A playful image captures some of what our times are about from Cultural Maturity’s view of uncertainty. The fundamental task of our time may be not unlike that of a bicyclist, who in learning to ride, at a certain point sets his or her training wheels aside. Initially the bicycle feels less stable. And indeed much more can happen, both good and bad. But if the cyclist has done sufficient preparation and the time is right, setting training wheels aside is only in the most limited sense about chaos or instability. It is about discovering a new, more complex and dynamic kind of stability.
The image reflects a couple essential recognitions. It helps us appreciate how the most defining contributor to modern uncertainty is not new insight or invention, but reality itself. We experience greater uncertainty because more and more we encounter life without the protective presence of past absolutes. In addition, by representing the simplicity of Cultural Maturity’s task along with the complexity, it helps make understandable Cultural Maturity’s potential as antidote.
No guarantee exists that the future presents a bike we can ride. And this simple image captures only part of what we must deal with. But it usefully reframes the tasks ahead and offers that today’s challenges present possibilities that are at the least intriguing.