In this week’s Frankly, I begin a new series called “Staying Human,” which focuses on what I see as a precondition for everything else: recovering a sense of personal agency. I open against the backdrop of Operation Epic Fury and the broader turbulence of 2026, but rather than offering geopolitical analysis, I turn inward toward a question that has been reshaping my theory of change: why does growing awareness of the more-than-human predicament so often produce paralysis rather than action?
I trace the gap between awareness and agency through several layers. I draw on the science of learned helplessness and self-efficacy research to explain how nervous systems learn whether effort leads to outcomes, and how a digital environment designed to fragment attention can train people to stop investing in their own follow-through. I frame this not as a personal failing but as a predictable consequence of living inside a Superorganism that advertises choice while eroding the conditions for it. Rather than prescribing a program, I share practices I am experimenting with myself: voluntary speed bumps before reaching for a screen, small kept promises that rebuild self-trust, and protecting even one hour of intentional time. I argue that reclaiming agency at the individual level is not sufficient to address our entire predicament, but it is a precondition for the community-level and institutional work required to make the future better than the default.
Where in your life has awareness of the world’s problems triggered overwhelm or even paralysis? What is one kept promise, however small, that might begin to rebuild your sense of traction? And if agency is a precondition for everything that comes next, what would it look like to treat it as something you practice rather than something you wait to feel?
Want to dive deeper into the concepts covered in this episode? Follow along with the Show Notes & Links to Learn More, which you can find at the bottom of the page for every episode of The Great Simplification.
In case you missed it…
In this week’s episode, I was joined by financial and economic analysts, Craig Tindale and Michael Every, to discuss the widespread implications of growing geopolitical tensions over scarce resources and the rapidly changing foreign policy and economic statecraft that countries are implementing in response. Importantly, Craig and Michael emphasized the centrality of China and the U.S. as the two superpowers reshaping global alliances, and how industrial capacity and material constraints underpin each move made in their pursuit for dominance. Ultimately, they emphasized the need for clarity and realignment of the goals for economic and industrial policy as we leave behind the era of growth and grapple with a simplifying world.
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Nate , I do not know you , but you speak 🗣️ from your heart ❤️ to what matters. I appreciate your words, you are a light in dark times. Soup, dogs, forest, babies all
Important parts of life. Thank you 😊
This has come to me, seemingly by randomness, nowadays I start to believe less in the randomness of things. This energy, you’re showing, the seriousness and playfulness of it, the honesty… it helps me cement my beliefs further. Please let episode 2 of this journey come quick. I agree with your take on agency, especially the emotional weight of it before, it does seem something has shifted. I want to explore this concept further especially its meaning and feeling of it to allow people become aware of it too. The speed bumps as a metaphor works elegantly in a keynote I am preparing. Wholeheartedly, thank you.