One of the most disturbing trends that I see today is this need to become an ideologue. What ever happened to being open to different ways of seeing the world and having differing opinions? Why is it that if one person hears one opinion that is not within the structure of "their world view" they shut down all intellectual curiosity and shun that person right away. What has happened to the idea of being open and comfortable with ideas that might challenge our prejudices? Many times it becomes apparent that a vast majority of people take objection to something that they have never really thought through to a logical conclusion. So many words, for example: war, peace, and love all are loaded with so many misconstrued cultural meanings. If one says: "war is sometimes necessary" there is such a violent reaction from so many misinformed people that there can never be a rational explanation of why this might be true because all dialogue ends right there. What is even more disturbing is that the attack becomes personal with no hope of a meaningful exchange. Reasonable persons can have differing views, which will enhance our capacity as human beings to understand this puzzle we call"Life".
