Every society has its blind spots, and understanding them is crucial. These shared denials allow us to function, but the cost is often hidden damage we choose to ignore for the sake of stability.
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Meaning
At its core, this quote means that groups of people, from entire nations to small companies, collectively ignore painful truths. It’s a survival mechanism, but one that comes with a heavy, often unacknowledged, price tag.
Explanation
Okay, so let me break this down the way I see it after working with this idea in organizational psychology. A “blind spot” isn’t just an individual thing. It’s a cultural agreement to not look too closely at something that, if acknowledged, would disrupt the entire system.
Think of it like the silent, shaky foundation of a beautiful building. Everyone knows it’s there. Nobody wants to talk about it because talking about it means we’d have to stop everything and fix it. And that would be expensive, painful, and chaotic. So we just… keep decorating the rooms upstairs. We function. But that foundational crack is getting bigger, and the cost of the eventual repair—or collapse—keeps growing.
It’s a trade-off. Short-term functionality for long-term integrity.
Quote Summary
| Context | Attributes |
|---|---|
| Original Language | English (3668) |
| Category | Community (61) |
| Topics | ignorance (10), society (20), truth (77) |
| Literary Style | didactic (370) |
| Emotion / Mood | critical (18), provocative (175) |
| Overall Quote Score | 76 (131) |
Origin & Factcheck
This powerful insight comes directly from Daniel Goleman’s 1985 book, Vital Lies, Simple Truths: The Psychology of Self-Deception, published in the United States. It’s important to note this was written before his blockbuster Emotional Intelligence, which shows how long he’s been wrestling with these deep psychological concepts. You sometimes see it misattributed to other social critics, but this is pure Goleman.
Attribution Summary
| Context | Attributes |
|---|---|
| Author | Daniel Goleman (125) |
| Source Type | Book (4032) |
| Source/Book Name | Vital Lies, Simple Truths: The Psychology of Self-Deception (61) |
| Origin Timeperiod | Modern (530) |
| Original Language | English (3668) |
| Authenticity | Verified (4032) |
Author Bio
Daniel Goleman is a psychologist and bestselling author whose journalism at The New York Times brought brain and behavior science to a wide audience. He earned a BA from Amherst and a PhD in psychology from Harvard, and studied in India on a Harvard fellowship. Goleman’s research and writing helped mainstream emotional intelligence, leadership competencies, attention, and contemplative science. He co-founded CASEL and a leading research consortium on EI at work. The Daniel Goleman book list includes Emotional Intelligence, Working with Emotional Intelligence, Primal Leadership, Social Intelligence, Focus, and Altered Traits.
| Official Website
Where is this quotation located?
| Quotation | Every society has its blind spots, shared denials that keep it functioning at a terrible cost |
| Book Details | Publication Year: 1985; ISBN: 9780743240156; Last edition: 1996 Harper Perennial; Number of pages: 288. |
| Where is it? | Approximate page from 1996 edition, Chapter 4: Social Blindness |