Great Escape
In Defense of Not Saving the World
Our preoccupation with solving global problems can do more harm than good
Earlier this year, I became unwell. I couldn’t work or do much of anything else. For weeks on end, I had to be looked after by other people. And it was excruciating.
I realized during this period that my self-esteem has typically been buoyed by doing things: being useful, helpful, and generally busy. Like most people, I enjoyed being thanked for my efforts, but even if nobody noticed, I felt driven to keep myself occupied. And, of course, it had always been easy for me to keep busy, because there was always plenty to do, in my own world and the world at large. But during illness, being idle — being useless — was horribly uncomfortable.
Now healthier again, I see that preoccupation with busyness differently. It’s part of my personality, a characteristic, rather than (as I used to see it) a perfectly natural response to a world full of things that need attention: projects to start, wrongs to right, groups to be formed and organized.
Six years ago, I wrote a book called How to Change the World. I’m very proud of it, can’t recommend it highly enough, you should buy a copy, blah blah blah. It was published in 16 languages, I did a TEDx Talk on the…
