If we understand that this pervasive inconsistency, this inability to transcend the interests of people who look or act or believe just like us, is universal, then perhaps—just perhaps—we will be less likely to believe that we are immune to it. We will perceive that nothing exempts us from the same temptations and the same frailty. And perhaps, knowing that, we will be more inclined to forgive such frailty in others, just as we (most of us anyway) forgive ourselves.
