First posted on 12/17/2012. Edited and expanded based on feedback from readers and friends and re-posted. Illusion III and Illusion IX suggested by readers. Use of HTML feedback also implemented.
As I've read through all the Facebook posts about Newtown, I have become more-and-more depressed about our capability as a country, as a people, to learn from what happened. I also do not believe that anything will happen to prevent the next tragedy. I am not a pessimist, actually I tend to be overly optimistic but we have a number of illusions that we hold to the point of being National Learning Disabilities. These illusions will prohibit true learning and true action from taking place. All of the Learning Disabilities result from illusions that we have embraced and hold so dearly that so far nothing – not facts, not data, not experience, not logic, not science, not religion; NOTHING has shaken our beliefs in these nine fallacious illusions. I will not talk down to anyone or “preach” in this blog. As a matter-of-fact, I’ll acknowledge that I struggle with some (maybe most) of the illusions and have made a lifelong attempt to think critically and test my assumptions especially when an emotional event drives me to one of the illusions.
America’s 9 Illusions (Learning Disabilities)
Illusion I - Complex problems have simple, single solutions.
I've battled weight issues all my life and all I want is a pill, a pill that I can take after eating whatever I want and never gain weight!
As a society we do this constantly. We want the solution to fit on a bumper sticker.
My friends are lining up on Facebook primarily in two camps:
1. If we have GUN CONTROL, we can avoid having another event like Newtown.
2. If we look at addressing MENTAL HEALTH issues as a country, we can avoid these massacres.
Fact is - as a society both of these, with multiple other “causal issues” will need to be addressed; but the solution is not, will not, can not be a single, simple action. The fancy term is “requisite variety” a complex societal problem requires a complex, multi-faceted, intelligent array of interdependent solutions monitored and adjusted over time.
Illusion II - Anyone who disagrees with me is completely wrong; my opinion is 100% correct.
We jump on one side or the other in an argument based on a lot of complex psychological and socio-emotional factors. We are products of our parents’ beliefs, our own experience, our highly selective bias in seeking facts and data, our friends’ beliefs, etc. Each of these factors acts as a filter to what we see and hear and how we interpret what we have chosen to see and hear. Given all that built-in noise it is extremely likely that our opinion is not perfect. Despite this, and despite all of us knowing this, we enter a debate or discussion with a strong belief that we are right and “they” are wrong.
Fact is – it is very unlikely that either side in an argument is 100% right or 100% wrong. Until we can admit to ourselves and to each other that “correct” will be a blend of what all sides believe, we cannot learn from each other and we are disabled from finding a correct solution.
Illusion III - Everything that happens proves/supports my agenda.
Closely related to how we selectively perceive events, and how we want a simple single solution, we also take any event that happens (like the Newtown murders) and twist it to prove that our opinion before the event has now been shown as truth. A small sampling of interpretations appear below:
Person or Group Interpreting - What they say caused the shooting
Morgan Freeman - Media coverage - murderers do it for the infamy
Various Gun Owners - Mental Illness
The Other 98% - Availability of Guns
ABC News Analysts - his Mother making guns available (to a mentally ill child)
Westboro Baptist Church - US Acceptance of Homosexuality
Mike Huccabee - Taking God out of schools, abortion, Gay Marriage
Pastor Sam Morris - Teaching evolution in public schools, Humanism
Representative Dennis Richardson - Teachers should have been armed
Facebook friend - God (because Huccabee & Morris say it was God's punishment)
For a more comprehensive list click here.
I could go on but these make the point. Each of these people or groups were discussing their agenda before the shootings so each one used the horrible event to "prove" what they believe and to try to get others on their bandwagon. Some of these have said that hurricanes were caused by the same things that caused the shootings - that's how this illusion plays out.
Fact is - Acts of nature just like social acts have complex, multi-faceted, interdependent causality that we may never understand but to write them off to whatever my personal or professional agenda is creates a giant block to ever learning causality or ever being able to take effective prohibitive action - a learning disability.
Illusion IV - Problem solving or solution finding is a Zero-Sum game.
