Understanding Ourselves
Two Wolves
EDITORIAL INTRODUCTION
Two wolves battle inside every person in the parable Doug retells: one thrives on anger, envy, and resentment; the other on joy, hope, and compassion. When the grandson asks which one wins, his grandfather answers, ‘The one you feed.’ Doug then applies the parable to what he calls the psychology of authoritarianism, naming identity politics and white superiority as ways the ‘evil wolf’ gets fed.
A Note on the Original Text
Doug’s writings are presented as originally written. Spelling, punctuation, and grammatical irregularities have been retained to preserve his words and the integrity of the original record.
ORIGINAL WRITING
One evening an Old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, “My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all. One is Evil. It is anger, envy jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. “ The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.” The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf wins?” The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”
HM is extremely disturbed from what he learned about the psychological make up of authoritarians. It is indeed a nightmare, but it provides an understanding of the people who support Donald Trump. Authoritarians are feeding the Evil Wolf. Take identity politics and white superiority. This is something that takes place in the reptile mind. It should not be taking place in a species named Homo Sapiens. But it explains how these people can regard Donald Trump as the greatest president who has ever lived, whereas any knowledgeable authority on the presidency will not equivocate in saying that Trump is, by far, the worst president who has ever lived.
In western society the Good Wolf is often called the better angels of our selves. It is this wolf that should set the standards for society. Let’s take a brief review of the history of Homo Sapiens. Initially, it consisted of very small groups. These groups fought with each other until they discovered it was much better to cooperate. This developed with larger and larger groups being formed. Initially different languages got in the way, but eventually they were overcome.
Still groups fought, usually for some lord for self protection rather than for benefit. Nobility was a con that people needed for protection. Yet monarchies continue to the present day, but they are constitutional monarchies.
Wars continued and more sophisticated weapons were developed. A war today could well result in the destruction of Homo Sapiens. The Good Wolf is certainly needed here. The Good Wolf is responsible for the development of effective societies.
But as was mentioned in previous posts, with technology the Bad Wolf could annihilate the Good Wolf.
Unfortunately, technology seems to benefit the Bad Wolf more than the Good Wolf. Talk radio is old technology that is used to spread misinformation. And the internet has bad multiplicative effects that benefit the Bad Wolf. But technology can also benefit the Good Wolf, and it does, but nowhere near the benefit it could provide.
The reason for this can best be understood in Kahneman’s Two System view of cognition. System 1 is our default mode of processing and is fast and requires little, if any, cognitive effort. System 2 is slow, and is commonly known as thinking. It is required to understand and develop new ideas, learn new things, and takes cognitive effort. Emotions are System 1 processes. System 2 processing is required to change them.
Readers of this blog should realize that The Bad Wolf is likely to suffer from dementia. The question is how can we transfer Good Wolf practices, like thinking and empathy, to the Bad Wolf?