Reviving Gratitude

Thanksgiving in North America remains one the most beautiful holidays for its near-universal resonance. But the spirit of Thanksgiving, while vital to our wellbeing, seems increasingly scarce. Why?

It might be a consequence of the growing separation from our past, present, and periphery.

There's a separation from our past in part because of the speed of innovation. History appears less relevant when re-imagining the future seems to outweigh the importance of understanding what got us to where we are. In building that future, there's also a natural tendency to view previous generations with condescension and disdain. It becomes more difficult to empathize with the limits of their moral universe, and to appreciate their good-faith attempts to promote human flourishing.

There's also a separation from the present. The incentive structure of our information ecosystem rewards negative emotional salience. Our news channels vie for supremacy in compiling the most comprehensive catalogue of catastrophes on earth today. This of course feeds the intuition that the world is literally and figuratively on fire. The truth, as people like Hannah Ritchie and Steven Pinker have documented, is far more encouraging than this.

Finally, there's a separation from our periphery. With such a captivating digital reality in the palm of our hands, we've cut many ties with our immediate community. Instead of finding our place within that more manageable domain, our egos now compete with a global army of avatars who outgun us on every conceivable source of self-worth. It's almost impossible not to feel hopelessly inadequate in all sorts of ways.

There's an obvious irony here: the Digital Age was meant to be the age of unprecedented connectivity, but our virtual and psychological realities have slowly diverged.

I'm not entirely sure what to do about this, but on a basic level it must mean widening the lens on each of the above dimensions. It must mean reminding ourselves that we stand on the shoulders of giants, that we are preposterously lucky to be alive today, and, in the majestic words of MLK, that we are "bound together in a single garment of destiny."

The philosopher Sam Keen put it best: “The more you become a connoisseur of gratitude, the less you are a victim of resentment, depression, and despair. Gratitude will act as an elixir that will gradually dissolve the hard shell of your ego–your need to possess and control—and transform you into a generous being."