It feels like there are situations that are shared but divided struggles – many people stuck in the same situation unable to communicate it.
A trivial example: social media. We all know the good and bad nitty gritty of our own lives, but only know the good about others on social media. There’s a shard but divided struggle of feeling like you don’t measure up. However there is some chance that indeed, you are the only one who feels this way, and if you attempt to share the struggle, you’ve now admitted that you feel inadequate — something that may suggest that you are.
It feels like “shared but divided struggles” are related to “races to the bottom”. “Races to the bottom” often involve a symmetric dynamic where many people dislike their position, but they’re unable to communicate and reorient the situation, and feel forced into continuing the race downwards.
So I wonder: if there was a way to safely communicate your “shared but divided struggle”, could that be the first step to stop “races to the bottom”?
In communicating it safely and finding others in the same situation, the veil of alienation is broken, and enemies can become collaborators.
There’s a second component to this. Once you’ve established shared awareness, how can you turn an individual race to the bottom into a collective ascent to the top?
I think this must be the explicit next goal. If you don’t quickly establish a new dynamic where everyone is winning together, people may fall back into the race to the bottom. If their needs are on the line, they may feel forced to keep playing, despite their newfound awareness.
I’m interested to see if cursive can be applied to both problems, and I have a feeling it can. Somehow I feel like these problems are communication problems, and there must be a way to more safely and expressively communicate (1) shared but divided struggles and (2) win-win arrangements.
Together, could better communication unlock collective ascents to the top?