"Oh would some Power the gift give us, to see ourselves as others see us.” Robert Burns, the great 18th-century Scottish poet.
Like human, societies and organizations have blind spots that prevent them from seeing their reality. Often, outsider's fresh eyes can evaluate us better and draw our attention to areas of improvement.
Only decades ago, slavery was being practiced in many parts of the world. Luckily, I missed that disgusting period but the fact that no one back then thought twice that slavery was wrong terrifies me. I ask myself, what if I am making a similar disgusting mistake and I can’t see it? What if my blind spot is preventing me from seeing a possible disgusting reality? Trust me, such questions have shaped my personality.
The above part of history has taught me to “Honour the Past” no matter how ugly it looks. Had I lived those decades, I might have practiced slavery with the least feelings of guilt.
History has also taught me that if I want to overcome my blind spot and see my reality, I need to subject myself to uncomfortable situations. Unfortunately, we can only learn when we are uncomfortable. No pain no gain, right? So, I have learned to enter uncomfortable dialogs with strangers.
I have concluded that others are right but they could be wrong and I am wrong but I could be right, so:
- Lets honor the past instead of trashing it.
- Replace debates with dialogs.
- Criticize friends when they are wrong.
- Defend strangers when they are right.
