cameronvaske on Nostr: One of the nerdy things I like doing is picking an historical figure I find ...

One of the nerdy things I like doing is picking an historical figure I find interesting to dive through quotes of theirs on BrainyQuote or similar and reflect on them, both broadly as well as in their time and place.

One I’ve been sitting with the last 24 hours is attributed to Abraham Lincoln: “I don’t like that man. I must get to know him better.”

It’s deeply at odds with some of today’s political and social culture. There is a tribalistic undercurrent of contempt. A pervasive and oft performative, “Find your tribe and shun the rest,” attitude. Virtue signaling and moral superiority.

Lincoln’s statement is inherently curious about others and yet also deeply introspective. It asks both, “Why is that person so?” and “What makes me dislike them for how they are, or seem to be?”

What if we change his first sentence? “I don’t like that person’s politics. I must get to know them better.” My, what a different country might we have if we more regularly sought to understand each other that way. We ought to practice that more.

Stay curious and stack sats~