The Story of Decline
The only way forward is to finally accept how truly ugly, reckless, and depraved we have become and to return to how we were before when we were wise, good, and whole. This is one of our favorite stories about ourselves today.
Humanity is Beautiful
Memes
Many of my mental models are those shared with others. Together, they form what we call “culture.”
Mental models
It is utter chaos all around us. Our brains are by necessity simplifiers, pattern seekers, and meaning makers. We use mental models to cut through the noise and give shape to the chaos.
A disease
It is not just outrage, despair, and hatred of others. It is not just fear. It is self-loathing. We are disgusted by ourselves.
Declinism
Likely more than any other time in our history, humans believe our species is in decline, perhaps even careening swiftly, hopelessly toward our very demise.
Losing ourselves
Underneath all outrage, despair, hatred, cynicism, and apathy is just fear. We fear we are losing something essential, something that defines us, something that makes life worth living.
Existential crisis
Anger, sadness, and disgust curdle into outrage, despair, and hatred only when they trigger an existential crisis, only when we are convinced our very identity is at stake.
Outrage, despair, and hatred
Even amidst our profound division, we often share the same core emotions: outrage, despair, hatred. The reasons are different, but the feelings and judgments are strikingly similar.
The world is on fire
It’s now only a matter of time before we destroy ourselves and the Earth as we know it. And we deserve it. This is the story that many of us tell ourselves.