OPINION
We all love a good “life hack” or “tips and tricks” video.
There is something empowering about the do-ityourself instinct.
Problem-solving is the engine that is driving our machines, the wind in our sails, as it were.
When something breaks, we want to fix it quickly.
While this is certainly a good quality to emulate, it has also begun to shape our worldview, looking at life as a “problem to solve” rather than an “experience to be lived.”
From this perspective, efficiency is viewed as wisdom, and pragmatism feels grounded and mature.
Yet, what is the cost associated with “whatever works,” and is there a deeper question we should be asking?
As Dr. Ian Malcolm (played by Jeff Goldblum) noted in Jurassic Park, “your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.”
Pragmatism oftentimes begins as a tool, like a young parent giving an iPad to a screaming toddler to quiet the tantrum.
(Oh, do not take this as an attack, I am most certainly guilty of this more than I care to admit.)
Over time the screen becomes a distraction, rather than discipline, and we pacify rather than teach patience.
And, it’s scary how well pragmatism works, because the child does indeed become silent, at least for the moment.
As young parents, we often cannot see what we are teaching in those moments, or the kind of person those habits are silently forming.
The easy solution bypasses compassion, patience and responsibility.
It avoids the difficulty of parenting, and the child does not learn the lesson of how to socially engage in public situations.
Pragmatism seeks to answer the short-term problem and is shortsighted, not recognizing the more complex problem created just below the surface.
The quick-fix ignores the character development we so desperately desire in society.
Efficiency erodes trust in our systems. We see it in the growing number of product recalls, things rushed to market because they worked well enough, until they didn’t. Systems that merely function end up feeling devoid of life and vitality.
We are faced with the fact that some things that work can still deform us and leave us wanting, desiring a deeper answer, a deeper connection, something more than just practical.
The wise words of Jesus challenge this concept still today, “For what good will it do a person if he gains the whole world, but forfeits his soul? Or what will a person give in exchange for his soul?” (Matt. 16:26, NASB) Jesus was not antipractical.
He was teaching that there is something deeper than effectiveness and materialism.
There are qualitative questions that quantitative solutions are helpless to answer.
More widgets do not cure burnout, depression or emptiness.
We need not abandon pragmatism; we just need to situate it within a larger narrative.
We should begin confronting our own pragmatism by asking the questions, what is shaping me, is this the best decision for those within my sphere of influence, who and what is molding my affections, will this form us into the people we hope to become?
The solution which works in the moment may not be the long-term solution we hoped for.
Wisdom calls us to examine not just the end result, but the path we took to get there and who we became along the way.
Steve Stanley is a Providence Village resident with a doctorate in ministerial leadership with a platform on You-Tube, https://www.youtube. com/@FormedNot-Performed, and on Instagram, https://www.instagram. com/formed_ not_ performed. He can be reached at stevestanleyacoustic@ gmail.com.
