The Ethical Lexicon #39
See through your brain’s blind spots and face reality
The headlines are chilling:
Atrocities perpetrated on civilians and children in an unprovoked attack. Yet some celebrate these acts of terror as heroism in defense of freedom.
How is it possible that people can look at the same events and see such diametrically opposing pictures? How can we solve our problems when we can't agree on how to interpret what's right before our eyes?
The challenge increases when the choices are less obvious and the stakes are not life and death. Whether in business, in education, in families, and in politics, when we see only what we want to see, any meeting of minds becomes impossible and finding common ground remains a distant dream.
Sometimes it comes down to differing values and priorities. But it can also come from our subconscious filtering out information and thereby depriving us of the opportunity to see the world objectively and honestly.
So what do we want: To reside comfortably in the world of illusion, or chart our way back to reality?
That's the topic of this week's column in Fast Company, in which the latest entry to the Ethical Lexicon is:
Reticular Activating System
#ethics #perspective #conflict #terror #mindset
