Society & Discussion

Society

• Forgiveness and compassion are always linked: how do we hold people accountable for wrongdoing and yet at the same time remain in touch with their humanity enough to believe in their capacity to be transformed (bell hooks)
• The function of art is to do more than tell it like it is – it’s to imagine what is possible (bell hooks)
• Nobody is superior, nobody is inferior, but nobody is equal either. People are simply unique, incomparable, you are you, I am I (Osho)
• It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives – it is the one that is the most adaptable to change (Charles Darwin)
• The paradox of tolerance. Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them (Karl Popper)
• Tolerance shouldn’t be the main key concept in society; respect is even more important, and should counteract against tolerance of intolerance (Susan Neiman)
• Migration is an earth right. Monarch butterflies don’t migrate across the continent because it’s fun. Species migrate because the conditions are no longer conducive to making home in place, and they will migrate to a place where the conditions are more conducive (Gopal Dayaneni)
• If you align your world with your beliefs and you act upon those beliefs for a better world, it makes a lot of difference even if you can’t change the entire world (Susi)
• We can disagree and still love each other unless your disagreement is rooted in my oppression and denial of my humanity and right to exist (James Baldwin)
  • We kunnen van mening verschillen en van elkaar houden, tenzij je tegenspraak geworteld is in onderdrukking en ontkenning van mijn recht om te bestaan

Discussion

• The aim of argument or discussion should be progress, not victory (Joseph Joubert)
• Even with science, often decisions are taken 100% with 50% knowledge, as there’s never enough information; and therefore transparency is important (M.B.)
• No one has enough knowledge to derive to solid conclusions. On the one hand, it makes it hard to find a solution everyone supports or benefits from, on the other hand it allows for a plurality of thinking
• If nothing every changed, there would be no butterflies (Nelia Torkain)
• Don’t educate your children to be rich, educate them to be happy, so they know the value of things, not the price (brightvibes, instragram)
• I want to live in a world where people who learn about harm to others care more about ending it than proving they aren’t causing it (emrazz, Twitter)
  • Ik wil in een wereld leven waar mensen leren over leed, en niet enkel beweren dat ze er niet aan bijdragen
• Cancelcultuur [cancelcultuur (v; meervoud: g.mv.)] – Een woord dat vaak hysterisch in de mond wordt genomen door mensen die menen de vrijheid te hebben om stigmatiserende, discriminerende en kwetsende uitspraken te doen zonder te begrijpen dat ze daar verantwoordelijk voor gehouden kunnen worden
• Ain’t no cancel culture like colonialism (Maytha Alhassen)
• If scientific facts hurt someone’s feelings, it’s for them to get better feelings, not for us to get better facts (Ricky Gervais)
  • Als wetenschappelijke feiten iemands gevoelens kwetsen, is het aan hen om betere gevoelens te krijgen, niet aan ons om betere feiten te presenteren
• If you are more fortunate than others, build a longer table, not a taller fence
• There’s a difference between pointing out nuance and downplaying an issue, versus providing points to view an issue from a more holistic view
• What you’re not changing, you’re choosing
• The true expression of non-violence is compassion. Knowing that we represent the truth, gives us peace and makes us strong. When people are out of arguments, they often resort to aggression and violence. Calmness and non-violence are signs of strength (Dalai Lama)
• If you engage with enemies, they can become your best spiritual teachers. After all, they give you the chance to practice qualities like tolerance, patience and understanding (Shantideva)
• Conspiracy theories arise in moments of crisis in society. They bloom in periods of uncertainty and threats, when we feel anxious and like we need to understand what is happening inside of this chaotic world (Daniel Jolley)
  • Complottheorieën komen vaak naar boven in tijden van onrust, met onzekerheid en bedreigingen, wanneer er spanning is en we willen begrijpen wat er gebeurt in de chaotische wereld
• There might be valid reasons to question the health or environmental consequences of 5G, there are valid reasons to distrust the medical/pharmaceutical industry, but watch out for populist narratives and supporting the anti-vaxx movement – which threatens the lives of people dealing with diseases that only vaccinations can help against
  • Er kunnen goede redenen zijn om 5G te wantrouwen m.b.t. gezondheid en milieu, er zijn goede redenen om de medische / farmaceutische industry te wantrouwen, maar kijk uit voor populistische verhaallijnen en bij het verzet tegen vaccinaties – die de levens kunnen redden van mensen met ziektes waar niks anders tegen helpt

Thinking

• There’s too much diversity in the world to incorporate in one way of thinking
• Too much tolerance for intolerant ideas makes intolerance triumph; at the same time is acting according to one solid viewpoint opposing the pluralistic basis of democracy
• Ways of thinking can turn out to be dynamic rather than static; maybe they don’t work exactly towards what others envision to be the way, but it doesn’t mean the potential is missing or that the intention is less positive
• Reasoning can be inductive – case-specific – or deductive – from a generalized point – and hence shed a different light on a case
• Being situated in a certain time and place doesn’t allow us to fully think in a holistic way
• Sometimes you’re caught between people whose inclusiveness extends in exclusiveness of everyone thinking somewhat freely, and people whose words and actions need to be addressed without excuse to fight injustice. We cannot simply all agree fully similarly, and we should balance between coherence and the main fight.

Based on Ayishat Akanbi

• If you get offended by someone’s words and actions, you actually let them have power over you in case it only causes destructive emotions that will drive you
• If you’re in a state of victimhood, it doesn’t make you innocent and literally everyone else oppressors. You can have experienced something terrible and have valid feelings as a result, and still decide to not feel like a victim but a winner – and if there’s mental capacity, strive for behaviour or thoughts that lead to better outcomes.
• If you claim that silence equals violence, then everyone is violent. No one can constantly and adequately speak up against all the suffering in the world.
• When you are progressive, you can’t reach an end goal. You go forward by the cycle of dialectical thinking, having a thesis merging with an antithesis into a synthesis, and that one serving as thesis again. Then there’s always room for improvement, nuance and learning.