On my opinion there are several adaptation-related factors which act differently in different times and circumstances. The newest most important now seems to be fear based on ignorance and, well, weak congintive abilities (50 years ago it was called stupidity...). COVID had demonstrated how quickly the mob requires and demands to stop, to shut down, to close and to lock everything and everywhere. Rational thinking was not applied. Mob is not 100% of population but it's formed by it's share large enough to push the states to act in certain direction. Discus... (read more)
1nobeem1yThis post lists technical/material/institutional adaptations, which do indeed
seem to be happening faster.
But the quote from Toffler is primarily concerned with our impending
psychological breakdown in the face of rapid change, evidence of which I see
everywhere.
I am a yoga teacher, so I work intimately with many actual humans. I mostly
teach upper-middle class educated folks, and they're not doing great, mental
health-wise. Too much information, too much stimulation, too much choice. We
have yet to develop adequate "mental hygiene" practices for dealing with the
god-like powers that our smartphones give us.
Thus, I think that alongside calls for more investment in techno-scientific
progress, we desperately need to prioritize the development of better mental
health practices and cultural values - some of which may look a lot like older
ways of living (like Jason hints at in Learning With My Hands
[https://rootsofprogress.org/learning-with-my-hands]). Just giving everyone a
meditation app to help them feel better about their desperate loneliness isn't
going to cut it.
I am contemplating applying for the writing fellowship program to follow this
line of argument further. Interested to hear if others resonate with it.
On my opinion there are several adaptation-related factors which act differently in different times and circumstances. The newest most important now seems to be fear based on ignorance and, well, weak congintive abilities (50 years ago it was called stupidity...). COVID had demonstrated how quickly the mob requires and demands to stop, to shut down, to close and to lock everything and everywhere. Rational thinking was not applied. Mob is not 100% of population but it's formed by it's share large enough to push the states to act in certain direction. Discus... (read more)