To wake up

"When we look around us, we regularly find that others are not awake. Those others do not see what we do see. We are aware and those others are not. The funny thing is that those others experience the same thing when they look at us. Who says we are right? Maybe we are wrong and we are not awake (enough). It depends on which angle you are looking from.

But if being able to see from multiple perspectives is an art, then that is also a talent. Maybe you don’t feel like making an effort to explore multiple angles at all. You can argue that you can make sense, but that is highly questionable. If it were that simple, we as humanity would be well advanced in civilization by now.

We look for explanations why others are not awake, why others do not see what we see. To us, after all, it is so obvious. If those others knew what we know, they would be on our side in no time. It is not difficult for these others to absorb our knowledge, but they do not do it. We do, or at least we say we do.

Psychologists write books on cognitive dissonance. We know the power of peer pressure. Religions and cults can determine our thinking. Governments have elevated propaganda to an art. There are all sorts of explanations about why people don’t wake up. But can people who are asleep wake themselves up? And what if they were not born with that talent?"

Uit het artikel: Development space depends on talent and training.