Changing Definitions

“ Anything that does not benefit both the individual and the collective simultaneously should not be considered success.”

What does it mean to be successful? What does human progress and advancement mean on a collective and individual level ? Obviously these are words that represent something desirable and something that is good. Yet what is considered success and progress is subjective and I want to challenge contemporary definitions of these terms to explore if they are truly what should be defined as success and progress..

     So generally speaking the dominant contemporary idea of success is based on how much money you make and how many ‘things’ you have. Common beliefs are saying that having more successful is directly linked to making more money. The more money we make the more successful we are. Not to say making money is bad, I believe we deserve to make money and it should come along with success, but my point is I think it is a problem if it is our primary marker of success. The primary motive of money is woven into the very fabric of our culture and society to the point where our economic system depends on infinite growth each year to be able to sustain itself. The game of achieving status in our culture is tied to how much money and how many things you have to display your level of wealth. And yet we know that the amount of money one has is not tethered to their level of happiness and fulfillment. In fact studies show that countries with higher levels of wealth have higher rates of suicide, depression, and anxiety disorders. The greater the wealth of any nation, the greater the mental health crisis. This should ring many alarm bells in terms of what we define as success. Our collective ideas of success are steering individuals towards a life that ultimately isn’t what makes humans happy and fulfilled.

   Now when we look at what progress has meant in our civilization it has led us in the direction of greater comfort, convenience, and luxury. These have their pros and cons but I am choosing to focus on the detrimental aspects of these things we regard as good because it appears to be a very serious issue if not an emergency. It seems problematic that humanity’s progress towards an easier life hasn’t necessarily resulted in a better life. There is a full blown comfort crisis. The benefits that the modern world has given us have been completely blind to harm it has caused. People are unhappier than ever, and diseases of despair are on a steep rise.

It is clear that science and technology are a driving force of progress yet they have been controlled and steered by the desire to maximize profit. If we look at the negative externalities of this, they are devastating. Focusing on profits has led us to use technology in a way that harms the heath of our planet (think of deforestation, microplastics everywhere, addictive social media algorithms, etc.). Moving towards what we consider progress has resulted in a society of sociopathic business models. It has also led to a population that is isolated and super divided. On one hand we can point out advancements in the world that are undeniable, but we rarely connect the dots of how these advancements are creating new problems as they solve old ones. Our list of unmet needs will get longer and longer.

As long as our culture defines success and progress in this way, we will continue to compete for profits and degrade our planet’s ecosystems. Ecosystems that we humans are actually dependent on to survive. We will continue to chase the things that think will make us happy, but are actually just short-term pleasure that leads to empytness. We must deeply questions what it means to be successful and what actual progress is. I now want to play around with ideas of what I think these terms should mean for us as a collective.

    Anything that does not benefit both the individual and the collective simultaneously should not be considered success. So anything that benefits the individual yet harms the whole or vice versa should not be considered success. If we are to steer the world in a better direction there must be a coupling between the good of the individual and good of the whole. If we look at a healthy body we can see that this is how cells act; they behave in ways that benefit themselves and the whole at the same time. The liver and the lungs don’t fight over a scarcity of resources. There is synergy between cell to cell, cell to organ, and organ to organ. We see harmony at multiple levels in and between them. It can be seen as fractal synergy or fractal harmony. There is cooperation instead of competition. Win-win instead of win-loss dynamics.

Some of the things I view as success would be to have a strong connection to other humans, to nature, and to the Divine. On a personal level it would be to pursue the things that intrinsically motivate you, and ideally your actions would be a win-win dynamic between you and the world around you. To grow into the person you feel called to become instead of working a job you hate just to pay the bills or just so you can earn a lot of money. Being of service in a way that feels you are sharing your unique gifts and that they are being appreciated by the world around you. Being a net positive force in the world, finding a way in which you can channel your creativity and passion into service that benefits and enhances the well-being of the whole. 

   I would define progress as moving in the direction of minimizing net suffering for the world and maximizing harmony and wholeness. We must invest our technology and science into creating a more habitable planet for us and all of our fellow children of Earth. Moving in a direction where we as humans feel integrated in the great web of life, and where we seek to optimally coexist with all life-forms of nature without overstepping onto another's expression. As in not outshining others but to let all the organisms in the Universe sing their song and to let it be heard. We can understand ourselves and our place in the Universe in a deeper way. We can start to steer science and technology with the incentive of wanting the greatest good of all. The problem is that it is not rewarded by our current financial system. Especially when we consider money the top reward. There are benefits money gives you in terms of security, resources, and freedom, but at what price? Are we actually more free if we have to work 50 hour weeks at a meaningless job that makes us feel lifeless? Are we actually happier with the isolation that security and comfort bring us? 

    I believe we need to get clear on who we are as human beings so that we know what type of life we require to be happy. The better we can understand how we are wired and why we evolved the way we did, the better we can design a world that truly heads a direction that increases collective wholeness, happiness, and fulfillment, while decreasing suffering and disharmony.