The Internet Is Still Brand New. Maybe That's Why We're All Fighting, says Rob Bell

Rob Bell examines the two responses to our rapidly changing world, covering politics, the internet, tribalism and race relations. Bell's latest book is "How to Be Here: A Guide to Creating a Life Worth Living" ().
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Transcript - We have better technology than ever, we’re more enlightened than ever, why do we see these upsurges or explosions of very primal, tribal conflict. Let’s build a wall. Let’s keep them out. Let’s have these people separate from these people. Let’s make sure that those people never – there’s a French paleontologist named Pierre Chardin who wrote about 100 years ago and he said that everything that rises must converge. And he essentially laid out an arc of the history of the world and the evolution of the universe and that there are moments of great conflict on the way to unity, depth and complexity. So there’s actually a whole body of thought that if everybody’s in separate tribes but the whole thing is moving us towards a global tribe, a connection everybody’s my brother and sister. The only way for this tribe to become close connected brother and sister with that tribe is they’re going to have to interact. And when they interact those first interactions may be a little dodgy as the Brits would say.
There may be some conflict. I also think if you go beyond simply larger large scale movement towards complexity and unity whenever you encounter the unknown, whenever you encounter pain, loss, suffering or something different it will either break you open and you will be broken open in the best kind of ways so that you become more expansive. South American Indians have this phrase. They talk about making room within yourself for the immensities of the universe. So you were always taught that these people are like this but then one of those people moves in next door and you find out they’re actually fantastic. They’re actually wonderful. Like the best neighbor you’ve ever had. Then whatever you were previously taught, whatever bias, racism, bigotry, you know have to redo all your labels and categories because they don’t work because this flesh and blood person has smashed them to pieces. So this disruption it will either break you open and you will become more expansive, more inclusive, more of an embrace for the other. Or the pain of that disruption you will dig your heels and you will regress.
You will build a bigger wall between the two of you. And I would argue that what’s happening right now is the world is shifting really, really, really fast. If you go back 500 years and let’s say the year 1543. If I were to say to you 15 years after the invention of the printing press. What, 1443 or whatever that is. If I were to say to you, hey this books thing. I think this books thing could really catch on. We all laugh now because we’re like yeah, that books thing did kind of catch on. And it upended government, authority, education, religion, science. We’re essentially 15 years into the Internet. And we’re only 15 years into what could probably is the greatest sort of technological invention or revolution. And at least 500 years maybe ever. So we’re in this time of massive transition. If you would have said to Jeb Bush at the beginning of the republican primaries who had more money stockpiled than any candidate ever with more name recognition than any candidate, oh by the way, you’re going to get destroyed by a guy on Twitter. We would all have said no way. That is the weirdest idea. Oh yeah, a candidate’s going to come along who’s not going to spend any money. He’s going to have no structure. He’s going to have no field operatives. He’s going to Tweet. We would all be like no. Like there’s a way it’s done. Read Full Transcript Here: .