Vitality

escape the decline

Yes, things do seem to be getting both better and worse, at the same time, at an alarming rate.

This sense has many sources. There’s the geopolitical element of it: Trumpian America, Israel vs Iran, Russia vs Ukraine, China vs Taiwan. The endless escalation of violence and tension, the world thrown into conflict and uncertainty.

But that’s not all. There are many other sources for it: the rise of the machines through machine learning and ‘artificial intelligence’, the transformation of workplaces, economies and political systems, the ongoing sense of dysphoria in the ‘western’ world about identity, sexuality, and health. The decline of social institutions like parenting and marriage.

Whether you think these things are for better or for worse will depend on many factors. But, whatever your specific views on any of these individual topics, I’m guessing that you feel, as I do, an escalating confusion, a confusion that comes from this rapid acceleration of conflicting narratives and the insi…