The Two Biggest Problems in the Modern World

Before attempting to implement a solution, it is more important to accurately identify the true nature of the problem. When we look at the world, we have a mental health crisis^1,2, political and cultural division³, a breakdown of relationships⁴ and so much more. We are tempted to think this is a strictly systemic problem, however, one of the issues is that mentality in the first place. There are two major problems that play off one another that we are facing right now, and they might not be obvious, and the first one is that mentality. These problems have been around forever to some extent or another throughout history and are not new, however, a mix of technology and economic prosperity has enabled these issues to be much more extreme than we could have previously imagined them to be. The truth is, however, that our problems are not technical in nature, they go much deeper than that, which for many of us enters territory which is much less comfortable and often unflattering. This is a brief introduction to both in concept but not a full exploration, I also do not get into the solution to these problems as that is addressed by other content on my website⁵.

Algorithmic Thinking and Systematization

The first issue is the algorithmic mind of modernity. It is a key aspect of modernist thinking, which is that of putting excessive weight towards systems and their outcomes; a hyper logical, categorizing, intellectual, technocratic way of look at reality and people; what has been coined managerialism by American Philosopher James Burnham⁶. Put most simply, whether the problem we face is relational or physical, we can “engineer” our way to get whatever outcome we desire. I am not saying this is bad in and of itself, as this way of thinking helps us to work towards goals and problem solving (both good things) however, the more we engage in it and become convinced that is how the world works, with inputs, outputs, formulas, which lead to inevitable outcomes our perspective of reality and ourselves becomes warped⁷. We have become victims of our own “success”.

We start to see people the same way, that humans are cogs in a machine, and if we just move the cogs around and build a different machine (society) it will all work just fine, in fact, maybe it will work better than fine, perhaps it could be—utopic! This is one of the axiomatic assumptions of modernism. Of course systems are important in that you can have some that are more flawed than others, but there is no perfect system and in reality it will always break down because humans are not cogs, they are people; People with a will, and will always be tempted towards any number of vices, be it greed, envy, lust, power etc. But we still put our hopes into this bureaucratic systematization in the hopes it will deliver us from our biggest fears (explored in the next section).

People are not cogs, however, human systems are indeed made up of them (people), and thus the system will reflect the nature of what it is composed of. Think of your own life, when have you fallen into avarice (greed & lust of power/control), envy, gluttony, lust, wrath, vanity, sloth etc. now fill a system with thousands upon thousands of people all struggling with these various temptations and do you really think that everything is just going to work out? The truth is modernism has been playing a game with us where we keep trading out one system for another to be enslaved to any one of these vices. Capitalism/liberalism is fueled by greed and gluttony, Communism is fueled by envy and wrath (and then avarice for those who are left in charge), and fascism is fueled by wrath and vanity; now in every system all these vices are present to varying degrees, but each of them promotes certain vices more than others and at the core of all of them is pride. Worse yet, since we have put all our hopes in these systems, we then fight and kill one another over them, completely forgetting the humanity of those we so readily put to death since they got in the way of the coming utopia.

The uncomfortable reality is that we like to have a system to put all the blame on because it is convenient and it lets us not take accountability for our involvement. Did Jeff Basos become wealthy just because he was greedy? No, it was our greed and sloth that fueled the cheap delivery of packages right to our porch, and Basos got wealthy off it. He didn’t do it alone, we participated willingly in his greed, and he benefited from that. It can be easy and tempting to point to others and say everyone else is the problem, but we need to be honest with ourselves, none of us are innocent. Yes, bad systems promote temptation and vice and should be changed, yet that is still not an excuse; at the Nuremberg trials for the Nazi war criminals we did not let them off the hook when they said “I was just following orders”, their system was horrid, and we did not let that be an excuse for their behaviour, yet we are often tempted and succumb to the same reasoning in our own flawed system every day. It should also be noted that even a good system will degrade if those who make it up are not virtuous people.

Solipsism and Pride

This brings us to our next problem, it is the bigger problem, and it is the fuel which powers the modern algorithmic mind, and that is the issue of unchecked pride. It always helps to define terms, what do I mean by pride? I am not referring to self-efficacy, where one feels capable in the face of a task due to experience and competencies i.e. “taking pride in one’s work” (though yes, when taken to an extreme level this can become pride). By pride I mean vainglory, wanting to be God or Godlike without God. As though we either are or have acquired an attribute of God by our own means i.e. to have power and be in control, to be elevated in status above others or become smarter and more knowledgeable than all those around us, or gain stability and security through wealth, health, or some other human means, ultimately to be impassable (unable to be acted upon). All of these are ultimately a reflection of our fear of death, not just physical death but social death, agentic death etc. however, the reality that we are mortal, and that deeply disturbs us.

