Another Inconvenient Truth
I have just seen the Al Gore movie, An Inconvenient Truth. High praise to him for bringing the global warming crisis to the attention of many. The movie is well done, and certainly deserves to be seen.
However, as in all other environmental and political crises, there is no mention of the importance of what goes on inside the human mind. While we can attribute our problems (sectarian violence, unending warfare between religions and peoples, global warming, nuclear threat) to statistics or political actions (or inactions), no one ever seems to get that these are all EFFECTS of the inner processes going on in human beings.
The assumption is that if our problems can be seen as originating in certain policies and actions, then the solutions only call for a change in our policies (as the movie calls them - our "habits") and actions. But we never have much appetite for trying to discern and to understand WHY these polices and actions exist in the first place.
Motivations like the fear of death, the need to believe our way of life is superior, projection of one's own weaknesses and "inconvenient truths" like bullying, shame, self-doubt, unquestioned and mindless obedience to authority, always seem irrelevant and not worthy of consideration.
It is disappointing that we collectively still lack the courage and wisdom to investigate, let alone to acknowledge, the mysterious source of our actions and choices. Until we do, solutions may be suggested, and problems may be identified, but we will continue to be our own worst enemies, and ignorance of the self will guarantee our collective illusion that we know what we're doing, and why we're doing it.
As Shakespeare said in King Lear: "Tis the times plague, when madmen lead the blind."
However, as in all other environmental and political crises, there is no mention of the importance of what goes on inside the human mind. While we can attribute our problems (sectarian violence, unending warfare between religions and peoples, global warming, nuclear threat) to statistics or political actions (or inactions), no one ever seems to get that these are all EFFECTS of the inner processes going on in human beings.
The assumption is that if our problems can be seen as originating in certain policies and actions, then the solutions only call for a change in our policies (as the movie calls them - our "habits") and actions. But we never have much appetite for trying to discern and to understand WHY these polices and actions exist in the first place.
Motivations like the fear of death, the need to believe our way of life is superior, projection of one's own weaknesses and "inconvenient truths" like bullying, shame, self-doubt, unquestioned and mindless obedience to authority, always seem irrelevant and not worthy of consideration.
It is disappointing that we collectively still lack the courage and wisdom to investigate, let alone to acknowledge, the mysterious source of our actions and choices. Until we do, solutions may be suggested, and problems may be identified, but we will continue to be our own worst enemies, and ignorance of the self will guarantee our collective illusion that we know what we're doing, and why we're doing it.
As Shakespeare said in King Lear: "Tis the times plague, when madmen lead the blind."
posted by Philip Levine at 10:03 PM
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