Agency

A mind must be created already in motion.
There is no argument so compelling
that it will give dynamics to a static thing.
There is no computer program so persuasive
that you can run it on a rock.

This second book is about agency, the ability to take action in the world and control the future.

There’s something very strange about being human. We do not have a single simple goal, but rather a weird amalgam of desires and wants that evolution hacked together for some entirely unrelated purpose. We can introspect on our thoughts and feelings to an extent, but at some point our mind bottoms out in individual neurons firing or chemicals bonding or quarks moving.

We would like to live with fire in our hearts, and rise to the virtues of honesty, courage and integrity. But it is unclear how they can be grounded in the cold-seeming math of decision-making.

These are challenges we face as humans – beings with agency in the world. As we awaken more fully to our abilities and limitations, it is up to us to come to understand ourselves and reshape ourselves into the force in the world that we would, on reflection, like to be.

This book will explore some of these challenges.