Can human beings trust one another? Psychology offers a lot of evidence countering the bleak Lord of the Flies view that humans are inherently selfish, violent, or prone to chaos when left to their own devices. While William Golding’s novel portrays a pessimistic view of human nature, modern psychological and anthropological research suggests a more cooperative and prosocial reality. Norah will share a true life Lord of the Flies story. An actual case from 1965 that tells a different story. Six Tongan boys were stranded on an island for over a year. Instead of descending into chaos, they worked together, built a community, created rules, and helped each other survive.
(This story was documented by historian Rutger Bregman in Humankind: A Hopeful History.)
Unitarian Universalist Society of Gardner 