Author name: Peter Schulte

Joseph Campbell’s 1949 book The Hero with a Thousand Faces argued that many of humanity’s most famous stories share a common narrative blueprint that resonates deeply with the human spirit.

The elusive “social impact” has just become another object of our lust and greed. And when we can never quite achieve enough impact, the burnout that follows is uniquely devastating.

The challenges are thornier than ever. We ask more of ourselves than ever. And we have less energy and capacity to do it than ever.

Our disciplinary society has transformed into an achievement society. And because of it, we are now swimming in a sea of inadequacy. If we can — and should — achieve whatever we put our minds to, what we actually do always falls short.

The polycrisis isn’t only happening out in the world. Living with the growing possibility of collapse stirs anxiety, despair, and dread within us, and that inner crisis erodes our capacity to respond, deepening the very problems that caused it.

Humanity in the 21st Century is facing a seemingly endless stream of crises: the climate crisis, biodiversity loss, poverty, economic inequality, pandemics, growing authoritarianism, terrorism, gun violence, runaway technological advancement, the erosion of shared knowledge and meaning, and much more.

The hero begins their journey in the “ordinary world” of relative peace, comfort, and familiarity. The antihero begins their journey already in the extraordinary world, already striving for heroic greatness, already exhausted trying to be something they will never be.