Saved by Stuart Evans
Learning to exercise agency
High agency is such an important idea because the more agency an individual or society has -- the more problems they can solve.
High agency can be a confusing idea to understand because it’s not just one idea. It’s a combination of three distinct skills rarely found together:
High agency can be a confusing idea to understand because it’s not just one idea. It’s a combination of three distinct skills rarely found together:
- Clear thinking
- Bias to action
- Disagreeability
High Agency
People with a high agency mindset often have a bias for action.
Instead of I need to understand this before I can try it, they usually think I need to try this in order to understand it. They’re experimental in their approach to problems and goals. They go after what they want without waiting for the circumstances to be ideal.
The good news is that having high agency is an internal state of mind, and it can be absorbed. It means freeing oneself from artificial constraints and defying them. It’s Morpheus challenging Neo in The Matrix: “Do you think that’s air you’re breathing now?” The limitations we’ve accepted as natural — degrees, credentials, specialized skills, years... See more
Agency Is Eating the World