Closely related to Illusion II, a zero-sum game means that if my solution is adopted completely without any changes, then I win – my solution is 100% correct, my “score” is 100%. If I give on any factor then I have to subtract from that total and the score is now 100% minus what I gave up or agreed to change. Also called win-lose, it is very US-American to see most of life in this way, primarily because we were founded on principles of individuality. Not that there is anything wrong with individuality but there are times when we must think as a collective and about what is the best for the whole not just me or my side in an argument. To see giving on any small concession as a loss, we disable ourselves from finding solutions that work for everyone. The whole “Fiscal Cliff” struggle is a great example of how two sides seem unable to give anything because the electorate will see the giver as a loser – there was a time in the US when a side that gave for the good of the whole would have been heralded as statesmen or possibly even heroes but that time seems to be in the past.
Fact is – Defining compromise or bi-partisanship as “I get to implement 100% of what I want or I am a loser,” kills any chance of meaningful, long-term solutions to problems.
Illusion V - The best solution is the one that involves the least personal change for me.
Try as we might to be “objective,” the reality for most of us is that we love solutions that sound like someone else will have to change themselves or their practices while we continue life as usual. It’s not 100% among my Facebook friends but there is a very strong correlation between gun owners saying that the problem will be fixed by looking at the mental health issues and my non-gun-owning friends saying that gun control is the answer. Two examples (that illustrate all four illusions):
[From a gun owner.] Read this. Now. THIS is the conversation we need to be having, not gun control, school security or anything else... Read it. And forward it to other (sic) to read. Please [Attachment was article from a mother whose child has mental illness.]
[From a non-gun owner.] The NRA is the enabler of murders. We should inventory every gun in this country, register each one and then hold every gun owner responsible for that gun and if another event happens then take every gun from every American and disband gun makers and the NRA. PERIOD!
Fact is – Every American must be willing to make personal changes if by our changing we can reduce the probability of mass murders happening in this country. We can all agree that we don’t want these events to continue happening.
Illusion VI - There are absolutes and we need to find the absolute solution to the problem.
My favorite course as an undergrad was Introduction to Philosophy where among other things our professor told us one day, “’There are no absolutes,’ except that statement.” We had a great time discussing the merits of a statement that claimed a truth but was made false by the rest of the statement – great undergrad mental exercise. It is however a reality in today’s complex, interdependent, global world. The “best solution” (by “best” I mean the one with the greatest probability of long term success in solving a problem) is one that is socially constructed and socially validated. The first five illusions assume that there is one best solution and also assume that one side has it and further the one side with the absolute solution happens to be ours.
Fact is – there is no single absolute solution. If a group of people can overcome all these blocks to learning and can agree to jointly own whatever solution is ultimately agreed on, then and only then can a solution solve a problem. Jointly owning means that if something goes badly in implementing a solution we do not point fingers of blame, (“see if we had done what I said from the start”) but instead all accept responsibility for LEARNING from what has happened and tweaking the solution because we understand that there are no absolute solutions, because there are no absolutes (except that phrase!).
Illusion VII - A solution has to stand up to all anecdotes or examples that anyone can cite.
You may see it if anyone posts a comment about my blog. A person will find one comment that I made with which he/she disagrees and will cite an anecdote or example that disputes that point and so dismisses the entire blog. For example, “Countries that have strict gun control also have mass-murder so gun control is not what we need…” or “You just dismiss God in Illusion VII, but the Bible says that we shouldn't listen to false prophets and you are one!”
Let me be completely clear, I do not think that I have the solution or solutions; I can’t honestly say that what I’m writing about will have any impact at all! I am an imperfect, fairly observant, educated, 60 year old man who earned my living helping organizations identify and overcome their learning disabilities (I didn't always call it that) and I’m saying that these are illusions or learning disabilities that I think are getting in the way. If you disagree with anything I write I welcome respectful dialog because I believe that if you and I work together we can find something closer to the truth than either of us can find alone.
Fact is – no solution can stand up to attacks that are based on the illusions in this blog – the best solution will stand up to and be improved by mutually-respectful, co-creative dialog and inquiry.
