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The Pursuit of Virtue

2019, APF Compass

The study of wisdom and virtue has been part of Thomas Lombardo’s pursuit as the director of the Center for Future Consciousness and the director of The Wisdom Page website for more than a decade.

BOOKS A w or d to th e w i se by A l i r eza H ejazi Th e st u d y of w i sd om an d v i r t u e h as been p ar t of Th om as L om bar d o?s p u r su i t as t h e d i r ect or of t h e Cen t er f or Fu t u r e Con sci ou sn ess an d of Th e W i sd om Page w ebsi t e f or m or e t h an a d ecad e. The Pur suit of Vir tue: The Path to a Good Futur e is Lom bar do?s ten th book . In h is view, ?wisdom is a fu tu r e focu sed psych ol ogical l y h ol istic, eth ical l y in for m ed, an d evol u tion ar y capacity an d vir tu e. It is th e ideal over ar ch in g m en tal gu idan ce system for both con str u ctivel y addr essin g ou r con tem por ar y pr obl em s an d cr eatin g th e good fu tu r e? (2018, p. 109). Th e n ew book is a con den sed u pdate of section s of h is pr eviou s book W isdom , Consciousness, and the Futur e: Collected Essays, pu bl ish ed in 2011, as wel l as h is m or e r ecen t book Futur e Consciousness, pu bl ish ed in 2017. Lom bar do says th at ar ou n d 2004-2005 h e r eal ized th at wisdom was th e h igh est expr ession of fu tu r e con sciou sn ess. H e bel ieves th at it can be u n der stood as an ideal m odel of h eigh ten ed con sciou sn ess, an d th at it can be tau gh t with in edu cation al system s. W isdom , h e says, in tegr ates al l of th e im por tan t ch ar acter vir tu es th at can be discu ssed in th e con text of edu cation an d con sciou sn ess r egar din g th e fu tu r e. It is th er efor e th e appr opr iate ideal towar d wh ich we sh ou l d str ive in ou r in dividu al an d col l ective psych ol ogical evol u tion . Th r ou gh th e fou r ch apter s of th is sh or t book , Lom bar do offer s a com pr eh en sive descr iption of wisdom . In th e fir st ch apter ,h e poin ts to th e path of ?good fu tu r e.? Fin din g th is r equ ir es a k in d of awar en ess h e cal l s 'h eigh ten ed fu tu r e con sciou sn ess,' wh ich is ou r m ost distin ctive an d em power in g h u m an capacity. In an ear l ier book , h e defin ed fu tu r e con sciou sn ess is as ?th e set of psych ol ogical capacities th at focu s on th e fu tu r e, in cl u din g, for exam pl e, for esigh t; an ticipator y h ope an d fear ; pl an n in g; goal settin g; an d pu r posefu l beh avior ? (Lom bar do, 2017, p. 11). The Pursuit of Virt ue: The Path to a Good Future by Thomas Lombardo Wood Lake, 2019 In Ch apter Two Lom bar do iden tifies wh at h e bel ieves ar e a set of k ey pr obl em s in th e con tem por ar y wor l d. Pr esen tism ? excessivel y im m er sion with in , an d focu s on , th e pr esen t? is on e of th ese. On e big pr obl em with pr esen tism is th at ?an essen tial an d em power in g capacity of an evol ved con sciou s m in d is an expan ded sen se of tem por al con sciou sn ess, of both past an d fu tu r e. Livin g in th e r el ative n ow, u n con tam in ated by past an d fu tu r e, is th e state of a pr im itive m in d; it is th e state appr oxim ated to (al th ou gh n ever com pl etel y r eal ized) in h u m an in fan ts an d th e sim pl est of an im al l ife for m s? (2019, p. 17). Oth er pr obl em s th at con tem por ar y h u m an ity su ffer s fr om ar e egocen tr icity,in dividu al ism , an d r el ativism . Egocen tr icity pl aces th e sel f at th e cen ter of th e wor l d; in dividu al ism is th e ph il osoph ical Contemporary humanit y suffers from present ism, egocent ricit y, individualism, and relat ivism. APF COMPASS | OCTOBER 2019 | PAGE 24 BOOKS view th at each of u s is distin ct, separ ate, an d u n iqu e. H e bel ieves th at egocen tr icity an d in dividu al ism con tr ibu te to a var iety of h u m an pr obl em s, in cl u din g depr ession an d n ar cissism . Th ey can be am el ior ated th r ou gh th e exer cise an d pu r su it of cer tain k ey vir tu es. Rel ativism is an expr ession of extr em e in dividu al ism becau se it is based on th e idea th at each