In the first two decades of the twenty-first century people have been letting their imaginations run wild. There is a widespread breakdown of what were at one time common perceptions of reality. Logic and rational thinking have been abandoned by the wayside. There is a willingness to believe all kinds of lies and untruths.
As Paul wrote his protegee Timothy, “For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths.” We are living in that time. People are choosing false narratives over the truth because such narratives are more to their liking. These narratives fit with what has become their perceptions of the world around them.
When I worked as a social worker, I learned very quickly how people in their own minds will distort what is going on, how they will manipulate others to reinforce their distorted perceptions, and how they will minimize or ignore anything that does not support their distorted perceptions while exaggerating the importance and significance of anything that appears to support how they see things--irrespective of whether it does support their perceptions. The scientific term for this phenomenon is “cognitive dissonance” and it is often found in people with personality disorders and other psychopathology. Today we are seeing it on a mass scale, affecting entire segments of the population. Post-modernism would have us see as differences of opinion what previous generations would have regarded as aberrant thinking.
Human society cannot function when there is too larger gap between how its members perceive themselves, others, and the world. Each member of society becomes enclosed in his own little bubble, making cooperation between members of society more difficult than when members of society shared a much larger bubble. We are seeing the consequences of this fragmentation of perceptions both in politics and public health.
One segment of the US public adamantly refuses to believe that its candidate lost the presidential election even though the preponderance of evidence clearly and convincingly shows that he did. What meets the evidentiary burden of proof in both criminal and civil courts of law is not sufficient for this population segment. Because they are so enamored of their candidate, they cannot imagine him losing the election except by widespread fraud, a view he himself encourages and apparently has come to believe.
Adolf Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf that if a propagandist tells a lie often enough, he will come to believe it himself. The lie will take on a life of its own and the propagandist will not have to put as much energy into propagating it as he did initially. We are seeing these observations confirmed daily on social media on the internet.
Despite his popularity with his base, President Trump, surveys have shown, is least popular president with the general population since surveys of presidential popularity first began to be taken. The recent presidential election was a referendum on his continuation in office. Despite a large turnout by his supporters, he lost that referendum. His lying, his bellicoseness, his lack of empathy, his authoritarian leanings, and his policies contributed to that loss.
While Trump donned the mantle of a champion of the pro-life cause, many of his policies have not been pro-life. His handling of the COVID-19 pandemic has been one of the things that clearly showed that he is not genuinely pro-life. In his public statements, he has shown a willingness to write off a large segment of the population, including unborn children, as expendable. He also has supported cuts in food stamp and health care benefits that adversely affected the more vulnerable segments of the population such as seniors and pregnant women and added to the financial hardship of individuals and families that had suffered a loss of income due to the pandemic.
Trump similarly donned the mantle of a champion of religious freedom. Like his championing of the pro-life cause, his championing of religious freedom does not appear to be motivated by long-held convictions but by a desire to garner the votes of evangelicals on the right. In both his words and actions he has not shown the influence of the teachings and example of Jesus. This was not lost on many voters.
Trump’s reluctance to condemn the violence of extremist right-wing groups and his willingness to appeal to people’s worst instincts also cost him votes. His positions on a host of issues such as climate change, renewable energy, environmentalism, and the like turned off many younger voters.
For a substantial number of voters Trump was the more objectionable of the two candidates, something with which he and his supporters have yet to come to terms.
One segment of the US population also refuses to recognize the seriousness of the COVID-19 pandemic and to cooperate with the state and local public health authorities in their efforts to contain the spread of the virus and mitigate its effects. This segment of the population is found in a number of churches across the United States. It, however, is not confined to these churches. Instead of being on the forefront of promoting the health and safety of the community, the churches in question are encouraging churchgoers to disregard recommended and mandated measures for reducing transmission risks.
I do not know how we can go about it but we desperately need to rebuild shared perceptions of reality to the point that most of the population can cooperate with each other. Churches need to play a part in reversing the fragmentation process rather than contributing to it. Whether they realize it, churches stand to lose a great deal from their contribution to this fragmentation.
When I worked as a social worker, I learned very quickly how people in their own minds will distort what is going on, how they will manipulate others to reinforce their distorted perceptions, and how they will minimize or ignore anything that does not support their distorted perceptions while exaggerating the importance and significance of anything that appears to support how they see things--irrespective of whether it does support their perceptions. The scientific term for this phenomenon is “cognitive dissonance” and it is often found in people with personality disorders and other psychopathology. Today we are seeing it on a mass scale, affecting entire segments of the population. Post-modernism would have us see as differences of opinion what previous generations would have regarded as aberrant thinking.
