Why we are where we are

(Part 1)

“In an ever-changing, incomprehensible world the masses had reached the point where they would, at the same time, believe everything and nothing, think that everything was possible and that nothing was true. … Mass propaganda discovered that its audience was ready at all times to believe the worst, no matter how absurd, and did not particularly object to being deceived because it held every statement to be a lie anyhow. The totalitarian mass leaders based their propaganda on the correct psychological assumption that, under such conditions, one could make people believe the most fantastic statements one day, and trust that if the next day they were given irrefutable proof of their falsehood, they would take refuge in cynicism; instead of deserting the leaders who had lied to them, they would protest that they had known all along that the statement was a lie and would admire the leaders for their superior tactical cleverness,” wrote Hannah Arendt in her book, The Origins of Totalitarianism.

My generation (Boomers) entered the world at the advent of what is now called the modern era, a period of great optimism and enthusiasm. The flourishing of new knowledge made possible by a more liberal atmosphere and the rise of science globally gave rise to innovative, more efficient technologies in most fields of human endeavor. There was hardly any problem then that people felt they could not solve given the prodigious growth and increasingly effective applications of science and technology.

As a boy growing up in the ’50s and ’60s my Tatay bought me books that spoke of the promise of nuclear power for the good of mankind. Nuclear technology would produce cheap electrical power and help in the cure of diseases like cancer. There was the “green revolution,” a time that saw agricultural productivity worldwide increased dramatically as a result of advances in agricultural technology.

The so-called modern world featured social, political, economic, scientific and religious institutions that promised to solve all of humanity’s problems and give us utopia or near utopia. Many of us believed the promise though we also recognized that there were far too many unknowns — want we now call “black swan events” — that had not been factored into the equations.

And “black swans” did appear.

Barring the use of the atom in weapons of war, accidents in nuclear power plants have wreaked havoc on people and the ecology. No one anticipated second and third order undesirable effects of the chemicals we used to enhance production in agriculture, animal husbandry, and fisheries. The very chemicals that allowed us to enhance food flavors, textures, and shelf life among others also proved difficult for our bodies to adapt and increased the incidence of certain diseases. Medicines designed to improve the quality of life produced physical aberration in infants and even death.

And in the blink of an eye, the prodigious growth in knowledge, its applications to produce new technologies, and the ever increasing intrusion of technology and new ways of thinking that gave people a far greater range of choices than they have ever had seemed now a burden and a threat rather than a boon and a blessing.

We moved from a world where we thought we knew everything critical there was to know to solve most if not all our problems to what management thinkers call a “VUCA” world: Volatile — liable to change rapidly, unpredictably, with special attention turns for the worse; Uncertain — not to be relied on because nothing is well known or definite; Complex or chaotic — in a state of confusion and disorder; and Ambiguous — open to more than one interpretation, options unclear or inexact.

Add to that the fact that Life has become so fast paced while many people have become encumbered by problems like crowds and traffic and the need to make more money as both the standards and costs of living go up. We find little time to sit back, go slow, study our situation and think of how we got here and what we need to do. We spend very little time alone to acquire new information and knowledge so we may discuss extensively and deeply with others on matters important to Life rather than earning a living; discussions that could lead to a new understanding of ourselves, other people. We are distracted by electronics, hand held or otherwise. Many can’t live without their electronic connectivity devices. They panic when they realize they left home without it.

Many, lacking the capacity to think out new ways of coping, have fallen back on old defaults — dogmas of all kinds, conventional wisdom, supposedly tried and tested in times gone by. Or go along with people with exciting promises of quick solutions or “real reforms” in our respective societies.

It seems to me it is now that we need to slow down and think, talk with others, to if we are really clear on what we have grown to dislike and distrust, and what we would like to happen and why. Now is the time to see if we still use words and phrases to mean the same things, if we, in fact, view events and artefacts of Life the same. For if we do not, we shall never agree. We need to understand why we were so ill-prepared as a people to cope with these challenges.

I think I am not the first to observe that many of us are unable to think analytically and critically, capabilities which did not seem in short supply decades ago.

At some point real education that involved the capacity to source information, process these analytically and critically, then share it clearly with each other for better common understanding, gave way to the impetus to just finish schooling and get a diploma which one could use to find a job.

At some point we put emphases on immediately useful knowledge and skills with little regard for future learning and learning how to learn. Teachers’ salaries stagnated and the new recruits into the teaching profession proved unprepossessing in their enthusiasm for teacher versus just instructing and for their lack of exposure to the bigger world.

We placed the onus of student failures on teachers with the much abused adages, “There are no bad students, only bad teachers.” To avoid the difficulties of having to defend why they failed some students, many basic education teachers decided to simply pass their students, making them the next grade or year levels’ problems.

This has to be arrested and put right. We need an overhaul of our education system. Making it K to 12 will help, but it will not be sufficient to mould the kind of minds capable of sustained independent work on learning and learning to learn.

Mario Antonio G. Lopez is a member of Manindigan! a civil society group that helped topple the Marcos Dictatorship.

maglopez@gmail.com