The Real Divide - Guest Post by Cheval
Many of us share the frustration that we can no longer engage in discussions, debates, basic conversation, to discuss news, issues, articles, or videos, and feel forced to avoid topics and interaction
Let dreamers dream what worlds they please, those Edens can’t be found. The sweetest flow’rs, the fairest trees, are grown in solid ground.
US poet laureate Richard Wilbur
The Real Divide
Guest Post by Cheval
Over the past two years, nearly every one of us has contemplated the source of division within our country. I too have considered this question a great length. I have found the characterizations of our divisions to be unsatisfying because none of the characterizations explain why division exists. As a result of division, previously harmonious personal and professional relationships have been torn apart. We are dumbfounded when we learn that people near and dear to us, even our family members, harbor strong opposing views.
Thought leaders have attempted to frame this polarization in various ways: Left versus Right, liberals versus conservatives, Democrats versus Republicans, Everyone Else versus the Far Left, the Haves versus the Have Nots. Other categorizations have emerged, such as the Global Elites versus We the People, the Big versus the Small, Big Tech and Big Pharma oligarchs versus the People, Communists versus Capitalists, Islamists versus Western Civilization. The parsing goes on.
The common explanation for the source of our divisions is due to indoctrination with Leftist ideology pushed by academia, unions, social and mainstream media, and Hollywood. Yet I contend these are merely the means that are used to promote division. These means alone do not account for the reasons people have differing views, beliefs, and perspectives. The reasons must run deeper.
After months of reflection, I have concluded that the division within our country, and indeed across the world, is more a function of how each of us thinks, not purely the result of indoctrination and environment. Divergent thinking is the fundamental basis underlying the polarization we are experiencing today.
The way we think becomes ingrained within us from a very young age. Our thinking is derived from natural intelligence, of course, but also from our experiences which are often similar to those of others, but can also be vastly different. As we process our experiences, our values, viewpoints, morality, and, most importantly, our characters are formed. Character can change throughout one’s lifetime, but generally speaking, our character becomes etched in our persona by the time we become young adults, where we tend to diverge into two general groupings.
The first group, Type 1, tends to be rational, pragmatic, acutely aware of and accepting of how things are, leaning towards what seems reasonable rather than what is absolute. They tend to be skeptical, trusting to a point, want to hear both sides of an argument to make up their minds, and are willing to move off their position when shown contradictory information. Type 1s are concerned about justice for those who step over a line, want the best outcome for themselves and others, and possess a strong sense of fairness, morality, and religion. These people typically grow into self-confident adults, care about the past, are not concerned about what others may think about them, and have a live-and-let-live mentality, as long as everyone follows the same set of rules.
The other type, Type 2, tends to be more idealistic, wanting the best for all as well but focuses more on how things could or should be instead of what is realistically possible or achievable.
They tend to glom onto ideas or positions quickly, and then become adamant and unwilling to entertain that they may hold a flawed position. Type 2s are more easily influenced by and seek approval from others, including friends, relatives, mainstream sources. They worry about social conformity and value solidarity with their cause and others above going against the grain by taking an unpopular view. They become offended when someone disagrees with their strongly held views. They tend to be led by emotion and a need to want-to-believe in something even if outweighed by fact and reason. Their use of language is fluid, changing meanings and nuance to sidestep undesirable situations, explain away negative outcomes, or spin a distorted sense of reality. They tend to have surface-only knowledge on many topics leading to naivete and cognitive dissonance, unwilling to entertain the notion that there may be another set of possibilities they had not considered. Type 2s tend to possess a sliding sense of morality, scoff at and discount religion and traditional values, and lack a healthy skepticism necessary to discern truths from fictions.
Based on people’s responses to dealing with Covid, it has become a relatively simple matter to differentiate between these two types of individuals. We all know people that would fit either mold. People are not born one way or another. Rather, they become Type 1 or 2 thinkers over time through their individual development based on signals from parents, relatives, friends, educational experience, personal victories and setbacks, and society’s “pushers.”
Pushers include the one-script media, self-aggrandized academia, race-baiting politicians, deaf local school boards, woke corporations, and institutions that perpetuate flawed or deceitful ideas, especially with Type 2 thinkers. Pushers feed the “addicts,” to the extent that the addicts can no longer control their ability of discernment. The world has had its share of malevolent pushers since time began, but in today’s world, with never-seen-before technological reach and access, the influence of the pushers is overwhelming, creating a stacked deck resulting in a world that is birthing more and more Type 2 thinkers.
