The necessary self-criticism

«It is easier to disintegrate an atom than a prejudice». The phrase attributed to Einstein explains the current polarization. For many, to change their way of thinking, to open themselves to the fact that others may be more right than they are, is little less than a betrayal. There are those who love themselves more than the truth.

It is increasingly difficult to dialogue, to confront ideas. We cling to our reasons in an irrational way. We are of this or that way of thinking as one is of this or that soccer team; not by conviction, not by adhesion, but by motions of the heart. We let ourselves be carried away by our feelings in such a way that we are easily manipulated by a society dominated by social networks where emotional impact is paramount.

No one can give a solid argument to support an idea in one of the thousands of 20-second videos that feed our digital consumption, but many thousands of emotional impacts can be made in this way. What is more, it is most likely that these impacts will go in the same direction towards which we have previously shown a preference. 

If we are afraid of an immigration invasion, we will get news and videos about the dangers of immigration; if, on the contrary, we think that people have the right to migrate and seek new opportunities in another country, we will get only examples of great people helping to build the society in which they settle.

If we are believers, our feed will be filled with various preachers and influencers Christians who will make us believe that the most logical thing to do is to live putting God at the center; but if we are not, we will only receive videos of the evils committed by religions and attempts to prove that God is an invention. 

In this way, it is not the person who analyzes reality and acts accordingly, but rather constructs a reality to suit him or her according to his or her pre-established criteria. Psychologists call it “confirmation bias”, which is nothing more than the human tendency to seek, interpret and remember information in a way that confirms what we already believe, while ignoring or minimizing information that contradicts us.

This bias is well known and exploited by the creators of the algorithms that decide what we «get» on our cell phones in order to keep us hooked for as long as possible. They flatter us, making us believe that we are right, but what we don't know is that those who think otherwise are told the same thing. And so, basking in our own way of thinking, we increasingly despise our neighbors, who seem more and more distant, stranger and even more dangerous to us.

Enclosed in a bubble of self-referentiality, considering everyone as an enemy, we will end up drowning for lack of oxygen, like Narcissus, each one in his own pond.

The New Testament constantly calls us to self-criticism: not to look at the speck in another's eye without first looking at the plank in our own; to examine ourselves to see if we are keeping the faith; not to say that we have no faults, because we deceive ourselves; and not to do anything out of selfishness or vanity; but rather, with humility, considering others as superior to ourselves.

At the Council, the Church recognized «that the opposition and even the persecution of her opponents have been of great benefit to her and can still be of benefit to her. So also today, those who think differently come to our aid because the truth, like God, is always more.

In his message for World Communications Day (next Sunday, May 17) the Pope denounces that social networks, «enclosing groups of people in bubbles of easy consensus and easy indignation, weaken the capacity for listening and critical thinking and increase social polarization» and encourages Catholics to «make our contribution so that people, especially young people, acquire the ability to think critically and grow in freedom of spirit».

We must educate ourselves, therefore, to be critical of the media by listening from time to time to another radio station or entering another portal; to be critical of what the networks show us by following the accounts of those who think differently; to be critical of those who always give us the reason, because they want something, and above all to be self-critical, for which we will need a lot of humility, but a lot of humility. St. Teresa defined this virtue as «walking in truth». Don't we look for that, the truth? Well, there it is.