World is really just different groups, sets

Including sets with only one entity in it = an individual

And the set with every individual in it = the world

 

So really when you say “the world” — it could mean a number of things

And typically NOT the set containing all individuals in the world

Since you couldn’t really know that set, could you?

You don’t even know every country in the world, or in western world — let alone every individual

 

Of course, you could know this set as a whole — without knowing every individual

If Russia attacks Ukraine — you don’t have to know every Ukrainian to corroborate that Ukraine is at war with Russia

 

But again, do you?

E.g. how much more do you know about Ukrainians?

You know that they are at war, that it’s a country in Europe, etc., and maybe a lot more, maybe not a lot

 

See knowing about UKRAINE does not mean you know UKRAINIANS, or don’t know

Like knowing Ukrainians doesn’t mean you know Ukraine

 

So when we say that the world is “this” or “that”,

or that “America is this or that”,

or “China”,

we’re always approximating some perception of it that we have

Which is always some set

Comprising what we know about those things

 

What’s the purpose of all this fucking preamble?

 

The world is not shit,

nor wonderful

The mass is a large set so it will usually be NOWHERE near as good as it’s best people

But then there are all those sub-sets,

And you can select the SET YOU LIKE as DISCRIMINATINGLY as your heart desires

And MAKE IT YOUR WORLD

 

Indeed,

how often do you REALLY interact, with this “ugly” world, or this “wonderful entity that is your country”

What exactly is ugly, or wonderful?

EVERY INDIVIDUAL?

The thing as a WHOLE?

How do you interact with the thing as a whole, really?

You espy how ugly it is, visually? You don’t like the landscape?

Maybe you don’t like what it’s purported representatives are saying? Their wise words?

Or maybe indeed it was a small group that you met, which now represents your entire perception of this far far larger entity

See?

So many options

 

Now,

I don’t dispute existence of some RELEVANT IDEA of the WORLD, that we all agree on

E.g. if we all get into a world war — I think it would quite undeniably be something relevant to every individual, that is an attribute of this entity called “the world” — i.e. that it is now at fucking war

And I understand there’s a gradient of decisions and beliefs and possibilities which can overlap with that condition, and is therefore relevant, crucial even.

Which is why you should have a clue about the world

 

However it’s so easy to perpetrate a composition fallacy,

Or many other fallacies

So easy to try to look at this thing called THE WORLD, and try to understand it, understand what’s relevant about it,

Then take those conclusions, more hopeful or less — and apply them to various SUBSETS of this world,

To the individuals you meet

To your organisation

To your own life and its trajectory

To your work

To the products and services you rely on

And that, of course, would be a mistake

It would OBVIOUSLY be a mistake to JUST decide that you hate the world — then hate EVERYTHING you come in touch with (because it’s “of the world”)

 

And of course, as is with all VALUE JUDGEMENTS,

What is the criterion?

Is the world doing poorly COMPARED TO WHAT?

Is the world doing amazingly COMPARED TO WHAT?

Of course you didn’t expect everything to stay the same, did you?

And of course some of the changes will be more to the taste of some than others

 

And also,

If the world sucks so badly — why aren’t YOU doing better?

Is it because the world doesn’t understand your elevated value system?

Or is it because you’re not so special, not so much better than our modern world, so as to easily improve it, demonstrate you can DO better

Not everything in this world that’s valuable is subjective, you know?

There’s plenty things that humanity agrees on being valuable

Not least money

So if the world sucks so badly — why aren’t you performing better there?

You all agree that it is valuable

But you just can’t do it better than the world can

The world is USUALLY NOT THAT atrocious and incompetent and corrupt, so as to do worse job than you yourself, even at your best

 

So I invite you to try to be more precise when you think about the world

What’s good, what’s bad, what’s ugly

And take more responsibility with what parts of the world you ENGAGE

And HOW you engage with them

Because those parts are the parts which, for all purposes, will by large define your INTERACTION WITH THE WORLD

So carefully choose what WORLD you want to engage with

And what WORLD you value

And then that’s the WORLD YOU LIVED IN