Digression to Stupidity

At this point, I would like to make a small digression on collective stupidity, blindness, oppression, and destructiveness. In light of the collective acts of cruelty continuing up the present day, particularly those of the very recent past, the word “collective” has a sinister and frightening overtone for many of us.

So, let me take a moment to ask: What could turn us, the ca. 700 participants of this conference, into a more or less homogeneous, blind, and destructive mass? How much time would be needed for this – how many decades, or maybe only weeks, days, or even hours? And which external and internal circumstances could lead to this?

Many factors for such a development are of course known: economic distress and poverty; collective humiliation, for example after a lost war; an external threat like imminent or already occurring warfare; and the accompanying collective need for strong charismatic and quasi-religious leadership - and much more.

I would like to mention here a very ordinary factor which contains the seed of collective blindness and war: “Over there” we see “the others,” who in our eyes embody, or are doing something upsetting, bad, or harmful.

[Seeds for Reflection] Is Albrecht pointing to a very ordinary occurrence in groups that can lead to some very destructive consequences?  How does this allow us to more clearly see “shadow” elements in groups? Please add your thoughts and comments below:

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Comments

[David Star]

I believe that this "collective stupidity" that we are now witnessing in the world today is what is now prompting us to seek - out a "collective healing wisdom".