As the latest IPCC report on climate change was released yesterday, I wanted to re-share this article I wrote about the underlying causes which I believe link the multiple crises we now face as a global civilization.
The common thread, in my view, is one that relates to our collective values, and how we relate others as well as the broader environment. Some food for thought as I continue to think about these issues:
Can we shed this naïve ‘winner take all mentality’ , and work together towards more beautiful futures?
Can we define our limited notions of ‘success’ beyond a merely reductionist model (i.e. economics\GDP growth) and create societies which focus on cultivating wellbeing and human flourishing?
What do you think, let me know in the comments.
Each of us views the world through our own unique pair of glasses. Our experience is shaped by what we pay attention to during our moment-to-moment existence. It is informed by our social conditioning, beliefs, values and the type of information that we actively seek out.
We don’t have access to the world ‘in and of itself.’ Rather, we view reality from our own subjective filters or mental models which help us interpret the vast amount of data available to us.
As Robert M. Pirsig explains in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance,
From all this awareness we must select, and what we select and call consciousness is never the same as the awareness because the process of selection mutates it. We take a handful of sand from the endless landscape of awareness around us and call that handful of sand the world.
Language, psychology, statistics and economics are…
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A Life of Virtue: Philosophy as a Way of Life 
I liked this the first time published. It’s a good way of looking at our modern predicament. Until we are more open to the mental models of others, and willing to change our own, we will continue to have major conflict in the world. And political leaders who manipulate the mental models of their people create major problerms for us all. eg Russia.
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Indeed, what is needed for us humans to shift into new ways of seeing the world, new ways of being?
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It might be possible for this world to be more inclined to flourishing if people weren’t so set in their habits, drama and need for constantly seeking immediate gratification. Tv and Social media promotes this so I stay away. I’d rather think about the meaning of life and how to inspire others away from the norms our society perpetuates. If kids were taught to think more for themselves perhaps our future generations could benefit but I don’t see it in this generation but will keep trying with my writing and thinking. Great questions A.
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