Habari? What is the news where you are from?

Last night a family friend from hundreds of miles away came into town. She sat with my wife and I around the dinner table late into the evening talking. I was completely captivated by what she was telling me.

I generally have this notion that everything is the same in other parts of the country as it is here, but I was astonished by her perception of what is going on in the world. It was diametrically the opposite of what I think. But I am the one that prompted the conversation, so I wasn’t offended- I was fascinated.

This is why I always ask visitors: what is the news from where you are from?

It seems quaint, like something that happens in a Little House on the Prairie book. But it has yielded some of the most eye opening, even astonishing clashes between what I think is real and what other people think is real.

There should be no question in my mind that I have a skewed perception of who the good guys and bad guys are. But we live in a Post-Modern world where rules are entirely different than at any other time in history.

I feel like I read all kinds of news, watch raw footage, follow some key accounts and I know more than other people; but in truth I see only a tiny pen light of all the things going on- and this becomes apparent when I talk with another person, in-person.

The internet has been around for only 30 years. Prior to that time we did not have the ability to spread a message to mass audiences as individuals. A few powerful places had the ability to mass communicate; newspapers, book publishers, radio and television. This month’s movie night “O’ Brother Where Art Thou” is deeply impacted by the changing ability to mass communicate over the radio.

In Kenya you can greet a perfect stranger with the word “habari.” It doesn’t mean hello, it means “news?” So a normal greeting while walking down the road would be “Habari za leo?” — What is the news of the day?

When I was there they had radio and newspapers, but they were not common as people had little spending money and didn’t have electricity running to their village.

You ask another person about the news of the day, because otherwise you genuinely do not know what is happening in other areas of your village or the surrounding area. Because you ask several people along the path, a picture starts to emerge as to what you think happened.

Certainly rumors can abound, but there is a hierarchy of trust that is created because over time you are seeing generally the same people and you begin to understand who is prone to hyperbole and exaggeration and who keeps a level head.

I once saw the rumor mill lead to the mob execution of two men accused of stealing. Its likely that the men were guilty, but you haven’t really seen the hearts of men until you have seen what they are willing to do to people they consider bad. These were otherwise peaceful, good, god-fearing and hardworking people.

So I am aware that the in-person network has flaws, but it also has with it something in balance with the way your brain takes in information. If we see a thing repeated over and over again, we are likely to believe it without even knowing why. This is the very definition of propaganda- but something we all willingly invite into our lives by using social media.

This is why a visitor that you have known for a long time and trust their perspectives can be so helpful in pulling you out of what you perceive everyone agrees with you on. I hold zero malice for her, and yet if I saw someone else on social media putting forward these perceptions, I would almost certainly write them off. In this case that would be a serious error in judgement as my guest is intelligent, driven, balanced and knows things I don’t.

I think the most dangerous part about Coronavirus is that it has kept us apart. We can’t encounter people regularly without having it mediated through digital text. Humans have been talking in person for hundreds of thousands of years, and only on the internet for 30. Pre-COVID19 we were already on the decline regarding how often and in what contexts we got together.

This is not good. We need to be near each other in order that we don’t demonize the other side because we don’t have a robust picture of what they think and why.

Originally published at https://articulate.ventures on January 18, 2021.