3 Macro Trends Causing People to Seek Advice Now, More Than Ever

SHOW NOTES

Charlie makes the case for why we are all so desperately seeking advice and guidance now, more than ever before. Can we really succeed as a society post-pandemic if we don’t improve our problem-solving skills?

She highlights four big forces that are relentlessly driving humanity to seek solutions and reassurances to problems none of us ever experienced before the pandemic (it’s an entirely new world now). The four driving forces are: the pandemic, existential crisis, uncertainty, and mistrust

While the pandemic is the overarching driving force behind our search for answers and meaning, Charlie focuses this episode on the other three, less obvoius, forces: existential crisis, uncertainty, mistrust — and offers examples of how this is playing out.

QUESTIONS

Here are the questions Charlie presented as food for thought:

Are you experiencing an existential crisis now?
How uncomfortable are you with uncertainty on a scale of 1-10?
When and how have you sought advice throughout the pandemic? Who (or what) did you rely on the most for good advice?
If we are in unchartered territory (pandemic, politics, technological innovation) and the systems and institutions we have historically relied on are no longer viable (and worse, no longer trustworthy), who is going to advise us through our global existential crisis and how are we going to advise each other wisely??
How can we instill, during these turbulent times, heightened advisory skills in the next generations that will guide them wisely into the future?
Who do young people turn to for advise and how is their advisory different than prior generations?
What does popular culture (film, tv, music, 0065tc.) tell us about the future of giving and receiving advice?
Who will you lean on for good advice in the coming years?

LINKS MENTIONED IN SHOW

What’s An Existential Crisis and How Can I Overcome It? (Psych Central) [link]
Why the COVID-19 Pandemic Has Caused a Widespread Existential Crisis (TIME) [link]
COVID-19 – global pandemic or existential crisis? (Microsoft Blog) [link]
How chaplains in the US are helping deal with existential crises during a pandemic (University of Michigan News) [link]
The World Pandemic Uncertainty Index (International Monetary Fund) [link]
The World Uncertainty Report (IMF) [link]
‘WitchTok’: Amid uncertainty, a new fascination with astrology and the occult bubbles up with GenZ (CNN) [link]
2021 Edelman Trust Barometer Report [link]
10 Takeaways from the 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer (AMP Agency) [link]
Trust Barometer Spring Update Finds a Distrustful World in Trauma [link]
Did the pandemic shake Chinese citizens’ trust in their government? We surveyed nearly 20,000 people to find out. (Washington Post) [link]