Having given much thought to the concept of the aforementioned "Mutual Respect" - I have just read, with general avid interest, the following article, and considered it worthy of sharing. Leah x
Mutual Respect
Relationships and Ideas
Our experience of living as individual human beings in a complex world is essentially an experience of relationships — with things, with other persons, with organisations, and with ideas.
All the troubles in the world arise from unsatisfactory relationships in which one person or group tries by one means or another to coerce another person or group into behaving in some involuntary manner. The popular word for this is "bullying".
Such relationships cause unhappiness for the individual person; they give rise to unrest among those immediately involved with that person; and they all too frequently lead to outright conflict as persons and organisations, not always immediately or necessarily affected, "take sides" in other people's quarrels.
When we trace the course of any quarrel to its roots, they are always to be found in a conflict of ideas. Human intelligence and capacity to reason about ideas can be either a blessing or a curse depending on how we use them.
Consciousness
The operation of human consciousness depends on contrasting the perceived qualities of one thing with those of another. We can discern variations in size, shape, brightness, colour, sound, smell, taste, warmth, texture, quantity, motion. If there were no such variations, we should not be objectively aware of anything at all, and objects devoid of such qualities would not exist for us. When we think about such things, our ideas are formed from a recollection of the qualities they present, or seem to present, when we observe them. I say "seem" because the senses by which we perceive qualities can sometimes deceive us.
Even so, we find it easier to form "true" or "objective" ideas about our relationships with "inanimate" objects which seem incapable of having intentions towards us than about animals which we can perceive as friendly or threatening — subjective attitudes which "colour" our ideas and influence the reconstruction of our observations. We tend to form ideas about things, and then perceive what we expect to perceive on the basis of our pre-conceived ideas.
When our minds are "made up", we become reluctant to change them, even in the face of evidence that suggests we may be wrong about something.
This tendency to subjective distortion of perception reaches its peak in our relationships with other human beings or groups ranging from neighbours to governments. Our ideas about other people are filtered through prejudices such as like and dislike, love and hate, hope and fear, admiration and contempt, friend and foe. As our own patterns of behaviour are subject to variation from one moment to the next, so we must assume that other people are subject to similar inconsistencies. Furthermore, our "raw data" about other persons often relies in part upon a more or less imperfect exchange of ideas with each other, either directly or through third parties. So we tend to form "beliefs" or "opinions" about each other based as much on our own prejudices as on observation or any "true" assessment of the character of the other person, and usually ignoring the fact that a person's character may change over time.
Introspection
Recognising the impossibility of ever "fixing" the character of any human individual, we must remain pessimistic in our hopes and expectations of a peaceful world unless we can discern, and mutually agree to apply, a few simple principles whereby to govern our conduct with respect to one another, and so co-exist peacefully despite our differences.
And because our quarrels are not so much about things as about our ideas and beliefs about things, we must start by looking within ourselves and attempt to identify the motives which cause us to quarrel.
We live in a world of relativity. Our consciousness depends on discerning differences. Hence we have an innate mental tendency towards duality and polarisation. And yet we cannot help feeling that despite the myriad contrasts which give rise to the infinite variety we enjoy in this wonderful world, there must be an underlying unity which holds the Universe together and somehow reconciles all apparent conflicts.
We will be studying ourselves and our relationships with the Universe in the hope of identifying an essential unity about which we can agree and which will make us disinclined to quarrel with each other.
Favoritism
Our tendency towards polarisation of ideas makes us liable to favour one way of looking at things rather than another, and thus lose all possibility of objectivity. I have observed this unfortunate trait even in persons with very high academic qualifications, and I have come to suspect that much of what passes for education is really indoctrination into whatever is currently accepted as orthodoxy.
If I am painting the floor of a room, I must plan to work in such a way as to finish at a door through which I can escape to the greater world outside: otherwise I shall paint myself into a corner. Our tendency to favour one line of thought or argument all too often blinds us to the validity of alternatives.
General Application
Rigid adherence to one idea while closing one's mind to its complementary alternative is a principal cause of human conflict. Individuals who favour one hypothesis tend to herd together in artificial opposition to proponents of its equally valid complement; irrational emotions are aroused; persons in either group whose commitment to the central dogma is less than total are liable to be accused of "disloyalty"; and so each such group becomes a potential army to engage in uncivil war.
Paradoxically, this unfortunate development is most likely to occur in "advanced" societies, in which larger numbers of individuals have the leisure to mull over ideas and to make converts. Thus rival, even mutually hostile, groups spring up over matters ranging in significance from sports supporters' clubs to political parties and religious sects.
Personal Integrity
Personal integrity requires that we look deeply into ourselves and try to be as objective about our own ideas, feelings, and emotions - as we expect scientists to be about the interpretation of their observations of the physical world.
Such introspection can be a painful process: but if regularly practised, it will promote the development of virtues such as modesty, tolerance, and strength of character, all of which are conducive to mutual respect and powerful antidotes to bullying.
