April 18, 2022
Emotions are the greatest strength and weakness of humanity. Passionate feelings encourage hard work to obtain achievement. The problem is it creates division and does not support civil disagreements. Humans fight and kill each other to complete their goals. A short video called the “Wildebeest” is a perfect commentary on the flaws of humanity.
The “Wildebeest” shows the logical reason for the cause of arguments. Two wildebeests debate whether the object in the water is a log or a crocodile. The debate makes sense since the object looks like a log, but crocodiles prey on the water. At first, the audience supports the log believer because the crocodile believer throws rocks at the object and pokes it with a stick, but there is no reaction.
The wildebeest are relatable, making the audience feel guilty. The crocodile believer has a relatable problem of getting his emotion to prevent himself from thinking logically. He tries to convince the other wildebeest that he is right. His desperation allows him to act on emotion rather than logic. To prove his point, he steps on the object, which turns out to be a crocodile, causing the crocodile to eat him. Even though the log believer knows the object is a crocodile, there is another wildebeest, who disagrees, causing a cycle of debate.
The deconstruction of egotism and its negative effect is well executed. While an ego provides a person with self-importance, it gives a human desire to defend themselves or their position. The crocodile believer is willing to risk his life to support his claim. An ego never causes self-improvement because it allows past mistakes to repeat. The log believer continues the debate even though it led to the death of the first wildebeest. A lack of ego encourages self-improvement because people can look at their flaws and find ways to fix them. If the crocodile believer learns he does not need to be right, he could survive since he would never step on the crocodile.
The video subtly explains stubbornness is a negative quality of humanity. Stubbornness allows a person to refuse to change their belief. The log believer never changes his mindset unless there is undoubted evidence. Stubbornness rewards a person by forcing others to give in to their belief. The log believer remains alive since he causes the other wildebeest to kill himself by refusing to attempt he is wrong.
The video is relevant to the toxic culture of debating. Debating is ineffective to solve a problem or settle on a difference. To win a debate, a person needs great public speaking skills and well-prepared arguments. Even though the crocodile believer is right, he acts emotionally and unprepared. He throws rocks and splashes water at the crocodile because he cannot convince his statement and cannot prove his point with words. Debating focuses more on fact-gathering than creative thinking. Instead of a crocodile believer arguing, he could use that time to find a way to prevent crocodiles from attacking innocent wildebeests.
Resources
Wildebeest by Bird BoxHow Your Ego Is Affecting Your Mental Health
What Makes a Person Stubborn
What's Wrong with Debates