From climate change to obesity it seems clear that our societies are less wise than we would like — or need. Wisdom can sound other-worldly. But we believe it can and should be eminently practical. That it offers a valuable way to frame an important and essential enquiry into how we can make our societies and institutions work better. Wisdom is an idea that requires us to reflect on ends as well as means — where we are going as well as how to get there. For example, we focus a great deal on growth, but what kind of growth do we want and why do we want it? Conversely, lofty ideals are all very well, but without practical ways to turn them into reality they may be of little value.
Life Itself ›“Only in silence the word, only in darkness the light, only in dying life: bright the hawk’s flight on the empty sky.” – Ursula Le Guin (the greatest fictional expositor of Zen in modern times)
Read full article ›Policy-based evidence and emotion-based reasons are the unacknowledged ids of our rationalist society. All of us (other than psychopaths!) find it hard to preach one thing and do another. Hence, we are all forced to find ways to have our reason and our instinct coincide. Sincerity is essential to our self image.
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Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson
Like someone reading Wikipedia on speed.
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