How We Became Who We Are

“But if we don’t know how we got here, we will tend to assume that where we are is obvious. If we assume that where we are is obvious, we are less likely to ask critical questions about it. The less likely we are to ask critical questions about it, the more resistant we will be to other people’s challenges to it. In other words, not understanding how we learned to be the people we now are has an immediate and highly dangerous effect on the kind of society we are and might seek to be, just as it might have a dangerous effect on any individual who tries to block out the memory of the experiences that have, as a matter of fact, made them who they are.”

—Rowan Williams, Being Human