Moving from Naive to Authentic Progress: A Vision for Betterment
The Great Simplification #126 with Daniel Schmachtenberger
Today, I welcome back Daniel Schmachtenberger to unpack a new paper, which he co-authored, entitled Development in Progress, an analysis on the history of progress and the consequences of ‘advancement’.
Current mainstream narratives sell the story that progress is synonymous with betterment, and that the world becomes better for everyone as GDP and economies continue to grow. Yet, this is an incomplete portrayal that leaves out the dark sides of advancement. What are the implications when only the victors of history write the narratives of progress and define societal values? What are the value systems embedded in our institutions and policies, and how do they reinforce the need for ongoing growth at the expense of the natural world and human well-being? Finally, how do we change these dynamics to form a new, holistic definition of progress that accounts for the connectedness of our planet to the health of our minds, bodies, and communities?
In case you missed it…
Last week, I was joined by educator and indigenous researcher Vanessa Andreotti to discuss what she calls “hospicing modernity” in order to move beyond the world we’ve come to know and the failed promises that “modernity” has made to our current culture. Whether you refer to it as the metacrisis, the polycrisis, or - in Nate’s terms - the human predicament, Vanessa brings a unique framing rooted in indigenous knowledge and relationality to aid in understanding, grieving, and building emotional resilience within this space. What does it mean to live and work within systems that are designed to fail, embedded in an aimless culture?
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“The mind that was conditioned by this kind of system can’t avoid making more of this kind of system…”
I like Schmactenberger's thinking, even if little of this was new to me, and he didn't leave me seeing much cause for optimism that humanity will break free of this "multi-polar trap". But I was disappointed that he didn't pursue the one exit ramp I could see in the whole discussion, which is that if (in the absence of an ethical compass) everything boils down to game theory, people (event he elites with power) can learn game theory and strategize our way out of the prisoner's dilemma kind of trap that we're in. Sorry that avenue was not pursued as a potential exit, as I didn't perceive any other.