When I was trying to understand why our workplaces make so many of us miserable as part of a company I was building, I ran across a management system called Holocracy, which tries to disseminate power more evenly throughout an organization. The founder discusses his inspiration for it by describing an event while he was a student pilot. Apparently, while on one of his first solo flights, he noticed that a “low voltage” light had come on. Given that all the other major indicator lights were fine, he chose to ignore this one light. It almost cost him his life.
The point of this story for organizations is that, often, we as leaders, tend to drown out the single voice when all other indicators are as expected, and that we do so at our own peril. As the methodology explains, we each have a unique perspective on life, and when one of us feels a tension, that tension, rather than getting buried by all the other voices saying that everything is fine, ought to be recognized.
When we consider Thanatism at the scale of a society, I can imagine it drowning out other voices. Thanatism makes a strong claim on the nature of human existence, and although I believe this claim is justified and important, every voice is important. No matter how foolish something may sound, the person saying it, says it for real human reasons, and because of that deserves to be heard.
Because of Thanatism’s inherent tendency towards totalization of the conversation, any Thanatist society must work diligently to protect the voice of the minority. It must work against the kind of groupthink that can ultimately lead to an organization’s or a society’s downfall. We must always remember that as these very words are being written, Thanatism is that minority position. In fact, at this point in time, it is a minority of one.
I could no doubt continue to prattle on endlessly about Thanatism and society. We, and our collective futures, are something dear to my heart. What has been written already, however, is sufficient for a beginning, and I think it appropriate to end this section with the warning that all totalizing conversations tend toward tyranny. It is important to remember that Thanatism is but one voice in a vast universe full of wonders yet to be discovered.
While I stand here, alone, looking out over a tumultuous ocean sunrise, it feels comical writing about a Thanatist society. I’ve released enough things into the world to know that the most likely outcome for what I’ve written this year is for it to be ignored. Perhaps a few will take the time to ridicule it for its audacity, but most likely this world will continue on, as it always does, unaffected by that single voice expressing a tension that it feels.
In general, I’m at peace with this. As I wrote in the beginning, I’ve started and stopped writing these words for nearly a decade. I’m glad that this year, I woke up one morning and decided to commit to writing this all down. It’s been good for me personally to work on this. Now that it has been written, I can hope that the voice inside of me that has been pushing me to express this can finally be quelled. Perhaps I can finally fully concentrate on my work, my family, and my village without feeling that I didn’t even try.
There is still, however, some small hope that this could be something more. Some hope that perhaps these simple sentiments, no matter how clumsily executed, might stir something in another person. And perhaps, that one other person will be moved enough to share their thinking with another, and that person will share as well. And just maybe, through these moments of sharing with each other, a few people can feel a greater sense of connection, as if they’re sharing a secret that has long been known, yet still needed to be said.
And of course, as this section of Thanatism and Society testifies, I hope this simple act of sharing amongst a few might become something greater still, that perhaps it is time for society to awaken. We, as human beings have accomplished a great deal. We have risen from a few hundred specimens into a species that has conquered a world. There is nothing on this planet we have not submitted to our will–a mighty accomplishment for the descendants of a simple tribe of apes.
We have yet to vanquish one foe however. You may think that said foe is death, and although this is true, that is not the foe I had in mind. Rather, the enemy of the people I’m thinking of is none other than ourselves. It seems incredible to me that a people who have fought so hard and sacrificed so much to understand this universe, would ignore what this universe says because its message is one we don’t want to hear.
We’re better than that. We’re relentless. When we believe and act together, there is nothing we aren’t capable of overcoming, and if we really want to, we can probably even someday overcome death itself. What I know, however, is that if we don’t soon find the courage to accept our own present mortality and the implications for our relationships with ourselves, others, and our society, we will never have the opportunity to find out.
Don’t let this be the end of the story. No matter how foolish any of what I’ve written may be, find it in yourself to forgive me for my failings. Ignore what is wrong in what I’ve written, and instead take a look into yourself. Find a way to confront that which you most don’t want to believe about who you are. Be the dissenting voice. Be the minority. And if death seems like a pretty good starting place for accepting truths about yourself that you don’t want to accept, come join me and perhaps a few others, as we work to build a new way of living in the truth, together, in the vain hope that we can one day become much more than what we already are.