The cost of No!
From Education and the Social Order by Bertrand Russell (London: Routledge, 2009), pp. 83 (ePub edition):
Every new boy at school has to submit to a certain period during which he is regarded with unfriendly suspicion by those who are already incorporated in the school herd. If the boy is in no way peculiar, he is presently accepted as one of the group, and comes to act as the others act, to feel as they feel, and to think as they think. If, on the other hand, he is in any way unusual, one of two things may happen: he may become the leader of the herd, or he may remain a persecuted oddity.
The one question that I have been wrestling with for most of my adult life is: ‘What enables or impedes human flourishing?’ This question sounds deceptively simple until you try to decipher what human flourishing means. The concept of flourishing varies globally—for example, what it means to flourish in Nigeria may differ from what it means in Singapore. I understand that highlighting these differences repeatedly might weary the reader, but it’s necessary to point them out. And the sooner we take these differences into account the less we will try to put round pegs in square holes. Why did I use flourishing? Why didn’t I use another word? Who knows. There are many assumptions in the question. First, it suggests that human flourishing is a good thing. Second, it implies that there are factors that can enable it, and there are also elements that can hinder or completely halt it. It’s a question that has had me in a chokehold for a while. I suppose a question picks you and not the other way around. My approach to this question has been, at best, amateurish. However, I have noticed that many of my actions, endeavors, and life paths have been attempts at answering it. I was interviewed on a podcast a while back, and the host asked me what my mission was. I responded, ‘to imbue things with value.’ This answer took me aback because it also came as a shock to me. I hadn’t articulated that prior to the interview, but I sensed that my subconscious had already done the work and produced an answer. At any particular time, I have many questions that my subconscious is working through. More often than not, I’m not even aware of what these questions are. However, I can feel when my mind is actively trying to find answers because I become extremely tired and agitated. I also know when a question or set of questions has been answered—this usually happens when I am either journaling, reading a book or watching a film. Even when I don’t know which questions were answered, I immediately feel the urge to sleep because my soul/body senses that a cognitive load has been lifted. ‘Imbuing with value’ might seem like a grand phrase, but I think what it really means is recognising the worth of things and communicating that worth to others. 🌾
You might not realize the value of what you possess until someone highlights its value. A bag is just a bag until someone tells you it’s a Himalayan Birkin worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. The perception of value changes based on information. This cuts both ways: Someone can downgrade the value of something, causing you to overlook its worth while they monetize it. On a podcast, Burna Boy mentioned that there was a time when he wasn’t proud to be Nigerian, a statement that didn’t particularly shock me. In another interview with the BBC, he also noted that, in the past, black African boys weren’t popular or ‘popping’—there was a preference for light-skinned boys. That made me laugh — the dude can be funny sometimes. Interestingly, Burna Boy has now become a cultural ambassador, imbuing value into things. Whether he realizes it or not, he is gradually challenging the prevailing narratives defining what it means to be African. What amused me about the BBC interview was when he said, “So the whole time, they were trying to finesse us.” My actions may seem chaotic to others and sometimes even to myself, but I've noticed that I am in a state of constant experimentation. I am testing the boundaries, trying to understand different games, the players involved, and the requirements of each respective domain. I don’t aim to comprehend these games to win them; instead, I analyze them to gauge their relevance to my original question. If an answer includes winning in the space, I’ll explore that. So far, I have noticed that some of these domains aren’t necessarily designed to promote the things I wish to see in the world. One might ask, "Who are you to envision the world in a certain way?" Well, I don’t have a clear vision yet, but I do know there are certain things I want to see less of in the world. It’s just like with dating: I might not know what I want but I know for certain, the things I don’t want. The world operates on values, ideas, or visions. Visions can often be imposed on you from external sources, which is what usually happens anyway. In a nutshell, a vision answers the question: where should we be headed, or what should the world look like? 🎮
When I began painting and collaging, I felt compelled to define my own theory of art or what art meant to me — something that could perhaps guide my practice. I concluded that art should show us what is, what was, what could be and what shouldn’t. This may sound simple or naive, but even though I had read different theories of art, it only made sense when I articulated what it meant to me. My personal definition was inspired by my readings of the Iliad. Fortunately, that definition doesn’t constrain me to any medium. The universe is my literal canvas. I can make art using different tools including but not limited to media, finance, music, politics, commerce, or religion. Yesterday, I read about a trisector athlete, a term I had never heard before. Interestingly, I had already been considering a triathlon as a metaphor for people interested in pursuing multiple disciplines. The training and stamina required for a triathlon differ from those necessary for a single sport. Although both swimming and running are cardio exercises, they involve different mechanics, including distinct breathing techniques. I had, however, been considering applying the thinking and training processes of a triathlon to other areas of my life because I sometimes struggle to switch between unrelated tasks. Imagine thinking about policy one moment and then having to switch to music. A ‘tri-sector athlete,’ according to Professor Joseph Nye, is someone who can “engage and collaborate across the private, public, and social sectors.” Defined this way, there are probably not many people in the world with such a range of competencies. It also takes years or even decades to gain the experience needed to play in multiple spaces. In the past, becoming a tri-sector athlete would likely have been incredibly challenging — not that it’s not challenging now. The internet, however, now facilitates the acquisition of requisite knowledge. As for the experience, you’d either have to simulate that yourself or get into spaces where you can gain it. The complexity of today’s problems necessitates individuals capable of synthesizing insights across diverse sectors and disciplines. To be able to connect dots means you have many dots in your mental repository to connect in the first place. Now you know why I prefer a personal AI over ChatGPT any day. 🤖
You want to be able to synthesise information and spit out actionable insights. Dots or individual pieces of information, are somehow useless on their own. Dots, serve as tools or means; they are not ends in themselves. This is similar to how arithmetic or geometry is used for solving problems, and language is used for communication. Often, people become enamoured with the means, the tools, or the methods, losing sight of the ultimate goal. Anyway enough for today. I didn’t even get to writing about the cost of saying NO. Perhaps I’ll do that next week. While writing this post, three songs have been on repeat: ‘CBN’ by Skiibii, ‘SAY MY GRACE,’ and ‘HOP OUT THE VAN’ by Offset. 🧯
Thanks for reading. If there's anything you'd like to chat about, or if you have any questions, feel free to shoot me an email. I'd love to hear from you. 🍿