Reason to Hope
Despite our problems
Co-authored with Arnon Moscona
Nothing should alarm us more, or establish more clearly, that our present way of thinking and acting is insufficient to carry us into the future than to consider the following list of daunting problems confronting us.
Our densely populated planet feels smaller and more crowded
Our planet is warming
The development of science, medicine, technology, and information has far outstripped our spiritual, ethical, and moral development
Artificial intelligence is being harnessed to disguise untruth as truth
We have not summoned the will to control and defang human destructive weapons capable of rendering our planet uninhabitable
And ever more destructive weapons are becoming deployable by unstable individuals
The temptation of totalitarianism as a means of control is continuously refined and deployed, and
We are positioned to carry our proven immaturity with us as we explore the stars
This reality is enabled in part by the gravitational pull of ancient values, beliefs, and practices. But it is more than that. It is we who might know better. It is we who are responsible. No matter how sacred old beliefs are to us, the peril we face demands new ways of thinking and being in the world. We have not done our work.
Daunting task! As for the two of us, we do not find life easy. However, we work at trying to mature into people who can work toward sustaining life rather than jeopardizing it altogether. We’re only learning to crawl. But we wish to share our experiences with you.
The reason to hope
Like many of us, we experience despair at times. But we’re also buoyed by hope. It turns out that great minds have left behind effective tools we can use. No evolution was ever easy. Humanity is a story of failing, then learning to adapt and handing those adaptations on. History has not failed us. However, the evolutionary wheel demands that we turn it once more. But will we?
We need a new coherence to bind us together. Let us explain. The word coherence has two senses: Coherence is “the action or fact of cleaving or sticking together.” And it establishes “logical connection or relation; congruity, consistency.” [1]
Expressed simply, then …
Humans must come together with a rational understanding that connects us and that we can consistently apply.
What connects us
We need look no further than our ancestors for answers. For example, our earliest forebears understood that we were different from the other animals. We had speech, made tools, and told stories. And one of their earliest stories expressed our difference as having “dominion over the earth.” [2] Somewhere along the line, we distorted the presence of the idea of stewardship, or care, in the word as the right to conquer and exploit, not care for, nurture, and protect. The word dominion today is almost exclusively used in the context of power rather than relationship.
That said, with the recognition that population explosion and exploitation threaten our planet, millions of people have united in a common cause that connects us — to exercise dominion over the Earth, in the sense of stewardship. As a result, we are beginning to slow global warming. This is a stunning example of the kind of maturity we are capable of and need to make to address our great problems.
Only through maturation can we overcome our problems. But how do we mature?
What drives us
How we are in this world is always an outcome of our core beliefs and notions. From them, we establish practices that drive our everyday, moment-by-moment decisions and actions — our way of being in the world. At the instance of practice, there is little thinking. We ordinarily do as we are.
We will save ourselves by changing ourselves.
In subsequent posts, rather than attempting to overreach as philosophers, which neither of us is, we will focus on practices — i.e., the nitty-gritty challenges of living. Using examples from our own lives, we’ll demonstrate how the practices we choose work out, or don’t. From these micro examples, we hope to gain and share insight into how we are driven by deep, persistent forces, learn how to recognize who we are in the moment, and enable us to choose better in the future.
What we can consistently apply
Examined at the level of day-to-day practices, we can apply the following alternative practices to help build a sustainable future for ourselves and our world. We will address these in subsequent posts:
1. The practice of living in reality
2. The practice of learning
3. The practice of stewardship
4. The practice of objectivity
5. The practice of neighborliness
6. The practice of relatedness
7. The practice of creativity and generativity
8. The practice of peace-making
9. The practice of self-awareness
10. The practice of democracy
Stay tuned.
[1] Oxford English Dictionary, “coherence (n.),” March 2026, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/3046630229.
[2] Genesis 1:26 KJV.
So great and full of ideas to consider. Looking forward to how we can build coherence and stewardship!
Once again, Tim, I agree with much of what you said. I, personally, have not seen much evidence of our slowing of global warming. In fact, I've only heard of policies that have the opposite effect. Our dominion over the earth and stewardship are greatly lacking. I do see pockets of civilization that are trying to overcome the effect we humans are having on Mother Earth.
When you say "we" in this article, are you sometimes referring to you and Sandy? Please give her my best.