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, because we already know what we want. "Pursuit of happiness" becomes a practical matter, of acquiring that.

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

That with striking consistency, the more convenient direction leads to a less convenient condition.

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

What is really worth aiming for?

It is at that point that we become ready to explore such fundamental questions more deeply, by taking advantage of specific insights. Our contemporary condition is seen in a completely new light—and a wealth of ways of improving it come to the foreground.

We here illustrate that by a few examples.