What I read this weekend: I feel such
heaviness from the vicious cycle of bad news and bad
forecasts, from immigration policy, deteriorating social
safety net and world order to climate change and automation.
It feels like we’re only going backward.
And some days, this weight compounds because these
problems feel insurmountable. This
Shouts
& Murmurs piece
does a great job of capturing the manic hum of doom and
gloom.
I
found
this
hopeful article
that makes a case for progress, and in turn, optimism. The
author cites Steven Pinker’s Enlightenment Now book and a few
other notable thinkers on this topic, and an observation that
really stuck with me is that this pessimism could ultimately
affect the policies we choose to support and how we vote. I
also listened to
an
interview with Vitalik Buterin (the founder of
Ethereum), who believes that the most popular delusion or
irrationality should be our belief in progress. I’m now
thinking of ways to actively flip these negative scripts in my
head, and to find scripts for hope, optimism, and progress
even in trying times. I shared this reflection with my team
and some friends, who shared their own awesome life hacks:
</p>
- Don’t get caught up in the minutia of day-to-day news. It’s OK not to hear every update. Know the key themes.
- Subscribe to articles about new discoveries and innovations in science.
- Check out Gap Minder, which provides you with raw data about the world to react to, rather than hearing about an issue from a news outlet that may have distorted the data to fit a specific narrative. Also, see Outlier’s series on data storytelling, where the team explores how data can mislead you.
- Find and follow people that start from an empty whiteboard to re-design the world, such as Jeremy Rifkin and his thinking around a zero marginal cost society.
(Thanks Eliza, Larry, Ryan, and Markeze.)
So: what does give me hope? People that show up, as much as they can, like these wonderful humans that came together for the Families Together demonstration. We walked from Dolores Park to Civic Center to protest immigration policy in solidarity with our neighbors.
