Confucius’ Lessons for Surviving a Chaotic World
Ancient wisdom to stabilize your life and your society
Confucius, China’s most influential philosopher, lived in a chaotic time. The philosopher, who lived from 551–479 BCE, witnessed an ugly period in China’s history. The ruling Zhou Dynasty, though it still officially held the throne, had lost effective control over most of China. Noble families essentially began ruling their own territories; the dozen or so small kingdoms that emerged fought wars against each other. These wars became more savage over time as the old arrangements that had stabilized society fell apart.
In short, Confucius felt the way a lot of us feel these days — he was a witness to an increasingly chaotic and confusing world. Confucius’ main goals were to help leaders rebuild society and to help individuals find stability. Not all of Confucius’ ideas are relevant to life in the twenty-first century, but some of his philosophy is still worth heeding. Confucius realized that we should minimize decision-making, focus on practicality, respect knowledge as much as innovation, and that we should respect our leaders — as long as they deserve it.
