"Quote of the Week" is leisure reading in my assignment reminder emails to my students.
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To truly grasp the complex nature of our current time, we need first of all to embrace its most terrifying aspect: its fundamental open-endedness. It is precisely this radical uncertainty -- not knowing where we are and what lies ahead -- that gives rise to such existential anxiety.
We Don’t Know What Will Happen Next
April 18, 2023
By Jerome Roos
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/18/opinion/global-crisis-future.html
People of a particular mindset crave certainty. They wish for a world where everything is predictable and accountable. For such individuals, the current era must be daunting, with global issues such as climate change, geopolitical tension, and the dramatic rise of artificial intelligence.
Those people tend to be drawn to one of the two opposing worldviews: a progressive narrative ("Everything will be okey") or a doomsday narrative ("Our days are numbered"). Both stances exhibit a one-sided perspective that sees history as a linear development, either ascending or descending.
Mr. Roos, an expert on the history of global crises, reminds us of the complexity and open-endedness of the world. The world is perpetually changing, sometimes subtly and occasionally drastically. Furthermore, nobody can predict the extent of the consequences, for changes are endless.
Liberal education emancipates individuals from their narrow-mindedness. Broaden your horizons and accept the complexity of the world. That is how you live a brave life.
[Written with ChatGPT and Bard]
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