A One-Minute Elder
NOT BECAUSE THEY KNOW MORE, BECAUSE THEY SEE MORE
NOT BECAUSE THEY KNOW MORE, BECAUSE THEY SEE MORE
Why the Future Needs Elders.
If you look around, it’s difficult to argue that humanity suffers from a shortage of experts. We now have experts in every domain. Check your Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, and yes, even Substack. Or just ask your AI.
Experts everywhere. Expertise anytime.
We have experts in economics.
Experts in politics.
Experts in medicine.
Experts in education.
Experts in artificial intelligence.
Experts in social media.
Experts in nutrition.
Experts on what it takes to be an expert.
Expertise is not the problem. It is abundant and on demand.
In fact, we are experiencing the greatest concentration of specialized knowledge in human history.
And yet here we are.
More divided.
More anxious.
More polarized.
More reactive.
More uncertain about the future.
Something isn’t adding up.
The assumption has been that if we could simply gather enough expertise, we could solve our biggest problems.
But what if any of our biggest problems are not failures of expertise?
What if they are failures of wisdom?
Experts solve problems inside a system.
Elders question whether the system itself is producing the problems.
That’s a very different conversation.
An expert asks:
“How do we make this machine run faster?”
An Elder asks:
“Where exactly is this machine taking us?”
An expert improves efficiency.
An Elder examines consequences.
An expert specializes.
An Elder integrates.
An expert often sees the part.
An Elder works to see the whole.
The future is certainly not suffering because of a shortage of experts.
It is suffering from a shortage of people capable of stepping back far enough to recognize patterns, understand consequences, restrain power, and think beyond the next quarter, election cycle, news cycle, or social media post.
In other words, an Elder.
Today, we possess extraordinary power.
Technology can influence elections.
Algorithms can shape behavior.
Artificial intelligence can alter entire industries.
Financial systems can affect the lives of billions of people with a few keystrokes.
The problem is not power.
The problem is that wisdom lags far behind power.
History has repeatedly shown that when power grows faster than wisdom, things eventually go sideways. Sometimes dramatically sideways.
The Roman Empire had experts.
So did Enron.
Enough said.
Wisdom asks questions that expertise alone cannot answer.
What are the unintended consequences?
Who benefits?
Who pays the price?
What happens seven generations from now?
What are we becoming while pursuing what we want?
These are Elder questions.
And frankly, they are questions that are increasingly absent from our public, political, and business conversations and their decision-making.
An Elder is someone who has transformed experience into perspective, perspective into discernment, and discernment into responsibility.
An Elder understands that every decision creates consequences beyond the moment.
An Elder naturally includes future generations in their thinking.
An Elder recognizes that winning the argument may not be as important as preserving the relationship.
An Elder knows that being right and being wise are two very different things.
The emerging role of the Elder is not a personal lifestyle option.
I believe it is becoming an absolute societal necessity.
Because the challenges we face today are no longer merely technical.
They are human.
They are ethical.
They are civilizational.
And they require something that expertise alone cannot provide.
The future will certainly need scientists, engineers, physicians, entrepreneurs, economists, and technologists.
But if humanity is going to successfully navigate the decades ahead, it will need something more.
It will need people who can see the whole picture.
People capable of thinking long-term.
People capable of asking not only what can be done, but what should be done.
In other words, it will need Elders.
Not because they know more.
Because they see more.
EXPANDING THE ELDERS REACH
Go Fishing Where the Fish Are
The Contemporary Elder Institute is now on Instagram and Facebook, which brings the Elder’s message directly into the intergenerational spaces where culture is shaped and conversations happen.
Where what is said lands. Where what is said rings true.
Where minds are changed. Where cultural narratives are impacted.
Elder wisdom belongs in those spaces. Not tucked away. Not preaching to the converted. Out in the open, where it can challenge, provoke, and transform.
Follow us. Then use your own feed as a message for something real.
Share our posts. Spread the message. Put Elder wisdom in front of people who don’t yet know they need it.
This is how the culture shifts. One share at a time.
Instagram: @the_contemporary_elder
Facebook: The Contemporary Elder
I find that being an Elder has many more child-like times than before. Becoming an adult in a performance-based culture damages the gifts of childhood. But as an Elder, wonderment, appreciation, and a greater ability to be in the moment, are returning in 'spades.'
I think of the poem, "The Hundred Languages of Children" by Loris Malaguzzi from Reggio Emilia, Italy - an influencer of educators. For decades I have believed that if we educated children in a way that acknowledges and helps their innate wisdom grow, it would not take until elders and what is often the work of releasing such notions as becoming an expert. Having worked with hundreds of 3-5 years olds, I was constantly in awe of their natural wisdom, intuition, perceptions, creativity and more. I believe if we honored and allowed their "young genius" qualities to flourish as they want to do we would be living in a different world. Having said that, i am grateful for being an elder and for the wisdom elders bring to this time in our world. Thank you for being a catalyst to remember to be "seers" who make a difference.