Have you ever noticed that traffic often stacks up in one lane on a two-lane street? The other day I pulled onto Geary Boulevard for a meeting at the cathedral, which is located two miles down that same street. Ten cars were lined up in the right lane, and one car in the left lane. I pulled into the left lane and went all the way up. I was feeling quite satisfied with myself, pulling out when the light turned green ahead of most of the traffic. I noticed the same phenomenon at almost every intersection on the way to the cathedral. I’ve also noticed, not without some annoyance when in I’m in the passenger seat and in a hurry, that my friends almost always get behind other cars, in the lane with more traffic. Most folks, unconsciously I suppose, want to get behind someone, to congregate where it seems safer, rather than to blaze a trail and stick out in a lane all alone.
It’s only human, I guess, to prefer safety to risk. Moving in herds is built into our animal instincts. It’s easier to get in line than to be constantly analyzing situations. And that is what is happening in our global society today. A few “experts” tell us to lock down because the risk of death is so great, and uncritically we lock down. The experts tell us to put on masks even though an elementary analysis would show that the harm done outweighs the benefits for most people. But we all put on masks, even when they don’t tell us to do so. Our shadowy experts tell us that we will die or kill others unless we take a vaccine, and we just do it. We get in line. We don’t think for ourselves.
Not thinking for ourselves works in a loving family. Trusting the experts works when you are surrounded by people who love you. But the people making our laws and developing our technology are so far removed from us, and so far removed from an anthropology that respects the human individual, that we have to start thinking for ourselves again.
It’s only human, I guess, to prefer safety to risk. Moving in herds is built into our animal instincts. It’s easier to get in line than to be constantly analyzing situations. And that is what is happening in our global society today. A few “experts” tell us to lock down because the risk of death is so great, and uncritically we lock down. The experts tell us to put on masks even though an elementary analysis would show that the harm done outweighs the benefits for most people. But we all put on masks, even when they don’t tell us to do so. Our shadowy experts tell us that we will die or kill others unless we take a vaccine, and we just do it. We get in line. We don’t think for ourselves.
Not thinking for ourselves works in a loving family. Trusting the experts works when you are surrounded by people who love you. But the people making our laws and developing our technology are so far removed from us, and so far removed from an anthropology that respects the human individual, that we have to start thinking for ourselves again.
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