I wish someone had told me that cynics don’t build the future
It’s too easy to continue doing things the way they are currently being done and using systems that were created to solve challenges in a world before our time.
A cynic is broadly defined as a person who believes that people are motivated purely by self-interest rather than acting for honourable or unselfish reasons.
Being cynical is something that I have been giving a lot of thought to over the last few months. Challenging myself to think bigger and to engage with people around ideas that we can enact to help make the world a better place.
So how can we build the future, what can we do and where can we start?
Jacqueline Novogratz has a TED Talk titled “What it takes to Make Change”. The first time I watched it was during one of our TED Circles get togethers earlier in the year. It was a recommendation from Joan Middleton, who I met through this medium and have had some great discussions with this year.
In her talk, Jacqueline explores the concepts of radical and moral imagination. When listening to her unpack the concepts, I am drawn to the analogy of “putting yourself in someone else’s shoes”. This is often challenging to do, not because we can’t do it, but rather because we have own biases that may influence the scenario in which they find themselves.
Moral imagination, according to philosopher Mark Johnson, means envisioning the full range of possibilities in a particular situation in order to solve an ethical challenge. We need to envision a future that is more connected, open, accepting, sustainable, and embodies sharing. Continuing to live with and be influenced by models created to solve problems before our time will not help us build the future.
I am currently reading her latest book, The Manifesto for a Moral Revolution. A central theme that runs through the chapters that I have read so far related to giving. She asks us to think about how we can give more than we demand from the earth’s resources. Turning the tide and leaving things better off than when we found them.
As we start a new week, let’s encourage ourselves to embrace imagination and to give more than we take.
