Holotopia: Convenience paradox

H O L O T O P I A: F I V E I N S I G H T S

The Renaissance liberated our ancestors from preoccupation with the afterlife, and empowered them to seek happiness here and now. The lifestyle changed, and the culture blossomed. What will the next "great cultural revival" be like?

From scraps of 19th century science, our ancestors concocted a narrow frame—a "rigid and narrow" way to look at the world, which made us misunderstand and damage culture. Convenience—which identifies "happiness" with acquiring and experiencing what feels attractive—is a case in point.

When we look at the world through convenience, we shun knowledge and wisdom as irrelevant. We believe we already know what we want—the rest is just the practical matter of acquiring it. <p>

The key insight, which we are calling convenience paradox, is that convenience is a deceptive and paradoxical value.

<p>With striking consistency, the pursuit of convenience leads to an inferior or less convenient condition.

When the convenience paradox is understood—we readily see that we indeed have no clue about the question that might be the life's most interesting and important one—What is good for us ? What should we aim for?

It is at that point that we become ready to explore such basic human questions more deeply, by taking advantage of relevant specific insights. We then begin to see our contemporary condition in an entirely new light. A wealth of opportunities for improving this condition come to the foreground—by developing culture; and "human quality" or personal and societal wholeness.

We here illustrate that by a few examples.