This is fantastic. The world may not be withering for lack of hot takes, but it may just be slipping away for lack of a few well-timed inspiring speeches. This is a noble effort.
Reminds me of the classic parable of the drowning man (below).
---
A storm descends on a small town, and the downpour soon turns into a flood. As the waters rise, the local preacher kneels in prayer on the church porch, surrounded by water. By and by, one of the townsfolk comes up the street in a canoe.
"Better get in, Preacher. The waters are rising fast."
"No," says the preacher. "I have faith in the Lord. He will save me."
Still the waters rise. Now the preacher is up on the balcony, wringing his hands in supplication, when another guy zips up in a motorboat.
"Come on, Preacher. We need to get you out of here. The levee's gonna break any minute."
Once again, the preacher is unmoved. "I shall remain. The Lord will see me through."
After a while the levee breaks, and the flood rushes over the church until only the steeple remains above water. The preacher is up there, clinging to the cross, when a helicopter descends out of the clouds, and a state trooper calls down to him through a megaphone.
"Grab the ladder, Preacher. This is your last chance."
Once again, the preacher insists the Lord will deliver him.
And, predictably, he drowns.
A pious man, the preacher goes to heaven. After a while he gets an interview with God, and he asks the Almighty, "Lord, I had unwavering faith in you. Why didn't you deliver me from that flood?"
God shakes his head. "What did you want from me? I sent you two boats and a helicopter."
Like someone else in the comments said, I have been waiting for someone to communicate this for a long time, and by a long time I mean, like, 63 years. I remember the precise moment when I remember thinking, "I'm not equipped to deal with this - NO one is" - I was 12 years old, and an Encyclopedia nerd. I would spend literally hours reading our 1947 edition of the EB, finding one section that interested me, then rabbit-holing to something in the 1st piece that piqued my interest and go find that in the EB, lather, rinse, repeat. My parents must have loved the long, peaceful hours I was buried in the EB. I was doing it simply because it interested me, but besides satisfying my curiosity it also opened my head up to a wider, and more ancient world. But the moment I'm talking about was when I read an article in our local paper about a monsoon disaster in India where hundreds of thousands of people were swept out to sea, and hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland forest, villages, towns and cities were destroyed. The horror and grief hit me like an emotional tidal wave, and right then it occurred to me that before newspapers, before TV and radio and airplanes and telegraph, a person like me in the middle of the North American continent would know nothing about it. They wouldn't feel this devastating, helpless grief. I envied those earlier people whose known world was so much smaller - and so much less vulnerable to these agonies - and I realized that the human mind and heart was not designed for this kind of assault. All of this flashed through my mind in an instant, and being 12, I had no idea what to do with it. Many times I've been reminded of this concept since then, painfully. I never heard or read anyone else mention it, much less offer a way to cope with these feelings. Mr. Mastroianni, saying "Thank you" doesn't begin to say how meaningful this essay has been. It's a masterpiece.
"Everyone I know has given up." You need a better / more normal circle of acquaintances. Seriously -- I'm not writing this to be flippant. Many of us do think there are serious problems at the moment, but we're also capable of finding joy in everyday experiences and continuing to contribute meaningfully to science / education / parenting / whatever. If you were in Eugene, OR, I'd invite you to chat over coffee!
I’d like to introduce people who are giving up two ideas: one, put down your phone; two, that your phone is the greatest propaganda device ever created.
From what I observed the reason people tend to avoid helping or taking responsibility these days is because there's a weird social phenomena where people hold you responsible for all bad outcomes as soon as you touch the situation. To put it in trolley problem terms, no one is responsible for the deaths unless someone touches the lever, at which point that person killed either one or five people regardless of whether they pulled it. The idea is that socially the only winning game is to not play.
Like maybe if something happened to the old lady you could have gotten sued, even if you tried to do the right thing or even improved the situation.
Now the flip side is that people really can make things worse if they try to help without having the skills to do so. There's decent reasons to discourage untrained individuals from attempting things beyond their skillset and leaving the work to professionals. Maybe you can help your depressed friend, but can you do better than a therapist? Perhaps, but it's a lot of work and you can fail, so you tell them to go to therapy.
This sort of attitude makes society fragile, but also it seems like our society *is* fragile. And the more fragile it gets the more you need specialized people to navigate it. To make it robust we have to pay the cost of occasionally breaking some aspects. But as soon as anyone tries he gets blamed for breaking the thing, even if it was gonna fail.
This is also partially why it feels like the bad people have all the agency.
I love this, and it pretty much sums up a large part of my life philosophy. Thank you for giving me some words to put it more eloquently when people ask me why I spend SO much time volunteering. On top of working my 40 hours, I spend anywhere from 5-20 hours a week volunteering. Mostly repairing old bikes to be donated, but also helping immigrants apply for naturalization, visiting animal shelters, and going to the local food pantry.
