What if the very definition of progress we've been chasing is leading us astray? In a society adorned with technological marvels and material abundance, a deeper question lurks beneath the surface: Are we truly fulfilled? Delve into a narrative that challenges the conventional metrics of success, unveiling the hidden costs of our relentless pursuit for more.
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Our society has definitely
become masters at increasing the amount of
things we can measure - more and more money, more and more
floor space per capita, more and more GDP, and less and less of the
things that we can’t measure - how happy we are, levels of intimacy, the authenticity of
our communication, aesthetic pleasure, how much beauty there
is in our experience, fulfillment. So that we come to a point where
we're apparently very very rich. I just read an article
in the Wall Street Jou
rnal about how civilization
is such a great success. There are fewer people in poverty
than there was a generation ago. There are fewer people
getting killed in wars. There are fewer murders. There are fewer people
dying of diseases. Even fewer people dying in
plane crashes and car crashes. People are smarter, average IQ level
is thirty points higher than it was 50 years ago,
etc. etc. It's like, yeah,
things are just great. Everything is awesome
in terms of what we measure but what abo
ut the things
that we do not measure, or the things that
we can’t measure, or the things that
are unmeasurable. So I think that we feel
a lack of something but we don’t know what it is
and all of these statistics about how rich we are, how privileged
we are, how fortunate we are, these things are all telling us
"well, you shouldn’t be unhappy." "You are irrational for thinking
something is missing." But then we sometimes
get a glimpse of what has been
sacrificed in the pursuit of more
and more and more. We could talk about the
industrial food system and how food is becoming
less and less flavorful. We could talk about how our
electronically mediated relationships are less intimate and less
meaningful than when we saw the faces of the people we knew
and interacted with every day. We could talk about the ugliness
of the modern landscape: the big box stores, and the strip malls, and the auto dealerships, and the self-storage units compared to the architecture that was quit
e
normal a couple hundred years ago. Something is missing. Something is not captured
by our measurements. And that always leaves us hungry
for this missing thing. This hunger is good for business because it
drives the acquisition of whatever is available which is more and more and more
of the stuff we already have and no matter how much I get,
I am still hungry. I still want something. For some people, it turns into
an addiction to literal stuff. What they really are is lonely. Because re
al existence is
a function of relationship. The more relationships
that you are in, the more you are held
by community, the more present you
feel in the world. So, generally speaking, the robbery of the qualitative - beauty, intimacy,
fulfillment, joy, meaning - has primed us to be
good consumers. And then we turn around
and blame the symptom - blame the greed, blame the selfishness, blame the addiction, as if you weren’t actually hungry. Yeah, you’re hungry. It's just not hungry for stuff
, not hungry for the things
that are offered, hungry for something else. The good life is not
lost forever though. We are recovering
our memory of it and therefore no longer
accepting the substitutes, and we feel grateful to those who have
remembered the truth this whole time. The loss of the immeasurable
has caused deep wounds in us creating insatiable appetites
for the closest substitutes… We are hungry for adventure. Society offers us video games. We are hungry for authenticity. Societ
y offers us “reality TV.” We are hungry for connection. Society offers us shopping. We are hungry for intimacy. Society offers us pornography. We are hungry to
express our greatness. Society offers us sports heroes. We are hungry to feel
excited by our work. Society offers us coffee. We are hungry to feel
like we belong. Society offers us drugs and alcohol. We are hungry for meaning. Society offers us jobs. We are hungry to feel
secure in the world. Society offers us money. To heal ourselves
and our world,
we must begin to understand both what we have lost and
what we are really hungry for. What are you really hungry for?
Comments
This is my favourite of your videos!
This video should be taught at every college instead of Economics 101.
💚🙏🏻✨🌍
❤
Great video! What's the name of the music?
Hi Charles, I'm trying to meet other humans thru social media with no intentions... I want to connect with intelligent individuals to create a beautiful community of beings that can communicate on a level where we will feel the compassion that each one of has just as a young child with no traumatic experiences that makes them grow away from what we should be doing to connect us all... We are all truly one but because of the experience I think it has its reasons... we are only humans... this realm is way more older wiser stronger greater and intelligent than we can ever fathom to be... but remember we are all part of that source... and what connects us all is LOVE.. If you can LOVE yourself from all your traumas and know that if you are stronger today that everything that occurred and happened in your life was for a much deeper purpose and meaning. Sorry so long.. I just went with my heart. Take care everyone. I love you all and I hope you all find love peace and balance within yourselves. Take care. - Rassaan.
There is enough for anyone on this planet.Greed already destroyed us big time.
Isaiah 5:11-16 11. Woe to those who rise early in the morning to run after their drinks, who stay up late at night till they are inflamed with wine. 12. They have harps and lyres at their banquets, pipes and timbrels and wine, but they have no regard for the deeds of the LORD, no respect for the work of his hands. 13. Therefore my people will go into exile for lack of understanding; those of high rank will die of hunger and the common people will be parched with thirst. 14. Therefore Death expands its jaws, opening wide its mouth; into it will descend their nobles and masses with all their brawlers and revelers. (Spiritual death) 15 So people will be brought low and everyone humbled, the eyes of the arrogant humbled. 16. But the LORD Almighty will be exalted by his justice, and the holy God will be proved holy by his righteous acts.