Project Vision 21

The saying that “reality kills narratives” is repeated with some frequency, seeking to express that there are certain irrefutable facts or data that, when presented or when we become aware of them, nullify unfounded or unverifiable stories about reality. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

For example, data and warnings about the harmful consequences of smoking, even if based on solid scientific evidence, do little to change the behavior of those who want to smoke. And the same could be said of many other products and activities that, although harmful, continue to be consumed, used, or practiced.

In the same way, rational arguments, historical research, archaeological evidence or whatever one presents do little and nothing to change the stories of those who prefer to remain attached to their beliefs, dogmas, and doctrines instead of opening their minds. and heart to curiosity and wonder.

And therein lies the heart of this issue: our worst addiction is not addiction to drugs, money, or immoral activities. Our worst addiction is that we have become addicted to ourselves, as Father Richard Rohr once expressed (if I remember correctly).

We have become so addicted to ourselves that any thought that does not conform to our beliefs or expectations is immediately rejected and the cause of that unwanted thought is marked as a heretic, traitor, or liar, being expelled, anathematized, excommunicated, and sent into a real or social exile, so typical of other times.

In this context, there is little place (in fact, there is no place left) for that attitude of curiosity, acceptance, and healthy indignation that Paulo Freire proposed as the basis of an education for liberation. And, as a consequence, the same stories are repeated over and over again with no other basis or support than a mind and heart addicted to themselves and separated from others and the universe.

These stories, or rather, these limiting narratives not only dwarf the world of individuals, but are immune to creative dialogue and empathy, thus perpetuating (and even reproducing and expanding an uncritical, domesticated, and superficial thinking in which based on the current “unjust social orders” that Freire spoke of.

As this influential Brazilian pedagogue and thinker emphasized, (paraphrasing) there is no change in education without a change first occurring in the level of consciousness of educators. In the Theory U (Otto Scharmer) maintains that all change depends on the level of consciousness of the change agent.

But limiting stories do not allow any change, but only lead to repeating the past or perpetuating the present, thereby refusing any dialogue with “facts” or “data” because that would mean an act of introspection and an attitude of humility.

As we already indicated, data does not kill stories, no matter how far-fetched those stories may be. They don't even make a small scratch. But stories can silence data and, even worst, can reduce he totality of reality to just a few slogans. At this time when the future of humankind is at stake, that’s painful to see.