Virtue of Prudence: Why We’re Overwhelmed
We hear it all the time. “People are so busy today!” Have you ever thought about what we really mean by that statement? What is different about our modern age that makes people so busy? If you think about it, most people today have to dedicate a lot less of their time to survival than at any other time of history. Yet, we’re busier and more overwhelmed than any other time in history. Why is that?
A big part of the answer is a loss of the virtue of prudence in what I call the paradox of progress. Catholic social teaching defines progress as the nurturing of conditions that lead to human physical, social, and spiritual well-being as a groundwork for growth in virtue and holiness. Catholic progress stresses the advancement of transcendent goods – truth, goodness, and beauty.
The paradox is that while modern progress has advanced beyond our wildest imagination, our culture’s definition of progress has focused on technology, finances, and education. Modern progress meets our material desires, but not our transcendent needs. Even modern education has forsaken the traditional ideal of a “liberal arts education” as a pursuit of human development and a love for truth. Modern education focuses much more on the specialized skills needed to make money in a career. This new definition of progress does not lead to authentic human development. It doesn’t lay the groundwork for virtue, holiness, or happiness.
Six Effects of the Modern Concept of Progress
Dr. Richard Swenson, the author of a number of books on overload and margin, points out that the failure of the modern definition of progress in six of its effects on human life. The first effect is constant change. Thanks to a boom in technology and urbanization, we have seen more change since 1900 than all of history before 1900. Change can be either good or bad, but it is always stressful. Change requires us to adapt. So we have been adapting constantly for 120 years. Even though it is stressful, we have come to crave change and even to seek it for its own sake.
As a consequence of this constant change, we also experience an increase in stress. Some stress in life is healthy. It challenges us and keeps us on our toes. It makes us adapt and improve ourselves. Without enough stress in our lives, we get bored and restless. But our modern culture has pushed us beyond the optimal level of stress. Constant stress takes a serious physical and psychological toll on us.
Not only is modern life in a constant state of change, but it is also increasingly complex. Think about all of the new technology we are forced to learn. If you really think about it, much of our technology has not made our life easier. Much of it has made it unnecessarily complex. We feel we need to keep up with the constant stream of social media, that we always need to be connected to multiple sources of news, and that we need constant communication with others. These are complexities that distract us from other more important dimensions of life.
Not only is life more complex but it is also happening at greater and greater speed. We are constantly rushing from place to place. I can’t tell you how many times I say that I’m “running” with the kids – meaning that we’re in a hurry to get somewhere. People drive faster, have less patience, and always seem to be in a rush to get to the next thing. We’re moving through life so fast that we’re merely skimming the surface. We don’t have time to do the things to take us more deeply into things that are more meaningful – reading, studying, discussing, loving, etc.
As a result of all of this, people today are much more intense. They are tightly wound – literally. Studies show that restorative wrest requires muscle tone and mental alertness to fall below a set point. People today are so wound up that they don’t get restorative rest.
Finally, our culture’s view of progress leads us to overload. Overload is defined as “a state of chronic overage that leads to dysfunction in at least one important area [of life].” The fact is that human life is defined in part by our limits. Only God has no limits. When we go beyond our limits for stress, change, complexity, speed, and intensity, we experience overload.
Why Doesn’t Our Culture See the Problem?
In many ways, it would seem that the problem of overload would be obvious to our culture. Science shows that these six effects are widespread and growing. Yet, our culture seems to turn a blind eye to science.
One reason is that these conditions are pretty new. People, including medical and psychological professionals, don’t understand overload. We often don’t identify the problem until we’ve reached the point of burnout or nervous breakdown.
Another reason is that our culture and our Church has de-emphasized the virtues, including the virtue of prudence. We have stopped asking the questions like, “what is true human development?” Instead, we emphasize individual desire, individual truth, and individual fulfillment.
But there’s also the problem that our culture doesn’t want to see the problem. In fact, we like modern progress. It feeds our desire to feel productive and successful. It also feeds our sense of duty. We want to do all we can for our families. We want to give our jobs and society the best that we can. Nobody wants to be seen as a “slacker,” as weak or as lazy. While these commitments to be and do our best are laudable, our imbalanced cultural sense of progress pushes us too far.
People of authority in our culture also like modern progress. Bosses like having workers who are willing to work themselves ragged. Social leaders push us to be involved in every cause and concern, often making us feel guilty if we don’t contribute.
Finally, we have become addicted to entertainment and media. Our time and energy are eaten up by frivolous pursuits like media consumption, email, social media, and instant communication. This kind of entertainment is not true leisure and does little to restore us or to bring us true human development.
The Virtue of Prudence: the Solution to Overload
While we can do little to affect the changes in our culture, we can help ourselves and those we love by being aware of the problem and finding a solution. The challenge is that, especially in our current culture, overload is the state of entropy. In other words, overload is the natural state we’ll find ourselves in if we do nothing and just flow with the culture.
If we want to break the pattern, we need to make the effort to make changes in our lives. The best way to make these changes is to use the virtue of prudence. If you’d like to know how to build prudence and the other virtues that make up the foundation of lay spirituality, I’d like to invite you to take advantage of the opportunity below to get more involved with the programming at From the Abbey. Our mission is to help Catholic adults rediscover the joy of learning and living their faith. Our spirituality program teaches you how to establish and grow in the foundational spiritual virtues that make up a “Lay Rule of Life,” helping you to develop a spiritual life without retreating from your vocation to live in the world. Join us today and start growing in your faith!
Brought to you by Jeffrey S. Arrowood at From the Abbey, dedicated to helping you rediscover the JOY of learning and living your faith so you can grow in intimacy with God.