Human society cannot function when there is too larger gap between how its members perceive themselves, others, and the world. Each member of society becomes enclosed in his own little bubble, making cooperation between members of society more difficult than when members of society shared a much larger bubble. We are seeing the consequences of this fragmentation of perceptions both in politics and public health.
One segment of the US public adamantly refuses to believe that its candidate lost the presidential election even though the preponderance of evidence clearly and convincingly shows that he did. What meets the evidentiary burden of proof in both criminal and civil courts of law is not sufficient for this population segment. Because they are so enamored of their candidate, they cannot imagine him losing the election except by widespread fraud, a view he himself encourages and apparently has come to believe.
Adolf Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf that if a propagandist tells a lie often enough, he will come to believe it himself. The lie will take on a life of its own and the propagandist will not have to put as much energy into propagating it as he did initially. We are seeing these observations confirmed daily on social media on the internet.
Despite his popularity with his base, President Trump, surveys have shown, is least popular president with the general population since surveys of presidential popularity first began to be taken. The recent presidential election was a referendum on his continuation in office. Despite a large turnout by his supporters, he lost that referendum. His lying, his bellicoseness, his lack of empathy, his authoritarian leanings, and his policies contributed to that loss.
While Trump donned the mantle of a champion of the pro-life cause, many of his policies have not been pro-life. His handling of the COVID-19 pandemic has been one of the things that clearly showed that he is not genuinely pro-life. In his public statements, he has shown a willingness to write off a large segment of the population, including unborn children, as expendable. He also has supported cuts in food stamp and health care benefits that adversely affected the more vulnerable segments of the population such as seniors and pregnant women and added to the financial hardship of individuals and families that had suffered a loss of income due to the pandemic.
Trump similarly donned the mantle of a champion of religious freedom. Like his championing of the pro-life cause, his championing of religious freedom does not appear to be motivated by long-held convictions but by a desire to garner the votes of evangelicals on the right. In both his words and actions he has not shown the influence of the teachings and example of Jesus. This was not lost on many voters.
Trump’s reluctance to condemn the violence of extremist right-wing groups and his willingness to appeal to people’s worst instincts also cost him votes. His positions on a host of issues such as climate change, renewable energy, environmentalism, and the like turned off many younger voters.
For a substantial number of voters Trump was the more objectionable of the two candidates, something with which he and his supporters have yet to come to terms.
One segment of the US population also refuses to recognize the seriousness of the COVID-19 pandemic and to cooperate with the state and local public health authorities in their efforts to contain the spread of the virus and mitigate its effects. This segment of the population is found in a number of churches across the United States. It, however, is not confined to these churches. Instead of being on the forefront of promoting the health and safety of the community, the churches in question are encouraging churchgoers to disregard recommended and mandated measures for reducing transmission risks.
I do not know how we can go about it but we desperately need to rebuild shared perceptions of reality to the point that most of the population can cooperate with each other. Churches need to play a part in reversing the fragmentation process rather than contributing to it. Whether they realize it, churches stand to lose a great deal from their contribution to this fragmentation.
While Christian Church has always stood apart from the world in a number of areas, these areas are not where many local churches are standing apart in this day and age. For example, churches at one time distanced themselves from political activism while at the same time taking an active role in advocating for the poor and the needy and the vulnerable. Now we see churches engaging in political activities that are inconsistent with Jesus' example and teachings.
For better or worse, computer technology and the internet have played a significant role in the present-day fragmentation of perceptions. In the past the regional and local culture set the parameters within which reality was perceived. People were discouraged from going outside these paraments. Social pressure was exerted upon them to remain within such parameters. Those who failed to conform were shunned. They were sometimes confined to a lunatic asylum or a madhouse.
For better or worse, computer technology and the internet have played a significant role in the present-day fragmentation of perceptions. In the past the regional and local culture set the parameters within which reality was perceived. People were discouraged from going outside these paraments. Social pressure was exerted upon them to remain within such parameters. Those who failed to conform were shunned. They were sometimes confined to a lunatic asylum or a madhouse.
With the internet people can move freely outside regional and local cultural parameters. They can congregate with other like-minded people on the internet. This has contributed to the erosion of widely-shared perceptions of reality and the proliferation of highly-individualized views of reality. This in part accounts for what has been described as the “tribalization” of the United States, its breakdown into social divisions with their own perceptions of reality that are not congruent with each other. One of the consequences is our society is becoming increasingly dysfunctional.
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