The Convergence
The Reclamation of Self and Infusion of the Humanities into Technology
The human experience can be a pain. The common denominator seemingly struggle and suffering. What should we aim to seek from life in the face of this?
The answer to this question is complicated and highly personal; I can only answer for myself. In doing so, I can share the principles and values that guide me, which might assist you on your journey—but I cannot define what that journey should be for you.
I've learned to listen to that which calls out to me.
Follow what grabs your interest and keep following your interests.
I find that for myself; I have had two paths running within - one which favors business, finance, technology, order, speed, and science, the other which favors philosophy, psychology, beauty, spirituality, slowness, and religious studies. The Apollonian and Dionysian spirits, if you will.
I studied accounting at university because I wanted a sure-fire path to make money and negate the future possibility of worrying about my finances. Although, early in my university career, I was drawn more to the humanities—and studied them in silence.
I have a deep love for silence and being alone; during those moments of stillness, the humanities called forth.
It was a trustworthy guide on my journey to regain the Self and find my authentic being.
I’ve been pondering this idea of the loss of self. It is an interesting phenomenon. How can one lose oneself?
You no longer exist within.
I alluded to my loss of self in The Era of Authenticity.
Imagine your psyche as a room in your house. Within this room, various aspects of your personality are at play, and at any given moment, you channel one of these aspects. The essence of your true, unique being is represented by the self, you, in the room.
A loss of self occurs when this central figure is relegated to a corner of the room, deprived of nourishment, and kept in a withered and suppressed state. It is alive but withered, so close to death that at any moment, should it be kicked over, the loss shall be permanent.
That which operates your actions and words, is not necessarily you.
Where is the nourishment the self seeks?
I think it's the relentless pursuit of individual and collective truth in the realm of the humanities.
I love technology and its capabilities to benefit the masses.
But I'm afraid, we have lost our way, and on the whole, technology has become a suppressant of self, more than an accelerant.
This morning, on my walk, I decided to have a talking journal session. I had a resting feeling of having ten thousand things to say, but I was not sure what any of them were.
I later came across a brilliant piece by Luke Borgis, The Bull Market of The Humanities. In it, Luke proposes a necessary resurgence of the humanities (in the classic sense) and, more so, "a return to existentialism (atheistic and Christian alike), and a return to a form of personalism that rails against the machinistic impulses of those tethered to the machines, as the stench of death becomes too overwhelming for any of us to ignore much longer."
The stench of death is of the withered self.
The return to personalism is those who seek the self once again in pursuit of their genuine being.
The two path's within me are on a convergence, and I think culture as a whole needs this convergence. It is partly why the Frontier Letter is a necessary part of my journey. It is an exploration of that convergence within and a way to explore that convergence with you.
I think it's more than that, though. The deeply seated fear in relation to this idea is that we are on a divergence, not convergence.
As Luke writes,
A great writer once wrote that "Everything that rises must converge." What is that point of convergence?
We will soon find out.
Maybe.
Whether it happens depends on whether or not you believe we are 'rising' or 'falling'. If we're falling, there is no guarantee of convergence at all. In fact, we should expect divergence.
A divergence of what exactly?
A divergence of that which is human from that which is not?
This is what I fear.
If we are in the midst of this, that which is not human has speed and power on its side.
But that which is human has everything that is unique about the Self on its side.
But if the former is to the malnourishment of the latter, what is left but that which is not human?
Technology is beautiful and has and can make humanity better off than it ever was. The only way for this to happen, is to infuse it with that which is uniquely human.
The bull run of the humanities beckons the return of self and the return of self beckons the convergence.
The answer to my question at the beginning of the piece is but an infinitesimal step closer to the truth, yet, it may have been the step through the other side of the fog. The answer for now, lies somewhere in the pursuit of this convergence. The convergence within mirrors the convergence without, and my individual answer is that I have a part to play, which feels fundamental.
The Frontier Letter is the mechanism for exploration. I think that together we can navigate this convergence. I want to remind you, that my mission here is to bring hope to our future, not by blinding you with optimistic naivety, but by exploring the darkness, and finding the light that shines brightest within it, in hopes to help make it clear what that light is.
I have high hopes and ambitions for this newsletter—not for the sake of hope and ambition, but because it is a space to come as close to contact with the truth as possible, and this is an important aim to me.
Thank you for taking the ride alongside me.
I hope you have a wonderful rest of your weekend.
Dom