“. . . .the good life may be a central concern for most people, but it is not the central concern of most modern societies. Life today is a haze of competing social, political, and cultural priorities, some of which have very little to do with improving people’s lives. The modern world prioritizes many things ahead of the lived experience of human beings. The second reason is related and even more fundamental: our brains, the most sophisticated and mysterious system in the known universe, often mislead us in our quest for lasting pleasure and satisfaction. We may be capable of extraordinary feats of intellect and creativity, we may have mapped the human genome and walked on the moon, but when it comes to making decisions about our lives, we humans are often bad at knowing what is good for us. Common sense in this area of life is not so sensible. It’s very difficult to figure out what really matters.”
As I have suggested in my analysis of VUCA-Plus conditions, the challenges identified by Waldinger and Schulz (2023, p. 30) leaves us in a condition of confusion.
“These two things–the haze of culture and the mistakes we make in forecasting what will make us happy—are woven together and play a role in our lives every single day. Over the course of a life, they exert significant influence. The culture we live in leads us in particular directions, sometimes without our even noticing, and we follow along, outwardly pretending that we know what we’re doing, but inwardly in a state of low-grade confusion.”
This “low-grade” confusion (or is it sometimes “high-grade”?) is attended by diverse anxiety (angst). The confusion and anxiety, in turn, make the establishment of sustained interpersonal relationships that much more difficult—especially if there are major differences in the perspectives and practices held by those seeking to sustain the relationship.
Nature of the Differences
To add further to the list of challenges inherent in sustaining relationships midst differences in our mid-21st Century society, I wish to identify some of the differences that are commonly found in our VUCA-Plus world. Among others, these differences concern the old and the new (generational differences), the left and the right (political differences), and the West and the East (cultural differences). I will dwell briefly on each of these three kinds of difference.
New and Old
J. S. Bach were not alone in supporting a new musical style (his son’s) that challenges what he has been composition and performing all his life. I personally witnessed something similar when visiting New Orleans and enjoying not just the food but also the music of the “Crescent City.” I always enjoyed going to a club on Bourbon Street that featured Wallace Davenport, a legendary jazz musician of the “old style” (“Dixieland”). I was distracted by the very loud (“screaming”) music coming from across Bourbon Street, while listening to Davenport play his trumpet alongside other gifted musicians. I went up to Davenport during a break and let him know that I didn’t appreciate the hard rock music that was overwhelming Davenport’s much subtler and low volume music.
Davenport interrupted me and stated with considerable passion that the music coming from across the street represented the future of New Orleans culture and was performed by gifted young musicians. He was pleased that I appreciated his music but also encouraged me to appreciate what was being offered across the street. Like Papa Bach, Wallace Davenport could appreciate and support the new, while continuing to play the old.
