Reading Black Garden

Book: Black Garden, by Thomas de Waal

I am certain that if I took an Armenian nationalist at random, went back in time, and had him born into an Azeri family, 99% of the time he would think Armenians are at fault regarding this issue. Yet when that same soul is born into an Armenian family, he thinks that Azeris are to blame. Same vice versa of course. So those people have to make sure they’re being intellectually honest with themselves and not mistaking conditioning for objective truth.

That said, there is a big problem with this proposition, in that each side has to be guaranteed that the opposing side is also being honest and objective in their approach.

Because if not, you get one side full of wolves who were taught of all the atrocities caused by the other side, and the other side who are “centrists” and “understanding of both sides”. And that is the essence of the prisoner’s dilemma, which is in essence why countries engage in arms races instead of cooperating.

That said, I dont know why I wasn’t taught the other side’s story. If anything, it’s an advantage to know the other side’s story if you want to argue against it.

I just feel like if we want lasting peace, we need to understand eachother. To claim that one side is good and the other is bad is stupid. That’s like listening to any one country’s government-funded news channels and calling it a day. That’s the oldest trick in the propaganda book, to never admit your own wrongs but to point out and zoom in on any little mistake from the opposition.