Thank you for this Adam. I appreciate that the critique was so comprehensive and yet it did not invoke neoliberalism, which I find is so often pointed to as the culprit for the type of declines you discuss. Not that it's wrong to point to neoliberalism, but it's so often brought up as the culprit that the meaning gets lost and the pathways to change get murky.
As a psychologist, I strongly agree with "refuse to allow psychology or any “social science” to pre-empt the language and thought of common sense". Referring to fear as "anxiety" isn't just different; it's worse.
I would distinguish between technology and science, but too complicated to go into in a comment. Maybe a topic for a future essay? Thanks for the inspiration!
Hi Adam—this was really fascinating! It struck me how closely this aligns with the idea that technology has become a kind of modern pagan religion—where algorithms, data, and AI function like idols. Like traditional idols, they lack true consciousness or wisdom, yet we imbue them with authority and treat them as if they possess insight.
But unlike the idols of old, these ones can produce. They generate pseudo-interaction—something that feels engaging, even relational, but is ultimately shallow and devoid of intelligible meaning. In that way, they’re even more dangerous: not just passive objects of worship, but active participants in the simulation of meaning.
Maybe easy, but not simple. The indigenous concept of an integral spirit which permeates the planet into one biosphere, one essentially self-healing, self-renewing phenomena, and is worthy of our wonder, would be a good place to begin. The two-leggeds need to develop a more accurate, more empirically based self-image seeing ourselves as only one part of the fabric of an incredibly complex symbiotic interaction of all forms of life, from microbes to sequoias all woven together into one matrix. The bear needs the forest; the forest needs the bear. Without brother trees, man cannot exist. And we are far from the sharpest tool in the shed. And we have no sense of time. Man's march to Mars is misplaced. Instead of focusing all of our attention on looking outward, toward infinite space, we may find infinity looking inward and at our common but complex origin, seeking essential meaning in the co-mingled, multi-faceted path of one harmonious, inextricably joined life. Isn't that worthy of being regarded as sacred ?
Thank you for this Adam. I appreciate that the critique was so comprehensive and yet it did not invoke neoliberalism, which I find is so often pointed to as the culprit for the type of declines you discuss. Not that it's wrong to point to neoliberalism, but it's so often brought up as the culprit that the meaning gets lost and the pathways to change get murky.
Excellent writing on an important topic, Adam! 👏
As a psychologist, I strongly agree with "refuse to allow psychology or any “social science” to pre-empt the language and thought of common sense". Referring to fear as "anxiety" isn't just different; it's worse.
I would distinguish between technology and science, but too complicated to go into in a comment. Maybe a topic for a future essay? Thanks for the inspiration!
It's why I advocate being bored. But that's much harder than it sounds.
Yes, today more than ever. Attention is a muscle that requires effort to build and maintain with all the distractions we have.
Hi Adam—this was really fascinating! It struck me how closely this aligns with the idea that technology has become a kind of modern pagan religion—where algorithms, data, and AI function like idols. Like traditional idols, they lack true consciousness or wisdom, yet we imbue them with authority and treat them as if they possess insight.
But unlike the idols of old, these ones can produce. They generate pseudo-interaction—something that feels engaging, even relational, but is ultimately shallow and devoid of intelligible meaning. In that way, they’re even more dangerous: not just passive objects of worship, but active participants in the simulation of meaning.
Maybe easy, but not simple. The indigenous concept of an integral spirit which permeates the planet into one biosphere, one essentially self-healing, self-renewing phenomena, and is worthy of our wonder, would be a good place to begin. The two-leggeds need to develop a more accurate, more empirically based self-image seeing ourselves as only one part of the fabric of an incredibly complex symbiotic interaction of all forms of life, from microbes to sequoias all woven together into one matrix. The bear needs the forest; the forest needs the bear. Without brother trees, man cannot exist. And we are far from the sharpest tool in the shed. And we have no sense of time. Man's march to Mars is misplaced. Instead of focusing all of our attention on looking outward, toward infinite space, we may find infinity looking inward and at our common but complex origin, seeking essential meaning in the co-mingled, multi-faceted path of one harmonious, inextricably joined life. Isn't that worthy of being regarded as sacred ?
Reflection without external calculations/inputs. An art that can’t be delegated. Great stuff brother