Dear Friends,
It seems to me, our ability to deny that which is right in front of us, is astounding. We all do it to some extent. Me no less than you, I have, and am probably doing it right now. Yet realizing we are probably ignoring something important is the first step to doing something about that important thing. We do this in our personal lives, social lives, our careers and in our role helping govern our cities, states and nations. Denying that which is right in front of us is an all too human trait. That is why the people of Pompeii were smothered in a pyroclastic flow, the reason Rome fell, the sufficient cause of the genocide of the Tutsi’s, etc… Recognizing that which we ignore and doing something about it is always the best path to survival. Ignoring the important, on the other hand, is always a sub optimal plan.
Perhaps it is our fear that makes us willfully blind. Fear is a powerful motivator. We fear the unknown, the known, the painful, the comfortable, attachment and loneliness… our fears outnumber our numbering system. They are uncountable. There is no fear that is as pernicious as fear we don’t identify. It lingers in our backbrain pestering us and giving us ulcers, heart disease and high blood pressure. That fear that we ignore must do this, because whatever we are willfully ignoring is right in front of us, we know it is there, not identifying it therefore engenders an unidentified fear in us. One thing that makes fear a terrible motivator is that it’s usual use is to justify a lie. If we cling to an idea based on fear then we are letting our animal brain override the rational part of our brain.
Maybe we cannot let go of a comfortable lie for an uncomfortable truth? If the comfortable lie is of no consequence and it imparts some measure of good, a useful myth so to speak, it can be a good thing. When we hold to a comfortable lie, that has real world consequences on the other hand, we do ourselves a great disservice. Many people refuse to really mature and become adults because of the comfort of childhood. If their parents abet them, there is no need to grow up, they can remain children until their parents pass. Then they are tossed into a world they are ill equipped to meet. This is because they ignored that which is right in front of them, to remain comfortable. Ignoring the uncomfortable to stay comfortable has consequences.
The trivial is safe while the important is scary. How did the Cowboys do in the big game? The last big game of course. In an interstellar war, would the Klingons beat the Romulans? Which is closer to extinction, the alpine meadow vole or the turpentine musk cricket? We can fight over these irrelevant things all day long. They provide us with diversion. Diverting our attention from the important to the trivial. How could you possibly think there are over two hundred 1889 gold Ptuites still in circulation? Do you think that rap singer Jam Throat has a better voice than Black Eye too? The inconsequential can be argued over all day, and we need never face that which we fear, or heaven forbid, we become uncomfortable.
No matter why, when we ignore the obvious and dwell on the trivial, ignoring the important has real world consequences. The longer we put them off, the worse they tend to become, the worse they become… the harder it is to face them. The consequences for the people of Pompeii were existential, yet the very real danger was right in front of them. I am sure some took heed and escaped. We don’t know their names or much about them, because they went on to have children, grandchildren and live normal lives, as they told other Romans how they escaped Pompeii before it was smothered. Like laughing off the rumbling of Mount Vesuvius off in the distance, ignoring signs of disaster can lead to extremely bad consequences… Like in Germany in 1940, Russia in 1917 and Zimbabwe in 1998.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
