Have you ever taken a moment to just observe people? The way people think, interact, and stand up for what they believe in is truly interesting. With the presidential race in full swing, many passionate patriots are taking a stand for their beliefs. It is an admirable trait, but it has made me start to think about our society as a whole. It has made me think about how inherently egocentric we, as a social species, are.
Individuals, while not realizing it, are incredibly biased towards their own beliefs. We see this in many different areas of society and throughout all human history. We see this inherent bias in philosophy as well as politics and nationalism. On the individual scale, we also see this when in a debate with an opposing individual.
On the large scale, let's talk philosophy. In philosophy there are two main schools of thought on the subject: absolutism and relativism. The philosophies are pretty self explanatory. An absolutist would argue that there is a universal right and wrong. The argument would branch out in all different aspects of society. The absolutist approach would say that the world is very black and white. There is only right and wrong. However this philosophy has a major folly. How can we determine which perspective is the universal right and wrong side? In an argument there is supposed to be a wrong and a right side; but which side is the universal right? It is impossible to determine which is right and wrong.
This brings us to relativism; this philosophy suggests that there is no universal right and wrong. People can be right if they have a reason to think so. This philosophy basically suggests that all different perspectives are accounted for. In an argument this would work better because both sides would present facts to support and debunk the other side. Relativism is a much more complex and flexible philosophy.
How does this apply to our society? Well, in our society, especially in debates and in politics, so many people defend their side and quickly disregard the reason and perspective of the other side. In part, this is because of the human ego -- the basis of my argument. I believe that our ego is our inherent bias. We get so defensive when being confronted with a new idea that opposes our prior beliefs. It frightens us that everything we know and understand could one day be proven wrong.
We see this in human history when people challenged the belief that the Earth was the center of the universe. These people were attacked, exiled, or even killed; all because people were not ready to change.
Our ego dictates our beliefs. We see in today's society, different groups of people joining together because of their basic principles. These subgroups in society are what drives individualism, oddly enough. Individuals hold a specific and very different belief system and we tend to stay within our groups. In politics the two main groups would be the Democratic Party and Republican Party. These two groups are constantly arguing with each other because of their inherently different belief system. On a very basic, level one group wants the government to change and become more powerful. The other group wishes to stand beside the original principles and values of the constitution.
From an absolutist standpoint, only one side can be right and one side wrong. People who are either left wing or right wing will say their side is right. That is understandable; our human ego demands that we are right. Absolutism feeds off of our ego whereas relativism feeds off of mutual understanding. Neither political party in the United States is completely correct or incorrect; that is why the parties have lasted this long. Both sides hold good arguments which demand the attention of the individual and split the country into two. This is healthy, and the reason why our nation has lasted as long as it has.
In short, we must force ourselves to become more tolerant. In tolerance comes understanding and peace. We see, every day, that there is no absolute right and wrong. In every perspective, there is truth.
