There are black holes or worm holes in space that nobody can see. Astrophysicists make calculations by using measurements and assumptions about them.
Communities and people have blind spots or black holes too. In some eras, some people cannot overcome taboos, let alone think about them. Every human being has a physiological blind spot that is known and easily proven by simple experiments. Things can’t be seen in the blind spot. We don’t notice it as the brain converts the data into a wholesome picture. The visuals of the cells around that blind spot usually cover it up and hence we live a lifetime without ever noticing that we have them.
There are also blind spots in relationships. Every human blind spots in emotions or concepts. The size of these black holes varies from person to person. Some people have big and many, some small and few. Human beings can’t realize their blind spots without the help of others.
Usually people have difficulty accepting what they can’t see. However, others can easily see it. Two people can easily agree on something a third person cannot perceive.
A person with a blind spot may not always understand the reaction he/she gets in response to his/her actions. People might even withdraw from society in response to these reactions and by doing so they inadvertently increase the number and size of their blind spots. Especially people in position of power have difficulty understanding it if they have a blind spot. This causes the people around them to withdraw and if that powerful person also withdraws these blind spots can only get more and more.
It is difficult to explain things to people who cannot comprehend them. Only family or very close friends can broach the subject and that only at the right time and place. However, one has to consider the circumstances very diligently in order to do so. For example, it is not easy to tell a person that has bad breath but if nobody tells them others will begin to avoid that person.
Neanderthals and Humanity
Neanderthal, as you know, is a small village in Germany. The reason it has become famous is because remains of humans who lived in ancient times were found there. It is most likely that we caused our cousins to become extinct some 25,000 years ago.
Human beings have a wide spectrum when it comes to their reactions ranging from apes to their ideals, in other words in every shape and form they have passed through during evolution. As mentioned before, sometimes change can take eons, sometimes only seconds. Understanding and accepting this change and the benefits and dangers associated with it is crucial for not only every democratic system but also for humanity in general.
We come and go between the contemporaries of Neanderthals and human beings of today that respect individual rights and freedom. A typical picture is what we see quite often: a man sitting in his car picking his nose and listening to music, two parts of the same spectrum. Then, all of a sudden we get angry at drivers who, according to our understanding of right and wrong, disrespect us. Sometimes we act like Neanderthals and sometimes we reach even farther back. Then, we also have the tendency to pseudo humanity; where one feeds a stray cat, then some minutes later pours a glass of water on the animal to shoo it away. Then we blame the municipality when someone in town contracts rabies from a street cat. We are, after all, an affable species.