Awaken Paths to Meaning

Of all the issues listed here, this is perhaps the one I’ve spent the most time investigating and acquiring insight on. Even if we create better institutions, better social organization systems, and better technologies or practices to responsibly use technologies, we still need to orient those institutions, technologies, and the effort of social organization as a whole toward creating meaningful lives. Otherwise, what’s the point?

Not only are meaningful livelihoods, communities and larger stories extremely important in their own right, but having fulfilled and whole people will reciprocally help us to better solve these incredibly complex and daunting challenges. In fact, I’d argue… only self-realizing people will contribute with the needed quality of thought and action.

Most people hate their jobs. Suicide among young people is rising alarmingly. This year, I lost my brother to addiction, which is tragically becoming epidemic. Work, patriotism, scientific progress and /or religion used to be the default source of meaning people looked to, these were the larger stories people placed their individual stories into. Those old stories are losing their power. Work itself may soon become inaccessible to many through the advent of accelerating automation. Restoring our ability to create meaning requires that we adopt new stories that can fill a “god sized hole” in the human psyche.

This is largely a role for culture, not for government. But that does not mean government should abdicate our responsibility to contribute where the opportunity exists. Here are some of the higher priorities I see in how we can contribute to the meaning crisis via government.

Priorities: Under Construction