Illusion VIII - Someone else (or God) will come up with a solution to this problem.
After you read all the illusions I've listed so far you might be tempted to give up or to hope or pray for someone or something to solve it without your involvement. I understand – that’s how I started this blog with my depression over seeing how difficult or maybe impossible a solution will be. I really wish I wasn't writing this blog because I have a page and a half long “to-do” list I should be working on but I can’t fall into the trap of hoping someone else will enter the dialogue and represent my thoughts. This will take all of us – gun owners, mental health advocates, parents, teachers, the NRA, Congress, the President, Jews, Christians, Atheists, Muslims, Buddhists, native-born, immigrants, every American working to construct solutions without being blinded by our shared learning disabilities, our illusions.
Fact is – if God or someone else was going to solve this it would already be solved.
Illusion IX - Once we create a solution, we implement and we're done.
Peter Senge wrote in his book "The Fifth Discipline" that the seeds for tomorrow's problems are cast with today's solution. Our country has a history of implementing solutions to problems, often times with support by a majority and then we step away from the solution until it creates the next problem and then we implement a solution to that problem and leave until...and so on, and so on. We embraced prohibition of alcohol, dusted off our hands and walked away. Later we had a huge organized crime problem because prohibition created a black market and an underground economy. There were debates about solutions and we chose to end prohibition. Eliminating prohibition solved some of the problems and created others for which solutions were implemented. Just one example, I'm sure any reader has others.
Fact is - An effective solution to any problem will be one that involves constant dialog and learning throughout implementation. A solution, no matter how intelligently designed, socially constructed and validated will need "tweaks" along the way. Those tweaks will come from effectively avoiding ALL of the illusions/learning disabilities discussed in this BLOG.
Seems to me we all agree that we never want another mass shooting to happen in this country. Is it too much to ask that we recognize our illusions, overcome our learning disabilities and reach a national set of solutions to keep these shootings from becoming a part of our lives? I wish I was hopeful but given the direction we're been headed over the last 10 to 15 years in national discourse I have my doubts.
As I've read through all the Facebook posts about Newtown, I have become more-and-more depressed about our capability as a country, as a people, to learn from what happened. I also do not believe that anything will happen to prevent the next tragedy. I am not a pessimist, actually I tend to be overly optimistic but we have a number of illusions that we hold to the point of being National Learning Disabilities. These illusions will prohibit true learning and true action from taking place. All of the Learning Disabilities result from illusions that we have embraced and hold so dearly that so far nothing – not facts, not data, not experience, not logic, not science, not religion; NOTHING has shaken our beliefs in these nine fallacious illusions. I will not talk down to anyone or “preach” in this blog. As a matter-of-fact, I’ll acknowledge that I struggle with some (maybe most) of the illusions and have made a lifelong attempt to think critically and test my assumptions especially when an emotional event drives me to one of the illusions.
America’s 9 Illusions (Learning Disabilities)
Illusion I - Complex problems have simple, single solutions.
I've battled weight issues all my life and all I want is a pill, a pill that I can take after eating whatever I want and never gain weight!
As a society we do this constantly. We want the solution to fit on a bumper sticker.
My friends are lining up on Facebook primarily in two camps:
1. If we have GUN CONTROL, we can avoid having another event like Newtown.
2. If we look at addressing MENTAL HEALTH issues as a country, we can avoid these massacres.
Fact is - as a society both of these, with multiple other “causal issues” will need to be addressed; but the solution is not, will not, can not be a single, simple action. The fancy term is “requisite variety” a complex societal problem requires a complex, multi-faceted, intelligent array of interdependent solutions monitored and adjusted over time.
Illusion II - Anyone who disagrees with me is completely wrong; my opinion is 100% correct.
We jump on one side or the other in an argument based on a lot of complex psychological and socio-emotional factors. We are products of our parents’ beliefs, our own experience, our highly selective bias in seeking facts and data, our friends’ beliefs, etc. Each of these factors acts as a filter to what we see and hear and how we interpret what we have chosen to see and hear. Given all that built-in noise it is extremely likely that our opinion is not perfect. Despite this, and despite all of us knowing this, we enter a debate or discussion with a strong belief that we are right and “they” are wrong.
