Sometimes I think I'm looking for understanding. But then I also worry that I'm looking for easy answers.

When that happens, I try to go back to basics.

I observe that there is too much misery in the world. Worse, there are many trends that threaten to increase it.

Most people don't have time to worry about future misery—they are miserable now.

Some fixate on one trend that they believe is the source of all their misery. And they demand one simplistic solution to reverse that trend. Usually it’s blaming some group of people. Maybe they have a grudge, or maybe those people are just convenient scapegoats.

Is financial inequality just one trend amongst many? What about degradation of the biosphere? Are they connected?

The world is complex. But most complex systems arise from simple interactions. It’s just that there are many of them, and they compound and interact in complicated, unpredictable ways.

Power dynamics arise in societies from how people pay attention to one another: who they listen to, who they believe, and whose orders—or simply guidance—they obey. Really, that’s all there is to it. But there are many people, and many relationships, all connected in a vast network, which changes all the time. If you want to change power, you have to change the people to whom other people pay attention. No attention, no power.

Economic dynamics arise from how people trade with one another, and how they borrow and lend. Trade and debt depend on one concept: ownership. Many people treat finance as a game. They “win” by accumulating, or lose by… dissipating? The system allows accumulation without limit. Tolerance for dissipation (debt leading to negative net worth) is more strict, but varies with status.

Some societies have secondary systems—welfare, charity—to compensate for unfortunate people who lose everything. But rarely do they worry enough about those who accumulate absurd amounts. Even though preventing such hoarding would immediately liberate vast resources, which could immediately reduce vast amounts of misery.

But not all misery is economic. Or inter-personal. Some of it is simply behavioural. We often do things in an attempt to improve our condition, and end up worsening it. Of course, when some people suffer such dysfunctions, their self-harming behaviour usually benefits someone else. Whether it be addictions, of compulsions, or false beliefs, these behaviours make us vulnerable, and easy to take advantage of, and exploit. Which usually leads to economic misery, but to other kinds of misery, too. Like fear of evil spirits, or going to hell, or simply believing one is not worthy.

There are many sources of misery. Many are difficult to address, because they stem from misunderstandings about the world. Such misunderstandings are core to people’s identities, because of their upbringing and social surroundings, and theit innate tendency to adopt the attitudes and beliefs of those around them.

Long term reduction in misery requires deep changes to entrenched social attitudes, to long-lived cultural features. But people are resistant to change their beliefs. Even if those beliefs are of dubious benefit. People are attached to their identities, even if those identities lead to self-harm.

Which is to say, people are often the source of their own misery, either directly or indirectly. Ultimately it is up to people to free themselves. Can the be helped? Can they be set free? Are there better, less self-defeating, beliefs that they might adopt? How can they be inspired to adopt new beliefs? Which ones?

How do we evaluate beliefs? How do we know which ones are best? Is it even possible?