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One of the major problems with society is that we all now believe in narratives (A thread)
It doesn’t matter who we vote for, what our beliefs are, what we identify as...
We are all guilty of ingesting narratives & then regurgitating them without thought
It doesn’t matter who we vote for, what our beliefs are, what we identify as...
We are all guilty of ingesting narratives & then regurgitating them without thought
Every side has a “narrative” whether it be BLM who believe we live in a racist, patriarchal, sexist society that needs to be dismantled. Or the Right of the political spectrum who believe that poverty is somehow the fault of people living in abject misery & hard work can cure all
We need to learn to reintroduce nuance back into our lives. Binary opinions are unhelpful & one dimensional. The more we retreat into simplistic narratives the more we dehumanise people who think differently to us. This only increases divisions within society
Reality is always far more complex than narratives. The reason we use them is because they’re easy & simple. We don’t have to think or challenge ourselves. However by using them we don’t examine our own beliefs & prejudices. They reinforce a highly simplistic worldview.
Insults are tied into our use of narratives. If someone voices concern over the new vaccine they’re an “antivaxxer”. It doesn’t matter that they may have legitimate concerns, they’ve questioned the narrative & should be punished.
Insults are a way of maintaining authority. People are terrified of challenging the narrative as they know that words like “racist” & “transphobe” will be used against them. They also know that these words tarnish reputations & their lives will be impacted as a result.
The only way out of this is to listen to people & their opinions. Challenge yourself to have friendships with people who disagree with you. The sign of a mature person is surrounding yourself with people who challenge you & your beliefs. All of us have blind spots & flaws.
You are no different to anyone else. Be kind & don’t demonise people you disagree with. You’ve been wrong before & you will be wrong again. We are human beings, not an avatar on social media that needs to be “destroyed”
