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Going up against conventions is easier said than done.
Imagine yourself being alive in the 1600s. Would you have
bought the idea that the Earth was in motion?
Galileo was a rare bird, and in general, most of us aren't willing
to go against the grain and deviate from
the commonly accepted views of our time. Why is it so difficult
to see outside of our views?
Often, it's a
matter of not realizing we even have a 'view' to see
'outside' of. For example, just over two hundred years
ago it was far-fetched to think you could have a country without
a king or queen. Before the great experiment called "America,"
most of mankind lived under control of an all-powerful leader
or divine ruler. Until just 200 years ago, our approach to life on Earth
had been that way since our archaic human ancestors walked out of Africa.
Today, we call the old (or original) model of society a dictatorship.
But if you were alive then, you would have no label for "dictatorship," you would be
living inside the "invisible walls" of that time and place.
America's pioneers questioned this view
and proposed a whole new society.
Another example of questioning
a long-standing view is the movement led by suffragists Susan
B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton from 1848 through the early
1900s. Except for a small group of women activists, most women
at the turn of the century did not expect to participate in public
life; the view was, "a woman's place was in the home."
Opening men's minds to accept a new role for women in society
was a hard fought battle, taking 72 years to win the right for
women to vote.
When we are unaware of our views we tend to dismiss
information that does not comply with those views. It's impossible
to see "out-of-the-box" if you don't know you're in
one.
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