Can we change?
Will the pandemic lead to lasting, constructive social and environmental change? Or will we find ourselves dragged back into the same old damaging patterns?
This is a special instalment of New World Same Humans, David Mattin’s weekly newsletter on trends, technology, and society.
This week I promised to send a mid-week note. So here it is: a quick thought, and some NWSH news.
In the past few days I’ve been struck by how so much of our conversation about this moment tends to circle back to the same issue. That is, our capacity for change.
The pandemic has thrown so many of our old assumptions into the air. We’re reassessing much about our individual and collective lives. And the question we seem to come to over and again is: will this mean lasting change? Or will things just go back to the way they were before? Will we go back to frequent air travel? What about commuting to offices? Buying too much food, and wasting a meaningful proportion of it?
These are all versions of the same underlying question. In the years ahead can we make fundamental changes when it comes to our way of life? Or will we find ourselves dragged back once again to the same old patterns?
The way you answer that question depends in part on what you think about how people work. In particular, on what you think about human nature.
Of course, these questions have deep philosophical roots. In the 20th-century the Existentialists contributed to this strain of thought via their foundational position that existence precedes essence. That is, there is no shared or stable human nature. Instead, said the Existentialists, human beings are born blank slates, and the work of being human is that of inventing some coherent markings to fill all that white space.
These are still live and controversial issues. But today there is a loose scientific consensus around the idea that the Existentialists were wrong. That in fact there is a stable and shared human nature, and it is a product of our evolutionary past. That means we don’t invent ourselves from the ground up; instead the universal human essence precedes the existence of any particular one of us.
This seems to support pessimism when it comes to the idea that the pandemic can lead to permanent, constructive changes Yes, we’re all on lockdown right now. But once that is over, won’t key aspects of our shared nature come roaring back: greed, laziness, status, instant gratification and more? And won’t that mean a return to the same socially and environmentally damaging patterns of behaviour?
Well, maybe.
As its name suggests, this newsletter is invested in the idea that there is a stable human nature. It’s key thesis is that meaningful new trends emerge when a changing world collides with fundamental and unchanging human needs and values. And yes, some current talk about the lasting impact of the pandemic can seem starry-eyed. I’m not sure that when lockdown lifts billions worldwide will reject traditional consumerism in favour of an austere diet, volunteering and more quality time with their lonely Great Aunt. The truth is that the deep-running human impulses that got us into the social and planetary mess we’re in are going nowhere.
But belief in a shared human nature doesn’t mean accepting the mistaken idea that people are simple, predictable, or incapable of change. Rather, human nature is complex and multi-faceted. It also contains impulses towards cooperation, civility and harmony with the natural world, for example.
We can’t rely on enlightenment en-masse to change the world after the pandemic. And there will be powerful vested interests that try to pull us back to the status quo. Instead, the work of the Great Reset will pose the same challenge that we’ve faced all through our history. That is, to take stock of a changing world and reach new settlements – that harness the best of our shared nature, and restrain the worst – that allow an accommodation with it.
Of course, within that simple statement there are multitudes – of difficulty and disagreement. While there are core and stable human needs and values, they are often antagonistic. Think, for example, about the impulses towards freedom and security, and how often they collide with one another (I mean that in many domains of human life you can have maximum freedom or maximum security, but not both). Core human values often run contrary to one another. And that makes conflict an inescapable part of our collective lives.
There will be plenty of conflict ahead as we rebuild. We’ll need to make renewed use of the political mechanisms our historical inheritance has handed us for dealing with that conflict, and finding collective compromise.
Time and again we humans are called up to renew the bonds that tie us together, the settlements that allow us to live among one another, and the shared vision that drives us forward. This, surely, is one of those times. It’s by paying attention to the lessons of the past, and of our shared underlying nature, that we give ourselves the best chance of success.
Mass gathering
As these strange times unfold, New World Same Humans will be watching.
I started this newsletter to try in some small way to make sense of this moment, and what it tells us about where we’re heading. That was before the pandemic; now, the project of making sense only seems more all-consuming.
Thanks for reading. But I want this to be a conversation, too. That’s why – as many of you are already aware – there will soon be a NWSH community where we can all share ideas, perspectives and evidence on our shared future.
If you join, you will be the first wave: the group that helps build this community from the ground up. I hope it can become a place of learning, inspiration and usefulness for all of us. And, in time, a key destination for anyone who shares our fascination for trends, technology and society.
The Slack group will be set up in the coming days. I’ll send an invite soon so you can join.
In the meantime – a request. Share this message with friends and colleagues who would be an asset to the community, and encourage them to sign up to this newsletter so that they receive an invite. The more powerful our new community becomes, the better for all of us!
Back on Sunday
Okay, that’s more than enough from me. I’ll be back with my usual instalment on Sunday evening.
Until then, be well,
David.