Let's Start Making Sense

 

The way we communicate these days is a big problem, and something needs to be done, or at least said, about it.  Seemingly every instance of group discussion or free speech these days almost instantly devolves into a disordered cacophony.  Usually sound bite words like, racist, nazi, commie, fascist, oppressor or some such language triggers a flood of visceral reactions, followed by some kind of hysteria dominating the discussion, and nothing constructive or informative ever being said or written.

There are undoubtedly a number of good ideas for how to restore us to some kind of reasonable, constructive and unifying national dialogue, but one thing cries out to be said.  That is for us to realize that some ideas are big and complex and don't lend themselves to the sound bite logic this national cacophony forces us into.  So let us consider, in the hopes that we might somehow regain some sanity, how some ideas can resemble a certain form of architecture.

The architectural concept being referred to is the form known as a Roman arch.  This is a way of building arches; for doors in buildings, bridges, aqueducts and similar structures.  The stones or bricks that form the arch are mortared into place in a way that resembles a rainbow, or a semi circle.  Each stone is placed so that when all of them are in place the weight of the stones presses them against each other.  Over the course of time, as other kinds of door openings or bridge structures fall apart due to the force of gravity, the Roman arch becomes ever stronger due to that same force of gravity.

So even though the Roman arch takes a lot more effort to put together than other forms of doors or bridges, the complex, time involved effort is more than worth it in the long run.  Some Roman built arches, more than two thousand years old, are still standing.

The way this analogy applies to our current national cacophony is this.  While building some doorway or bridge, if the more conventional techniques of just starting with two columns of stone and laying one strong stone between them to form a door or bridge is used, it can probably be accomplished even if some opponents are trying to stop the construction.  After all, it just takes three steps, set up one column, set up another column in proper relation to the first, and then slam the head stone into place.  One, two, three, job done.

On the other hand, setting up a Roman arch takes a lot more steps than that, so if someone is harping on and working to prevent its' construction, they probably can.   First, the first column has to be set up, and then the second column set up in precisely the proper location and height related to the first column. Then the truly complex part begins, because a wooden form must be set up, in the shape of the arch being constructed.  Then the stones of the arch must be fitted and mortared into place.  The the mortar must be given time to set properly.  Then the forms can be removed.  The arch is made.

This glimpse into the world of architecture might aid us in restoring order and meaning to our national dialogue in the following way.  Just as a conventional bridge, with its three part construction, is easy to understand and execute, the only “solutions” that make it through our national cacophony are the simplistic, easy to understand and easy to execute kind.  Build a wall on the border, forgive all student debt, provide guaranteed national income, or prohibit / legalize all drugs.  We don't need or want no stinking nuance or wisdom.  We want instant, easy solutions (or more precisely, that is the only kind of  “solution” that gets a full presentation amid our deafening national cacophony.)  Thus we are attracted to simplistic, emotion laden solutions that, like the easily built bridges will be easily understood (difficult to ridicule unlike a Roman arch which looks unworkable and foolish when it is half built), easy to execute and are likely to fall apart quicker than a poorly constructed bridge.

To find the complex, lasting solutions that our complex national problems need, we have to change modes of communication.  We have to allow truly nuanced, complex solutions to be voiced, in full.

While it might be nice to seek a simplistic solution to even this problem, some kind of government edict allowing only experts to express large ideas, the real solution lies within each of us.  Try letting other people express complete ideas, even if you don't agree with the first thing they say.  We all must start actually listening to learn what the other is saying, and not just listening to respond, tuning them out while composing a rebuttal to their first thought.  Who knows, if we improve out own personal way of communicating in this way, the whole nation might get smarter and more unified.  We might start making sense again.