Choosing What’s Right in a Complex World

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This week’s topic is something I continuously ponder. Around three years ago, I read the book 21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari, and the chapter Justice has stuck with me since.

How can we live a righteous life in such a complex world?

I recently joined the Amazon affiliate program to explore whether it could become a small income stream. But in the back of my mind, I kept asking: Is this really the right approach? Amazon doesn’t have the best reputation, yet it offers countless options—not only for consumers but also for creators and small businesses. Although I don’t know yet how lucrative or exploitative these offers are.

I remember once looking for reviews on a curly hair product, and someone complained on Reddit that a smaller brand’s quality had declined after it grew bigger. Another person responded that all big corporations are bad. Suggesting that as soon as the scope of anything becomes too big, it inevitably causes harm, no matter how good its original values were.

For now, I’ll leave the affiliate links I added to older posts (my baby blog probably won’t get much attention either way), but I’ll take time to research other programs while continuing to ask: How can I live a righteous life in such a complex world, without going insane or feeling guilty for the things I enjoy doing?

Page from 21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari, chapter titled “Justice.” The excerpt discusses how the problem in the 21st century isn’t a lack of values, but the difficulty of applying them in a complex global world. It states that humans evolved to deal with moral issues on a small scale and are overwhelmed when faced with global relationships and systems. Harari argues that justice isn’t just about values but understanding cause-and-effect. He uses an example: if someone gathers mushrooms to feed their children and another person takes them away, it’s clearly unjust. But in our modern world, causal relationships are so complex that it becomes difficult to judge what’s right. He reflects on how living peacefully at home can still tie one into injustices—such as occupation, child labor, or animal exploitation—through indirect economic and political connections. He concludes by asking whether he is to blame for these things, admitting it’s hard to answer even simple questions like where his lunch or clothes come from, or what his pension fund is doing with his money.
21 Lessons for the 21st Century—Yuval Noah Harari

Intention and Reflection

I believe what we can all do is live with intention and reflection. We’re constantly flooded with information, and instead of feeling guilty that we aren’t reacting and acting accordingly to whatever we just found out, we should digest a little at a time and reflect on the choices we’ve already made.

Right before writing this, I read The Imperfectionist newsletter by Oliver Burkeman. He wrote about the practice “being a disappointment”. I think the only person you truly shouldn’t disappoint is yourself, and the best way to stay true is by allowing yourself to disappoint others.

There are countless causes in the world to focus on to make the world better. However, one human can only focus on so much in a lifetime. That is why prioritizing is important.

What are you passionate about? What lifestyle gives you meaning and fulfillment?

Choose those and allow yourself to be okay with disappointing others for not choosing the rest.

And be kind to yourself. What feels right today might feel wrong tomorrow.

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