On Critical Thinking:
It is possible to criticize Israel’s actions while also acknowledging that Hamas is a terrorist organization that is not compatible with modern secular values and open society. It is possible to condemn both Zionism and Jihadism as toxic forms of religious fundamentalism. It is possible to grieve for and stand in solidarity with the people of Gaza while also grieving the loss of innocent Jewish lives on October 7th. It is possible to understand that at various times throughout history both Jews and Muslims have been “colonizers” in the Middle East. It is possible to stand in solidarity with Macklemore without calling Ed Sheeran a Zionist enabler.
It is possible to criticize the American government for engineering conflicts all over the world for political purposes while also acknowledging that Jihadist terrorism is motivated by a religious certainty about the afterlife, not politics. It is possible to criticize America’s actions in the Middle East after 9/11 - and question their intentions - while acknowledging that 9/11 was a terrorist act that terrorists publicly took credit for.
It is possible to criticize unregulated capitalism while also acknowledging that it has created more economic opportunity than any other political system in history, including the iPhone you are reading this on. It is possible to acknowledge all of the public good that Zohran Mamdani has done for NYC while also understanding that the political system he publicly counts himself as a member of - socialism - has ended in disaster in every country it has been attempted in. It is possible to criticize the lingering toxic effects of patriarchy while also acknowledging the progress that has been made in gender equality and the mental health crisis that men are currently facing globally.
It is possible to be optimistic about the potential human abundance AI might create in the future while also criticizing the profit-based motivations of those that are accelerating it, and its detrimental effects on the environment. It is possible to criticize the efficacy of the COVID vaccine and the effectiveness of its rollout while also acknowledging that it saved lives. It is possible to criticize the echo chambers that others exist in while also acknowledging that you live in your own.
When we have not yet integrated the paradoxes within ourselves, between our own shadow and light, we remain divided internally and project this division on to the world. We require certainty and simplicity from a world that abounds with paradox, complexity and nuance. We instinctually try to belong - a mammalian drive embedded deep into us - by “othering” those who disagree with us. The information landscape we exist in today, driven by social media and an increasingly disconnected online dialogue, feeds off of and feeds into this division.
So long as peace is dependent on making everyone agree with you, it can only last as long as the agreement lasts. Understanding is a much more sustainable aim than agreement.
“The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.”
F. Scott Fitzgerald