posted on Mar, 24 2015 @ 03:14 AM
I don’t know if less internal conflict in the US is possible, but I know I’d like to see it.
One of the things that strikes me most about our culture is that everyone goes to extremes on everything.
Subtilities are lost within the divisions in almost all areas.
I noticed once that in the American English, the word “mediocre” has evolved to mean “of low quality” … when it used to mean average,
medium, common, acceptable, adequate, moderate.
I find that language tells much about the culture. This shows some of the thinking that is probably at the base of many other problems- like why we
find the middle class shrinking.
No one wants to be in the middle, no one wants to be “average”. No one wants to have an opinion or view that conciliates or combines extremes.
Sometimes such perceptions are a tiny bit more difficult to think about, they take attention to detail, they mean more critical thought, and a certain
amount of willingness to be receptive.
Something that I often keep in mind is that,
Using black and white thinking is an effective way of pushing a person to make a choice, as quickly as possible, cutting them off from spending any
time thinking critically.
This is a tactic used in sales, in politics, in all social exchanges.
We can get used to being manipulated that way, and get used to doing it ourselves to others, without even being very consciously aware we are doing
it. It just becomes habit.
If someone is insisting on focus of extremes, and refusing to analyse or consider any notions in between, then that is exactly the time it is
important to look into those subtilities and details…. What is it they don’t want you to see? Why don’t they want you to spend a little time
thinking first?
I’ve saved my ass from some complex rip off schemes that way, by just being alert to that. From advertising, to politics, to conflicts in social
groups, this is used. –And I don’t mean to use it as a way of judging who is good or bad! Like I said, people may just be so used to black and
white thinking used on them, they start to do it themselves without being aware they are! I find this is used a lot in American culture. It is the
source of a lot of conflicts and divisions.