For most of us this is quite unconscious and throughout the annals of history has always been present, but it has been particularly brutal in our modern era for a few reasons. First, as described before with the algorithmic mind and over systematization, enabled through technological advancement we really have convinced ourselves that we can engineer our way out of every problem (often to only engineer ourselves into an equally big if not bigger problem). This has given us the illusion that we are in control, or even worse, that we should be in control. We convinced ourselves that we are the masters of our destinies, despite the fact that probability wise, it is not unlikely that someone reading this will end up in a life altering and unexpected accident at some point (something they had no control over). We have convinced ourselves that there is no providence and we are the authors of our own making.

The second reason this mentality has become particularly bad in recent years is our perception of reality. Many of us have developed a type of solipsism. For those who are unfamiliar with what solipsism is—where narcissism is a personality disorder, the narcissist often being malignant towards others, intentionally using them for their benefit etc. Solipsism is a type of blindness where the person can’t see beyond themselves, more associated with their worldview than character⁸. The more colloquial term for it would be that of “main character syndrome”, where thanks to the innovation of social media, mixed with a hyper consumerist culture people have been trained to seek status, public validation, and acquisition of wealth all while seeing others as means to an end. Even worse, should they be successful in the acquisition of such things (and/or other indicators) only serves to reinforce the idea that not just humanity, but they themselves are the main character of the grand narrative.

It reflects a type of Cartesian epistemology, where Descartes concluded that the only thing you can be certain of is your own existence i.e. “I think therefor I am” so too the solipsist can’t see the personhood or the life of the one in front of them. The result is a person who is highly unstable as they themselves are the foundation of their universe, where everything exists for their use, appetite and consumption. Other humans are not people of worth and integrity, but are tools and instruments to satiate their desires; be it at the very personal level, where a relationship is used to sate sexual desires or acquire money and security, or at the more “professional” level, where people are abused and exploited to meet the outcomes desired by a manager, or for the wealth of executives and shareholders.

If we use the teleological model from my site (https://www.paradoxengagement.ca/teleology) this person’s god their own self-perception and ego (tied to their pride):

Solipsist's God

The core issue of all of this is a lack of acceptance of our mortality, that we are not the main character, in fact humanity isn’t even the main character, but something much bigger⁸. Given what I have shared above, I intend to explore these issues on a deeper level, addressing the other key issues plaguing modern thought such as but not limited to:

Avarice and Utilitarianism

Cartesian thought and Ego

Systematization and “The Matrix”

Need for Certainty

Over-reliance on Techne

Progressivism

References

1.      Liu, Zhuo, and Mengni Kuai. “The Global Burden of Depression in Adolescents and Young Adults, 1990–2021: Systematic Analysis of the Global Burden of Disease Study - BMC Psychiatry.” BioMed Central, August 6, 2025. https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-025-07201-8.

2.      “Global, Regional, and National Burden of 12 Mental Disorders in 204 Countries and Territories, 1990–2019: A Systematic Analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 - the Lancet Psychiatry.” The Lancet, January 10, 2022. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(21)00395-3/fulltext.

3.      Macchi, Lorenzo. “Polarization Worldwide by Country 2022.” Statista, May 30, 2025. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1362781/polarization-countries-divided-world/.

4.      Stanton, Glenn T. “The Decline of Marriage Rates and the Evolution of Mate Selection in America Today.” Daily Citizen, February 10, 2025. https://dailycitizen.focusonthefamily.com/the-decline-of-marriage-rates-and-the-evolution-of-mate-selection-in-america-today/.

5.      www.Paradoxengagement.ca

6.      Burnham, James. The Managerial Revolution: What is happening in the world. Borough: Lume Books, 2021.

7.      Miller L;Wickramaratne P;Gameroff MJ;Sage M;Tenke CE;Weissman MM; “Religiosity and Major Depression in Adults at High Risk: A Ten-Year Prospective Study.” The American journal of psychiatry, August 24, 2011. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21865527/.

8.      “Solipsism.” Wikipedia, August 12, 2025. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solipsism.

a.       (I couldn’t remember the original source I learned about solipsism, so though Wikipedia is not the best, I have provided it here for those who have no preconceived understanding of the concept of Solipsism)

Copyright © Greg Nakaska 2025