Exclusivism & Growing Up

     We have a huge proclivity to think - to be certain - that our current perspective is correct, true & accurate. This is so, even though most of us can recall how we felt the same certainty earlier in life, but now with 20:20 hindsight, realize how immature & silly we were.
     Personal pride & certainty is usually misguided at best. But when pride & certainty join forces with the momentum of "group think", all hell often breaks loose - mob violence against "competing religions", cult suicides, genocides, ... world wars. If my group is right, others must be wrong AND must be corrected, if not eliminated - this is 'mob mentality'.
     Mercifully, (some) people can & do outgrow this adolescent, rigid, black-and-white phase, realizing that they have many, many higher levels of self-concepts & worldviews to evolve through.
     Sadly, fear of leaving the group, fear of being shunned, fear of leaving behind the comfortable pretense of certainty, keep many otherwise intelligent, educated people stuck in such groups - even if it means having to park their minds & hearts at the door.
     Aging, especially wisely, isn't for sissies. See: http://healthyhealers.blogspot.ca/2012/03/aging-wisely.html

 

Brian Castellanos, National Geographic   http://photography.nationalgeographic.com