefs. Engaging with these people doesn’t necessarily mean that I have to shift my views or opinions. These discussions may reconfirm some of those things. I may shift my ideas somewhat. They always broaden my thinking.
What is it that causes us to so disrespect differences?
This is not new, it’s existed throughout human history. Whether religious, political, nationality, ethnicity, gender/sexual orientation, economic or anything else, we have such intolerance of those that differ from us. And social/AI channels seem to amplify this intolerance.
Yet, it’s been our ability to transcend these differences, even in small ways, that cause us to learn and grow.
I don’t have any solutions, it would be arrogant and blind to pretend that I do. But I know that I can change my own behavior and ways in which I engage those who have differing views than mine. I can learn from them, I can respect them for who they are. I can and must be better.
And I think it’s a choice each of us faces, every day.
What happens when we stop talking to each other? What happens when we stop listening, respectfully, to each other?
And if you disagree, please don’t stop following me. Please engage and let’s learn from each other.
