Broaden Experience, Narrow the Field

I am less and less interested in more and more things.

I don’t care about the Telegram guy or the boxing lady or Hurricane Beryl or when the Fed might cut. I don’t care about things that are happening halfway around the world or halfway across the country.

For 99.99% of the 2 million years the human genus has been evolving, we’ve had zero idea what was occurring in the next valley over much less the other side of the planet.

Meanwhile, people find themselves getting outraged or saddened or worried by things that occur in areas that are increasingly remote.

I have a theory about this related to Moore's Law, communications technology and our growing disconnect from nature, but I’ll leave the why for another post or maybe never.

We are a nation of hoarders and I don’t mean piling old boxes in our attic or bicycles in our garage.

We only have so much emotional storage yet we are stockpiling psychic relics unrelated to us and outside of our control.

So it’s nothing personal, I just don’t have the emotional storage space for more.

I care a lot about a few things. I care about my family, my friends, & my clients. I care about my dog. I care about music and having time to do what I enjoy like running and cooking for my family. I care about what happens in my neighborhood and community to a degree.

Of course, I do not want bad things to happen to anybody anywhere ever. But I don’t have room to care that much.

I want to broaden experience, but narrow the field.