‘I’d Die for The Ones I Love.’Well, So Would Your Enemies

I saw a comment on a YouTube video the other day.

Someone made a video debunking the idea that the film ‘Catwoman’ was bad.

A random viewer lamented that it was interesting to become an adult and find out that some of their favourite childhood films were actually critical failures, but that generally he didn’t trust the opinions of critics over his own.

Someone else came in and said something along the lines of “But, I’m sure you’d trust them if they agreed with you, right?”.
Initially, I scoffed at the tone of the comment.

It wasn’t necessarily that I disagreed with the premise, it’s just that it was like he was a ‘Catwoman’ hater or something and he felt the need to be passive aggressive about it.

But, he was actually more on the nose than I originally considered.

Despite his sass, he was absolutely correct.

He actually managed to accurately capture the essence of the human condition.

It’s not a new or original concept, but I love how it snuck up on me. I love how it took me a second to absorb.

That really is the answer to everything that happens in this world.

Everyone thinks they are right about everything. No one wants to listen to anyone else’s perspective.

We all seem to view existence as a battle royale cage match where there can only be one winner.

We fight over extremely unnecessary things. We’re greedy, selfish hoarders, who bomb each other sometimes.
But it’s all in defence of something.

We all have the desire to protect ourselves, our homes, our families, our kin.

We want to secure our borders and make sure people who look and are like us are safe when they travel, safe when they’re home.

It’s normal to want to protect people who share your ideals and feel threatened by those who don’t. That’s a perfectly natural survival instinct we have.

It’s good to be suspicious of the unfamiliar, considering how evil this world is.

If you take that sentiment and multiply it several times across multiple variables like race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, phenotype, sex, gender and others, you’re left with a million different ways we can get along or mistrust each other.

And you end up where we are right now: in this reality that is actually quite fascinating. In a way, I think it’s inevitable.

I think there was no other way life would’ve turned out.

I don’t say this to be morbid, nor is this an indictment of humanity. I speak this not as condemnation, but an attempt to rationalise what it is to be alive today.

I think we are a uniquely strange creature. People. What a concept. What we have done and achieved and experienced is too outlandish to reduce to just one sentence.

Trust me, I understand that. This is hundreds of thousands of years of billions upon billions of souls who have lived and died and loved and lost. There are so many stories, so many wars.

But also so much good. There has been community and innovation and music and perseverance. We have human rights and justice (to a certain degree).

The world is advancing and people generally cooperate.

But overall, it’s so much easier for us to trust the people who validate our opinions.

If you agree with this column, you might hold your chin and think “wow, Anne is so wise and intelligent and pretty” (I’m kidding!).

If you don’t agree with what I’m saying, you might say to yourself “Anne has lost it, what a confused young soul”.

After that, you might not take anything else I say seriously.
This is something along the lines of the halo effect.

You just need to leave one impression in someone’s mind and it’ll affect how they perceive you from then on.

That’s why people hire their friends and cousins regardless of their level of qualification.

Seriously, if you want to get hired, picked or chosen, make more friends.

Create positive biases in people’s minds and you’ll essentially capture them.
Knowing this to be true is, for me, both fascinating and terrifying.

This is the kind of stuff I like to ponder on. It makes me understand philosophers a lot more easily.

I grew up reading a lot of Plato and Socrates, because I was an extremely curious child with parents who encouraged my exploration of the world around me.

Still, it’s taken me over 20 years to truly understand the state many great thinkers must have been in, and to appreciate that some questions just might not have an answer.

There are things that are meant to be pondered, but never confirmed, I guess.
That’s the point of my column.

Not to conclude, but to ask and to wonder out loud.

To spark curiosity, to challenge the narrative, to add diversity to the conversation and to ask as many questions as possible.
Maybe I’m wrong.

Maybe it’s the other way around and people are inherently selfish and just use the community they belong to as an excuse to strike, bomb or attack first.

Oh, but how pessimistic is that?
I’d rather not know.
– Anne Hambuda is a writer, social commentator and poet. Follow her online or email her at annehambuda@gmail.com for more.

In an age of information overload, Sunrise is The Namibian’s morning briefing, delivered at 6h00 from Monday to Friday. It offers a curated rundown of the most important stories from the past 24 hours – occasionally with a light, witty touch. It’s an essential way to stay informed. Subscribe and join our newsletter community.