The Crisis of Purpose.
If you’ve been paying attention to the world, you’ll realize that things are changing, and the pace of change is accelerating. Things which 30 years ago would have been considered impossible are now commonplace, and the things that we see on the horizon now are coming towards us faster than you can possibly imagine.
Technology is transforming our experience, and soon, our existence.
Because as we move further into the world of artificial intelligence and robotics, we are soon going to arrive at a time where people do not have to work to survive. When that happens, and people have even more free time, we’re going to have to start answering the big questions, the ones we have been struggling with since the dawn of time.
Why are we here, and more importantly, what should we do while we are here?
Many people have tried to answer these questions over the years. For some, it’s a belief in deity. For some, it’s a faith in a never ending experience, reincarnating time after time in an eternal quest for enlightenment.
For some, it’s a theory of nothingness after this, while others admit to not knowing, and are comfortable with the questions. The truth is, no one really knows for anyone else.
But our purpose is to find it out for ourselves.
And coming soon, we’re going to have more time to answer those questions, and people will be clamoring for the answers that resonate with themselves. We’re also going to have time to know ourselves better, and to start learning to communicate and live with each other in ways that are more harmonious, less confrontational and that lean a great deal more towards kindness.
But our purpose is still going to be paramount.
Imagine a generation of people who cannot identify themselves through what they do for a living. Can you see how big of a change that is going to be? Think also of the children who will grow up without the goal of ‘becoming’ their profession or their vocation. How will they spend their time, find their purpose, accept responsibility and find meaning through struggle?
The answers are going to be individual for each of us, yet the common strain will reverberate throughout humanity.
The call will go out for those who can provide answers, a sense of meaning, a light in the darkness of too much free time and not enough purpose. The people we need in the future are those who have made peace with themselves, found a sense of purpose and are actively following it.
Because those who have their own light, can be a light for others.
If you’ve been following this work for a while, or even if you’re new to this (whatever this is, because I don’t yet know myself) I’m guessing you are the kind of person who is going to be needed greatly in the future.
Not that we have the answers, but that we can offer a kind heart and a safe place for people to search out their own meaning and purpose.
We are the guides of meaning, and the prophets of purpose. I don’t know if we are up to it, but in truth, I don’t know if anyone else is either. To quote a line from one of my favorite movies..
”Sometimes it’s the people no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one can imagine”.
Will you help?
— Dr. Alan Barnes
@maddrbmusings