I have but a cursory understanding of humankind’s history on this planet, but as far as I know this is how things went….
If memory serves from what I read in Jared Diamond’s book “Guns, Germs & Steel” it was only in the last 2,000 years that the last of the South Pacific Islands were settled by human beings. Before then, from pretty much the first steps humans took on the African Continent up until that moment, life was pretty hard. You were born, you got influenza A, you died. You were born, you ate some berries, there weren’t enough, you died. You make it to the age of 17, becoming the oldest person in your community, you died.
In this way, life was FULL of challenges. Moreover, these challenges were an integral part of daily life; you could not avoid them.
As time went on, we saw some developments occur that began to change the nature of daily life. For example, at some point we saw modern medicine take off, absolutely catapulting developed nations to a state of happy-go-lucky afternoons filled with indulgence the-likes-of-which we had never seen before. Indeed, it was now nearly impossible to die, compared to a few thousand years ago.
Not only that, as the turmoil of fighting for survival dwindled, we found ourselves with nothing to do. Therefore, in the early 19th century we decided there was not nearly enough stuff in the world, so we decided to make anything and everything we could possibly want. The result? There is now a small plastic object for everything, an app for everything, a TV show or documentary for everything… you get the idea.
Now, despite the current state of things, we are not without our next big hurdles as a species. For instance, in the course of producing a thing for everything, we also destroyed the environment. So putting that back together is one such hurdle. Another is achieving a more equal distribution of resources, so that people living in less developed nations can live a higher quality of life.
However, if you decide that pursuing one of these noble hurdles is not for you, you face a certain dilemma…
What should you do all day?
You live in comfort. There are a million ways to make an income high enough to have basically everything you could want for or need. You will probably live for a long time. You are rarely threatened in any meaningful way. All of this means that challenges are not forced on you. Instead you must seek them out.
What a unique spot to be in, when viewed from the bird’s eye. Never before has a human being had both the right and misfortune to seek out what challenges they must confront. How perplexingly delightful.
And that’s just the thing… I believe that in addition to aiding the environment and redistributing resources, one great new hurdle of humanity is figuring out what 8 million + people are going to do to find fulfillment when they have everything they need.
This is difficult for the following reasons:
1)People often do not have a good understanding of their own wishes, talents, weaknesses, emotions, and whatever else makes up a person.
2)There is little effort dedicated nowadays to helping people figure this sort of thing out. People are often told to “figure it out” on their own. “Time will tell, they say”. “Try stuff” they say.
3)There is a surplus of options, and we know from every overhyped psychological study out there that too many options leaves us more dissatisfied. (Thanks academia).
The ramifications of this hurdle in humankind are monstrous. Think about your neighbor, the fat guy in the red convertible who is always “ok”, or “just fine”. Bob’s got nothing to live for, you see.
In addition to leaving lots of people bored, the costs on institutions are tremendous. Organizations spend time, money, and energy hiring whomever they believe are the right people for the right positions, only to have many of them quit a few months in. Whatever she says in the interview, Susie probably isn’t sure she wants to be an IT Consultant! How could she be, with the current state of things? These days, it is quite common for people in their 20’s to spend a decade “figuring it all out”. Or worse, they start blogging!
Does anybody else think this is sort of ridiculous? We really ought to make it easier for people to find fulfillment, or identify where it lies. Comment below if you’re brave.