#FieldNotes001: World War III & the Collapse of Values
#FieldNotes001: World War III & the Collapse of Values
Why the collapse of values underlies humanity's existential threat
This is perhaps an unusual topic to be discussed on The Sufi Gardener but I wanted to share some reflections on the growing regional conflict in the Middle East. On Saturday, April 13th, Iran launched a retaliatory strike on Israel. Though the United States is trying to downplay the conflict, it’s becoming increasingly clear that regional war is a very likely scenario, if not already underway.1 Amidst increasing calls from the international community for a ceasefire, Israel is not going to budge from asserting its control on the Gaza Strip. Perhaps, the final nail on the coffin of universal human rights.
In The Metacrisis Epoch, I spoke about our civilization’s existential threat. Since WWII, humanity uncovered a power to annihilate itself by splitting the atom. During the Cold War, the nuclear threat hung above the hearts of man. Thankfully, the threat of mutual assured destruction created enough moral restraint to prove effective enough to save us from all out nuclear war. I’m afraid this is no longer the case. With increasingly complicated societies, rogue players, and a new AI arms race, I don’t think this threat is going to serve as a guardrail to nuclear war. We are at the brink of World War III.
I’ve been struggling to come to terms with a proper response to the growing conflict. Witnessing a genocide rightfully instills anger and outrage, as it should. But the collatoral damage of modern warfare annihilates the eye for an eye moral code. At the same time, thinking of peace is just wishful thinking at this point. Where does this leave us? Nihilism? I hope not. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that I recently picked up David J. Temple’s (Marc Gafni, Zachary Stein) First Principles and First Values: Forty-Two Propositions on CosmoErotic Humanism, the Meta-Crisis, and the World to Come. The authors argue that there is an urgent need to overcome the nihilism of our age. The metacrisis is a collapse of value, and only by bringing forth global First Principles and First Values, those values and principles that are what the authors call Anthro-Ontological, can we attempt to heal. This perspective reminds me of one of the underlying purposes of the Sufi path, as described by Kabir Helminsky:
“We live in a culture that has been described as materialistic, alienating, neurotically individualistic, narcissistic, and yet ridden with anxiety, shame, and guilt. From the Sufi point of view, humanity today is suffering under the greatest tyranny, the tyranny of the ego. We worship innumerable false idols, but all of them are forms of the ego.
There are many ways for the human ego to usurp even the purest spiritual values. The true Sufi is the one who makes no personal claims to virtue or truth, but who lives a life of presence and selfless love. More important than what we believe is how we live. If certain beliefs lead to exclusiveness, self-righteousness, and fanaticism, it is the vanity of the believer that is the problem. If the remedy increases the sickness, an even more basic remedy is called for.
The idea of presence with love may be the most basic remedy for the prevailing materialism, selfishness, and unconsciousness of our age. In our obsession with our false selves, in turning our backs on God, we have also lost our essential Self, our own divine spark. In forgetting God, we have forgotten ourselves. Remembering God is the beginning of remembering ourselves.”2
At a time when the survival of our human civilization in the hands of fanatics, how do we, as humanity, undo our beliefs that gave power to such fanaticism? A potential starting point, which I alluded to in the Metacrisis Epoch, are the links between the collapse of value and the increasing existential risk. The authors of First Principles and First Values present these links as essential to understanding the metacrisis and a way forward, beyond beliefs that lead to exclusiveness, self-righteousness, and fanaticism.
Marc Gafni and Zachary Stein share seven links between the collapse of value and humanity’s existential threat. Given that I am grounded in the Islamic tradition, these seven links both resonate and challenge some of my own assumptions.
Let’s unpack them.
On David J. Temple’s seven links between the collapse of value and humanity’s existential threat
There is no global coherence or global coordination without a universal grammar of value.
