“What we’ve got here is failure to communicate.”
I’ve always loved this iconic line from Cool Hand Luke. Its followed by “Some men, you just can’t reach.” It comes as the Warden shackles Luke with leg irons as a warning to other inmates.
The phrase speaks volumes in the ways we can’t bridge our divides, often resulting in not speaking and the consequences that follow: domination via power and violence.
As much as we like to think we can all verbally communicate our way into agreement, this is not always true. I would know — I have a doctorate in Communication and a frequent subject of conversation was whether or not conversation was always the answer. Ironic, I know.
This substack will explore not the ways in which we are the same, but the ways in which we are fundamentally different — in culture, politics, religion, class. In how we see and know. What blindspots are we not seeing and can we never see? What assumptions to we have about the other that are wrong?
It is also a vehicle for broader musings about blindspots I see in media, academia, and culture that aren’t suitable for the mainstream and academic publications I write for. What are we missing?
This is a weekly meditation in your inbox. I hope you enjoy it.