The Changing Definition of the Good Life and the Temptation of Reach

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The modern concept of the good life has shifted from being ordained by God to being framed around the idea of reach, which involves optimizing ourselves to embrace and reach the world. This shift has led people to pursue worldly success, money, status, and influence on social media, with the belief that having enough money can make the world reachable and haveable. However, this temptation of reach can boomerang on us, according to Rosa, as it may deaden the world and have unintended consequences.

The social theorist Charles Taylor says that part of what characterizes a secular age is that there are multiple competing options for what constitutes the good life.

The sociologist Hartmut Rosa argues that modern citizens most often locate that good in optionality, speed, and reach, which creates a phenomenon he calls “social acceleration.”

Professor of theology Andrew Root explores the ideas of Taylor, Rosa, and social acceleration in his work, including in his book The Congregation in a Secular Age. While Andy largely looks at social acceleration through the lens of its effect on churches, it has implications for every aspect of our lives, from work to family. We explore those implications today on the show, unpacking the way that seeking stability through growth leads to feelings of depression, exhaustion, and discombobulation, how we collect possibilities while not knowing what we’re aiming for, and how we’ve traded the burden of shoulds for the burden of coulds. We discuss how social acceleration has shifted the horizons and significance of time, how time has to be hollowed out to be sped up, and how the solution to the ill effects of social acceleration isn’t just slowing down, but finding more resonance.