There is no mystery. Surprise maybe, but no mystery. The reptilian brain has once again usurped the cortex and the power of small-mindedness has spoken. The priority now is to start building a world, not where historians ask “How could America have been so stupid?”, but where they already know the answer. A world where historians say “Back then, no one thought about the distinction between the cortex and the reptilian brain.” A world where it is taken for granted that this could not happen again, because today we think with our cortices. Today we focus on problem-based goal-oriented thinking. Today we question the justification of dichotomous thinking. Today, people are not as gullible as they were back then.

It is time to take this problem seriously. It is time to truly think about how we use information, how we categorize information. It is time to ask why the internet is failing us. Why is the greater flow of information associated with an increase in hatred and division? The goal must be to minimize the effects of yesterday’s catastrophe and prevent the next one.