Elon Musk’s Gesture

Nothing exists in isolation.

Each thing someone does should be considered in context - when and where did it happen; and in relationship to other actions - by that individual, and by others.

The last couple of days has seen huge coverage of a certain gesture - some people see it one way, other people see it a different way.

Unsurprisingly, the comment sections have been active … oof … the polarisation - the vitriol - the certainty.

What if that was the intention? What if we are all - on both sides - being manipulated?

What if the whole point of The Gesture was to increase division - to push ‘us’ and ‘them’ even further apart? To make people on both sides even more angry and defensive? Even more certain of their ‘rightness’ - and the other side’s ‘wrongness’?

I don’t know what Musk was thinking, but whether he acted spontaneously in the heat of the moment, or it was a coldly calculated plan, The Gesture has had an impact.

How do I intend to respond to that impact?

By engaging with ‘the other’.

By being patient instead of angry.

By saying “I don’t know” even more often.

PS This will also apply to The Next Gesture, whatever that may be [for there will surely be one].