The Fragility of it all

January 23, 2025

The Fragility of it all

Well, storm Eowyn is making landfall and lashing my home as I write. Our ICT thingys are all charged because with extreme weather like this it seems pretty certain that power lines will go down.

Nobody wants to contemplate how fragile our society really is, but tonight people will get a taster, and it will be business as usual tomorrow after the storm moves on. Does anyone ever contemplate what would happen if the electricity never came back? Because that’s all it takes to bring this thing we call society crashing down, just one thing to fail, like no more electricity. No more data centres, ATMs, air traffic control, traffic lights, lights, pumps for water or fuel. I could go on. You might think I’m being a tad gloomy here, that this is just too alarming to think about, but is it impossible?

Stoic philosophy has provided a good deal of the theoretical underpinning for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, a clear example of the ancient meeting the modern. Stoics use a technique called ‘Negative Visualisation’, which I will be talking more about. This post has introduced that concept, so hopefully, when the storm abates and all returns to normal, it might be worthwhile contemplating life without electricity occasionally, just to appreciate flicking a switch and having it work.

Stoicism

About Me

I have what some might consider an unusual c.v. I was an early school leaver, dropping out with no secondary education. I served in the military for over 20 years before deciding to move on and try my hand working in civvy street for a while. I then opted to return to full time education for four years and got a degree in the social sciences. I worked as a project worker in a community based organisation for twelve years before retiring from that post. Now, because I have the most precious thing of all – time, I can be a scholar. You may have heard of the term a ‘scholar and gentleman’, which referred to a person with a private income who could afford to be a scholar. Such a person could afford to study whatever took his or her fancy, most often the humanities though. I have many interests, but I am passionate about the human mind, particularly the differing perspectives of mind held by eastern and western philosophy. I am fascinated by how science is now confirming many of the ideas that were outlined thousands of years ago. I also own a 8″ Dobsonian telescope, I feed the birds daily, enjoy stillness, silence, qigong, tai chi, a good laugh, my family, my friends, reading and the leisurely pursuit of wisdom and knowledge.