The best ad-blocker in the world.
Whenever we meet people who are narrow-minded, stubbornly stuck in their own ways, oblivious to things that should matter (at least according to us), the term “tunnel vision” comes to mind, right?
I don’t like this kind of people, and I don’t think I’m alone in this. Most people don’t.
But I think we’re missing something here. We all have tunnel vision written in our genes. To block out pain, suffering, discomfort, uncertainty. Basically everything that, given the chance to truly manifest, would stop us in our tracks.
Don’t get me wrong, this is a huge evolutionary advantage. Where would we be if we let ourselves feel everything? The finality of our own existence, the never-ending suffering that exists in the world? I’m pretty sure nothing would get done.
For most of us, tunnel vision is working out great. We get to have relatively peaceful lives, have fun, fall in love, work, pursue our passions and eventually ride off into the sunset when our time is up.
And it might have been even easier for some generations that came before. Except those who lived through world wars and countless other catastrophes that just didn’t give them the option to be oblivious. Their reality was much too tangible to be ignored.
I can’t speak for all the rest. But of one thing I am certain: they did not live in a world where news (good and bad) traveled at the speed of light.
Picture this for a second:
You just woke up on what seems to be a regular Monday morning. You reluctantly get out of bed, make a cup of coffee and get ready for the day ahead. You pick up your phone, start reading the news and freeze for a second.
A(nother) war has broke out. A deadly pandemic is making its way to your country. There’s been another mass shooting in your city.
You’re fine. And there’s nothing in your immediate control right now. Nothing to do but carry on with your day, your week, your life. But how can you? (a rhetorical question of course; I don’t have the slightest idea how to answer)
Nobody knows exactly how, but we still do. Carry on, I mean. All thanks to our brilliant evolutionary advantage, the infamous tunnel vision.
Turns out our brain is the best ad-blocker in the world.
Strange as it may seem, I think all the atrocities we see on the news and on social media, whether they’re close to home or thousands of miles away, are in a way, a kind of ads. They’re not trying to get us to buy something, but they do urge us to stop, to look and even to take action.
But we often say no. We smash that “skip ad” button or we turn a blind eye on them altogether. And it makes sense. Cause if we stopped, who knows what that would do to us?
The same goes for our own scary thoughts. Our very well hidden demons. We go through life trying our best to tuck them away, making sure they never see the light of day. Cause if they did, who knows if we could handle it?
Better to skip those ads, too.
Brilliant as it may be, our brain is not a perfectly tuned machine. Sometimes it lets us take a peek behind the scenes, gives us a preview of how bad things really are. It usually doesn’t last long, just enough to make us think. Then we go back to our regularly scheduled programming.
Maybe we can learn something. Maybe we can muster the courage to live with one foot outside our bubble.