What I find tremendously disappointing is that intelligent, well-educated, and used-to-be well respected significant others in our lives have allowed themselves to be manipulated and demonstrate a nearly inexplicable lack of curiosity and self-imposed willful ignorance for opposing viewpoints, preventing them from seeing the path down which they are being led. Folks cover their ears and sing la-la-la because they do not want to hear anything that may contravene their paradigm. Nor is there any incentive to do so, no personal consequences, no shaming, only validation by fellow Type 2 thinkers and pushers. They cannot bring themselves to contradict their chosen social conformity, lest they betray themselves, others on their team, and their self-perceived virtuousness. They are addicted to the comfort of the world that they have created in their minds and do not want or cannot handle its shattering.
This is why many of us share the frustration that we can no longer engage in discussions, debates, basic conversation, to discuss news, issues, articles, or videos, and feel forced to avoid topics and interaction altogether. We thus fall further into two opposing camps on just about every issue of consequence.
This phenomenon also helps to explain why America is morphing into a country of blue bubbles and just about everywhere else. It also explains the massive internal US migrations in the past two years. When people can no longer meld with their family and neighbors due to polarization and lack of shared thinking and values, it is natural to seek out one’s kind. As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together.
So, what is the point of all of this?
The implication is that with a growing number of easily-swayed Type 2 thinkers, we as a nation suffer from a loss of discernment and Type 1 common sense. This in turn leads to the decay and rot of a nation, with its citizens accepting what they are told, unable to discern and connect the dots of events before the very eyes, willing to abdicate their rights and freedoms one by one.
Therefore, the most important thing we can do is to help shape as many Type 1 thinkers as possible, not just now, but also to help future generations.
Key is feeding young minds from their outset to promote thinkers possessing principles, standards, and strong moral foundations. Young adults need to be able to ward off the whims and influence of bad actors, society’s future pushers, and prevent our children from becoming addicts in their time. We take such care to feed and protect our children’s health and wellbeing of their bodies, but we often overlook the health of their minds because of competing demands on our time, by delegating that responsibility to others, and through sheer laziness.
It is hard to imagine the extent to which kids today are bombarded with messaging via social media, entertainment, and societal influencers with which prior generations never had to contend. But the results are clear to see. America’s youth are being pulled in directions that are detrimental to their and society’s well-being, directions that can not easily be reversed, such that new meaning is given to the expression “the lost generation.”
To develop future generations of Type 1 thinkers, we need to lay the foundation that includes not just math and science, but also spiritual, ethical, and moral intelligence to build strong characters, critical thinkers, and a generation brave enough to stand by their convictions. We need to foster their understanding between right and wrong, what is good and bad and why, how our government and society work so when faced with life’s tough choices, they make wise decisions to stand against cold ideological winds.
I hear parents today say, excusing why they no longer bring their children to church services or Sunday school, when Johnny or Susie grows up, they are free to make their own decision about religion. In essence, these parents have relinquished their responsibility to guide their children’s moral and spiritual development. Have you ever seen anyone become a virtuoso at anything by taking up a sport, an instrument, or painting at age 21? Of course not; they developed their interests, understanding, and talents when young.
Although it is fair to say that most children will never become a Tiger Woods, a diva, or rocket scientist, nearly every child has the potential to develop a virtuoso mind and character. Starting at ages 3, 4, or 5, we should be nurturing their minds, not poisoning their minds as the Left is attempting to do to develop more Type 2 thinkers. Children need exposure to and reinforcement with time-honored ideas early and often so they can develop as pragmatic and realistic Type 1 thinkers.
In the near term, we will not be able to resolve the tally of Type 1 and 2 thinkers. However, we can, in the longer term, tip the balance towards increasing numbers of Type 1 thinkers to prevent our future nation and society from falling prey, yet again, to the Type 2 thinking that pervades and diminishes today’s society.
If we truly care, let us no longer allow and enable that which has twisted the young adult lost generation of today. Rather, wherever and however we can, invest in providing the next generation an academic, moral, and spiritual education to include the enduring values of respect for self and others, self-discipline, and self-reliance. In doing so, we can preserve Type 1 thinking and grow Type 1 thinkers that will inevitably be called upon to bail out future societies, and will need to face off against Type 2 thinking and an unrelenting Left.
I came across a wonderful quotation that concisely and aptly sums up the need for Type 1 thinking in the world, penned by US poet laureate Richard Wilbur: “Let dreamers dream what worlds they please, those Edens can’t be found. The sweetest flow’rs, the fairest trees, are grown in solid ground.”
Cogent publisher, Frederick R. Smith
Cogent author, Cheval