26-01-2021
Q. Why are we so divided? How can we bridge the divide? How can we heal the divide?
A. The “divide” is created because the humans have not learned to appreciate and celebrate the difference existing between and amongst people and peoples.
“Why are we so divided?” Implicit in this question is the presumption that division is inherently bad and wrong and that it should be avoided or eradicated in favor of ‘unity’, which in turn is presumed to mean ‘uniformity’ and ‘equalization’.
Paradoxically, this presumption and the implied need for equalization are precisely what lead people to bemoan, “Why are we so divided?!” Why are “we” so divided? It is because the “we” that bemoan and ask do not know the cosmic holiness of differentiation and separation, and thus “we” do not know how to appreciate difference or separation.
“And ye shall be holy, for I am holy” (Lev. 11:44). In the archaic Hebrew language, the root word used for ‘holy’ meant ‘to separate’ or ‘to differentiate’. The main feature of the Cosmic Creation is differentiation and separation. The creational power of the Creator lies in the act of differentiating and separating. The heavens are differentiated and separated from the earth, light from darkness, seas from lands, animals from plants, and the human beings from one another.
The vector of human evolution is in the direction of ever-increasing differentiation. The more evolved the person is, the more unique and singular he/she becomes. Therefore, the work of a great genius is singular and has his/her unique signature. Uniqueness (unicus = one) is the only real unity or oneness the human being can authentically attain.
Modern genetics shows that difference between and amongst individuals are a sign of the health of the species. Prolific individual differentiation is the genetic imperative, for the reproduction of like beings impoverishes life to the point of genetic disease or species extinction.
In fact, the difference is that which binds us together in unity-in-diversity. The difference is what makes us belong to the whole as distinct parts in integration-in-differentiation. Thus, what unites us together is not equality or uniformity but difference. We are all equal only in that we are all different.
Furthermore, every movement of differentiation involves a new movement of integration as a part, and vice versa: every movement of integration involves a new movement of differentiation inside the whole.
Our society is for the most part against individual differentiation and singularity. Our education forces, enforces, and re-enforces homogenization and equalization. Thus, most people only learn to groupthink, which is not real thinking at all.
People become indoctrinated with a certain belief system or ideology enforced by the external authority in order to serve and benefit the system, i.e., the power structure that constitutes the external authority. The few manage to “succeed” to become the members of the power structure—the elites. The majority end up serving the system in their serfdom, subsisting as homogenized, conditioned, and well-adapted people—as ‘nice’ and ‘sincere’ but inauthentic and unfulfilled persons.
Thus, sadly people can only come together if they can groupthink together inside the comfortable echo chamber. When they meet a person or group that does not agree with their group-belief, they do not know how to be with that person or group, peacefully and productively, except engaging in a mutual discord in order to bring about some equalization.
Ideology or belief homogenizes people’s mind into holding the same opinion and into ‘not-thinking’ the same groupthink. They fail in the task of (ontologically) achieving complete individual differentiation, which is what individual sovereignty means, and of (epistemologically) having individual perspective, which is the basis of authentic, original thinking.
“Bridging the divide” does not come through equalization. The attempt at equalization is an attempt at control. People try to ‘equalize’ others according to their homogenized beliefs. “Bridging the divide” and “divide and conquer” are two sides of the same equalization strategy. This equalization strategy is one of the ways through which the system, and thus the power structure, are maintained and perpetuated.
They bemoan “why are we so divided?” If we can appreciate and celebrate the difference, we will not be bemoaning the division—then we will know that in the ‘holiness’ that is separation and differentiation, healing already is.
Human beings are uniquely different, and there should be as many perspectives as there are individuals. This perspectival diversity, which leads to ‘ideodiversity’ (ideational diversity), makes the world so much more abundant and wonderful, even as the biodiversity of the rainforests contributes to the prosperity of the whole and each life form existing therein.
This does not mean that all perspectives or ideas are equal in value or validity. Some perspectives, ideas, or paradigms are greater in value or validity or verity than others with particular situations or contexts.
We should all engage in robust discussions, dialogues, examinations, and experimentations to determine the value, validity, and verity of ideas. Sometimes the other person’s idea or hypothesis may be proven to be better than yours, but through the whole process everyone has the opportunity to learn and benefit.
Therefore, my suggestion for us is to:
(1) Examine and understand our own judgment, belief, and attitude toward people and peoples who hold different beliefs and ideologies from our own:
(2) Learn to understand the different ideas and ideologies other people and peoples hold, and let go of our judgment, belief, and attitude through understanding.
(3) Appreciate and celebrate the difference.
The ability to understand and appreciate different points of view is primarily the function of imagination. Imagination requires the psychological freedom from the past—from the cultural programming and social conditioning to which we have been subjected. Imagination is a ‘holy’ process; it is the process of creating, of distinguishing and differentiating, in thought concomitant with the process of existential distinction and differentiation as an individual.