What do you think?

A few thoughts:

If I focus only on the nightly news and the newspaper chatter then this is true. Reading the news is painful and so I pay attention to the gossip as it is more easily understood. We are unable to read editorials because of the weight of the change that is required.

It is also true where mob thinking is operative. It is true in entrenched political systems that wil lnot allow change and will not sit in dialogue for the new to be created.

How ever, it is counterbalanced by so many changes that are taking place much faster than we can think.

1. Science is available to a larger population. My father was unable to talk to me about evolution even though he was a physician and had Western education, probably because he was a Orthodox Syrian Christian and was not challenged to think differently about such matters. A student of class 12 who came from a rural background was told about evolution by her farther. I am 68. She is 17.

2. Information is available in great abundance on so many matters so easily and we are forced to take notice.
(Arab Spring, the move for democracy in Hong Kong and China, the Wall Street folks being challenged)

Yes, we need to make more space available for clarity on information that is available and for us to dialogue.

3. More tools are available now for keeping things transparent.

4. In my life I am not so prejudiced by class and caste structure as my mother was. This was probably because of our work in the ICA

Yet my son, while at work, struggles with leadership who are not for the greater good and are using systems ( that attempted to be democratic, objective and for the greater good) for personal, ego related greed. Here the paradigms people live out of seem to be from the industrialized era.

5. There are some great movies being made that are asking great questions…. Good books are being written, great art is being created..
Mary K. D’Souza

Texas probably has the highest tower….much work being done to “go home”, but oh so much yet to be done to arrive!

Wanda Holcombe

With great sorrow, I have to agree with Wheatley. It is not 100% so – but these behaviors and approaches dominate both in reports of events in the news and on social media.

Zoe Barley

I agree that much of this is happening, some more than others. The one that disturbs me the most is the inability to distinguish between facts and opinions. I think this is at the core of critical thinking. It is both a cause and an outcome.

The things that used to be normal are now being taken to a higher level. I was just having a conversation today that “excessive” force seems to be the norm. Our fears are causing our emotions/reactions to heighten.
Fears are running rampant in our society. People used to worry about real things that could kill them, like floods, tornadoes and famines. Now they fear ISIS will open fire in their mall, Ebola will spread through their doctor offices, and roaming gangs will invade their suburbs.

When desired outcomes can be based on purchased facts, arguments are reduced to the political perpetuation of distrust where any compromise is thought to be a complete failure…and both sides are guilty of this. Logical progress is the real looser as it is crushed under the weight of constant and uncompromising discourse. We didn’t get here overnight and we won’t get back to temperance any time soon, or not at least until we recognize that differences in opinioned facts are not faults in one’s character.

If I have an opinion that I fully believe, I can ‘find’ enough facts to support it. Some can even buy research to validate their opinions. The ‘other side’ can do that too – thus the endless argument where progress is little, slow and not nearly as comprehensive as it could be if some level of compromise is reached. There are so many examples of this.

I can’t say that I can easily distinguish the two. Part of the confusing ness for me is that someone chose to bring up or send out some particular fact

Well, Bob and James, I think that is precisely Wheatley’s point. All her points seem finally to be indicating something that lies beneath. Do you agree, and if so, what is it?

With 24 hour news (firetruck news mostly) and talking heads mistaken for news, with science going deeper which only few can grasp, with politics becoming even more farcical than ever, clarity has become whatever you believe. There is not a large constituency for searching for “what is,” we’re mostly working 80 hours a week and looking for a little relief (fun) around the edges.

Apocalyptic times. The centre can not hold. Things fall a part. Here in Canada, the fossil fuel-mining interest oligarchy owns our federal government. In the interests of defending against jihadists, new laws allowing government agencies to spy on anyone are about to be passed. The real target is aboriginals and environmentalists protesting pipelines that would disrupt the income flow of the very rich. It is becoming a polarizing ‘fight to the finish’. In our Canada, far more folks are killed in car crashes with moose on the loose, than with 2-3 so-called jihadists, who so far, are more likely to be mentally disturbed and drug affected marginal citizens. All this focus on fear hides the real questions about the economy and jobs which is now in the tank with $30 a barrel oil in Alberta. And now, we are going to invade Syria. I am talking about Canada !!! ‘I hate the bastards.’

i agree 100%.

Leslie, read this book, but read the whole thing. Otherwise you may come away in despair.

Randy, I love Margaret Wheatley!! this is so true and an astute observation.

Critical thinking ought not also be biased. That’s the short version. Sorry Randy, discussions such as these cannot be brief. These are times of serious consternation – far short of apocalyptic. We can wring our hands and shout at the heavens for the great salvation. We can argue. We can curse the words and actions of those we choose to disagree with and we can do this with all the justification we can muster. This hit home for me in a backyard full of residence in a neighborhood who learned the pre-existing zoning around their homes was not to their liking. After considerable debate a young woman approached me saying, “I appreciate your honesty but I’m not going to vote for you.” The ‘something that lies beneath’ is not mysterious. The societal truths that support our beliefs and opinions can be whatever we choose them to be, as we independently define them. If you don’t believe this, re-read the initial post. The underlying current of our Tower of Babel is the lack of commonsense temperance in a world of immediate, selfish desires. I believe these times are our finest. Far short of seeking the “Finger of God”, it is better to have the faith to act wisely than to seek a wisdom we cannot yet or quite understand. It is a process – not an event. The great risk of failure should not deter those whose desire it is to seek great success. Idealistic? Perhaps. Critical thinking begins with broad idealism and ought to result in realistic expectations.

Bob, I recommend you read Wheatley’s book. Not that it will necessarily change your mind, but it will give you pause for thought, which it did for me, a good thing for all of us.

She is a friend of mine and I will be seeing her this summer! A wonderful person!