Dysfunctional Math

A defining characteristic of our age is the unusual math. Today's unprecedented numbers and figures are matched with graphs increasingly exponential in nature--especially the hyper-exponential, purely vertical Profusion Curve. What makes this disconcerting is that plotting the math into the future leads to dysfunction in nearly all directions. Simply stated, the math no longer works in a variety of critical settings.

This math problem arises inevitably from the process of progress. Progress always gives us more and more of everything faster and faster. In the past, when more is what we needed, it was glorious to receive such profusion almost automatically. Now, however, progress is mathematically uncontrollable and volatile. Modern progress has a math problem, and in many ways it will dominate our future. When history decided to explode, it chose to do so on our generational shift.

Following is a representative list to help illustrate this profound mathematical growth. It's important to realize that this is but a partial list and that any single number is not the problem. It's only when all the dots are connected through integration that the true picture of dysfunction comes into view.

Disconnected - Andrew Leigh (An Excerpt)

Organisational membership is down. We are less likely to attend church. Political parties and unions are bleeding members. Sporting participation and cultural attendance are down.

Volunteering is likely below its post-war peak, though it did record a rise in the late 1990s.

We have fewer friends and are less connected with our neighbours than in the mid-80s. Other measures have flatlined, but few have risen.

So what explains the trends in social capital? First, let’s exonerate one defendant. The character variously known as “economic reform”, “economic liberalism” or “economic rationalism” frequently has been blamed for eroding social capital.

For example, Australian sociologist Eva Cox takes the view that free markets undermine trust and reciprocity. She writes that “the idea of the social is losing ground to the concepts of competition, and the money markets are replacing governments. The social aspects of humanity have somehow disappeared and we are left with a more atomised image of individuals competing in an endless process of distrust.”

PASSION: Ungapping Performance and Potential -A Contemplation

Hari Minggu pagi, bagi sebagian dari kita, saat dimana kita pergi ke Gereja. Minggu ini ada suatu hal yang saya dapatkan. PASSION! Sewaktu kam sekeluarga berjalan menuju pelataran parkir sehabis ibadah, saya melihat sepasang muda-mudi dengan kisaran umur 18-20 tahun berjalan kaki dengan penuh semangat menuju tempat ibadah, entah kenapa saat melihat hal tersebut ada sesuatu yang menggelitik saya...Kemudian sesaat setelah sampai dikediaman kami, saya kembali tergelitik dengan apa yang saya lihat tadi dan saya teringat saat-saat pertama kali saya mulai pergi ke tempat ibadah kurang lebih 15 tahun lalu, di waktu-waktu itu saya mengalami apa yang diistilahkan oleh sepasang muda-mudi adalah cinta pertama untuk pergi ke tempat ibadah, saat itu hujan sederas apa pun, saat itu tubuh secapai apa pun, singkatnya dalam keadaan apa pun saya sangat menanti-nantikan untuk pergi ke tempat ibdadah tersebut untuk melakukan ibadah bersama yang lainnya dan setiap kali pula saat ibadah saya mendapatkan sesuatu yang baru dan luar biasa. Saya teringat bagaimana dalam keadaan kuyup sekali pun atau tanpa kursi sekali pun sepanjang ibadah, saya tetap bisa sangat menikmati waktu-waktu itu. Saat mengenang masa-masa itu muncullah satu kata dalam benak saya, yaitu PASSION