In the Summer of 2008, I, and a handful of other eager, young Psychology majors, took a freshly minted moleskine journal to Eastern Germany to study with our beloved department Chair, Dr. Richard Beck. Our topic was “The Psychology of Ideology”. We spent the next few weeks reading, discussing, visiting and meeting, immersing ourselves, truly, in The Other. I will attempt to share here what I learned then; as limited as it was- and still is for our time- I find it pertinent to share in this time of great political conflict and ideological upheaval. Newtonian physics states that every force is met with an equal and opposing force. But when force goes to extremes, the greater good is threatened. Finding common ground, finding humanity amidst lunacy, this is the real test of our times.
