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Plusquampostmodernism

Adapt or die.

The Prevailing Paradigms

Premodnernism, modernism, postmodernism... Modernism may be in charge of the world, but all three paradigms are still very relevant today, and they are all very inadequate for our times. We are in dire need of a new paradigm. (For pedants' sake: Yes, I know I'm lumping a lot together under premodernism.)

To use common stereotypes from US culture: Modernism is an indignant man yelling, "I KNOW where we're going!" as he angrily but confidently drives a van off a cliff. Postmodernism is a woman riding shotgun snarkily saying, "I told you so!" over and over in a variety of clever ways while the van plummets. Premodernism is a senile grandpa sitting in back who says that everything was better before automobiles, back when all the people he met looked and thought like he did.

Premodernism is completely out of touch with the world today. Modernism is terminally ignorant. Postmodernism, at worst, embraces stupdity; at best, it is hopelessly feckless. If this is the best we can do, we won't last much longer. Let's consider them in a global crisis...

Global Climate Change

Premodernists say we need to follow their ancient beliefs, which often involves a lot of praying and "getting back to nature". This might make sense if 1) everybody agreed to do it and 2) we hadn't already done so much damage. The world that the mythically wise ancestors knew simply does not exist anymore; we already destroyed it. Mass migrations are already happening right now due to shifts in temperatures and rainfall. The premodern approach means lots of war.

Modernists are the eternal optimists on this topic. They think we just need some new breakthroughs in technology and governance to solve or at least meaningfully mitigate climate change. Never mind that they mostly ignore what the scientists (whom they claim to believe) are saying. If things get too drastic, we'll just have to come up with more drastic measures, like spraying sulfur dioxide in the upper atmosphere (because there's no way that will have bad side effects, right?). Again, war.

Postmodernists spend most of their time yelling about how modernists got us into this mess. Their yelling is often aesthetically interesting but not very useful. The few of them who try to offer any solutions usually side with premodernists, being just as oblivious as them as to why that won't work. Again, war.

Next, please?

Since our existing ways are obsolete, what comes next? One idea getting some attention is called "metamodernism". This is mostly a remix of previous paradigms, between which people are supposed to "oscillate". (That is the actual term used by metamodernists.) It seems like a good idea to take what works from tradition and use it...unfortunately, there's the big question of deciding what "works". How are you supposed to know when to oscillate, and how far?

Aside from these fundamental questions, there's also the awkward issue of genocide. The authors of books on metamodernism wouldn't apply the word "genocide" to any of their proposals, but who ever does? ("Genocide" is for other people.) They at least acknowledge that their commitment to veganism means the end of many ways of life. Millions of pastoralists would have to give up their lives and likely leave the lands that they know in order to survive in a vegan world. I'll sidestep the moral question of whether this is "good" or "bad"; I'll even avoid the question of the huge amounts animal suffering caused by vegans; I'll simply note that the logistics of ending meat consumption are beyond current social, political, economic, and technical means.

So, yeah...the possibly top contender for the new prevailing paradigm is one that depends on massive genocide and people magically knowing how to oscillate correctly. On a tackier note, it's driven by smarmy elitists who would likely get mowed down in the next world war.

Everything old is new again

My personal prediction is that we will "regress" to premodern beliefs. This is already happening in many parts of the "developed" world. Disillusioned people are digging up ancient ideas, often remixing them, but fundamentally making choices to reject what has been learned through modernism and postmodernism. Global cataclysm (e.g. oceans rising several feet, world war) will fracture large, interconnected societies back into numerous small tribes. This will accelerate the return to premodern thinking.