Right now I'm lucky enough to be a single healthy man who has the time to do this, so I will exploit it while I can. I know there may come a day when I have a family and my circle will drastically and immediately shrink. But for now, it brings me immense joy to help while I can, and I've never been happier in my life.
I have a friend whose parents are consistently angry at the political climate. He was a little confused when I told him I don't really follow politics. I told him that if I did, I would spend too much time being angry and not enough time actually trying to solve issues. That energy can be used for volunteering, and if I have the option of doing a little bit and doing nothing, I am going to do a little bit.
Here's why I don't buy into the general malaise and pessimism prominent in certain parts of today's culture:
1. Many of the world's "serious" problems are in fact minor or imaginary.
2. Expanding your circle of concern to the point that you care about everyone and everything is irrational.
3. Obsessing about problems over which you have no control is irrational, as is obsessing over hypothetical problems based on unproven assumptions.
4. The world is not nearly as bad as the vocal neurotics of today claim it is.
5. Threats to freedom, prosperity, and human well being do exist, but they have always existed. Human beings are highly skilled at addressing and overcoming such obstacles.
I don’t allow many “long” emails to my inbox - I generally delete them and unsubscribe. There is one, however, that I do allow. And when it arrives I drop everything to read it. Yet again it has not disappointed. Thank you for another thought provoking piece.
Thanks for this. In Eastern Orthodox Christianity, “spiritual warfare” involves guarding ourselves against despair as a significant component. If the devil can convince you that you are beyond hope, that you are beyond God’s mercy no matter how much you pray or repent, then the devil has already won.
Agree it’s not bad that our circle of care has expanded. But I also wonder whether some of what’s upweighted in our global feeds is actually calculated to push us toward despair instead of action.
That was beautiful. And timely because honestly I’ve been pretty depressed and it’s definitely easy to slide into the mindset that there’s nothing you can do.
This is fantastic. The world may not be withering for lack of hot takes, but it may just be slipping away for lack of a few well-timed inspiring speeches. This is a noble effort.
Reminds me of the classic parable of the drowning man (below).
---
A storm descends on a small town, and the downpour soon turns into a flood. As the waters rise, the local preacher kneels in prayer on the church porch, surrounded by water. By and by, one of the townsfolk comes up the street in a canoe.
"Better get in, Preacher. The waters are rising fast."
"No," says the preacher. "I have faith in the Lord. He will save me."
Still the waters rise. Now the preacher is up on the balcony, wringing his hands in supplication, when another guy zips up in a motorboat.
"Come on, Preacher. We need to get you out of here. The levee's gonna break any minute."
Once again, the preacher is unmoved. "I shall remain. The Lord will see me through."
After a while the levee breaks, and the flood rushes over the church until only the steeple remains above water. The preacher is up there, clinging to the cross, when a helicopter descends out of the clouds, and a state trooper calls down to him through a megaphone.
"Grab the ladder, Preacher. This is your last chance."
Once again, the preacher insists the Lord will deliver him.
And, predictably, he drowns.
A pious man, the preacher goes to heaven. After a while he gets an interview with God, and he asks the Almighty, "Lord, I had unwavering faith in you. Why didn't you deliver me from that flood?"
God shakes his head. "What did you want from me? I sent you two boats and a helicopter."
I tell that story a lot. Often, people get grumpier with me. I tell it anyway!
Like someone else in the comments said, I have been waiting for someone to communicate this for a long time, and by a long time I mean, like, 63 years. I remember the precise moment when I remember thinking, "I'm not equipped to deal with this - NO one is" - I was 12 years old, and an Encyclopedia nerd. I would spend literally hours reading our 1947 edition of the EB, finding one section that interested me, then rabbit-holing to something in the 1st piece that piqued my interest and go find that in the EB, lather, rinse, repeat. My parents must have loved the long, peaceful hours I was buried in the EB. I was doing it simply because it interested me, but besides satisfying my curiosity it also opened my head up to a wider, and more ancient world. But the moment I'm talking about was when I read an article in our local paper about a monsoon disaster in India where hundreds of thousands of people were swept out to sea, and hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland forest, villages, towns and cities were destroyed. The horror and grief hit me like an emotional tidal wave, and right then it occurred to me that before newspapers, before TV and radio and airplanes and telegraph, a person like me in the middle of the North American continent would know nothing about it. They wouldn't feel this devastating, helpless grief. I envied those earlier people whose known world was so much smaller - and so much less vulnerable to these agonies - and I realized that the human mind and heart was not designed for this kind of assault. All of this flashed through my mind in an instant, and being 12, I had no idea what to do with it. Many times I've been reminded of this concept since then, painfully. I never heard or read anyone else mention it, much less offer a way to cope with these feelings. Mr. Mastroianni, saying "Thank you" doesn't begin to say how meaningful this essay has been. It's a masterpiece.
