020 may well be remembered as the year in which discussion and action around a great many of the major, early 21st century societal fault lines began to crystalize. Multiple manifestations of social inequality, the struggle against systemic racism, the fight for representation and inclusivity, the rise of populism, challenge to democracy, the learning crisis, and the climate crisis have all been brought into clearer focus, in many ways because of the light shone on them by responses to COVID-19, which was the crisis in front of us all throughout the year. At present it feels as if it is the struggle with these challenges that will define the next decade and beyond for a great many people around the world. How we respond and how successful we are will significantly impact on the quality of a great many lives.
These challenges and how to respond to them are having a polarizing impact on societies at a time when we need to be working together. Finding ways of working across these societal fault lines is proving as big a challenge as addressing any of the other issues. One approach, which may well help, is the subject of a fascinating book that came out in May 2021 called Framers: Human Advantage in Age of Technology and Turmoil by Kenneth Cukier, Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Francis de Véricourt. Throughout the book the authors talk about the importance of mental models. Mental models help us see patterns and create order, they help us imagine how situations will unfold. The book is full of brilliant examples of when and how the ability to apply different mental models, or to reframe a situation or challenge, has led to new way solutions or ways forward.
There is a common thread that connects many people who are opposed to responses to COVID-19, see diversity and inclusion as a threat, hold racist views, and deny the climate crisis. It has to do with the mental models they use to make sense of the world. Dr Anthony Jackson, vice president for education at the Asia Society has written brilliantly about this in the context of the fight against racism in the USA. Dr. Jackson (conscious of the risk of oversimplification) makes the case that people can be divided in two camps based on two competing worldviews—on the one hand there are those who subscribe to a dominance paradigm and believe there must always be winners and losers and that there will always be those who have hegemony over others. On a fundamental, evolutionary level this is what defines the struggle for survival. The rest of the world subscribes to what Dr. Jackson calls ‘the egalitarian paradigm’ which recognizes profound differences between people and societies but doesn’t see these differences as legitimizing the dominance of one person or group over another. Different mental models or ways of framing the issue lead to very different conclusions about how to respond.
The frames that we use to make sense of the world are tools that can be improved, adapted, or cast aside and replaced by new frames. Framers makes a strong case for the idea that one of our greatest powers as a species is the capacity not to have to choose between bad options, when a problem or situation is reframed completely new options become clear. This kind of mental agility is going to be essential if we are to overcome the enormous challenges that we will all face in the next few decades. Reframing seemingly intractable problems may well prove to be the best chance we have of overcoming the massive differences that have become more visible over the last 18 months and finding new ways of working together to address the biggest crises facing us.
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The Next Normal: Thriving in the Post-Pandemic World
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September 27, 2021
The frames that we use to make sense of the world are tools that can be improved, adapted, or cast aside and replaced by new frames. This kind of mental agility is going to be essential if we are to overcome the enormous challenges that we all face in the next few decades, writes Dominic Regester.
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020 may well be remembered as the year in which discussion and action around a great many of the major, early 21st century societal fault lines began to crystalize. Multiple manifestations of social inequality, the struggle against systemic racism, the fight for representation and inclusivity, the rise of populism, challenge to democracy, the learning crisis, and the climate crisis have all been brought into clearer focus, in many ways because of the light shone on them by responses to COVID-19, which was the crisis in front of us all throughout the year. At present it feels as if it is the struggle with these challenges that will define the next decade and beyond for a great many people around the world. How we respond and how successful we are will significantly impact on the quality of a great many lives.
These challenges and how to respond to them are having a polarizing impact on societies at a time when we need to be working together. Finding ways of working across these societal fault lines is proving as big a challenge as addressing any of the other issues. One approach, which may well help, is the subject of a fascinating book that came out in May 2021 called Framers: Human Advantage in Age of Technology and Turmoil by Kenneth Cukier, Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Francis de Véricourt. Throughout the book the authors talk about the importance of mental models. Mental models help us see patterns and create order, they help us imagine how situations will unfold. The book is full of brilliant examples of when and how the ability to apply different mental models, or to reframe a situation or challenge, has led to new way solutions or ways forward.
There is a common thread that connects many people who are opposed to responses to COVID-19, see diversity and inclusion as a threat, hold racist views, and deny the climate crisis. It has to do with the mental models they use to make sense of the world. Dr Anthony Jackson, vice president for education at the Asia Society has written brilliantly about this in the context of the fight against racism in the USA. Dr. Jackson (conscious of the risk of oversimplification) makes the case that people can be divided in two camps based on two competing worldviews—on the one hand there are those who subscribe to a dominance paradigm and believe there must always be winners and losers and that there will always be those who have hegemony over others. On a fundamental, evolutionary level this is what defines the struggle for survival. The rest of the world subscribes to what Dr. Jackson calls ‘the egalitarian paradigm’ which recognizes profound differences between people and societies but doesn’t see these differences as legitimizing the dominance of one person or group over another. Different mental models or ways of framing the issue lead to very different conclusions about how to respond.
The frames that we use to make sense of the world are tools that can be improved, adapted, or cast aside and replaced by new frames. Framers makes a strong case for the idea that one of our greatest powers as a species is the capacity not to have to choose between bad options, when a problem or situation is reframed completely new options become clear. This kind of mental agility is going to be essential if we are to overcome the enormous challenges that we will all face in the next few decades. Reframing seemingly intractable problems may well prove to be the best chance we have of overcoming the massive differences that have become more visible over the last 18 months and finding new ways of working together to address the biggest crises facing us.
