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Why Meditation Can Save Us From Political Polarization
We don’t need better arguments — we need better minds.
Humanity has a problem. A big one. And the solution isn’t self-evident.
What’s the problem? It’s our minds. They’re not built to find “truth”, per se — they’re built for survival. And, as a species, our greatest survival advantage has always been our solidarity and “groupishness”.
Individually, we’re vulnerable. But, together, we can overcome almost any obstacle. This is the power of our ability to cooperate, and it’s brought us to where we are today.
The problem is that our inclination to cooperate — to belong to and support a group — is a double-edged sword. Cooperation can just as easily tear us apart as bring us together. Unfortunately, we seem to be at a moment in human history where our inclination to form and defend groups is polarizing our politics and making progress all but impossible.
Thankfully, I think there’s an antidote to this way of thinking and acting. It’s called meditation.
Our minds don’t work how we think they do
We tend to overestimate how much we understand our minds. In truth, they are a bit mysterious. Sometimes, they operate in ways we don’t expect. So, if…
