On fanaticism, book 4, building, part 1, day 35

book 4, building, part 1, day 35

Alice grimaced. ‘I hate that Tom turned against us. He was always the old-fashioned capitalist and the self-congratulating programmer genius, but on top of that, he was also curious.’ John nodded, frowning, and Alice asked: ‘Are you worried what Tom might do?’ John grimaced. ‘Yes. Yes, I am. Tom is a rational person. But he has talked himself into rejecting our town project, and he has made his arguments sound rational. That’s the most dangerous kind of madness: to be convinced to be right, and to be angry that no one else sees just how wrong they all are. At worst he will develop an obsession with what he now sees as an affront to his convictions and rights. The more obsessed the more likely that he’ll move heaven and earth to put an end to our projects and do so as publicly as possible to punish us for not seeing the errors of our ways.’ ‘Fanaticism,’ Alice mumbled. ‘Yes.’ John looked at Alice. ‘You said, you were a fanatic in your religious time.’ ‘I was. And every attack on my belief strengthened my belief. That’s maybe the most perverse aspect of fanaticism. It is fuelled by the attacks and dismissals of what the fanatic believes to be right. I’ve never met anyone who understood that a belief is a belief, and that attacks make it stronger not weaker. It’s like trying to stop a fire by throwing dry timber at it.’ ‘Then how does one extinguish the fire?’ John asked. ‘In Tom’s case, I think the only thing we can do is hold him off, build our town, and hope that by the time our towners have moved in, he will not be too bitter to take a look at the result. Seeing could heal him, I think.’ ‘Hm.’ Alice leaned back in her seat, briefly closing her eyes. ‘What worries me more, right now, is the question of how we, individually and as a project, make sure that we keep every sliver of fanaticism out of our minds and our project.’ ‘You’re worried?’ Alice grimaced. ‘I am. We are about to launch massive campaigns with big teams, thousands strong, to engage the population of a country, few of us have ever called home, in conversations about fundamental questions that are relevant for the future of our town and through that for the future of our planet. What kind of megalomaniac has the audacity to do something like that? And how can we know that we haven’t and won’t turn into fanatics?’ John smiled, a soft smile Alice had never seen on him, and he said: ‘Because we have each other. Because we have questions. Because we want to unearth not control or patronise. Because we are afraid of being wrong. Because we will stay in motion and don’t get stuck. Because we have learned to listen and we have learned to think together.’ Alice grimaced. ‘I like your thoughts. But a fanatic would likely say the same about their bubble. How can we—’ A smile appeared on Alice’s face. ‘Maybe tests can keep us safe. We will never make anything about believing. We’ll always test our ideas.’