~ C-BO-N-T-W-B-T-B-IP ~ Crisis – Brought Out – Not – The – Worst – But – The – Best – In People

~ IANMI-WAWWB-WFWWGLF-A-WWP-CTP ~ Ideas Are Never Merely Ideas – We Are What We Believe – We Find What We Go Looking For – And – What We Predict – Comes To Pass

~ OGVOHIAA-N-IWBMPCBT-THWTEO-TED ~ Our Grim View Of Humanity Is Also A – Nocebo – If We Believe Most People Can’t Be Trusted – That’s How We’ll Treat Each Other – To Everyone’s Detriment

~ STATWYBITON ~ Some Things Are True Whether You Believe In Them Or Not

~ FIHAMPTSTWAOVOOP-IWWTTTGCOOT-TPWNTSIOVOHN ~ Few Ideas Have As Much Power To Shape The World As Our View Of Other People – If We Want To Tackle The Greatest Challenges Of Our Times – The Place We Need To Start Is Our View Of Human Nature

~ CIATOE-TCIAR ~ Cynicism Is A Theory Of Everything – The Cynic Is Always Right

~ WAWHSSTT-DAGOTN?-TR-F-NB:WMATTBTTG-BIOHAGD-TMFWKY;TLSW-S-WABWA-AB-IWCEREOAGT-WATTIRC ~ Why Are We Humans So Susceptible To The – Doom And Gloom Of The News? – Two Reasons – First – Negativity Bias: We’re More Attuned To The Bad Than The Good – Back In Our Hunting And Gathering Days – Too Much Fear Wouldn’t Kill You; Too Little Surely Would – Second – We’re Also Burdened With An – Availability Bias – If We Can Easily Recall Examples Of A Given Thing – We Assume That Thing Is Relatively Common

~ B-WS-U/U/I-T-CTOTB-I-T ~ Because – What Seems – Unreasonable / Unrealistic / Impossible – Today – Can Turn Out To Be – Inevitable – Tomorrow

~ ITFANR-ITFANVOH ~ It’s Time For A New Realism – It’s Time For A New View Of Humankind

~ B-SIASOAS-S-CAB-N ~ But – Seldom Is A Story Only A Story – Stories – Can Also Be – Nocebos

~ AA-R-TNM-OT-B-D/G/G/G-‘GUP-O-AIL’ ~ An Argument – Repeated – Thousands Nay Millions – Of Times – By – Dictators / Governors / Generals – “Give Us Power – Or – All Is Lost”

~ FTOTOY-TNHHTMK-‘SOTF’-WDATW-WATN-A-JLMDLLWP-H-HP ~ For Tens Of Thousands Of Years – The Nicest Humans Had The Most Kids – “Survival Of The Friendliest” – What Dogs Are To Wolves – We Are To Neanderthals – And – Just Like Mature Dogs Look Like Wolf Puppies – Humans – Homo Puppy

~ SSTTTDO-HL-T-IAPOOS ~ Some Scientists Theorize That The Development Of – Human Language – Too – Is A Product Of Our Sociability

~ HB-C-TAI-OSYFC-JAOBHFF ~ Human Beings – Crave – Togetherness And Interaction – Our Spirits Yearn For Connection – Just As Our Bodies Hunger For Food

~ WHAHA-DS-PASA-B-WHAFF:WFMAFTWAMLU ~ We Humans Also Have A – Dark Side – People Are Social Animals – But – We Have A Fatal Flaw: We Feel More Affinity For Those Who Are Most Like Us

~ O-NOEAFF-ICAIATS ~ Oxytocin – Not Only Enhances Affection For Friends – It Can Also Intensify Aversion To Strangers

~ TERTTTTAPHHALCOF ~ There’s Every Reason To Think That The Average Prehistoric Human Had A Large Circle Of Friends

~ TOCP-NASDOW ~ Thousands Of Cave Paintings – Not A Single Depiction Of War

~ HMPITTWIOON?-TAIAN ~ How Much Proof Is There That War Is In Our Nature? – The Answer Is Almost None

~ FMOOH-WD-CT-B-F ~ For Most Of Our History – We Didn’t – Collect Things – But – Friendships

~ ICHBETCPT-LOA-O-E-HB-CNBTS-AA-FHSJAE ~ It Couldn’t Have Been Easy To Convince People That – Land Or Animals – Or – Even – Human Beings – Could Now Belong To Someone – After All – Foragers Had Shared Just About Everything

~ JAWSSDIOP-WBTFMF-WNHBTFO-SWL-SLMUMDOS ~ Just As We Started Settling Down In One Place – We Built The First Military Fortifications – We Now Had Belongings To Fight Over – Starting With Land – Settled Life Made Us More Distrustful Of Strangers

~ WOACHF-W-HHWP ~ What Our Ancestors Couldn’t Have Foreseen – Was – How Humankind Would Proliferate

~ TFS-W-WE-SS ~ The First States – Were – Without Exception – Slave States

~ TAOCAS-O-AAW-DBPTMP-B-S-OITLTC-HTGB-SWTWFHALUTB ~ The Advent Of Cities And States – Of – Agriculture And Writing – Didn’t Bring Prosperity To Most People – But – Suffering – Only In The Last Two Centuries – Have Things Got Better – So Quickly That We’ve Forgotten How Abysmal Life Used To Be

~ WCCTOOCASINWTBE ~ We Can Chose To Organize Our Cities And States In New Ways That Benefit Everyone

~ HSIOCL? ~ How Sustainable Is Our Civilized Lifestyle?

