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Dear John, We are seeing a rampant "othering" of our fellow humans in the present moment. This is not a new phenomenon, but a storm that seems to be gathering, fueled by fear, cynicism, and distrust of friends, family, and people in our communities. What might we do to help ourselves and others remember our deepest nature? Many years ago, I attended a conference at Emory University in Atlanta. H.H. The Dalai Lama was the celebrated focal point of the event, which aimed to discuss the latest research and philosophy conjoining science and spirituality. One session was devoted to emerging research on new ideas about our essential human nature: cooperation rather than competition. As we all learned in school,19th and 20th century scientists convinced generations that the maxim, "survival of the fittest," was the truth (with a capital "T") of human evolution. The gathered scientists at this conference, however, presented a great deal of evidence to the contrary. They argued that actually "cooperation" is what made us human. It is inarguable that human beings create categories of other human beings, and that "other" or "stranger" is probably one of the earliest categorizations we have. But when did the concept of "other" begin to be considered, "less-than" or "unworthy," or "enemy?" When did we begin to dehumanize each other? Join us in for a conversation focused on these ideas at our next Local Peace Economy call on Wednesday, February 26th at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT as we explore how we might encourage our deeper instincts of cooperation and connection to flourish under these difficult conditions? How might we help others to understand that dehumanizing others is a slippery slope to groupthink and totalitarianism? |
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