Discernment Demanded in Dystopia

At my office

Whether or not one judges these times as dystopian, I believe observable facts that compare where we are now throughout the world, to a year ago, provide evidence of movement in a dystopian direction, a direction that is dissolving foundations of higher development and infrastructures, day by day. If this occurred in the face of building better foundations, then we are evolving. But where are the improving foundations?

In general, we are increasingly getting flooded, and how we manage being flooded is going to be a central concern for us in several ways. It will take discernment, planning and critical thinking to anticipate trending situations that move in damaging directions. When I say getting flooded, this can be financially, emotionally, relationally, and informationally, not to mention real and dangerous physical floods and other local disasters. My focus in this post is the informational flood we all experience.

One very important element of my psychological healing and therapy these past six years has come through developing a personal skill that was absent and never discussed among family or friends around me. This skill is the ability to discern communications of observations from communications of judgements and opinions. It begins with an honest assessment of one’s own communication as to whether you are communicating observations or opinions. I found discovering and learning how to constantly practice this discernment is essential on the path to successful critical thinking. It also helps to manage the flood of information we face in these times.

For example, If I communicate, based on test results, that one car has better mileage and acceleration than another car, that is communicating an observation. If I simply say one car is better than the other, then I’m sharing an opinion. However, in practice, both in our own communication and in the consumption of communication from others, most of us don’t discern this distinction. The consumption of opinions taken for fact is rampant and at the root of most of our flood of misinformation. I’ve come to believe it is most important to integrate discernment of what is opinion and what is observable fact into our own personal consumption and distribution of information.

I learned these skills in my therapy by introduction to the teachings of the late Dr. Marshall Rosenberg. Some of this material is available via YouTube (https://youtu.be/l7TONauJGfc?si=cSXS13BThslLpxSa), and much more so in books and courses. In his presentations, Dr Rosenberg emphasizes the importance of learning to discern observation from judgement as a key prerequisite of non-violent communication and conflict resolution. Non-violent communication is characterized by sharing personal values, feelings, and needs, along with sharing observations of fact; however, sharing opinions can sow the seeds of violent communication and is an area of communication I’ve learned to avoid and to be much more wary of those who are quick to judge. Conflicts can be sparked by sharing opinions not necessarily held by others; however, sharing observations that are universally observable to everyone simply informs and avoids conflict. The ability to discern the difference between observable facts and personal opinions is a vital personal skill demanded in the face of a dystopian flood of opinion and judgements not necessarily well guided. It was something worth studying for me.

Other than that, I’m traveling later this month to spend some time with Kai Cofer, my playwright I'm working with. The last song we published, Let 'em Grow https://www.alphasongs.net/amp-129, is about growing beards and Movember is coming soon. So I'm growing a beard this fall. Also rehearsing for 3 concert dates in December, singing on stage with 2 different groups. And continuing to compose a love song from the play and a love song of my own. My health is good and my spirits are usually good. My next post will probably be after my travels.