“Hyperbole is not easily dealt with. Usually, it collapses under its own weight.”
“Hubris is one of the great renewable resources.”
“Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities”
My little town in Northern Michigan is conducting a capital campaign to raise 5 million dollars for a library expansion. The current library is situated on a beautiful island in a pristine community on lovely Lake Michigan. The building, constructed in 1848, has generated a lot of energy in the town to preserve and protect this cherished treasure. Thus, a group of citizens who wanted to modernize the library and upgrade services to the community took great care to maintain the look, feel and integrity of this historic property in the proposed architectural designs.
After much community engagement and debate, the Village Council and the Library finally approved the plans. A few committed citizens launched a capital campaign to raise the required funds. Conflict and contention followed quickly.
Within the first year of the campaign, well-meaning volunteers on the Board and Campaign were accused of fraud, embezzlement, and lies.
This peaceful, placid community turned divisive. Hyperbole ran rampant.
As a member of the Campaign Committee and as a strategic planning consultant to the Library Board, I decided to write a letter to the local newspaper in an attempt to defuse the emotions and present a more positive and possibilistic perspective. Unfortunately, I flaunted some of my credentials in my letter to add weight to my point of view, and I threw in some lofty statements like, “I can unequivocally testify that there is no evidence of unethical conduct.” Oops.
In the next public meeting, I was called out for throwing around my credentials and for making “exaggerated” statements.
The person taking me to task listed three examples of what she considered to be unethical behaviors.
My point? We are all guilty of hubris and hyperbole, especially when passions are running hot.
I would suggest that the January 6 insurrection was largely caused by hubris and hyperbole.
Fueled by Q-Anon conspiracy theories and a delusional and narcissistic leader, an angry mob mobilized to overthrow a fair and free election.
I don’t think that it is hubristic or hyperbolic for me to make that statement.
I have been reading a lot lately about what drives people to embrace extreme positions, violent revolts, and wild conspiracy theories.
What it comes down to for me is the need for certainty, superiority and a sense of belonging.
If I can cling fiercely to a set of beliefs, I don’t have to suffer through the torment of doubt.
It’s much easier to be blindly convinced (certain) about something, than to do the hard work of opening up and digging deeply for the truth. If I claim to know something that no one else has discovered, that makes me a uniquely differentiated sage. It’s much easier to be convinced I have special (superior) access to sinister secrets, than to accept the fact that uncertainty abounds in our lives and in our world, and we are all struggling to find our way. Finally, if my beliefs are constantly reinforced by technologically targeted social media trolls, I can feel like I am a member of (belong to) a very special bubble and tribe.
It’s much easier to bask in the sunshine of continuous reinforcement, than to try to build bridges and find common ground under the dark clouds of conflict and disagreement.
Hubris and hyperbole play big roles in conflicting belief systems.
Arrogance and exaggeration keep the conflicts boiling in an attempt to rally constituents to whatever point of view they are espousing. The result—whether it’s in a small, rural community or on the world stage—is that people largely default into one of two groups: The 4D Tribe* or the 4C Tribe.
The 4D Tribe—ruthlessly committed to advancing their agenda—Divide, Distract, and Deny in order to Discard anything not aligned with their beliefs or positions.
The 4C Tribe—resignedly protective of their lifestyle—retreat into their Comfort, Complacency, Cowardice, and Confusion in order to avoid the pain of conflict.
Paradoxically, the 4D Tribe primarily consists of big C conservatives, and the 4C Tribe primarily consists of big D democrats.
To make this concrete, think about how the Conservatives divided, distracted, and denied in order to discard unaligned people and policies, e.g. Merrick Garland, civil rights, Immigration reform, criminal justice reform, gun control, universal healthcare, educational reform, pandemic response, etc. And think about how Democrats have naively tried to appease Conservatives in the hope of finding bi-partisan solutions. Mitch played their preference for comfort, complacency, cowardice, and confusion like a fiddle.
Personally, I have a long history of hubris and hyperbole. I’ve been known to exclaim, after making a perfectly ordinary batch of pancakes, “These could be the best pancakes in the history of the universe.”
I’m sure my kids could recall several “best in the history of the universe claims” coming from me.
Unfortunately, my hubris and hyperbole have also seeped into my professional work. I recall reporting the results of a culture audit I had just completed to a CEO of a high-tech firm. I noticed happily that he was taking notes on my comments. In my hubris, I assumed he was so impressed by all my brilliant insights that he wanted to record them for future reference. To my horror, after finishing my report, he played back to me all the superlative statements and exaggerated conclusions he thought I had made. Needless to say, that was the end of that gig.
The authors I quoted at the beginning of this post captured the essence of hubris and hyperbole quite well. (Notice I said quite vs. extraordinarily—I’m trying to tame my hyperbole.)
![Title: Endless Whiteness [Explored] | Author: Rising Damp | Source: Own Work | License: CC BY 2.0](https://rickbellingham.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Endless-Whiteness-Explored_flickrcc-Rising-Damp_6498126239_0a8a7ed711_o_web.jpg)
Gwen Ifill, the beloved NPR journalist and newscaster, said that hyperbole usually collapses under its own weight. I can certainly attest to that.
P.J. O’Rourke, an American journalist and satirist, said, “Hubris is one of the greatest renewable resources.” No matter how many times I have tried to kill my hubris, it keeps rising like a Phoenix. And finally, Voltaire said, “Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities.” We clearly saw proof of that on January 6.
Absurdities get our attention and before long, if we are not mindful, that’s all we are paying attention to.
For me (guilty as charged on all counts), the antidote to hubris and hyperbole are humor and humility. Simply stay with the H’s, but change what comes after. In these dark days, we desperately need a sense of humor. And, Lord knows, we could all use a little humility.
I’m hoping I can tone down my arrogance and exaggerations at a local level in the years ahead and that the leaders of the world will exchange their hubris and hyperbole for much more humor and humility.
I believe Joe Biden is a terrific role model for that transformation. I just hope he can come up with the right path for 1) responding to Conservative’s 4D strategy for perpetuating minority control and power and 2) challenging Democrat’s 4C preference for appeasement.
And I’m hoping in my little Northern Michigan community, we can all find the humility and humor required to strengthen the heart of the community—a vibrant and vital new library. May it be so.
*Adapted from Doug Griffith’s 5D Model, author of 13 Ways to Kill Your Community
Also published on Medium.
