Taking a Breath
There’s a scene in the movie Bridge of Spies when the attorney James Donovan, played by Tom Hanks, says during a prison interview to the spy, Rudolf Abel (played by Mark Rylance), that Abel doesn’t seem very upset or concerned that he’s facing the death penalty. Rylance looks at Hanks and says softly, “Would it help?” Since seeing that, I've asked myself that question whenever faced with what otherwise might seem to be an upsetting situation. Getting upset. Would it help?
The answer, obviously, is usually no. Of course, it’s not an excuse for inaction, but leaving out the emotional component in a crisis is a pretty good idea. Thinking is best done with a quiet mind, and actions are best performed when well thought out. So, Abel stays quiet, watches, makes decisions, and lives with the consequences. It’s a good movie, and I recommend it—especially if you have an eye for history, the Cold War, and know who Francis Gary Powers was.
And I think we’d all be better off if we all started asking ourselves, when facing a crisis and feeling the emotions beginning to boil: “Would it help?” After all, we live in a world today where it seems as though everyone is shouting, “Fire” all the time. And the internet is part fire hose and part fire. You need a grain of salt the size of a boulder to help sort everything out. Getting upset might be internet fun, but I’m not really sure it’s a lever or a place to stand when it comes to moving the world.