“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” Voltaire

Few would dispute that the contemporary world enjoys unprecedented access to scientific knowledge, technological innovation and instantaneous communication. Yet beneath these remarkable achievements lies a civilisation increasingly comfortable with contradictions that would have perplexed even the wisest minds of earlier ages. We communicate across continents in seconds, perform surgeries with robotic precision, explore distant planets and entrust machines with tasks once reserved for the human mind. Indeed, the more we appear to have conquered nature, the less certain we seem to be of conquering our own inconsistencies.

We speak passionately about justice while practising selective morality, proclaim universal human rights while deciding their application according to geopolitical convenience, and preach peace even as military expenditure reaches unprecedented levels. Voltaire's timeless warning appears to echo with greater urgency today than when it was first penned.

Suppose, for a moment, that this world were observed through the eyes of a person whose mind instinctively seeks consistency, precision and logical coherence; someone who takes words seriously, expects principles to be applied uniformly and finds contradictions intellectually unsettling. Many autistic individuals describe aspects of their perception in these terms. Such an observer might not be overwhelmed by the complexity of global affairs. Instead, he might find himself bewildered by humanity's extraordinary ability to defend mutually incompatible positions with complete confidence.

The confusion would perhaps begin with the language of international politics. Nations repeatedly affirm their commitment to a rules-based international order, yet the rules appear remarkably flexible. An act condemned as aggression in one part of the world is rationalised elsewhere as self-defence. Occupation is denounced in one region and tolerated in another. International law is hailed as sacred until strategic interests dictate otherwise.........

© The Friday Times