Fact is – it is very unlikely that either side in an argument is 100% right or 100% wrong. Until we can admit to ourselves and to each other that “correct” will be a blend of what all sides believe, we cannot learn from each other and we are disabled from finding a correct solution.
Illusion III - Everything that happens proves/supports my agenda.
Closely related to how we selectively perceive events, and how we want a simple single solution, we also take any event that happens (like the Newtown murders) and twist it to prove that our opinion before the event has now been shown as truth. A small sampling of interpretations appear below:
Person or Group Interpreting - What they say caused the shooting
Morgan Freeman - Media coverage - murderers do it for the infamy
Various Gun Owners - Mental Illness
The Other 98% - Availability of Guns
ABC News Analysts - his Mother making guns available (to a mentally ill child)
Westboro Baptist Church - US Acceptance of Homosexuality
Mike Huccabee - Taking God out of schools, abortion, Gay Marriage
Pastor Sam Morris - Teaching evolution in public schools, Humanism
Representative Dennis Richardson - Teachers should have been armed
Facebook friend - God (because Huccabee & Morris say it was God's punishment)
For a more comprehensive list click here.
I could go on but these make the point. Each of these people or groups were discussing their agenda before the shootings so each one used the horrible event to "prove" what they believe and to try to get others on their bandwagon. Some of these have said that hurricanes were caused by the same things that caused the shootings - that's how this illusion plays out.
Fact is - Acts of nature just like social acts have complex, multi-faceted, interdependent causality that we may never understand but to write them off to whatever my personal or professional agenda is creates a giant block to ever learning causality or ever being able to take effective prohibitive action - a learning disability.
Illusion IV - Problem solving or solution finding is a Zero-Sum game.
Closely related to Illusion II, a zero-sum game means that if my solution is adopted completely without any changes, then I win – my solution is 100% correct, my “score” is 100%. If I give on any factor then I have to subtract from that total and the score is now 100% minus what I gave up or agreed to change. Also called win-lose, it is very US-American to see most of life in this way, primarily because we were founded on principles of individuality. Not that there is anything wrong with individuality but there are times when we must think as a collective and about what is the best for the whole not just me or my side in an argument. To see giving on any small concession as a loss, we disable ourselves from finding solutions that work for everyone. The whole “Fiscal Cliff” struggle is a great example of how two sides seem unable to give anything because the electorate will see the giver as a loser – there was a time in the US when a side that gave for the good of the whole would have been heralded as statesmen or possibly even heroes but that time seems to be in the past.
Fact is – Defining compromise or bi-partisanship as “I get to implement 100% of what I want or I am a loser,” kills any chance of meaningful, long-term solutions to problems.
Illusion V - The best solution is the one that involves the least personal change for me.
Try as we might to be “objective,” the reality for most of us is that we love solutions that sound like someone else will have to change themselves or their practices while we continue life as usual. It’s not 100% among my Facebook friends but there is a very strong correlation between gun owners saying that the problem will be fixed by looking at the mental health issues and my non-gun-owning friends saying that gun control is the answer. Two examples (that illustrate all four illusions):
[From a gun owner.] Read this. Now. THIS is the conversation we need to be having, not gun control, school security or anything else... Read it. And forward it to other (sic) to read. Please [Attachment was article from a mother whose child has mental illness.]
[From a non-gun owner.] The NRA is the enabler of murders. We should inventory every gun in this country, register each one and then hold every gun owner responsible for that gun and if another event happens then take every gun from every American and disband gun makers and the NRA. PERIOD!
Fact is – Every American must be willing to make personal changes if by our changing we can reduce the probability of mass murders happening in this country. We can all agree that we don’t want these events to continue happening.
Illusion VI - There are absolutes and we need to find the absolute solution to the problem.
