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Oh, this heady sense of self-righteousness, when we are outraged by injustice and are ready to unleash righteous anger on the guilty. But are we right in dividing the world into good and bad?
Black and white thinking
The duality of perception is a property of our consciousness. If there is a plus, there must be a minus. There is good, and there must be evil. However, in adolescents, and in many adults, it sometimes goes to extremes — the so-called dichotomous thinking manifests itself. Events, phenomena, people are judged in a contrasting black and white format, halftones are not allowed. «All or nothing».
In some cases, this becomes a systemic disturbance of perception. But apart from pathology, we know from experience that such categorical judgments are characteristic of almost everyone, especially when emotions are overwhelmed.
Desire to be «good»
Most of us, as a rule, strive to look better — both in the eyes of society and in our own. And since speaking and writing on social networks is much easier than acting, for many it becomes a way to demonstrate their position, as well as the moral character and image of a “good person”.
To this we can add the effect of «circles on the water», which is enhanced by modern methods of communication and the speed with which we receive and react to news. As a result, we regularly see storms raised by high-profile events around the world. Judging those who have done «wrong» creates an intoxicating feeling of «justified indignation» or «righteous anger.»
Righteous anger
When this feeling unites people in a group, it becomes a crushing force. People distort the facts or single out only the one that corresponds to their position from the general flow of information, and fuel resentment. Allow themselves offensive attacks and actions. Righteous anger gives a feeling of rightness, gives the right to condemnation, to «merciless rebellion», and hence to breaking the law.
Of course, everything is much more complicated. Our perception is determined by cognitive distortions, past experiences, trauma, and more. But by simply dividing the world into right and wrong, righteous anger provides a comfortable sense of clarity. And the pleasure that we are at this moment better than others.
Social media is a convenient platform for pumping yourself and each other up. People get high from writing posts, comments and heated debates, in which, again and again, they blame those who are already blamed. And at the same time they feed their own ego.
Righteous anger is a kind of drug. And for the «sofa politicians», and for the kitchen «guardians of morality», and for all those who believe that they are guided by the right values in life. Who is «for all the good against all the bad.»
It is hard to believe a person who says that he has never reveled in the feeling of being right. No matter how much we reflect and realize all the pros and cons, it is normal that blatant injustice gives rise to anger and protest in us.
We are outraged that innocent people are dying. Disgusted when we hear about or violence. We get angry when the defenseless are offended and the innocent are tortured. And how else? But at some point, a natural emotional reaction develops into that very indignation. And on its wave, it is so easy to cross the line ourselves, beyond which we are already betraying our values.
White coat
“At first glance, the world of a white coat is beautiful,” says Gestalt therapist Anastasia Gurneva. — It is based on the protection of the weak, clear moral values, the courage to speak about them publicly, the unacceptability of certain forms of behavior, ways of thinking, intransigence and condemnation of those who are wrong. But that is why it is so difficult to find it on yourself. After all, first the light catches the eye, and only then the unattractive wrong side. That is why they talk about a white coat, and not speckled.
But in order for there to be unambiguously white, it is necessary that against which the whiteness is especially visible, namely, unambiguously black. To do this, you need a little — to divide the world into friends and foes. Further, strangers need to be “dehumanized”, and this is the first step towards fascism. Because empathy is disabled. Strangers are the hardest to empathize with.
When I was a first-year student at the institute, the teacher of animal psychology asked the students the question of whom we sympathize with the most. There were many answers. It turned out that most of all we sympathize with those who are similar to us.
And if in my world, the world of a white coat, people are divided into those who, like me, have the “correct” values, and others, those who do not agree, I can “insect” them, deprive them of the right to understanding and sympathy. And then the worlds — mine and those whom I condemn — do not intersect, and I allow myself to «beat» without hesitation, there is no life there.
The focus is on righteous anger, on trying to improve the world. Of course, much needs to be improved in it, but a seemingly beautiful goal takes on ugly forms. To support black-and-white thinking, we filter the facts, humiliating and destroying everything that doesn’t fit.»
How to find a white coat on yourself?
Do we have the necessary sobriety to notice in ourselves what we don’t like in others? Anastasia Gurneva suggests asking yourself some important questions:
- Do you understand the essence of what you condemn or support? The mechanism of its origin and development. To understand is not the same as to justify, here we are talking about understanding.
- Are you ready to face an alternative opinion without anger and denial?
- Can you see in yourself and your past what you condemn, even if not on such a global scale?
- Can you recognize your values and talk about them instead of discussing others? Is your self-esteem based on opposing yourself to others?
- When you think about, for example, death in a car accident involving a drunk driver, domestic violence, animal cruelty, who is your focus more, the victim or the author of the unfair situation? What emotion do you have brighter: compassion (for the victim) or anger (for the author of injustice)?
“Basically, the white coat is an illusion for a very simple reason,” the Gestalt therapist explains. — Digging in other people’s excrement, it is impossible not to get dirty. Do you want to be clean? Be!
After all, you can invest in a situation not through condemnation, but through help: women who are trying to get away from a rapist need moral, material, and often legal support, dog shelters need volunteers and owners for animals, and funds for the fight against diseases need money. There are always those who need help. Help is better than hate. Yes, and the coat will remain white.