At a deep psychological level, we can point to a pull toward the splitting of reality into the good and bad—especially under conditions of profound anxiety (such as we find with VUCA-Plus conditions). Wilfred Bion (1961) writes about the regression of people in collective settings to a basic assumption that there is an enemy “at the gate” that requires absolute allegiance to one’s own group or tribe. More recently, William Perry (1970) has described a basic epistemology stance (“Dualism”) that requires all elements in the world to be categorized as good/bad, right/wrong, real/unreal. A host of researchers have reaffirmed this “dualistic” perspective in their study of the authoritarian personality (Bergquist, and Weitz, 2022; Bergquist and Weitz, 2023).
Once again, we return to the matter of VUCA-Plus and the accompanying anxiety that is prevalent and diffuse. Political polarization will continue to be present as long as the challenges of VUCA-Plus are ignored or reframed as products of the “others” in our world (Oshry, 2018) — those who hold differing political perspectives and support counter actions. Could Lincoln have been an effective leader under these 21st Century conditions? Can anyone be successful in sustaining relationships with and asking for advice from “rivals” who stand on the other side of the political gap?
East and West
The gap between societies (and cultures) residing on each side of the Pacific Ocean is quite deep and wide. There is even some speculation that the Pacific Ocean was formed in the life of our planet when a chunk of our near-molten Earth spun off to form the Moon. The big hole left our world with two quite different realities. There might have been one reality when homo sapiens migrated from Africa to lands far away, but by the time culture had been solidified in Europe and in Asia, there were at least two realities.
Furthermore, these two realities have colliding for many years in the region of the world (Middle East) where East and West meet. We find, for instance, that an Eastern culture was represented in the Baalite’s nature-based worship of the calf (and in the sense of time as being cyclical), while a Western culture was represented in Moses’ formulation of the Ten Commandments and confrontation of the “pagans” Baalites (accompanied by an orientation to time as moving forward and toward some end point) (Bergquist, 2023hl).
The differing viewpoints to be found in traditional Eastern and Western cultures are represented in and reinforced by the divergent semantics (meaning of words) and syntax (structure of language) to be found in European and Asian languages (Bergquist and Weitz, 2023b). Areas of importance in our life tend to be accompanied by a rich assortment of differentiating words (the classic example of multiple words for “snow” among the Innuits/Eskimos) (semantics). Importance might even be influenced by and reinforced by this differentiation) (Whorfian hypothesis). Similarly, our use of active or passive voice tends to influence the way in which we view causal relationships (Syntax). (Bergquist, assumptive world). My colleague, Sharon Ma (2022), has even noted that the layout of images that form polysyllabic words in the Chinese written language may influence basic attitudes regarding societal assumptions about the traditional role played by women in society.
How do we bridge this great gap across the Pacific Ocean (or be land via the Silk Road)? Can an organization such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum provide this bridge—at least with regard to economics? What about the recent blending of East and Western religious practices—such as is found in the interweaving of Judaism and Zen Buddhism (Kamenetz, 1995)? We might also reference the rich intermingling of Eastern and Western culture, notions about governance, and strong global economic presence in large Asian cities like Singapore and Hong Kong—along with mental health issues in these cosmopolitan urban communities that have been inherited from the West. We see the same intermingling of culture, economics (and perhaps some intermingling of perspectives on governance) in cities on the other side of the Pacific—such as San Francisco, Seattle and Vancouver.
