Civilizational Adulthood

Leaping Towards Stewardship

What have I done with my life?

How has it impacted others, for better or worse?

Has it impacted at all the larger forces shaping our society?

Many of us have these reflections, if we’re lucky, whether they are loud or faint.

Why don’t we act?

I think this is one of the most common tricks we humans play on ourselves, the way we avoid the asteroid heading our way. We do what we want impulsively, then after the fact invent a moral rationale for our choices. We assume we’re decent human beings and then explain our choices to make this true.

One of my favorite personal rationales to justify my choices is hedonistic utilitarianism. It’s also how the famous ethicist Peter Singer is living his life these days. Everyone should have a good time with whatever time they get in this world. I review my choices through this lens. I’m not sure how often this lens informs my choices.

After a privileged and rocky childhood, a habit of jumping into the unknown revealed my own inner resources, the ability to land in nets that appeared as I was falling. I would adapt. I would improvise. I’d get off the train in a random rural Chinese village and figure it out. You might call it “resourcefulness discovery.” Get lost, get found, survive, tell a new story.

Later I realized that almost everyone I’ve met has this too often untapped potential. Most of us tend to…