Matthew shares his thoughts on the newest incarnation of Moments of Clarity.
As we begin a new season of Moments of Clarity, I thought it was timely to reflect on what made me undertake this project in the first place.
“As our knowledge changes, as science, technology and philosophy eb and flow, it will be our intrinsic moral and ethical foundation that will allow us to remain focussed on what is truly important.”
Reflection
Values. It is a word I often fall back on when encountering division and debate as I go about my day to day. I am constantly entering into intellectual, philosophical, spiritual and scientific conversations that all too often become a ping pong match. A ping pong match of who can remember the most from the last article they read, the last documentary they watched or the last podcast they listened to, that supports their current point of view. Nobody learns anything from talking past one another, from trying to ensure your next interaction is won through a successful conversion to your side. This is why I have been so caught up on reaching for my own values in the face of information overload. I have many values that I hold dear and like everyone I range between living each value out everyday and failing miserably to align my values and my actions. As social media and the 24 hour news cycle increases the perceived importance of little events and increases anxiety levels it actually works to blur our understanding and attention of the things that really matter.
My values stem from the idea that most people are inherently good. That individuals want to live in a better world, where peace, happiness, liberty and prosperity surround the lives of everyone. Yet when I look around, when I see authoritarian regimes outnumber democratic societies, when I see most of the worlds wealth in the hands of the few, when I watch wars, famine, exploitation, disease and one environmental disaster after the other dominate the news cycle I am overwhelmed by pessimism, despair and outrage. These realities work to make me question my values and beliefs. Yet they shouldn't. My despair actually comes from the strength of believing that most people are good. That we are the same. That we are all in this together. If I did not believe this then why would I care about the billions around the world in a worse off position than me.
Yet I find myself second guessing if people are inherently good. If we care about our neighbours? If we are willing to walk the walk when it comes to repairing a sick society. I don't mean sick as a synonym for disgust, although I often feel that way. I mean literally ill. A society that has lost its understanding of why societies exist in the first place. To benefit us, the people. A collection of diverse and unique individuals that work together to improve the lives of the many. That live in a community where each and every human is at the forefront of every decision they make. Yet this is not the case, in the richest, most developed countries in the world, we have growing issues of inequality, marginalisation, distrust in experts, conspiracy theories, addiction, anxiety, depression and suicide. How is this possible if society is working for us? Why are my daily interactions with people often lethargic and despairing rather than joyful and optimistic?
Moments of Clarity is my answer to my many questions. I want to dig deep to find out what makes people tick. What dreams and aspirations we are living and why so many people are missing out. I want to start to actually listen to others and use their stories and beliefs to help understand my own values. In his most recent book, “21 Lessons for the 21st Century”, Yuval Noah Harari writes that “in a world deluged by irrelevant information, clarity is power”. I named this podcast long before reading this quote but it placed my scrambled thoughts into this one eloquent sentence.
As our knowledge changes, as science, technology and philosophy eb and flow, it will be our intrinsic moral and ethical foundation that will allow us to remain focussed on what is truly important. I plan to learn as much as I can about what I consider a gap in fundamental values - or at least a gap of our attention on them.
At a time where global problems require global solutions I feel that it is imperative that I add my small and at times solitary voice to the chorus. To find out if we do have the power to affect change. To find out who I am, and in the process develop an understanding of our collective self. And when we do understand ourselves personally and collectively, what will we do with that clarity to realise that our differences as a species do not divide us but unite us. I wrote this in January 2020 and as I sit here in May 2022, I don't think much has changed.
- Matthew Sortino
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