My favorite course as an undergrad was Introduction to Philosophy where among other things our professor told us one day, “’There are no absolutes,’ except that statement.” We had a great time discussing the merits of a statement that claimed a truth but was made false by the rest of the statement – great undergrad mental exercise. It is however a reality in today’s complex, interdependent, global world. The “best solution” (by “best” I mean the one with the greatest probability of long term success in solving a problem) is one that is socially constructed and socially validated. The first five illusions assume that there is one best solution and also assume that one side has it and further the one side with the absolute solution happens to be ours.
Fact is – there is no single absolute solution. If a group of people can overcome all these blocks to learning and can agree to jointly own whatever solution is ultimately agreed on, then and only then can a solution solve a problem. Jointly owning means that if something goes badly in implementing a solution we do not point fingers of blame, (“see if we had done what I said from the start”) but instead all accept responsibility for LEARNING from what has happened and tweaking the solution because we understand that there are no absolute solutions, because there are no absolutes (except that phrase!).
Illusion VII - A solution has to stand up to all anecdotes or examples that anyone can cite.
You may see it if anyone posts a comment about my blog. A person will find one comment that I made with which he/she disagrees and will cite an anecdote or example that disputes that point and so dismisses the entire blog. For example, “Countries that have strict gun control also have mass-murder so gun control is not what we need…” or “You just dismiss God in Illusion VII, but the Bible says that we shouldn't listen to false prophets and you are one!”
Let me be completely clear, I do not think that I have the solution or solutions; I can’t honestly say that what I’m writing about will have any impact at all! I am an imperfect, fairly observant, educated, 60 year old man who earned my living helping organizations identify and overcome their learning disabilities (I didn't always call it that) and I’m saying that these are illusions or learning disabilities that I think are getting in the way. If you disagree with anything I write I welcome respectful dialog because I believe that if you and I work together we can find something closer to the truth than either of us can find alone.
Fact is – no solution can stand up to attacks that are based on the illusions in this blog – the best solution will stand up to and be improved by mutually-respectful, co-creative dialog and inquiry.
Illusion VIII - Someone else (or God) will come up with a solution to this problem.
After you read all the illusions I've listed so far you might be tempted to give up or to hope or pray for someone or something to solve it without your involvement. I understand – that’s how I started this blog with my depression over seeing how difficult or maybe impossible a solution will be. I really wish I wasn't writing this blog because I have a page and a half long “to-do” list I should be working on but I can’t fall into the trap of hoping someone else will enter the dialogue and represent my thoughts. This will take all of us – gun owners, mental health advocates, parents, teachers, the NRA, Congress, the President, Jews, Christians, Atheists, Muslims, Buddhists, native-born, immigrants, every American working to construct solutions without being blinded by our shared learning disabilities, our illusions.
Fact is – if God or someone else was going to solve this it would already be solved.
Illusion IX - Once we create a solution, we implement and we're done.
Peter Senge wrote in his book "The Fifth Discipline" that the seeds for tomorrow's problems are cast with today's solution. Our country has a history of implementing solutions to problems, often times with support by a majority and then we step away from the solution until it creates the next problem and then we implement a solution to that problem and leave until...and so on, and so on. We embraced prohibition of alcohol, dusted off our hands and walked away. Later we had a huge organized crime problem because prohibition created a black market and an underground economy. There were debates about solutions and we chose to end prohibition. Eliminating prohibition solved some of the problems and created others for which solutions were implemented. Just one example, I'm sure any reader has others.
Fact is - An effective solution to any problem will be one that involves constant dialog and learning throughout implementation. A solution, no matter how intelligently designed, socially constructed and validated will need "tweaks" along the way. Those tweaks will come from effectively avoiding ALL of the illusions/learning disabilities discussed in this BLOG.
Seems to me we all agree that we never want another mass shooting to happen in this country. Is it too much to ask that we recognize our illusions, overcome our learning disabilities and reach a national set of solutions to keep these shootings from becoming a part of our lives? I wish I was hopeful but given the direction we're been headed over the last 10 to 15 years in national discourse I have my doubts.
Comments
Your call for deep personal change is heartening. I wish your voice in the wilderness could become more mainstream thinking.