What's wrong with people?
When the financial crisis struck in 2008, I wrote a one-page explanation of the whole thing for my kids. It was brilliant. You can take my word for it.
The current tough times have prompted me to do something similar, try to understand what’s going on by distilling human failings to their bare essentials.
And if you’re tempted to call me out for being guilty of same myself, you needn’t because I call myself out. I’m human, too! In fact, even devising such a list makes me guilty of laziness (5) insofar as I’m trying to come up with a simple, overarching explanation for everything rather than conceding that truth is usually more complicated than theory.
Still, by thinking this all through, I am striving to be better. And that’s the hopeful part. We can all strive to do better. And if we succeed, perhaps we will also thrive.
And so, without further ado, the five flaws of human nature that pose the greatest threat to our survival:
1) Lack of imagination
For example: Inability to imagine that an illness is real unless we or someone right in front of us has suffered from it; inability to imagine how discrimination and its repercussions feel unless we or someone right in front of us has suffered for driving/walking/protesting/existing lawfully; inability to imagine that climate change is happening on any given cool day when our neighborhood is not burning down or being washed away. I would argue this is also related to fragile estimation of self (4), in that we fear the implied loss of identity that goes with making the imaginative leap of empathy and also to laziness (5) because imagination takes effort.
2) Innumeracy
For example: R-value? What’s that? Exponential? That means you add ten, right? Graphs. Wait. Did we cover those in algebra? Actually, what is algebra? On a related note, believing that there is no discrimination in America because Morgan Freeman, Beyonce and Kanye seem to be doing okay, and likewise all our friends of varying skin tones, which adds up to several. So what could the problem possibly be? This one also relates to laziness (5) because even a blockhead like me can do basic math if I put in some effort.
3) Resistance to change
These changes might include, for example: Adopting even a painless and simple habit like wearing a mask or bringing our own bags to the grocery store; adjusting resource usage, domicile, mode of transportation or eating habits in service even to a widely accepted goal like Earth’s well-being; removal of a comfortable and familiar statue, flag, mural or other symbol that glorifies ideas or deeds that are despicable.
4) Fragile estimation of self
In other words, an estimation threatened to the point of defensiveness by, for example: Anyone who worships, dresses or speaks differently; the suggestion that our possessions or wealth do not result entirely from our own initiative and hard work (to which I’m tempted to reply: Show me your wrists, misshapen from decades of picking strawberries, and we will talk); unfamiliar ideas (see resistance to change (3)); anyone more educated, knowledgeable or expert.
5) Laziness
This is what causes us to shirk the hard work searching for the truth behind complex phenomena, prompting us instead to embrace emotionally appealing, fairytale, Q-style, meme-friendly, troll-amplified explanations. Related to this is our minimal tolerance for uncertainty. It makes us nervous.
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