~ CCBAS-FP-A-N-TPUWD ~ Cynicism Can Become A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy – A – Nocebo – That Paralyses Us With Despair

~ DAI-BAM-OTC-TIH-A-WWDC-TPOE-WFCTHB-LAC-TGU-ASOV ~ Deceived And Indoctrinated – Brainwashed And Manipulated – Only Then Could – The Inconceivable Happen – And – When We Do Choose – The Path Of Evil – We Feel Compelled To Hide Behind – Lies And Cliches – That Give Us – A Semblance Of Virtue

~ ARCIGS-IAS(OES)E-HBR ~ A Radical Cut In Government Spending – In A Stagnating (Or Even Shrinking) Economy – Holds Back Recovery

~ SOTTO-TCS-WSW-TPIT-TEOSEAANPITM-A-TNRIED-TINA-E ~ Some Of The Theories Of – The Classical School – Were Simply Wrong – The Problem Is That – The Effect Of Some Economic Activities Are Not Priced In The Market – And – Thus Not Reflected In Economic Decisions – This Is Known As – Externality

~ ISW-BWABFTIOB-ATNIFSTTIO ~ It Seems We’re – Born With A Button For Tribalism In Our Brains – All That’s Needed Is For Something To Turn It On

~ FAHFWTAOI ~ Few Armies Have Fought Without The Aid Of Intoxicants

~ PATWLAATMYITOP-PILAD-OWAWCOSE ~ Power Appears To Work Like An Anaesthetic That Makes You Insensate To Other People – Power Is Like A Drug – One With A Whole Catalogue Of Side Effects

~ K-PTRB-DR-OTTTW-G ~ Kings – Proclaimed They Ruled By – Divine Right – Or – That They Themselves Were – Gods

~ K-SDNATTBE ~ Kings – Simply Did Not Allow Themselves To Be Dethroned

~ U-TAAPWA-UTFS-WBTA-DOP-O-AATSMBWST ~ Unfortunately – There Are Always People Who Are – Unable To Feel Shame – Whether Because They Are – Drugged On Power – Or – Are Among The Small Minority Born With Sociopathological Traits

~ WAATITTITO-‘U’-A-‘T’ ~ We Are All Too Inclined To Think In Terms Of – “Us” – And – “Them”

~ HECBAPT ~ High Expectations Can Be A Powerful Tool

~ WHTMOA ~ We’re Hardwired To Mirror One Another

~ WP-APOTWKOM-O-AFOOSOSD ~ We Prefer – A Pound Of The Worst Kind Of Misery – Over – A Few Ounces Of Shame Or Social Discomfort

~ L-H-T-CABC ~ Like – Hatred – Trust – Can Also Be Contagious

~ TOBWSDTGATF ~ Trust Often Begins When Someone Dares To Go Against The Flow

~ B-PT-C-LTC ~ By – Playing Together – Children – Learn To Cooperate

~ AKO-RR-ICW-TOS ~ Any Kind Of – Radical Renewal – Inevitably Clashes With – The Old System

~ B-S-TBRBWYLET ~ But – Sometimes – The Biggest Revolutions Begin Where You Least Expect Them

~ W-CP-D-I-EICADD ~ What – Citizen Politicians – Do – Is – Engage In Calm And Deliberative Dialogue

~ GPAVIHTARATBMNAP-MS-ES ~ Give People A Voice In How Things Are Run And They Become More Nuanced About Politics – More Sympathetic – Even Smarter

~ NR-IALMET-V ~ Nonviolent Resistance – Is A Lot More Effective Than – Violence

~ W-A-BPAEO-B-HAD ~ We – Are – Being Pitted Against Each Other – By – Hatemongers And Demagogues

~ TB-PAHTBK-ISON-OTC-I-CAR-TBI-PAF ~ To Believe – People Are Hardwired To Be Kind – Isn’t Sentimental Or Naive – On The Contrary – It’s – Courageous And Realistic – To Believe In – Peace And Forgiveness

~ BR-ITFA-NR-ITFANVOH ~ Be Realistic – It’s Time For A – New Realism – It’s Time For A New View Of Humankind