THANK YOU for this moving comment.
I've needed to read something like this for a long time. Thank you.
"Everyone I know has given up." You need a better / more normal circle of acquaintances. Seriously -- I'm not writing this to be flippant. Many of us do think there are serious problems at the moment, but we're also capable of finding joy in everyday experiences and continuing to contribute meaningfully to science / education / parenting / whatever. If you were in Eugene, OR, I'd invite you to chat over coffee!
I’d like to introduce people who are giving up two ideas: one, put down your phone; two, that your phone is the greatest propaganda device ever created.
Sadly, I think you're describing what is somewhat of an *abnormal* social circle nowadays.
Holy shit, Adam! Phenomenal piece of writing!!
This is excellent writing. Fair play.
From what I observed the reason people tend to avoid helping or taking responsibility these days is because there's a weird social phenomena where people hold you responsible for all bad outcomes as soon as you touch the situation. To put it in trolley problem terms, no one is responsible for the deaths unless someone touches the lever, at which point that person killed either one or five people regardless of whether they pulled it. The idea is that socially the only winning game is to not play.
Like maybe if something happened to the old lady you could have gotten sued, even if you tried to do the right thing or even improved the situation.
Now the flip side is that people really can make things worse if they try to help without having the skills to do so. There's decent reasons to discourage untrained individuals from attempting things beyond their skillset and leaving the work to professionals. Maybe you can help your depressed friend, but can you do better than a therapist? Perhaps, but it's a lot of work and you can fail, so you tell them to go to therapy.
This sort of attitude makes society fragile, but also it seems like our society *is* fragile. And the more fragile it gets the more you need specialized people to navigate it. To make it robust we have to pay the cost of occasionally breaking some aspects. But as soon as anyone tries he gets blamed for breaking the thing, even if it was gonna fail.
This is also partially why it feels like the bad people have all the agency.
> there's a weird social phenomena where people hold you responsible for all bad outcomes as soon as you touch the situation
That's described as The Copenhagen Interpretation of Ethics: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/zTiqHtAQurX35QBAs/repost-the-copenhagen-interpretation-of-ethics
"the problems we’re facing don’t take prisoners, so we might as well go down swinging." My thoughts exactly. ✊🏻
💪🏼
I love this, and it pretty much sums up a large part of my life philosophy. Thank you for giving me some words to put it more eloquently when people ask me why I spend SO much time volunteering. On top of working my 40 hours, I spend anywhere from 5-20 hours a week volunteering. Mostly repairing old bikes to be donated, but also helping immigrants apply for naturalization, visiting animal shelters, and going to the local food pantry.
Right now I'm lucky enough to be a single healthy man who has the time to do this, so I will exploit it while I can. I know there may come a day when I have a family and my circle will drastically and immediately shrink. But for now, it brings me immense joy to help while I can, and I've never been happier in my life.
I have a friend whose parents are consistently angry at the political climate. He was a little confused when I told him I don't really follow politics. I told him that if I did, I would spend too much time being angry and not enough time actually trying to solve issues. That energy can be used for volunteering, and if I have the option of doing a little bit and doing nothing, I am going to do a little bit.
Adam, this is so well thought out and written, and timely. Thank you so much for these ideas, and I will be sharing this one with many others.
Here's why I don't buy into the general malaise and pessimism prominent in certain parts of today's culture:
1. Many of the world's "serious" problems are in fact minor or imaginary.
2. Expanding your circle of concern to the point that you care about everyone and everything is irrational.
3. Obsessing about problems over which you have no control is irrational, as is obsessing over hypothetical problems based on unproven assumptions.
4. The world is not nearly as bad as the vocal neurotics of today claim it is.
5. Threats to freedom, prosperity, and human well being do exist, but they have always existed. Human beings are highly skilled at addressing and overcoming such obstacles.
I don’t allow many “long” emails to my inbox - I generally delete them and unsubscribe. There is one, however, that I do allow. And when it arrives I drop everything to read it. Yet again it has not disappointed. Thank you for another thought provoking piece.
I'm honored!
Adam, you are such a gigachad writer with an excellent first name. I really enjoyed this piece.
You have a classic one yourself, if I may say so
Word of the day = gigachad. Now I have to try to use it at least three times.
Thanks for this. In Eastern Orthodox Christianity, “spiritual warfare” involves guarding ourselves against despair as a significant component. If the devil can convince you that you are beyond hope, that you are beyond God’s mercy no matter how much you pray or repent, then the devil has already won.
Agree it’s not bad that our circle of care has expanded. But I also wonder whether some of what’s upweighted in our global feeds is actually calculated to push us toward despair instead of action.
That was beautiful. And timely because honestly I’ve been pretty depressed and it’s definitely easy to slide into the mindset that there’s nothing you can do.