Orienting My Professional Life

[revision in progress. I wrote this in a hurry at the end of the semester with very little time, and now that my summer job is a bit slow, I'm trying to make it closer to what I was actually trying to say.]

A Strategic Perspective

In the past I oriented myself either religiously or politically. I thought that if I did unto others as I would have them do unto me, then the big picture stuff would all work itself out. Politically, if I voted democrat and I was a good liberal, then eventually the world would realize its mistakes and “progress”. But I’ve gradually lost faith that if I do the right things on a micro-level the larger things will fall into place naturally.

My first paper explored an alternative to these smooth and teleological ideologies by embracing the irreducible complexity of the real world. There’s a certain nihilistic joy in bathing in chaos – “complexity so intricate, none can fathom it” as Wylie puts it – but while necessary for creativity, such aesthetic disorganization can become impotent and aimless when taken to the extreme.

Rather than burying my head in facts or steering by faith alone, I need to learn how to see things strategically from a global perspective. I need some way to structure the flood of information from the outside in order to orient my work in the world. How can I do this in a livable way, so that I’m not a martyr to the real? How can I avoid just sticking my head in the sand and plowing ahead with whatever practice I end up having – hoping in the end that it will serve a good purpose?

I need to develop my ability to read large-scale events. Let me try to use the methodology of this class by applying different disciplinary approaches in a conciliant manner.