Several months ago, I was attacked – verbally – by someone I know well. At least, I thought I did. I thought we were even friends. Apparently, we are acquaintances – or less. Moreover, the attack came out of thin air – without any prior warning. The attack felt malicious. My trust in that person has gone. The subject of the attack relates to today’s blog title.
There have been several American articles how the Trump presidency tore up families and friendships (eg, CNN, HuffPost, NPR, NYT, Reuters, TIME). My friendship with a US national also suffered from our different views on Donald Trump.
Recently, I decided not to meet a possibly maybe because our conversation revealed that our corona views are very different. She wasn’t knowledgeable and – worse – she wasn’t interested in gaining knowledge. Her lack of any curiosity made me lose my interest in knowing her (sic!).
I think, feel and believe that today’s topic is somewhat related to my blog articles on human stupidity. Probably, we feel something like: how can someone be that stupid to believe that?
Nevertheless, the more fundamental question is probably this one:
Can we trust a person that holds “stupid” views?
Trust is (probably) the most fundamental bond between human beings (eg, HBR, MSU, Strategic Psychology, UNC, Wiki). It’s like the glue that keeps people and societies together. Without trust between people, there would be no cooperation in societies; only competition.
I have no sympathy for people denying the existence of the coronavirus – or its lethality. It’s real; get over it. Yet, I often get the question: do you believe in corona? My answer is simple: yes, I do.
My macro view is confusing to others: (1) viruses are at least as old as Earth, (2) humans cannot win, (3) viruses are crucial in (human) Evolution, (4) we should thus not even want to win, and (5) the pragmatic solution is to protect the weak and learn to cohabit with viruses. When people do hear me out, they usually understand my point of view. Their micro view is about empathy.
I know that I cannot and do not want to trust persons that hold “stupid” views. I will lose my respect and take an emotional distance. Ergo, friends become (old) acquaintances.
Old Acquaintances (2017) by Blaze Out
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Note: all markings (bold, italic, underlining) by LO unless stated otherwise.
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