According to the Islamic tradition, Prophets are sent to bring about a universal grammar of value (la ilaha ilallah/there is only One Reality). At its core, cultivating a relationship with God is meant to transcend ethnocentric or tribal cultural values and norms. “O mankind! Lo! We have created you male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that ye may know one another. Lo! the noblest of you, in the sight of God, is the best in conduct. Lo! God is Knower, Aware.” (Quran 49:13). This universal grammar value is found in the cultivation of virtue. Nobility is based on conduct, not inherited political power. Postmodernism took away any kind of value, which then leads us towards a chaotic global system that relies on complicated bureacracies to create a sense of stability. But this system is nothing but a castle made of sand. We need to start thinking seriously about a universal grammar of value. What does good conduct look like? If we are to address global issues such as the overconsumption of non-renewable resources or the threat of global warfare, a common sense of virtue is a prerequisite to global coherence.
There is no shared sense-making without minimal agreement on First Principles and First Values.
Minimal agreement on First Principles and First Values ultimately lies in a basic understanding of what it means to be human. This is not an ethical agreement, but rather an agreement in terms of ontology. In other words, shared sense-making means that there is an underlying truth about being human. This underlying truth must be sourced in the traditions of our ancestors while taking into consideration that their frames were shaped by a certain form of ethnocentrism. As Muslims, we are taught that God sent messengers to all people: “We sent a messenger to every community, saying, 'Seek God and shun false gods.” How can we understand this? Are we to believe that God sent inspired people with a Divine Message to bring about a form of shared sense-making? Perhaps that is so.
Open societies collapse without value at the centre of public culture.
The postmodernist claim that all values are social construct must be challenged. This has done nothing but promote a form of nihilism that disintegrates social cohesion.
Polarization increases uncontrollably when there is no shared Story of Value.
A shared Story of Value is critical and it must be sourced from a shared story of the past, present and future. Religious traditions understand this but, as both Gafni and Stein highlight, they their shared Story of Value is usually embedded in a specific cultural and/or ethnic context. Given that polaralization arises when two opposing values meet, we are in a need to find out how to bring back a healthy (or intimate as the authors argue) dialectic.
Rivalrous conflict governed by zero-sum win/lose metrics cannot be constrained without superordinate first principles and values.
Increasing polaralization also leads to an increase in tribalism. If we anchor our actions and decision in subordinate first principles and values, we can move towards a more collaborative and constructive mode of engagement. This shift requires a deep understanding and respect for our shared humanity and the values that underpin it.
Complicated systems dominate the world in the absence of a shared story.
The authors make a key distinction between complex systems (which are anti-fragile) and complicated systems, which are vulnerable to collapse. A shared story begins to turn complicated systems to complex systems. It can help us make sense of complex issues and guide our actions in a coherent and coordinated manner, thus better addressing impeding global crises.
The requisite political will to address global challenges cannot be found without a universal grammar of value, embedded in a Story of Value.
Any large scale crisis requires a significant amount of political will. Unfortunately, the United Nations has shown an inability to achieve this. The authors argue that this is because of the absence of a universal grammar of value. By embedding this grammar in a Story of Value, we can inspire and mobilize the political will necessary to tackle these challenges head-on. A universal grammar of value recognizes the interconnectedness of our world and the shared responsibility we all have in addressing its challenges.
These seven links between the collapse of value and humanity’s existential threat highlight how postmodernity attempted to eradicate metaphysics, virtue ethics, and community. After postmodernity, metaphysics remain. People all over the world are still finding truth in their religious and ancestral traditions. We need to build on this to build the requisite political will to address the metacrisis. Muslims, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Taoists, Indigenous traditions, and all other religious traditions must look within to uncover a universal grammar of value. Perhaps the starting point is the Golden Rule, but we need to go beyond ethics and ground ourselves in metaphysics, sincerely seeking the answer to our existential question: “Who are we?”
The Intercept. "Israel-Iran Regional War." Accessed April 14, 2024. https://theintercept.com/2024/04/14/israel-iran-regional-war/
Kabir Helminsky, "What is Sufism?", The Threshold Society, accessed April 15, 2024, https://sufism.org/sufism