This Age is Nothing Special and It Will Pass

People in every age are apocalyptic. In the context of their own lives, they're correct. They're the green leafy nodes of the tree of human life. In a broader historical context, though they're wrong. Our age, like every other, will pass. The powers of our day and the delusions that keep them on golden thrones will fade and crumble. The world turns.

The belief that some people are in control of human destiny--that collectively we'll transcend mere humanity is another myth. Geological history, evolutionary history suggests that destiny is made in times of disaster and small groups make it through the gates, possibly just by luck--no skill or virtue required.

Not only will this age pass. It's passing. Big tectonic plate forces are at work all the time. The idea that a new age will be revealed, or is ushered in by one person (like Donald Trump, lol), is a myth, too. It's thousands, millions of people finding slightly new ways to do things--ways that work. Ways that are convenient. The internet is a big tectonic force, but it has hidden, unknown flaws yet to be revealed. It's super energy intensive and wasteful, for example.

The change of eras seems to always be the same process. Ex post facto people write about it. Scholars and thinkers characterize what's happening, but it's way bigger than them. In retrospect, people conflate the thinker with the age.