Is Cancel Culture destroying the power of collective thought?
Could Cancel Culture leave us missing out on pertinent ideas and powerful life-altering solutions?
. . .
My grandmother would often say, “Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.” Meaning, don’t be so busy trying to get rid of what you deem useless that you also throw out what’s valuable.
In times of mass confusion like this one, where information and misinformation are being spewed at us on a constant basis, it seems as if society leans on familiar voices and logic in order to create a false feeling of safety. After all, our animal nature tells us that if I can see the predator I’m dealing with I probably have a stronger chance of survival. If that fails to calm us, the fear machine in our minds latches on to the nearest ‘enemy’, which the media is always too happy to provide. Being able to place our collective issues on ‘those people’ , ‘that party’, ‘that guy’ or ‘that thing’, provides a relief to the mind, because now it knows where the evil lurks, and that’s so much easier than realizing we have no idea what’s really going on.
This often leads to labeling and compartmentalizing things as ‘bad’ or ‘good’, ‘true’ or ‘false'‘ etc.
…But, In this world of duality, definites are few and far in between… And if that’s the case, how can we say that the ideas of others don’t have merit, even if they contradict our current belief systems? Are we missing out on ideas that could potentially shift the way the world functions because we can’t look past someone’s politics, differing ideals, or indiscretions? Is this behavior doing more harm to us as a society, than it could ever be doing to them?
Let’s also remember that the access we have now is unprecedented. Social media, technology and the internet enable a level of invasive scrutiny that our founding leaders did not have to overcome. There was an assumption of their knowledge, value, and power, with vague notions of their personal lives and at times, a pushing under the rug of their views, and tawdry ways of being and living.
“Are we missing out on ideas that could potentially shift the way the world functions because of politics, differing ideals or indiscretions?”
How do we decide in the modern era, who is worth acknowledging as relevant and true, and who isn’t? Does a besmudged record take away genius? These are questions I’m offering up to our world.
This is not to say, that we’re meant to change our minds and fall into alignment with people whom we clearly disagree. It’s more to emphasize that every human has the potential to offer something to the whole. Even a broken watch is right two times a day.
Is cancel culture creating a continued division in this world? Abraham Lincoln said, “A house divided against itself can not stand.” Are we watching this play out in modern America?
How powerful could we be if we listened more deeply? Not to agree or disagree, but to sense, grow, and more deeply understand - if nothing more, our neighbor.
Think about it.