After the election in the United States I felt compelled to veer from my usual scientific research centric newsletter and just write a message of hope and unity.

Anxiety is the result of internal dialogue that is based on hyperbolic pessimism regarding a self-created negative mental model or prediction of the future. Anxiety really is the antithesis of hope and optimism. Anxiety creates fear and fear allows the pessimistic, reactionary, angry, blaming, self-pitying part of our brain to dominate over the optimistic, logical, thoughtful, self-responsible, solution-creating part of our brain. Anxiety and fear are paralyzing, never produce anything positive, and always take the focus away from actions that provide the only chance of creating a healthier, happier future.

The most damaging mind virus with respect to destroying the best chance to create a more unified, fair society is the presupposition that everyone who disagrees with you is not just incorrect, but incorrect due to lower intelligence and/or lower moral character. Such a presupposition is disqualifying in terms of creating a better future because, by definition, the only hope for a better future with such a presupposition requires eliminating all those who disagree with you or eliminating the right of those who disagree with you to have a voice or any influence. This is the foundation of fascism or communism and is in direct opposition to the human and civil rights that underpin and create the societal glue that holds all democracies (and constitutional republics) together. Universally applied human and civil rights are the foundational requirements for not just democracy but for hope and unity within a democracy.

Removing these human and civil rights should be repugnant to us all. If it is not, we are immoral. If it is not, we are anti-democratic. If it is not, we are anti-civil rights and anti-human-rights. If it is not, we are politically fascist or communist. Only a person of incredible arrogance and hubris could harbor the belief that they are so right, and so intellectually and morally superior, that anyone who disagrees with them should be censored or have any other of their human or civil rights removed. The contradiction of such a view being sold as pro-democratic is, on its face, patently absurd and logically and morally indefensible.

We all need to accept that people can disagree with us and still be intelligent and moral. It is not only possible but provably true that there can be diametrically opposing views on how to solve issues such as poverty, community safety, national security, immigration, healthcare, and, yes, even abortion rights, even though both sides want such issues resolved in a fair way.

If you would not want your views censored or your rights to oppose any given policy silenced then you must, based on moral grounds, not allow yourself to be convinced it is ok to do this to others, especially those you disagree with. Integrity is not about sticking up for the rights of those you agree with; integrity is about sticking up for the rights of people you vehemently disagree with - this is the true judge of moral character. Let’s all work on increasing our level of integrity. This is our best chance to increase hope and unity. Remember, adversity does not build our character, it reveals it.