Anthony Rowley

Macroscope | Faced with war, climate change and threat of AI gone wrong, world needs infusion of idealism

Whether we call it belief in God or a guiding external force or simply superstition, inculcating faith or the conviction that we are accountable to someone or something greater than ourselves can both defeat nihilism and provoke great creative actions

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The sun shines through the clouds over Lahaina, Hawaii, on August 10, 2023, after the city saw widespread destruction from wildfires. Photo: AP

Anthony Rowley

Published: 7:30pm, 6 Jan 2024Updated: 9:16pm, 6 Jan 2024

There is an awful sense of acceptance and inevitability about threats the world faces in 2024, from the expected continuation of war in Ukraine and Gaza and ongoing US-China tensions to climate change and the potential risks posed by artificial intelligence. Perhaps this is because humanity no longer feels accountable.

Accountable to whom, or to what? To someone or something beyond us would be the best answer to that question. Call this entity what you will – it is some higher power to which mankind is answerable, not least in stewardship of the planet and its creatures.

There is a reluctance nowadays to acknowledge that humans are responsible to any power beyond themselves, yet there are few signs they can shoulder the burden of self-governance effectively. Hence the sense of impotence in the face of myriad threats.

This is not to suggest that all our problems can solved by bowing down and asking forgiveness from a divine creator for our sins and presumption. But respect for a creator or entity greater than ourselves can unleash enormous positive energy.

This was brought home to me by an address I once heard then Czech Republic president Vaclav Havel deliver in Prague Castle when he invited us to look at the many splendid churches and cathedrals dominating the skyline of the ancient city. Many of them, he observed, had been designed or built by people who knew they could not possibly expect to live long enough to witness completion of these glorious edifices, perhaps as much as a century later.

They nevertheless dedicated their lives to the effort because they believed in something beyond themselves whose value would persist after them. Havel might have said the same of great works of literature, art and music whose creators dedicated them to a higher being.