Thank you Gregg, One take away is that the aggregate world is getting better within the first 2 levels of Maslow's Hierarchy (sustenance and physical safety), whereas we at the individual level may experience a decline in material wealth whilst tasked with synchronizing chaotic justification systems and relational needs. -Chance On Sun, Dec 29, 2019 at 11:02 AM Henriques, Gregg - henriqgx < [log in to unmask]> wrote: > Hi TOK Society, > > > > I hope this finds you well. In many ways, 2019 has seen a continuation > and deepening of the Age of Confusion, and I remain scared for our future. > At the same time, it is also the case that the nature of news and how we > pay attention to the larger world deeply shapes our impression of it. (One > cognitive science reason for this is that if we pay attention all the time > to bad stuff, that means we have many available examples of bad stuff, > which means we think it is happening at a much greater rate than it is…this > is one of the biases of how we think called the availability heuristic). > > > > The fact is the world is very complicated and many things are happening > at once. The real world is much, much more complicated than our models of > it. And it is clearly the case that we need to look at the world via many > different lenses. For those who are pessimistic and feeling a bit dismayed, > I recommend Nicholas Kristof’s annual summary of how the world is > improving. Here is his 2019 version. > > *https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.nytimes.com_2019_12_28_opinion_sunday_2019-2Dbest-2Dyear-2Dpoverty.html-3Fnl-3Dtodaysheadlines-26emc-3Dedit-5Fth-5F191229-3Fcampaign-5Fid-3D2-26instance-5Fid-3D14840-26segment-5Fid-3D19924-26user-5Fid-3D8e4f03af2447d5adeb5069c9fb9bdf47-26regi-5Fid-3D352238941229&d=DwIFaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=jmIU1LVo7pZTWjYG-WNJ_OOoWqByM_npQmM0bklA7-0&s=Ne0hKu24Ouh7mrMgt0zGkIlaxgwE3cKY8VH0eMME7sQ&e= > <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.nytimes.com_2019_12_28_opinion_sunday_2019-2Dbest-2Dyear-2Dpoverty.html-3Fnl-3Dtodaysheadlines-26emc-3Dedit-5Fth-5F191229-3Fcampaign-5Fid-3D2-26instance-5Fid-3D14840-26segment-5Fid-3D19924-26user-5Fid-3D8e4f03af2447d5adeb5069c9fb9bdf47-26regi-5Fid-3D352238941229&d=DwIFaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=jmIU1LVo7pZTWjYG-WNJ_OOoWqByM_npQmM0bklA7-0&s=Ne0hKu24Ouh7mrMgt0zGkIlaxgwE3cKY8VH0eMME7sQ&e=>* > > > > I recommend it. I also recommend Ross Douthat’s interesting piece on why > the 2010s were “psychologically traumatic”. Indeed, I think they were. Few > things more traumatic to the psyche than profound existential confusion. > > > https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.nytimes.com_2019_12_28_opinion_sunday_2010s-2Ddecade-2Ddisillusionment.html-3Fnl-3Dtodaysheadlines-26emc-3Dedit-5Fth-5F191229-3Fcampaign-5Fid-3D2-26instance-5Fid-3D14840-26segment-5Fid-3D19924-26user-5Fid-3D8e4f03af2447d5adeb5069c9fb9bdf47-26regi-5Fid-3D352238941229&d=DwIFaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=jmIU1LVo7pZTWjYG-WNJ_OOoWqByM_npQmM0bklA7-0&s=sbOx4L6t8uCfm8G34vkwLoGJrxZVHKzoznN76iUrKy4&e= > > > > Warm regards to all, > > Gregg > ############################ > > To unsubscribe from the TOK-SOCIETY-L list: write to: > mailto:[log in to unmask] or click the > following link: > http://listserv.jmu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=TOK-SOCIETY-L&A=1 > ############################ To unsubscribe from the TOK-SOCIETY-L list: write to: mailto:[log in to unmask] or click the following link: http://listserv.jmu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=TOK-SOCIETY-L&A=1
