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The Importance Of Being Nice
When everyone’s afraid it helps to be cheerful and kind
We humans are hardwired for groupthink. It doesn’t take much to make us afraid, and when we’re fearful our limited intellects shut down. We obey the dictates of purported authority figures and we seek to punish those we feel aren’t conforming sufficiently. It comforts us to do what we’re told, whereas thinking independently can create uncomfortable ambiguity.
It’s not difficult to see how easily this tips over into terrible outcomes. For those of us with memories longer than last night’s binge viewing, Rwanda and the Kenyan election violence springs immediately to mind, as do the massacres in Bosnia and today’s continued slaughter of Rohingya in Burma. It’s too easy for fear to turn into violence as people seek relief from their terror by taking action against anyone deemed “wrong.”
Today we’re told to practice “social distancing” and in practice that means we begin to regard all those around us as potential causes of harm. Pass by me too closely and you may kill me! We’re fearful and suspicious of those we encounter as we scurry to and from supermarkets clutching essential supplies.
This is deeply unhealthy from a psychological perspective. We already live in fragmented societies; now we’re creating much deeper and more dangerous mistrust, on government orders.
