DISCOVER
OJAI MONTHLY THE BARN DOOR PROBLEM ''The cardinal sin, when we are looking for truth of fact of wisdom of policy, is refusal to discuss, or action which blocks discussion.'' — Sidney Bell Hooks
Bret Bradigan
As this tumultuous summer proceeds, we see crisis after crisis come tumbling after us like boulders down a hillside. It feels existential. Even our lovely little town is not immune to the polarizing tendencies and arguments of proof by assertion and not facts, of finger pointing and accusations of ignorance without basis. And that's just the annual Fourth of July chairs controversy. It gets nittier and grittier when it comes to Ojai's changing landscape. The El Roblar Hotel's return, the Ojai Unified School District headquarters future, historic preservation of our downtown, the climate crisis' dire impacts on our farms and the loss of citrus orchards — all of which have become so central to our identity — are just a few of the more proximate issues on hand. And the way we are talking to each other, as enemies rather than opponents, as bad-faith actors rather than holding differing points of view, of ignoring legitimate concerns and impugning motives, this just isn't the Ojai way. Social media is partly to blame, but the dark drift began even earlier. And yes, it's always been there. Just not so easily and eagerly spread around. We used to pride ourselves on our civility and fairness. Human nature works both ways in these situations. I think about the tragic shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde, Texas. And the solutions that came forward (is there a worse idea than restricting access to one door for a bustling school?) are all based on what happened, not what could happen. We are always looking to solve the problem that just happened. We don't admit that we don't know what we don't know. Worse, we don't even know that we don't know. Early in Nassib Nicholas Tassim's "Black Swan," he demonstrates this human characteristic with a thought experiment. Say sometime in early in the year 2000, the airlines decided to reinforce cockpit doors and require passengers to take off their shoes before boarding. Would the public lavish them with praise for the tragedy that was averted on Sept. 11th? Would they get any credit for something that didn't happen? I call it the "Barn Door Problem." We are always looking to close the barn door after the horse gets out. Maybe there is an obvious fix to a problem, but problems are often "black swans." That things we've never seen cannot exist. We ignore evidence that contradicts our assumptions or beliefs. It refers to the widespread belief that all swans were white. Because no one had ever seen a black swan, they must not exist. Until the Dutch explorers reached Perth, Australia in 1697 that is, and saw that yes, black swans exist. What this means for Ojai is that we need to worry less about planning for problems that may or may not come to pass, and worry more about building a robust social infrastructure that can deal with whatever problem comes our way, seen or unforeseen. Look at the community's response to the Thomas Fire. #OjaiStrong indeed. But that sense of resilience and unity has largely evaporated, and it would be foolish to think that those same underlying conditions of cohesion still exist. That we came together once, we will come together again. Look at those who bray the loudest and then look at those who do the most. They are seldom the same people. Those ideas of positive action and organizing must be encouraged, built and reinforced until nothing can tear us apart with anything like the energy that binds us together. Ojai, if anywhere, can build a better barn door.
OM — July 2022
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