The March of Folly

 

 

The March of Folly

In her book, “The March of Folly,”Barbara Tuchman describes decisions made by leadersagainst their own interests. She defined 'Folly' by quoting Plato: "

When the soul contradictsthe viewpoint, or knowledge, or wisdom, all of which are natural laws, I call this folly 

".The march of folly does not stop, it continues to these days.Some will argue that US President Obama's Middle East policy, was a demonstration ofthis foolish march, causing the “Arab spring” devastating the middle east and marking thedecline of the power of the US in the world. This folly caused the bitter Shiva/Sunni warand, perhaps, even initiated the clash between Western and Muslim civilizations.Some will argue that Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, brought about the end ofChristian Europe, with her invitation of Muslim refugees.We can argue that we in Israel practiced our own self-made folly in the Oslo agreement, which brought the defeated enemy - the Fatah organization, into the heart of our land. Itcost thousands of Jews lives, and complicated the Arab-Israel conflict beyond repair.We have to ask what makes leaders ignore logic, and act against their own interests? It isnot lack of knowledge that cause modern leaders to join the march of folly. They enjoy thebenefit of our information age, and have legions of intelligence personnel whose job ispresent them information. Apparently, information, knowledge, and intelligence, are of nohelp in preventing this leaders to march in the folly trail.All these foolish decisions leaders make, have one common denominator: the inability ofthese leaders to predict how people of a different cultural group, will react. Time and againleaders have displayed this inability. Sadly, this lack of understanding often leads todisaster. It can be argued that all of us, not just our leaders, have a limited understandingof the other person, but it is important for everyone to make the effort to learn how otherpeople grasp events, and how they react to them. Unfortunately, this is no easy task. Thephilosopher, Emanuel Levinas, noted that: “The face of the other is always what I am not,and therefore is always an enigma.” We know very little about the ways in which our brain works, and less than nothing about what goes on in another person's mind.In this book we argue that all of us, not just our leaders, have a limited understandingof the other person. It is very important for everyone to understand how other peoplegrasp events, and how they react to them. Unfortunately, this is no easy task. Thephilosopher, Emanuel Levinas, noted that: “The face of the other is always what I amnot and therefore is always an enigma.”

 

We know very little about the ways in which our brain works, and less than nothingabout what goes on in another person's mind.My interest in exploring to what degree we understand the other person, wasaroused by realizing that my intelligent friends cannot understand how someone likeme, remains faithful to ideas that they perceive as utterly unfounded on facts andlogic. Of course, I also wonder how intelligent people like them, could have illusionsthat are clearly not based on logic and facts.Obviously there is some aspect beyond people’s logic that determines our way ofthinking. A person can be sure that he has the right ideas while the other person is wrong, whereas the other will think exactly the same of that person.Before we try to go farther, we need to acknowledge that vast differences existamong people, especially among people coming from a cultural group other than ourown.To all of us it is clear that there is a difference between men and women, between theslim and the heavily-built person, between a tall person and a short one. Differencesalso exist in the aspirations and mindsets of different people. But as the philosopherLevinas noted; for each of us others are “the other face” and therefore enigmatic.Allow me to invite you on a research journey into that mysterious terrain of “the faceof the other”, in the hope that by the journey’s end, we will have at least a slightlybetter understanding of how others think and react.Just before we set out, let us open up our mind. It would not be the first time inhuman history that what was obvious to everyone turns out to be a false idea. Afterall, none of us believes any more that the earth is flat, or that the sun revolves aroundit.Some of the premises that we will present on our journey, will seem to you as no lessdistorted, than the strange notion that Copernicus had when he told our ancestorsthat the sun, rather than the earth, is in the center of the universe. After all, peoplecould see with their own eyes, how the sun moved around the earth, which stood stillin the center of the universe. Only that stubborn fellow, Galileo, insisted that: “Eppursi muove” (and yet it moves). And he was right!In this book I have attempted to open up our understanding of how the other person,the person “who is not me,” thinks and behaves. Further on, I presume that the wayin which we humans think and react are emotion-based, as well as the result oflogical thinking. Therefore, understanding the other person requires among otherthings, understanding the reasons for these emotions in a person.

 

Scientists, busy in their laboratories, try to map the brain and find out which braincells are responsible for various functions. Were we to know exactly how everysynapse in the brain functions while we carry out one function or another, we wouldstill be unable to estimate what the other person think, feels, and how he will behave.The primary thrust of scientific research is to understand how the brain is structuredand how it processes data fed in by our senses. Yes, of course this is importantinformation in the overall attempt to understand human behavior, but no lessimportant is the information stored in our brains, the mutual impact of community andthe individuals in it, as well as the norms of culture which dictate the scale of valuesby which we conduct ourselves.Scientists study

how

 the brain works; here we'll try a different approach. We'll try toexplore

 why

 the brain functions as it does, rather than in some other way.We will do this by investigating which brain mechanisms were developed to meet thechallenges that humans face, in spite of the brain's organic structural limitations.Then we will study how our culture influences our thoughts and actions, since noneof us is disconnected from the community in which we live.In Chapter 1, we explore the basic mechanisms behind the act of thinking andreactions, inside the individual human brain.Chapter 2 presents the impact of our community on our thoughts and responses.Chapter 3 will delve into understanding human communities. This is important forhaving some clues about which ideas and feelings the community implants in ourbrain.I hope that when you finish reading this book, you'll know more about how peoplethink and react.