The more we notice and distinguish, the better we understand that it is impossible to divide each other into friends and foes. Social psychologist Helen Langer talks about mindfulness as an inoculation against nationalism.
“Nationalism is a manifestation of inattention. When I start from the fact that some person is different, not like me, I stop making subtle distinctions. Therefore, all “they” seem to have the same face. In fact, “they” are not the same at all, but in order to notice this, you need to pay attention to other people … The more we notice and distinguish, the better we understand that we, people of the same culture or nation, are also all different. For example, we ask children in kindergarten to split into two groups. If we stop there, there will be a group of “us” and a group of “strangers”. But I say to them: now split up again, on a different basis. First it can be gender, then hair color, then eye color, and so on. We just keep dividing, and we already have ten different groups … Then we ask everyone: who is the same as you here? And the child, of course, replies: “We need to think” or “Depending on what.” Where are the others then? And there are no strangers.”
Helen Langer, social psychologist and author of mindfulness theory.