It doesn’t take more than a few minutes of browsing through today’s top stories to realize human conflict issues as so very prominent, and so very ugly. Within political institutions…and between them. Within nations…and between them. On a small scale… and a global scale.
Let’s face it.
Our most elite education, corporate, and government institutions simply seem to lack viable, mature answers to help us resolve our world conflicts or integrate conflicting points-of-view. We seem to have little clue what we can do to truly overcome conflict — except through additional threats of engaging in even more conflict and by marginalizing perspectives we don’t like.
It’s far easier for us to develop the technology and be keen on launching a series of missiles with pinpoint accuracy to kill a person 10,000 miles away than it is for us to desire to sit down and have a mature conversation with them.
We find ourselves far more willing and feel it far more satisfying to mock, demean, insult and rage on our political counterparts than to seek common ground where we can listen to and respect each other’s unique insights.
We don’t realize how very close to the precipice of self-destruction we really are. If our attacks go to the point of launching WMD, it could very well be game over for our human species, regardless of which side of the missiles we find ourselves on. This is a very likely scenario in the next few decades — or even years.
Contrary to our efforts to advance as a species, the answer clearly seems not to be to accumulate even more data, resources, wealth, intelligence, or technology. I feel we intuitively know this, or at least sense this, on some level.
Though we pursue aspirations for more with fervor, the actual attainment of more hasn’t demonstrated to be the panacea to resolving human conflict and its corresponding suffering. In fact, the unrelenting pursuit of more actually seems to precipitate conflict.
What do we need?
I do believe the answer comes from redefining our notions of what advancement is. I believe it comes from tuning our pursuits towards cultivating the simple capacity within us as human beings to feel — the sensitivity to feel someone else as ourselves, and to tune into the Truth within all of us.
Feel what’s within…with acuity and without reactivity. Our capacity to do I do feel is our only salvation.
Ranjeeth Thunga
Perspective Mapper