of u s l ives in ou r own pr ivate an d in dividu al r eal ity. Rel ativism posits th at ?al l cl aim s of tr u th an d val u e ar e seen as cu l tu r al , h istor ical , an d per son al per spectives on r eal ity; th er e ar e n o ever yth in g, especial l y h appin ess, bu t th at it actu al l y is h appin ess. Th e con sequ en ce of su ch a bel ief is th e n egation of ever yth in g el se in l ife. As a r esu l t, peopl e m ay n o l on ger pu r su e wisdom , fr ien dsh ip, or k in dn ess. W h en peopl e th in k th ey sh ou l d get r ich , as th e cen tr al goal in l ife, th e h u m an val u es su ch as l ove, affection , an d k in dn ess m ay l ose th eir pr ior ities. Th is can en dan ger th e su r vival of h u m an s on th is pl an et. Com m odification an d con su m er ism ar e two sides of th e sam e coin . Com m odification r efer s to ?th e W isdom integrates all of t he import ant character virt ues t hat can be discussed in t he context of educat ion and consciousness regarding t he fut ure. absol u te, u n iver sal , or objective tr u th s, or gu ar an teed m eth ods for fin din g su ch tr u th s? (p. 41). Su ch attitu des l ead to ch aos an d discon n ectedn ess. Lom bar do ch al l en ges th e l ogical base of r el ativism by ask in g, ?if we ar e al l r igh t, n o on e is wr on g. H ow can we distin gu ish wh at is tr u e an d wise, fr om wh at is er r on eou s an d fool ish ?? (p. 28). H e ar gu es th at both r el ativism an d au th or itar ian dogm atism dim in ish th e capacities of th e h u m an m in d an d bl ock ade th e way of pr ogr ess towar d n ew k n owl edge. Ch apter Two al so addr esses oth er pr obl em s, in cl u din g m on etization , com m odification , con su m er ism , an d affl u en za. M on etization r edu ces ever yth in g to m on etar y val u e. Su ch a bel ief m ay con vin ce peopl e to bel ieve n ot ju st th at m on ey can bu y pr ocess by wh ich goods an d ser vices ar e pr odu ced by capital ist fir m s for a pr ofit u n der con dition s of m ar k et exch an ge. In oth er wor ds, it is th e view th at n on -com m odified pr actices ar e in dem ise as th e m ar k et or com m odified sph er e col on izes th ese r eal m s? (W il l iam s, 2005, p. 1146). Con su m er ism h as becom e a way of l ife, in wh ich ever yon e is a cu stom er an d con su m ption is th e cen tr al activity of l ife. Com m odification an d con su m er ism ar e expected to l ead peopl e to th e good l ife, bu t don ?t. Lik e Lom bar do, Bu ch h ol z an d Rosen th al (2010) h ave war n ed th at ?th e con su m er ism of today is par tial l y th e pr odu ct of a desper ate su bstitu te for th e exper ien ce of fel t val u e an d th e dem an ds of con cr ete h u m an existen ce for on goin g gr owth . W h en con su m er ism becom es su ch a su bstitu te, th en th e h ol istic sk il l s n eeded for th e r econ str u ction an d expan sion of val u e-l aden , sel f-com m u n ity gr owth can n ot occu r ? (p. 122). Lom bar do r efer s to ?affl u en za? as a psych o-social addiction . It is ?a pain fu l , con tagiou s, social l y tr an sm itted con dition of over l oad, debt, an xiety,an d waste r esu l tin g fr om th e dogged pu r su it of m or e? (Lom bar do, 2019, p. 46). In h is view, affl u en za h as been in ter pr eted as a m en tal disor der th at absol ves a per son of r espon sibil ity for cr im in al acts. H e con cl u des th e secon d ch apter by descr ibin g th e pr obl em s cau sed by th e im pacts of tech n ol ogy an d m edia im m er sion . A tech n o-dom in ated vision of th e good fu tu r e m ay excl u de con sciou s vision s th at em ph asize sel f-r espon sibl y in im pr ovin g m in ds an d ch ar acter s. Th e th ir d ch apter of th e book deal s with th e vir tu es of fu tu r e con sciou sn ess. Lom bar do?s h ol istic per spective of fu tu r e con sciou sn ess em br aces al l of ou r psych ol ogical pr ocesses an d m odes of con sciou sn ess fr om per ception an d beh avior to th in k in g an d u n der stan din g. Based on th is appr oach , fu tu r e con sciou sn ess is cen tr al to ou r distin ctive h u m an n atu r e. ?Fu tu r e con sciou sn ess m ak es possibl e