Where are we in history? (Ruben Nelson)

In February 2023, CACOR director Ruben Nelson released a 33-page essay on his experiences in life.

Where are we in History: Reflections on the New Core Work of the 21st Century is a limited inquiry into a particular question.

He said, “I am aware that this focus means that a host of interesting, important, but ultimately ancillary, issues will only be touched on or acknowledged in a footnote, but not dealt with in a satisfying way.  The benefit is found in the length of this piece. It is already long enough to demand stamina.

“The core question of this essay has been central to my life and work for at least six decades.  It can be asked in these words:

• “In the early 21st Century, do we who are Modern Techno-Industrial (MTI) peoples and cultures really know who we are and what we are doing?”
• “Is our grasp on reality as surefooted as we assume it is?”
• “Are the ways we identify the existential risks to our future, and to the future of so much we love about this planet, as reliable as we claim they are?”
• “Or, is there a serious chance that we are kidding ourselves; that we are simply wrong about the superiority of the routine ways we present ourselves to, grasp and respond to reality; that today we are in a kind of trouble that is both far deeper and far different from that which we now claim it is?”

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