11/21/2023

There’s a Difference Between Responding and Reacting

Online, this space appears to be collapsing

For centuries, philosophers have noted that between stimulus and response there is a space, and within it lies the freedom to choose our actions. That space represents our agency and humanity—unlike other animals, we can be thoughtful and discerning instead of instinctively reacting. At the individual level, that space is crucial for mental health. Collectively, it's what gives rise to civilization, allowing us to work together, compromise, and resolve disputes without violence.

I fear that space is collapsing. And if we don't do something about it, the consequences will be dire.

When faced with change and disorder, most people go down one of two roads: They either respond or react. Responding, a spinoff of the word responsibility, is considerate and deliberate. Reacting, on the other hand, literally means to meet one action with another. It is immediate and rash. Responding creates more space between an event and what you do, or don’t do, about it. In that space, you give immediate emotions room to breathe, you gain a better understanding of what is happening and you bring online your prefrontal cortex—the most evolved part of your brain. As such, you rarely regret responding. But you often regret reacting.

Please select this link to read the complete article from TIME.