Human Conflict

When talking about conflict, we all go through it, everyday there is a new type of conflict in the world whether it’s with a friend, a co-worker, or even yourself. Nothing is ever stable and the world will continue to change and develop new types of conflict. So, what are we to do about these situations, and how do we deal with them? In reality, there is no way to live a life without conflict, and every time we deal with conflict, our cognitive bias changes, and we change our perception of the things around us. For example, imagine the time you last had an argument with your co-worker. Considering that you only talk to your co-worker at work and that you aren’t best friends, you probably have thought worse of them ever since that incident. And ever since then, your conflicts with that person tend to use your negative cognitive bias towards that person and this makes it much harder for you to resolve that relationship. This is how cognitive bias takes over our brains and doesn’t allow us to make rational decisions (The Evolution of Cognitive Bias). Going even further, this effect is on the level of our brains more than anything else. In our brains, there is a part called the amygdala which is responsible for quick decision making and is one of the most primitive parts of our brain. It deals with perceived threats very quickly, however, the problem is that today, we don’t need speed, we need rationality, and because of the amygdala, we lose our ability to speak with our brains in heated situations, rather, we simply use our emotions instead (Finding Confidence in Conflict).