More than just mere "make sense" :)
It is funny that when you find some old writing of yours the first question that comes to mind is "Did I really wrote that?". I always have that when reading my old notebooks. Seems like another proof for how everything is changing constantly.
I always think about it when reading about communism and fascism - both are great examples of how people can twist reality to fit their needs. The scale of the phenomenon - terrifying, but the lack of awareness, even scarier. Plus, the cause of it all was, is and it seems, will dwell in us.
So true! On one hand, the human's ability to modify the past to fit what they want to see in the future is a skill. Think about childbirth. If women remembered how painful it is, we would never have a second child. It is our ability to focus on just some aspects of the past, while leaving behind or rewriting parts of it, that ensures the survival of the species.
The same goes for convincing ourselves that what we are doing is correct, especially when we are being told what to do by a leader we admire. Just look at the famous Milgram Experiment. It was only when they began to doubt the authority of the professor in charge of the experiment that they started to doubt the ethics of what they were doing. Frightening when we think of how easily we give up our own power of reflection to follow orders.
I wonder, if you would perceive something that you are doing as "not correct",
would you do it?
for how long can you deny yourself?
how long it would take for you to make it "correct"?
When it comes to the leadership I think it is exactly an answer to those questions - leader makes it "correct" for you, so you are not denying yourself, therefore you do it.
When leader is losing our trust "correct" breaks down to the point of opposition - otherwise you would have to start denying yourself.
I will be perfectly honest with you: if it is something that in my mind is absolutely "not correct", then I would not do it. If it is something where it feels "not correct", but there is a figure of authority that I trust telling me to do it, I would do it, but only after speaking about it. I would want to understand why they think it is correct, and only if I trust the answer, will I do it. If I discover going forward that for me it is "not correct", then I would stop.
Since reading Milgram's Experiment, I have become much more aware of just how much we do even though we know it is not correct. For example, I am house sitting right now, and the family does not recycle the way I do. The first day, I put everything in the bin like they do. But by the second day, I was aware that for me that is not correct, so I created my own containers and will carry it by myself outside of the house because recycling is important.
I think most of us do many more things than we think are "not correct" because general society does it that way or a person of authority says to do it.
It's a joke, but you could pour out all their garbage and segregate it in your way :D
I wonder what they would think about it...
Also, you could look at both, society and person of authority, as if it they were leaders, so the previous steps would apply.
Of course more questions arise from that, for example to what degree they imposing instead of leading, what leading means etc.
I hope you get the gist of what I'm trying to say :)
I completely get it! Trust me, I reflect on all of those. These are not easy problems, since on one side, society requires us to do what others tell us now and then in order to maintain public order. A the same time, there is a moment when you realize that something is not right and have to take action. How do you know you are doing the right thing vs just be rebellious because you don't want to do what you are being told? Not so easier to discern.