The Collective Human Experience

Perhaps it’s because some cultures – especially those somewhat insulated from the West’s relentless march towards individualised efficiency – have managed to preserve something we’ve lost along the way: an assumption of goodness in others. A default that sees a stranger and thinks ‘guest’ rather than ‘risk’. How ironic then that the countries we’re... See more

We are wired to seek and sustain relationships and cannot survive without them. The future of the human race won’t turn on space travel or climate tech, but on our ability to attach to others. A sense that we matter, that we can call on and be called upon by others to ease burdens and celebrate joy.

It’s liberation from the idea that we can self-optimize ourselves to the point of not needing anyone else. That if we work hard enough to survive in a competitive economy, we’ll be able to buy, order, or summon anything we might need within 24 hours, and that is somehow progress. That instead of asking for help and support from the people and

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In a world that glorifies individual success, we easily forget that our greatest power lies in our ability to come together. A truly empowered and resilient society can only arise from a sense of unity and collective purpose, not self-interest. How can we reclaim the power of the collective without losing our sense of self?

caretaking is a kind of liberation

Joy is not a function of a life free of friction and frustration, but a function of focus — an inner elevation by the fulcrum of choice.

Underlying the structural changes was an ideological shift toward reciprocity, an ideal of sharing and balance that undergirded economics, politics, and religion across much of the continent. The Sonoran Desert–living O’odham, for example, developed a himdag , or “way of life,” that taught that people are supposed to share with one another... See more

our individual flourishing is inextricably linked to the wellbeing of those around us

What we urgently need in all ranks of leadership, both in corporate and government, is the ability to imagine futures that see the messiness of being human not as an inefficiency to be optimised away but as an essential friction that weaves the fabric of genuine human experience.