Let’s Listen To The Other Side
Since nothing is proved, everything can be proved
-Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus
We are divided and we are angry, very very angry. Maybe one day we will be able to see the madness of the times we live in and the utter stupidity of the hostility that has us in its grip. The strong, hardened opinions, the beliefs that have seeped into us so deep that they feel like truth.
We may like to believe that we are correct, that we are on the side of truth. We cannot believe otherwise or how else would we justify our actions or our beliefs. We cannot go against the abstract morality that we hold ourselves accountable to. So, we do what we feel is right. We may have our doubts but surely we have justifications and reasons to do whatever we did or are planning to.
Can we ever be truly objective? Can one ever know the truth? Human mind is an incredible thing. It can imagine a world, believe in it, live it and die for it. So strong is the allure of the imagination that we become part of the narrative and without us being aware, the story and the belief system uses us. Such strong is the grip of the story on us that we will never be able to see truth from the imagination. But is there anything as absolute truth or is everything just a thought, a story, an idea created by imagination that we all believe in and are ready to live for it, to die for and maybe strangely even kill for.
We are prisoners to the ideas and these are so powerful that we live for them without even realizing that they are a creation of human’s imagination.
Since, what we believe in may not be the truth, can we accept that that the person opposing me can also be correct. Let us have the openness to accept opposing views, howsoever wrong they might seem to us.
The world right now is sharply divided on ideologies. There is a left and right and there are a few in between at the center. Is there anything as correct ideology or the correct thinking? We all think that our beliefs and the core values are the ones that are good for everyone. We all may feel that we are following the right way but is there a way to know whatever we believe in is correct? Lot of debates these days on communalism and liberal ideas. Both sides are more sharply divided than even in India today.
Social media further fuels this division. One can look at the language one is drawn to. How much power does language have? Words, if chosen wisely can inspire, can heal but if motivated can also be used to create hatred and divisions. Passionate words, meant to incite anger, create narrative of us versus them, create villains and heroes in the society are the ones that get the traction in the social media. Headlines that are extreme catch our attention. We are drawn towards extreme opinion that supports our view and the social network pushes these articles. We may not like a reasoned, nuanced argument that questions our view but will lap up shrill opinionated article that supports our view. All this is only creating further divisions in society, making the groups more against each each other, more intolerant of the other view.
Can we accept that being sure is not necessary and that we may be wrong. That we may not necessarily know the truth. I can be an atheist or a believer or I can be an atheist who in a small corner of his heart believes in some ‘God’ or I may be the ardent believer who to his horror discovers that he has doubts on the existence of ‘God’. I can be anyone. There is a place for everyone in this world.
But, I think it is in the faith of an atheist or in the doubt of a believer that we can have hope. Because, it is these people who are not sure, who leave room for doubt, who will be ready to listen to stories that do not support their narrative. If your belief is too strong or you are too sure that your views are impregnable then no meaningful discussion is possible and may be then there is nothing more to be learned or understood.
