Collapse

cruel optimism: Lauren Berlant’s seminal coinage for “when something you desire is actually an obstacle to your flourishing.” In Berlant’s usage, optimism is “the force that moves you out of yourself and into the world” in search of something—some sense of self or state of being—that you can’t generate on your own. This optimistic relation can feel... See more

Destruction and renewal are part of the same cycle. Indigenous knowledge has always understood this. It’s not about avoiding collapse – it’s about preparing for regeneration.

– Mellisa K. Nelson

Often we fail to improve our lives simply because things don't get bad enough. If your new job is hell, you’ll leave it, but if it’s just unsatisfying, you’ll likely grind it out. Thus, small problems often threaten our quality of life more than big ones.

The internet has conditioned us to constantly seek new information, as if becoming a sponge of bad news will eventually yield the final piece of a puzzle. But there is also such a thing as having enough information.

If intelligence is no longer measured by the depth of our understanding but by the speed of our retrieval, are we truly expanding our cognitive potential—or simply surrendering to the illusion of knowing?