Humanity has a problem and it is its inability to solve its problems whether its economic, political, social, or environmental. Blame goes to the interconnectedness of the aforementioned. Add to that common culprits like lack of cooperation, coordinated efforts, long-term commitment and sprinkle other factors such as divergent priorities, national interest, inequality and power dynamics, and there you have it! A complex mess seemingly like the mythical gordian knot, so tightly entwined and impossible to unloosen and untangle.
Decomposing the issues we’re facing reveals a common underlying factor, us–mankind. Our desires to be precise and that the reasons stated above just highlights our self-serving cognitive bias. It seems the fault always lies somewhere else but us, particularly our nature and the way it influences how we model our socio-politico-economic ideologies and practices. We seem to be designing and engineering solutions to reinforce and further convolute the already stablished models, no longer considering that the problem could be the models themselves. That the complexity of the issues is because we keep on implementing solutions that just addresses the symptoms that arise from the model’s natural tendencies.
Take for example the economic model presently in place, exhibiting a very complex system that deals with the provisioning of our wants and needs. The unseen hand that dictates humanity’s choices. Even before it was formalized into a discipline it was already complicated; having concepts like property distribution, loans and debts, interest, supply and demand pricing, monopolies, labor, profit, etc. Modern economics at its core revolves around the concept of choice in relation to a finite resource. Understanding it means knowing how the world works and use it to your advantage. I repeat, to your own advantage, not everyone’s. Talk about zero-sum game and the tragedy of the commons!
Complexity clouds comprehension, rains on execution and eventually drowns progress.
So picture this in your mind to understand it clearly; think of family dinner and you’re having pizza. That’s economics in a nutshell, insights to help you decide on how you should behave at mealtime. Except that it’s not only applied to pizzas… and you are not with your family.
How do you even begin to rid of rotting apples when you are blind to what it is
Choosing to behave or act to prioritize your immediate gain is one of the human-induced element of our problems; human actions leading to unfavorable outcome for the whole. The worry is in failing to recognize the danger in this kind of behavior. Troubling still is that if ever we see it for what it is, do we have the constitution and the will to veer away from it. Will we have the fortitude to change our mindset of what we should value and respond in favor of the whole or just stay on the comfortable path that profits us individually.
There is also comfort in the possibility to the contrary. That individuals like you and I, would see ourselves being a part of a much greater purpose, of a wider human family, of a reality full of meaning. The enthusiasm and excitement to someday witness the beauty of the emergent whole and the wonder of boundless possibilities–humanity’s singularity.
Always together, never alone
The design of our playing field is for cultivating our collaborative instincts through competition and creative play which is only fun when we let go of our concerns, fears and expectations. And therefore is best done in an environment of trust and concern, that is, a collective that always has your back and will never leave you behind.