By Ronald N. Guy Jr.
Olympians from country after country, including an
inspiring team of refugees, strode proudly into a cheering arena. NBA stars, well-known Olympians and anonymous
athletes from all around the globe wore the same huge, infectious and uninhibited
smiles.
The Parade of Nations during the opening ceremony of
the 2016 Rio Olympics last Thursday night was spectacular. The organic joy and global comradery was a
welcomed tonic. If the moment grabbed
you, it should have. Frankly, it should
have grabbed us all. Our minds are under
constant attack by real and important media bombardments of racial division,
complex political struggles and worldwide terrorism. This necessary but brutal truth threatens our
faith in our species, our common humanity and the humble desire we all share: to
live in peace and to cultivate a world for our children that is a little more
decent than the one we navigated.
To keep the gale force winds of corruption, violence and
evil from extinguishing our flickering hope candles, it is important to remind ourselves
that the vast majority of earthlings can’t fathom belittling, disrespecting,
discriminating against or terrorizing another human based on differences in gender,
skin color, religion, sexual orientation, national origin or any other
differentiating factor. We want to
live. We want to love. We just want to be.
Most of us, that is, but not all of us.
The minority who do not, the peddlers of darkness who purposely
cultivate fear and anxiety, often dominant the headlines. The media has the responsibility to report,
of course, but the human psyche and the economics of limited space and endless consumer
options heavily influence the message. Hate,
horrific acts and apocalyptic declarations get eyes on papers and (more
importantly now) entice clicks. Shock
and awe sells. That’s why
weather-dependent programs lust for any and every atmospheric disturbance and
name storms (and embellish the impact) with anything over a 48-hour life
expectancy.
This is all evidence of what the psychology community
would call the negativity bias - the human tendency to remember and to be
impacted more significantly by negative than positive events. Fighting this innate urge and maintaining a
glass half full outlook while disturbing events are reported from sea to
shining sea and all over the world is, quite literally, a mental wrestling
match.
Every time the compulsive negativity is restrained
after processing the horror of Sandy Hook Elementary School, Aurora, Colorado, Virginia
Tech, Charleston, South Carolina, the Navy Yard and Baltimore, Maryland, there
are more incomprehensible insults to our optimism.
Orlando.
Paris. Dallas. Nice.
Baton Rouge. Turkey…
So yeah, every now and then, we need something like
the Olympics, the opening ceremony and the Parade of Nations to combat the
negative bias and remind ourselves of decency and spirit that still exists in
the world and its most sophisticated inhabitants. Obviously there’s much to criticize about these
Rio Games – Zika, Russian doping issues, bacteria-filled waterways and the poor
infrastructure that was slapped together just-in-time (or not-quite-in-time). There is also the environmental stain left
behind at past Olympic venues and the perpetual corruption of the International
Olympic Committee.
I get it. I’m
not blind to it. Frankly, I started this
piece with the intent of criticizing the choice of fellow Marylander Michael
Phelps - he of two DUI arrests, a 2014 suspension from USA Swimming and documented
marijuana use – as the flag bearer for the United States Olympic team. There were better choices – literally hundreds
of them. Phelps, in his fifth Olympics,
didn’t need the additional attention and despite his 22 Olympic medals (the
most ever), he didn’t deserve to be the symbol for the United States Olympic
team. His swimming talent has raised Old
Glory many times; his performance out of the pool didn’t warrant him raising it
ahead of the Rio Games.
But then the overwhelming beauty of the Parade of
Nations – thousands of athletes from around the world celebrating their
countries, themselves and global athletic competition – overwhelmed my negativity
bias of Phelps, hijacked this article sent it in a far more important
direction. I’m thankful for the
tangent. Now there’s something I never
said in geometry class.
No comments:
Post a Comment