This is wrong. I\u2019m right. Let\u2019s go.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nThere\u2019s a rush in that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you remember protesting against something because it felt good to belong? To be surrounded by people who all agreed. To have a clear \u201cthem\u201d to push against. It felt like truth, like certainty. And that\u2019s the trap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, standing up against cutting down trees in the rainforest. Everyone I know is firmly against that. How could those people working there do that? Especially when they are from there? Their country, their nature! Then I saw an interview with a man who was actually cutting the trees: ‘If I don’t my children don’t eat’. Who can judge a man living in that reality? <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe seduction of being \u201cagainst\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nThere\u2019s something very seductive about being against. It offers a shortcut. You don\u2019t need to work through complexity or hold multiple truths. You just need an enemy. A cause. A slogan. And suddenly you\u2019re flooded with purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But here\u2019s what I\u2019ve learned in life, in conversations that actually shift things:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being against something is not the same as being clear.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s not the same as being intelligent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it rarely leads to your own truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you define yourself by what you\u2019re not<\/em>, you shrink your world. You stop listening. You start scanning for what fits your position, instead of staying open to what\u2019s real. Open to nuances and different truths. And slowly, without noticing it, you become a smaller version of yourself less creative, less nuanced, less curious.<\/p>\n\n\n\nArthur Brooks said it well<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nArthur Brooks, an immensely inspirational behavioural scientist, explains that when we emotionally merge with a group, especially one united by shared outrage, we may feel more certain, but we actually become less intelligent<\/em>. Our ability to think independently and discern wisely gets watered down in the emotional wave of the crowd. Even online, this happens. In a click. A comment. A hashtag. And even now more so, when we\u2019re all being dragged into funnels of outrage and division, it\u2019s harder than ever to resist. <\/p>\n\n\n\nThe algorithms feed our negativity bias, showing us what confirms our fears and negativity. And because the brain is wired to protect us, it clings to what feels urgent and dangerous. That\u2019s why it\u2019s so tempting, seductive and even addictive. We feel powerful but lose our clarity, our softness, and our original thinking. The cost is subtle, but it\u2019s real: we become more reactive and less ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what now?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nI\u2019m not saying don\u2019t have opinions. Please do. Think deeply. Care fiercely. But ask yourself:<\/p>\n\n\n\n