Tonight while preparing for a presentation, I was reading about the simple narrative that won this recent election, and it had me thinking about our culture of slogans. We are bombarded with news and policy and economics that create swirl for many of us, and then we get lost in the sea of information. So if you say you can get me a reliable boat to navigate the information, that’s all I want to hear. Devil’s in the details. Just give me the damn boat. Of course, dying is not an option, so… Tell me what I want to hear so I can feel safe again. Reptilian brain.
This over simplification has me worried. We have always loved bandaids to cover wounds. They hide the truths behind the wounds. Like how the wound got there in the first place, and whether there is a source we can identify and try to address (move the toy that you slipped on that caused the fall that caused the wound that caused the need for a bandaid), which may require complex systems thinking.
Guns don’t kill. They protect.
Guns don’t protect. They kill
Which slogan side are you on?
Your mission, if you choose to accept it: Put on your best teflon and go deep in search of a second or third layer of truth. Remember that our culture of billboards and campaign slogans has distracted us from our messy truths and appealed to the most basic part of our reptilian brains. We can do better than that. #beinghuman #BeCurious #BeEmpathetic #WheatonsLaw #BigBangTheory #DontBeAReptile
Be kind. Be safe. Be appropriate. Now Go!
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