The contract of mankind, modernity.

The contract of mankind, modernity.


Modernity is a kind of contract. People sign this contract on the day they are born and are governed by this contract until the day they die.


This contract governs what you eat, your job, your dreams, etc., and determines where you live, who you love, and how you die.


At first glance, the contract of modernity may seem incredibly complicated, but in fact, it is simple enough to summarize the entire contract in one sentence: A contract is an agreement to give up meaning in exchange for power.



Pre-modern people believe that their lives gain meaning in exchange for giving up power.


When terrible things like wars, plagues, and droughts happened, people thought: "We all have a role in the grand cosmic play of God or the laws of nature. We are not involved in the script, but everything happens for a purpose."


Post-modern culture says that there is no such grandiose cosmic plan.


The universe is a process without a plan or purpose, 'full of meaningless noise and madness.' Human beings 'just run around and disappear' while staying on a planet that is only a small dot in the universe for a very short time.


Human life does not have a script, nor does it play a role in a play. Neither a happy ending nor a sad ending is good. It just happens that things happen one after another.


The post-modern world does not believe in ends, but only in causes.


If an event occurs without a set script or purpose, then there is no reason for humans to stick to a pre-determined role. You can do whatever you want as long as you can find a way. It is ignorance that binds man. If you overcome the technical difficulties, you can build a paradise here and live in it forever.


The elixir of eternal youth and the elixir of calm but happiness, of course, will purify all the drugs that humans want. Modern culture says that there is no God who can stop humans.


The contract of modernity is both a great temptation and a formidable threat to humans.


You can attain omnipotence with just one step, but beneath your feet lies the abyss of complete nothingness.


Post-modern life is a process of constantly seeking power in a universe that has lost its meaning. Post-modern culture is one of the most powerful and relentless investigations, inventions, discoveries, and growth in history. At the same time, it suffers from greater existential anxiety than any other culture in the past.


How has humanity used its growing power to somehow return meaning to the infinite void of the universe?


Humans indeed promised to give up meaning in exchange for power, but no one forced them to keep that promise.

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