Trying to Live Amidst the Noise – Wit's End with Josh
A personal failure mode for me is falling into the neo-maniacal tractor beam of finding the newest, best stuff. We all know the mode where we get fixated on something — the newest phone, Apple Vision Pro, shoes, whatever… — and it consumes our life.
Stubbornness is obviously a failure mode, too (Blockbuster). So the through-point is clearly in the tension between time-tested ways of doing things and being open to new ways of doing things.
Like the 4 Turnings view of history — the concept of the ‘saeculum’ is ancient and time-tested upon which new ways of applying it can be tried.
The concept of an ‘enlightened centrist’ applies here (and it gets mocked as being wishy washy and not believing in anything). The mockery can be tribalistic and low-rung, but it can also be correct. It’s correct when someone doesn’t say what they actually believe — preference falsification.
Use old laws, read old books, keep old friends, eat fresh food. Know what is stable — and know what is nourishing — and know what’s good.
Modernity brings increased complexity with the interconnectedness (examples: mental health with social media; public health with globalization).
As finite creatures, we only have a sliver of influence on our place in the world — and how we play the game from this moment onward. When focusing on the transient and superficial, less focus gets applied to that sliver of influence. What we face is a selection problem. With the universe at our fingertips, how do we select the right things to focus on? And what gets triggered with uncertainty to that question? And what actions does the resulting emotions and thoughts lead to? (For me, that uncertainty leads me to indulge in my vices.)
The flipside is that truly transformative information is out there — it’s just a matter of finding it (asking the right questions).
Self awareness — making enough mistakes to know what patterns leads to them — I think ultimately allows us to ignore the shiny lure-like objects to our dumb, primitive brain – whether it’s junk food, junk sex, mindless entertainment, etc.
Technology provides leverage. Leverage, now, is much cheaper than it’s ever been. It can be leveraged against us — propaganda, marketing, psy-ops — but we can also access it for our benefit.
There is nourishing information more available than ever, there are ways to access and provide capital, nourishing food from around the world can be delivered, etc. So the sliver of influence needs to be partially focused on knowing how to make good decisions in the face of more. More noise, more options, more problems, etc.
Something I want to avoid: in my time of decay and dying, like my dad at the end of his life, being ashamed of the decisions I made and things I sought. And like my dad, I want to handle it with dignity, strength, and grace. And one thing he did was he took his roles seriously and he gave a s***.
Seriousness in aims and preparation builds the strong framework that I think ultimately allows levity and a genuinely positive spirit to how we live our lives. It’s what brings conviction in a path forward that allows full expression in each step.
It’s what fosters the development of mastery — thus a love of the process of developing and expressing. When the aim is to become so good (at whatever) that you can’t be ignored any longer, that’s when options arise. Modern upside is rooted in the ability to increase mastery and optionality.
