This article was first written in July 2009. It remained in draft form for a while and I published an edited version during the Covid pandemic. I have updated it since.
Like many of us I ponder questions that keep resurfacing in my mind.
These questions are varied and numerous: Why are things the way they are? Why is oil so important in today’s world? What drives global conflicts? Why does extreme wealth exist alongside desperate poverty? Why is religion so important? Why do diseases like bird flu appear out of the blue (A question in 2009 before the Covid-19 pandemic)? Why do we need passports and visas to travel? Why is Africa poor and North America rich? How did humans become Earth’s most dominant land species?
These questions often result in deeper reflections: Are these conditions inevitable and can we influence them? Are we helpless and destined to our fate? Do we or can we know the answer? If not, is there a rational way to find answers and solutions?
There are so many questions I would like to explore, but before I begin you may wonder why I am sharing these thoughts. Various concerns have inspired me to put pen to paper.
The greatest driving force is a sense of confusion and despair in a highly complex modern world. I read about the rise in mental health issues and sense that we don’t know where we are heading or why.
However many people are optimistic, as we live in an age of unprecedented access to knowledge, with astounding scientific discoveries, improved health services, remarkable efficiency of food production, and the ease of trade and travel.
Nevertheless I cannot ignore that we face devastating realities. Billions are living in abject poverty with little hope, our environment is fast deteriorating, and we consume resources at an unsustainable rate, while diversity and other life suffers.
I also have the impression that our current trajectory is moulded primarily by two factors: our inherent human nature, and our attitudes, beliefs, and education. The complexity of our situation and the enormity of the task is the cause of the despair that I described. However if we succumb to it and are apathetic the result will be tragic.
In order to change the first we should heed the advice etched on a temple in Ancient Greece advising visitors to “know thyself[1]”. We should be able to influence and change the latter. A glimmer of hope flickers. In other words the main avenue to a better trajectory is knowledge, which thankfully is relatively easy to share and interchange. Hence this blog is my personal response to these challenges.
Ideally I would like to have more time to ponder these questions and explore them with others before publishing, promoting more clarity. However, I have realised that I do not have the luxury of time on my side. This is a hobby that I do in my spare time. Furthermore, if I wait, these thoughts may fade into the fog of memory or disappear entirely. Most of all I feel an urgency to do something positive.
So I publish earlier than I would like. I hope that this compromise is interesting to read. I would like this to result in dialogue and a positive trajectory of thought. Ultimately I hope it leads to something beneficial.
[1] “Know thyself” – from Wikipedia – (Greek: Γνῶθι σεαυτόν) is a philosophical maxim which was inscribed upon the Temple of Apollo in the ancient Greek precinct of Delphi.