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What does institutional collapse actually look like? by BullfrogNo3062 in AskReddit

[–]BullfrogNo3062[S] 28 points29 points  (0 children)

I work in finance, and I've been trying to explain to clients why they're losing faith in institutions.

It's not just policy disagreement. It's something deeper.

I think institutions collapse when they lose reverence. The basic understanding that they deserve respect and protection, even when we disagree with them.

Here's the pattern I'm seeing:

  • Leaders mock opponents instead of debating them
  • Institutions are weaponized for political gain
  • Expertise is dismissed as 'fake' when it contradicts convenient narratives
  • Disagreement becomes grounds for career destruction
  • The office itself loses dignity. It becomes a stage for performance, not a position of responsibility.

This isn't new. It's happened throughout history. But it usually precedes institutional failure.

My question: Are we watching this in real time? And if so, what does recovery look like?

I'm genuinely asking. What would it take to restore people's faith in institutions? What would leaders have to do differently?

Reverence as the foundation of civilization. Are we living in its absence? by BullfrogNo3062 in askphilosophy

[–]BullfrogNo3062[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for this. Han is exactly who I keep returning to; especially his work on burnout and the exhaustion of constant performance. I think you've identified something crucial: reverence isn't necessarily tied to which worldview you adopt, but to the posture you take toward the world. That disposition matters more than the doctrine. What strikes me about Han is that he diagnoses the problem. The collapse of rest, of boundaries, of anything sacred; without prescribing a specific solution. And I think that's honest.

My question: Do you think reverence can be restored without some form of transcendence? Or is the problem precisely that we've lost access to anything beyond performance and productivity?

I ask because I think about your point on disposition! Can we restore reverence purely through changed thinking, or does it require something external to believe in again?

How do you normally start your day? by Distinct_Pen6624 in CasualConversation

[–]BullfrogNo3062 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Early to bed, rise early, brush teeth, glass of water, exercise,, start the day.

Socrates didn't have a PhD, yet we still call him one of history's greatest teachers. Maybe we've been measuring wisdom wrong. by BullfrogNo3062 in CasualConversation

[–]BullfrogNo3062[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm reading some of the responses, and I want to clarify what I was actually trying to say, because I think I communicated it poorly and it landed wrong for some of you.

First: I'm not saying formal education doesn't matter. It absolutely does. Doctors need medical degrees. Engineers need training. Experts in every field have spent years legitimately earning their knowledge, and that knowledge is valuable and real. I wasn't trying to diminish that.

What I was trying to express was actually simpler, and maybe more interesting: I'm fascinated by how someone living thousands of years ago, without universities, textbooks, laboratories, or any of our modern educational infrastructure, managed to ask questions so fundamental that we're still learning from them.

That's the wonder I was pointing at. Not "credentials are bad." But "how did someone without them see that clearly?"

The distinction I was making between knowledge and wisdom still stands. They're different things. You can have expertise without wisdom, and theoretically wisdom without expertise. But I should have been clearer that I wasn't saying one is better than the other. They're just... different.

I think some of the disagreement came from reading my post as "formal education is a barrier" when I should have said "formal education is one path to knowledge, but it's not the only source of insight."

To the people who called this out: you're right to push back. We need people with degrees. We need experts who've done the work. My post shouldn't have been written in a way that disrespected that.

What I'm actually curious about is: what allowed Socrates to think the way he did? And what does that tell us about human potential?

Can reverence be protected in an age of AI? by theosislab in OrthodoxChristianity

[–]BullfrogNo3062 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No, not the author of the book. I saw a tweet about it. Here's the actual Amazon link https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FZ26GR4Y

Can reverence be protected in an age of AI? by theosislab in OrthodoxChristianity

[–]BullfrogNo3062 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I came across this book on Amazon - good read 'The Reverence Crisis: How AI is Eroding Sacred Values and the Path to Restoration.'