pu r posefu l evol u tion with in h u m an r eal ity. W e can desir e an d im agin e, an ticipate, th in k an d pl an , an d pu r posefu l l y act towar d th e cr eation of a better wor l d an d better h u m an s? (p. 63). In th e pu r su it of ?h eigh ten ed fu tu r e con sciou sn ess,? ch ar acter can pr ovide cl u es. Ch ar acter vir tu es th at con tr ibu te to h eigh ten ed con sciou sn ess in cl u de APF COMPASS | OCTOBER 2019 | PAGE 25 BOOKS 'Fut ure consciousness makes purposeful evolut ion possible. We can desire and imagine, ant icipate, t hink and plan, and act tow ard t he creat ion of a bet ter world and bet ter humans' sel f-awar en ess, sel f-con tr ol , sel f-efficacy,an d sel f-r espon sibil ity. H is accou n t of th ese vir tu es in br ief, bu t th ey ar e al l vital to th e con tr ol of ou r in n er sel ves as th e ar ch itects of ou r l ives an d ou r fu tu r e. H is descr iption of th ese vir tu es con vin ced th is r eader to accept th at a fu tu r e-con sciou s sel f is th e on e th at is awar e, con tr ol l ed, effective, an d r espon sibl e for h is/ h er fu tu r e-or ien ted evol u tion , an d th at of oth er s. Lom bar do con cl u des th at we ar e on th e path of pu r posefu l sel f-evol u tion as h u m an bein gs. Kn owin g an d u n der stan din g th is, we n eed to in vest m or e in h ope, optim ism , an d cou r age in ou r for war d-th in k in g. W e n eed to h ave a r eason abl e degr ee of com m itm en t, per son al l y an d social l y, to discipl in e, ten acity,an d deep pu r pose. Th is com m itm en t can be gen er ated th r ou gh th e l ove of l ear n in g, wh ich m ean s to val u e l ear n in g an d be in tr in sical l y m otivated to l ear n . Th e u l tim ate goal of l ear n in g is to im pr ove on e?s own beh avior ,wh ich l eads in tu r n to tem per an ce, bal an ce, an d r ecipr ocity. H e al so says th at h eigh ten ed fu tu r e con sciou sn ess in vol ves cosm ic con sciou sn ess an d tr an scen den ce. wisdom n ar r ative. Lom bar do?s h istor ical r eview su ggests th at th e pu r su it of wisdom is an an cien t qu est, exten din g back to Ar istotl e, an d fu r th er. H is defin ition of wisdom is: ?Th e per son al l y in ter n al ized, con tin u al l y evol vin g u n der stan din g of an d fascin ation with th e big pictu r e an d per son al dim en sion s of l ife an d th eir con n ection , an d wh at is tr u e an d good, an d th e desir e an d cr eative capacity to appl y th is u n der stan din g to en h an ce th e wel l -bein g of l ife, both for on esel f an d oth er s? (p. 110). References Buchholz,R.A.,&Rosenthal,S.B.(2010). Spirituality,consumption,andbusiness. In Giacalone,R.A.,&Jurkiewicz,C.L. (Eds.) Handbookof workplacespiritualityand organizational performance(114-125). Armonk,NY:M.E.Sharpe. Lombardo,T.(2017). FutureConsciousness: ThePathtoPurposeful Evolution. Hants,UK: ChangemakersBooks. Lombardo,T.(2018). ThePursuit of Virtue: ThePathtoaGoodFuture. Kelowna,British Columbia: WoodLake. Lombardo,T.(2011). Wisdom, Consciousness,andtheFuture: Collected Essays.Bloomington,IN:Xlibris. Williams,C.C.(2005). Workorganizationin post-socialist societies. Futures, 37(10), 1145-1157. Dror,Y.(1989). Memofor systemreforming rulers,Futures, Butterworth,UK.August, Lom bar do?s cen tr al m essage in book is th at th e con tin u in g devel opm en t of wisdom sh ou l d be th e cen tr al aspir ation for ou r own pu r posefu l sel f-evol u tion an d th e fu tu r e evol u tion of h u m an ity. Fr om h is r eview of fu tu r e-or ien ted wor k s fr om an cien t to m oder n er as, h e pr oposes th at th e ?n ar r ative? is th e m ost r eal istic an d effective way to con ceptu al ize th e fu tu r e. The Pur suit of Vir tue: The Path to a Good Futur e con tr ibu tes to ou r fu tu r e-or ien ted evol u tion in a descr iptive an d in spir ation al m an n er. ? Ch apter Fou r is abou t l ivin g th e APF COMPASS AlirezaHejazi istheadjunct professor of BusinessLeadershipat California Instituteof Management and Technology. HeistheAPFwebmaster, andwasacontributingeditor tothis editionof Compass. Hecanbereached at: webmaster[@ ]apf.org. | OCTOBER 2019 | PAGE 26