understanding opportunity and risk

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AN EXPERIMENT September, 2009

Over the years, we at Alt3 have acquired a lot of knowledge of social dynamics and how the world will be in 3-5 years. On one hand, it is good to have knowledge. On the other hand, some of this knowledge can be quite ... alarming. Regardless of this, it is still knowledge. And where most of the world tends to bury its head in the sand and pretend problems will go away if ignored, in reality the problems often only become worse if ignored.

Hence the need for our expertise.

As the pace of change increases throughout the world it is clear increasing numbers of people feel "left behind" or "left out". The reasons are varied and complex yet the consequences are nearly always the same - tension rises in almost every society and between societies as people increasingly turn to more extreme means for answers, for comfort even, for a sense of belonging. People are tribal. Identity is important. One of these other at times extreme means is religion. Religious extremism is on the rise and is set to become a major problem for the entire world with the potential of severely undermining any global financial and social sustainability. Trust me, this is true.

However, we are all mostly aware of the religious extremism of the Middle East and beyond where this culture touches upon other cultures and the sheer barbarism this entails. Although this is set to increase - and with devastating consequences in the next few years - this is not the only religious extremism in the world. It is easy to demonise one group while ignoring the issues and problems of another.

We started thinking ... how close to the edge of barbarism is this other non-Islamic religious extremism? By this we meant would seemingly normal western people readily throw off the facade of normality if challenged, and quickly display the potential for being the same type of extremist we too frequently see on our television screens, civilised people deplore? Therefore, how readily would these others potentially take up arms with their own dubious righteous justification to commit the same mass murder they currently condemn?

From experience, we came to the conclusion - rightly or wrongly - that religious extremists of all types can always find ways to justify inhumanity.

So, we devised an experiment to test one of our hypotheses. And we put this experiment into action. The results were quite stunning - and very, very frightening.

The results showed that when seemingly normal people who seemingly advocate the accommodation of different ideas and outlooks have their personal beliefs questioned - even in a non-offensive, non-personal, non-confrontational manner - they indeed can quickly drop that facade of normality and acceptance. They can indeed quickly turn from logical normal people to illogical hate filled people on the verge of extreme actions. On one occasion one of these normal people even sent what could be described as hate mail to justify their point of view, while at the same time on another medium openly stating they accepted differences of opinion.

So, what does this say?

It may just be bad luck that we chose the wrong people, perhaps on the wrong day, perhaps for the wrong reasons. It has to be accepted that not all people behave in such a radical and potentially extreme manner - and perhaps it was our fault for choosing the wrong words and presenting them in the wrong manner. Or ... it may be that beneath the surface religious extremism is more common than we are realise, and that, beneath the surface, it is fermenting away, increasing in pressure as people increasingly seek an identity, a cause, a reason for being - and are willing to go to extreme lengths to defend what they believe ... by attacking in a blind and senseless manner.

If the latter is true then for sure it is alarming indeed. It means that as social pressure increases - as it is and will - then all these hidden tensions will become like a tinderbox awaiting that fateful spark. When the spark comes - as come it will - and finds the required fuel ... it will burn and it will destroy.

The fact is, the world is full of other cultures. It is full of ideas that are different from and foreign to one another. Technology and population / economic pressure are bringing people together more readily, more faster than ever before. Many people say they are accepting of other ideas and concepts and beliefs, yet beneath their surface they are a mass of seething resentment that is good ground for any hidden extremist philosophy. Such destructive philosophies are not confined to any one culture or any one region of the world.

We often see those shameful flag burning insane screaming protests in some far off country and we think of how barbaric and even ridiculous these people are. And yet ... are we so far removed from this state ourselves? The experiment shows we are not so civilised after all. We are just as unaccepting, intolerant, abusive, potentially just as inhuman and extreme as those who are the enemy of all right minded people.

This has been an interesting insight into human behavior ... and an alarming insight into how society will develop. This is a problem that can no longer be ignored as if it will go away. Like many other problems ... if ignored then it increases in intensity.

Regards

JS

If you don't understand the risks, how can you prepare? Can you afford to let the issues be blurred?

The turbulent 21st century

life isn't black and white

central@alt3.co.uk