As the weather here cools, we are deep into the Autumn season, while the Southern Hemisphere in its Spring. This is an example of parallel realities, a concept I had a hard time grasping for the longest time. Don’t ask me why.
Parallel realities exist much more than one may realize. For instance, in the US, hardcore Biden and Trump supporters each believe their candidate will won the presidential election in 18 days. Go Vote!
Granted perception shapes reality, and everyone’s perception is based on his/ her own values and persepctives, the parallel realities whether real or perceived create frictions. Because individuals like to believe their own reality is true.
Having said that, how do we ever expect to build consensus? Well, in the US we have a representative democracy. Meaning we rely on our elected officials to represent us, to negotiate when conflicting views or parallel realities occur, and to build the consensus we need to move forward.
Does it work? Not always. The Gallup poll shows that in July the US Congress, the ultimate body of our representative democracy, gets only 18% approval rating. Much lower than the President’s. And in two and half weeks, we will find out more with the general election.
Do you think our political system is able to overcome the challenge of the parallel realities?
Running with Buddha 