Heroes Not Zombies

Ok, so this is a photo of some vegetation on a cliff. So far, not very interesting.

Then, suddenly, I see the cliff face! I mean THE FACE in the cliff!

Do you see it?

I can see one dark eye, a long face with a very straight nose and a thin, straight mouth.

Once you see it, you can’t un-see it.

There’s two things here which are highlighted by this. Our brains are particularly evolved to see faces – not just to recognise familiar faces (which is indeed one of our powers) but to spot a face even when it’s just a shape or pattern which has characteristics of a face. The second is our power of “re-cognition”. Once we register something, we are much quicker at being able to see it again. In fact that “re-cognition” is so “sticky” that it can be difficult to see past it.

We probably evolved these powers because they were beneficial to our survival. They enable us to spot another human very quickly and to be able to see a stranger quickly too. In both those cases, scientists would argue, that’s in case other humans are dangerous.

But that’s not our default is it? Well, sadly, for many people it’s becoming like that. And the stories we hear of violence, murder, and crime heighten our wariness.

Despite that, it’s still not my default. I engage with others from a more positive position. For example, I’ve recently moved house to a small hamlet in the French countryside and about a dozen strangers have stopped to speak to me since I moved here. Every one of them introduces themselves, tells me where they live around here and welcomes me. They are my new neighbours. Our connection is positive.

In my four decades of work as a doctor I saw I don’t know how many thousand patients. My repeated experience was that the more I got to know a person, the more I understood them and the more I cared about them.

So I think there’s another aspect to the evolutionary value of our ability to recognise faces. It enables us to make connections. We are social creatures through and through.

Babies learn to recognise their mother’s face astonishingly quickly and we soon develop the power to read emotions in peoples faces.

In other words we don’t just spot faces, we quickly learn to “read” faces too, and that, too, allows us to both make connections and to be wary when we recognise a threat.

Our contemporary cultures spread messages of threat and competition, but in every crisis, from the pandemic to this current war in Ukraine, I’m more struck by the countless acts of kindness carried out by ordinary people.

We are, in our core, social creatures. We want to connect, to help, to cooperate and share. But in places of power and wealth something else comes to the fore.

It’s as if we are suffering from a pandemic of narcissism. That’s not normal, and it’s not healthy. I hope we are on the cusp of change for the better. People are talking of a great awakening. I hope that’s true. Maybe one day we’ll change things. We will stop rewarding narcissists and reward kindness, love, caring and compassion instead.

How good would it be to recognise those values in the faces of those with power? To know that every day they spread love, kindness and compassion in the world.

Well we can start at home, start in our communities and localities, by being aware of those values in ourselves and others and just encouraging and growing that.

From there perhaps we can insist that people who assume responsibilities and powers act positively towards others too.

Let’s promote kindness, love, caring and compassion by demanding these values in all our organisations, businesses and politicians. We can reward those who manifest these values and withdraw our support from those who don’t.

Once you see it, you’ll see it all around you.