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Some Observations with Regard to a Missing Elephant

What is happening to the human race is too complex, interconnected, and dynamic to comprehend. Acknowledging that we don’t know what we’re talking about carries significant implications for how we perceive ourselves as persons and how we conduct our activities. Unavoidable sources of our ignorance include the following: (a) too much and too little information to reach knowledgeable consensus and interpretation within the time available for action; (b) no shared set of value priorities; (c) no agreement on how much context is necessary to be responsible for actions and interpretations; (d) spoken/written language cannot adequately map the complexity; (e) absence of reliable boundaries; (f) self-amplifying, unpredictable acting-out of the shadow; and (g) governance becomes uniquely problematic. Living constructively with these circumstances depends on (a) recognizing that we seek meaning, although, unavoidably, we live in illusions; (b) acknowledging the vulnerability and finiteness of ourselves and our projects; (c) lacking pride and arrogance in the conviction that we know what must be done and how to do it; (d) acting in the spirit of hope, not optimism; (e) acting in the spirit of "tentative commitment"; (f) being "context alert"; (g) being a learner/teacher; and (h) practicing compassion for all who must live and act under these conditions.

Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Vol. 40, No. 1, 8-16 (2000)
DOI: 10.1177/0022167800401002


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