I like to take this interval before Labour Day to recalibrate. It's a good opportunity to explore thoughts, pick up a bit new knowledge.
I thought I'd begin by sharing a passage from Yuval Noah Harari's book, "Homo Deus," that reflects how our world is, in reality, largely what we imagine it to be.
The message seems to be not to reject fiction but to control it. We should be aware of the role they play in charting our future and be wary of those who craft them in our name yet not in our interests.
Human cooperative networks usually judge themselves by yardsticks of their own invention and, not surprisingly, they often give themselves high marks. In particular, human networks built in the name of imaginary entities such as gods, nations and corporations normally judge their success from the viewpoint of the imaginary entity. A religion is successful if it follows divine commandments to the letter; a nation is glorious if it promotes the national interest; and a corporation thrives if it makes a lot of money.
When examining the history of any human network, it is therefore advisable to stop from time to time and look at things from the perspective of some real entity. How do you know if an entity is real? Very simple - just ask yourself, 'Can it suffer?' When people burn down the temple of Zeus, Zeus doesn't suffer. When the euro loses its value, the euro doesn't suffer. When a bank goes bankrupt, the bank doesn't suffer. When a country suffers a defeat un war, the country doesn't really suffer. It's just a metaphor. In contrast, when a soldier is wounded in battle, he really does suffer. When a famished peasant has nothing to eat, she suffers. When a cow is separated from her newborn calf, she suffers. This is reality.
Fiction isn't bad. It is vital. Without commonly accepted stories about things like money, states or corporations, no complex human society can function. We can't play football unless everyone believes in the same made-up rules, and we can't enjoy the benefits of markets and courts without similar make believe stories. But stories are just tools. They should not become our goals or our yardsticks. When we forget that they are mere fiction, we lose touch with reality. Then we begin entire wars 'to make a lot of money for the corporation' or 'to protect the national interest.' Corporations, money and nations exist only in our imagination. We invented them to serve us; why do we find ourselves sacrificing our lives in their service?
In the twenty-first century we will create more powerful fictions and more totalitarian religions than in any previous era. With the help of biotechnology and computer algorithms these religions will not only control our minute-by-minute existence, but will be able to shape our bodies, brains and minds, and to create virtual worlds complete with hells and heavens. Being able to distinguish fiction from reality and religion from science will therefore become more difficult but more vital than ever before.
Our make-believe institutions are failing to keep up. Even one of the newest, the neoliberal order, now only serves the very few to the detriment of the great many. Democracy has atrophied into something less than democratic. I am constantly amazed at how loosely we bandy about the term "progressive" yet have a hopelessly vague grasp of what it means. Ancient religions rooted in ancient beliefs about invisible omnipotent gods are waning and yet we are still taught they're worth killing "the other" over. Does that make any sense?
lf there is one lesson we must learn from neoliberalism surely it is that "the next great thing" is apt to be anything but. It is quite likely to be a contrivance structured to suit the needs of a special interest on the promise of great benefits for the public interest. As we are finally coming to realize, neoliberalism has been the engine of the greatest transfer of unearned wealth from the many to the very few.
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