<< The tower of Babel

 In today’s fragmented society it’s natural to wonder: Why is it so complicated to reach agreements on fundamental issues? Why have we such terrible gaps in discussing the challenges we face as a group? as a nation?

We often seem to be faced with a never ending dichotomy that extends to every sphere of our lives; branding everyone either as friend or enemy using a limited interpretation of its ideas and never ever intending to discuss our own principles. It's rather weird that it seems so natural to extend our disagreement beyond rationality and not even make an effort of listening to what the other has to say.

This is why many believe freedom of speech is in decline and with it comes an increase in polarization. It doesn’t take much to agree with this principle though. At the core of it all stands a deep concern for that which has made possible civilization itself: Communication. 

We can define communication on its most basic level as an exchange of ideas. This exchange of ideas allows us not only to identify problems in our communities but to create bonds with others as well. On more complex levels it gives us the chance to further develop concepts and projects far too complex to undertake as individuals.

We see in the bible a very early testament to the endless possibility of human capacity (should we be able to overlook our differences). Genesis 11: 1-9-The tower of Babel presents us with the tribe of man and its undertaking of building a tower that would reach for the heavens. 

Most of the time this story is used as a symbol of human arrogance, not unlike the greek tale of Icarus, who dared to fly too close  to the sun. Should the story be examined just a bit more slowly though, we will see on verse (6) The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.

Which seems a testament to human capacity, ingenuity and capacity. The verse doesn’t focus of the impossibility of the task, but rather sets in a condition in order to achieve it: “speaking the same language”. 

We should be made aware of this: ancient wisdom, in its attempt to explain our differences has already acknowledge on a fundamental level the genuine unlimited capacity we have when we act as a group.

That is: If we learn to better communicate with each other.

return 0;