Sometimes we need to take the long way

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/01/2022 (1444 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

“What’s the shortest way to get there?”

We ask ourselves that question, consciously or subconsciously, on a daily basis. We want to be more efficient in our work, save time in our texts (thank you, abbreviations), and take the fastest route to the grocery store.

In our pursuit of efficiency, many of us do not want to sacrifice quality for speed but it’s actually a natural human process. Our mind uses shortcuts to race through all the information we have stored to form opinions, make decisions, and respond to situations.

While these mental shortcuts are helpful in many cases, they can also make us jump to unfair conclusions.

So we need to slow it down. Our brains are wired for efficiency but also for deliberate thought and analysis. When we recognize a situation in which we don’t have all the information, we need to step back from the opinion or judgment our mind has raced to and ask ourselves if there might be facts we’re missing.

Do we have all sides of the story? Do we know what other factors were at play? Can we really know what a person was thinking or feeling?

These are questions that ethical decision-makers have learned to ask themselves. Some are born with this inclination, consistently reserving judgment for when they have a full picture, and able to recognize when they don’t. Others can learn to be more deliberate in their thoughts and conclusions through education and life experience.

It is important for all of us to learn to walk to conclusions instead of jumping, especially in the age of social media. These platforms often spawn hate and division, with users taking posts at face value, sometimes without further consideration. More information is often unavailable — but that doesn’t mean a post has the full or accurate story.

When we fall prey to our mental shortcuts, to emotions rising quickly before we have all the facts, and to the actions those emotions cause, we hurt ourselves and those around us.

When we’ve legitimately recognized something as discrimination or inequality, it is important to address those things. Considering every side of a story does not mean sitting on the sidelines when we’ve come to a logical conclusion that something constitutes hate. It means giving every voice a fair consideration, then making an ethical decision based upon a well-researched conclusion.

The Better Business Bureau Foundation’s LIFT program does just this. It teaches how to think and act ethically, to better ourselves and our communities. For more information on the program, contact foundation@manitoba.bbb.org