Pause for thought

Humans and the Art of Division

Humans love division. We’re drawn to it. It’s woven into everything we do. Even in fun, harmless ways, football teams, music rivalries like Blur versus Oasis, we instinctively split ourselves into camps. Everywhere we go, we create lines, mark territories, and declare allegiances.

We can’t help it. We’re tribal creatures. We decide whether we like something or we don’t. Politics, food, art, opinions, everything becomes a battleground. Even in marketing, the online world, our professional and personal lives, we pit ourselves against each other constantly. Competition is natural. But when does it tip over into something dangerous?

I’m fascinated by the idea of staking a claim, of having boundaries and convictions. And yet, so often, this fierce protection of “our” things, the things we care about, the beliefs we hold dear, morphs into conflict. Are we protecting the right things? Or have we started defending the wrong battles?

Take beliefs, for instance. Religion, spirituality, or ideas about God, whether something exists or not, can be deeply personal. And yet, instead of dialogue or curiosity, we too often resort to ridicule or dismissal. “You’re an idiot if you don’t see it my way.” There’s little room left for exploration, for admitting, “I don’t see things the same way as you, and that’s okay.”

Where is the balance? How do we distinguish between what is truly wrong and what is simply different? We do this to ourselves, layer upon layer of complications, segregation, and separation sometimes over things that, in the grand scheme, don’t need to divide us at all.

I’m not advocating for a world without convictions or preferences. We need to stand our ground, to protect what matters to us. But perhaps it’s worth asking: are we guarding the right walls, or just building fences that isolate us from conversation, understanding, and connection?

Humans are tribal, yes. But what if we could be both tribal and curious? Fiercely protective yet open? Passionate yet flexible? What would our world look like then?

Many many years ago I did GCSE and A Level History… I have no idea why I chose them and I’ve never really accredited them with helping me on my journey. 

But actually they taught me some very important lessons.

• Primary source
• Secondary source
• Bias 
• Propaganda.

History is littered with conflicts and misunderstandings. On a universal scale and in our day to day lives.

Each piece of information we consume is just part of the bigger picture, the ‘whole story’.

Key details may have been dropped, abbreviated, approximated… simplified… changing the meaning.

What we consume will also pass through our own filter of bias and pre-formed ideas.

Even if the information going in is from a first hand witness, by the time they share with us it will have gone through their own filter. By the time this propagates through a secondary source…third, fourth hand story… think Chinese whispers with added spin. 

It is down to each and every single one of us: 

• To limit our assumptions based on what we consume. (Think we know) 
• To understand where our info comes from. 
• To understand our own bias (and that of others) 
• To fully consider the impact of not actively seeking the full picture. 
• To limit adding to the spread of mis-information and confusion.
• To take responsibility where we may have inadvertently contributed to a misunderstanding 
• To go back to source and have the difficult conversations if needed, rather than rely on secondary information. (Clear the air) 

This applies to so many different aspects of life… if we want to make the online space better, this is how we start. Both in terms of gossip, rumours, judgements and plain old incorrect facts.

What changes can you make to help be part of the solution?

Katy x