As is often the case with the divine, acts of God tend to be epitomes of human expression. Our inability to explain a phenomenon opens the door for the preternatural. It is our need to find order in chaos that paves the way for the religious approach. Combine the two, our incapacity to understand reality to its full extent and our necessity for destiny, and acts of God are inevitable.

Of course, human understanding has advanced in leaps and bounds throughout history. I often ponder about what an Ancient Roman would make some of the most ordinary features of life in modern society: from electric lights to cars to immediate and boundless communication. Thus, it is no surprise that the moment we comprehend the inner workings of an event, the magic breaks and the illusion dissipates. Since levels of understanding differ vastly from individual to individual, we live in a moment where people sharing a physical space believe in opposite things: what one perceives as the logical result of a set of circumstances and contrasting wills the other will deem irrefutable proof of divine intervention.

Bridging the expanding gap between such groups remains the most daunting challenge in an era of mounting challenges.

Acts of God

The problem with cynics is that they don’t mean what they say. Even when they do, they can turn around and claim they didn’t. It’s cynicism’s appeal: nothing matters, everything is broken, and I cannot be responsible for any of it. I see the destruction around me, and I offer no solutions, for there aren’t any to offer, and everybody who pretends to help is just as bad as those who scorched the earth in the first place.

It’s impossible to build anything with a liar. It’s impossible to build anything with a cynic. Thus, in practice, they deserve the same amount of our time and attention.

Cynics

Most of us will have experienced a friend’s evolution to a state from which friendship is no longer possible. It may be someone we have known for years, perhaps considered a close friend at some point, who begins to develop traits or adopt beliefs that pull them further away from us. Of course, perspective matters: our choices and ideologies may be tugging in the opposite direction. Regardless, at one critical moment, something tips the balance and they or we are too far gone.

Politics and religion are particularly adept at engulfing people and absorbing them into an isolating whole others cannot or – worse – will not reach. Indeed, it may be healthy to remove such people from our social circles, striking through their names on a list.

However, what happens when too many people are too far gone? Indeed, detoxifying a charged atmosphere tends to leave everybody poisoned and hurt. When the micro becomes macro, what lies at the other side of the social fulcrum? There are no simple answers in a polarised world. In fact, one hopes for any answers at all.

Too far gone

If someone asked me what I fear the most, I’d probably answer human stupidity. Considering stupidity is simultaneously the cause of many of the transcendental issues we face and the reason we can’t resolve them, I think it’s a fair choice of monster.

The issue, of course, is those I disparage believe I’m the helpless fool. And for a darker twist: what if we’re all equally ignorant? The fact we can’t convince each other of much anything could count as evidence.

More fool us

In technology, backwards compatibility is the process of iterating on a system while preserving its ability to work with old components or data structures. Perhaps a simple example most of us will understand is that of video game consoles: a company develops a new console which can process much more powerful graphics, but you can still use it to play your old, lower-resolution titles.

While we have come to expect such functionality, we shouldn’t take it for granted. Only a few years ago, it was hard to change systems – whether our phone or bank account – and not have to undertake a learning curve. Of course, the incentive to invest in backwards compatibility was evident to businesses: they’d want to come up with the next big thing, the newest gadget for those who can afford it without alienating those who cannot. Moreover, the practice removes much of the friction caused by having to learn anything.

Regardless of the reasons for the trend, we would do well to adopt its principles and adapt them to our long-term plans for politics and society at large: how can we continue to advance together, ever faster, while ensuring people aren’t left behind due to lack of technical skill, support networks or, indeed, funds?

Backwards compatibility

Agility is essential. Physical agility. Mental agility. Social agility.

However, when all we do is exercise agility, we risk becoming such reaction experts that we forget what it was like to take initiative.

Martian Thoughts

Acts of God

Cynics

Too far gone

More fool us

Backwards compatibility

Agile reactions, initiative undertakings