Where to Turn?
"WHERE TO TURN"- DALL·E x radar
When everyone’s an expert, is anyone an expert? That’s how we’re feeling when it comes to expertise, authority, and influence these days. And while being your own authority can be empowering, in the midst of a global polycrisis it’s only natural for us to seek expert figures we can rely on — and we’ve been struggling to find them. The ongoing ‘you’re on your own phase’ of the pandemic hums in the background as a daily reminder of just this. We’re left in a state of uncomfortable uncertainty, forced to reckon with and reconceive our relationship with power and influence.
Does It Even Matter?
"One where we simply feel too small to make any impact in the face of our biggest problems" - DALL·E x radar
Perhaps the biggest source of our paralysis lies in another psychological sphere entirely: One where we simply feel too small to make any impact in the face of our biggest problems, while they loom larger than ever before. As Sarah Ray, chair of the Environmental Studies program at Cal Poly Humboldt noted, when crises feel too massive or intractable, people tend to simply check out. And once you’re out, it’s harder to get back in — making even small problems feel too big to dare even try.
What to Do?
"A VERY TIRED LOOKING CAKE" - DALL·E x radar
‘Too much’ isn’t new news; at this point it’s been too much for too long. Too much information, too much news, and too many choices are putting our brains into overdrive (with recent research and reporting on cognitive fatigue and the toxic neurotransmitters released by prolonged mental exertion just icing on a very tired-looking cake). We have to reach a tipping point sometime, right? In the face of ‘too much’, our answer has become let’s just not. And TBH, that doesn’t seem too good for anyone.
Who to Trust?
"crumbling trust in institutions" - DALL·E x radar
From our crumbling faith in institutions to dual crises of mis- and dis-information, trust’s stock has been falling for a while now — and it’s a recession that isn’t looking up any time soon. With social cohesion eroding and bespoke realities where ‘feelings as facts’ have become the norm, it’s hard to feel like you can trust anyone outside of your immediate, vetted circle. In some ways, this belies a positive turn toward intuition — but it can be paralyzing and exhausting to have to rely on instinct alone in a sea of skepticism.
