Issue 49 - Utopia

Welcome to Issue 49 of Deep Life Reflections, where I share five things I’ve been enjoying and thinking about over the past week.

This issue celebrates a full year since I launched Deep Life Reflections. I wrote my first issue, Issue 1, on February 24, 2023. I’d like to thank every reader for being part of this reflective journey, whether you’ve been with me since the beginning or have recently discovered our community. Looking ahead to future issues, I’m excited to share more about the motivations behind starting this newsletter, including a ‘behind the scenes’ look at what goes into crafting each edition. I’m also keen to hear from you, inviting your thoughts on what resonates with you and suggestions for what you’d like to explore in future issues. But for now, again, a huge thank you for your engagement and support!

As we turn to this week’s Friday Five, we examine the power of recognising our own ignorance in Adam Grant’s, Think Again, empathise with those fleeing from North Korea’s oppressive regime in the documentary film, Beyond Utopia, and contemplate the conditions in which societies flourish most.

Join me as we explore this week’s Friday Five.

1. What I’m Reading

Think Again. By Adam Grant.

The core message at the heart of Adam Grant’s Think Again is the liberating power of knowing what you don’t know. Grant, an organisational psychologist of some distinction, lays out why our ability to rethink things is a valuable skill that can help us overcome biases, see new opportunities, and adapt to change. However, as Grant recognises, it’s not always easy to rethink our assumptions and beliefs, and it can be uncomfortable and challenging to confront our own ignorance and limitations.

As someone who worked in the specialised field of corporate communications for twenty years, I have direct experience with the challenges and rewards of this rethinking process. I remember times when I considered myself an ‘expert’ in writing, yet reflection revealed significant areas of knowledge and skills yet to explore and hone. Today, I approach writing with the humility of a student rather than the completeness of a teacher. You may have your own similar examples.

Grant highlights a phenomenon called the ‘knowledge-confidence gap,’ which refers to the tendency for people to overestimate their own knowledge and expertise. This overconfidence can be a barrier to learning and growth, as people become resistant to new information or perspectives. When social scientists asked people why they favour particular policies on taxes, healthcare, or nuclear sanctions, they often showed even more determination in their convictions. But when asked to explain how those policies work to an expert, it activated a rethinking cycle. They noticed gaps in their knowledge, doubted their conclusions, and became less extreme. They were now more curious about alternative options.    

Recognising one’s knowledge and expertise are not fixed, but can be developed and improved over time, facilitates a growth mindset. Our ability to question and adapt our viewpoints provides us with mental flexibility and a willingness to update our understanding of the world. The world is an enormous hive of information, data, beliefs, facts, and truths, all of which can change and evolve. To illustrate this, consider the Ancient Greeks, who, despite their immense wisdom, believed that the Earth was a flat disk surrounded by a large, circular ocean. This belief was based on the limited scientific knowledge available at the time.    

Think Again is an important reminder of regularly examining our beliefs and assumptions to continue growing and learning. In a world that is increasingly polarised, we can each take our own individual step to greater understanding and empathy by acknowledging what we don’t know and being open to think again about what we think we know.

2. What I’m Watching

Beyond Utopia. Directed by Madeleine Gavin.

“Once you become aware that you can save innocent lives, it is hard to stop” – Pastor Kim

North Korea is a place you’ll never visit. It’s also a place desperately hard to leave. Kim Jong Un tells his people their country—his country—is a utopia. In his utopia, citizens get to live in an oppressive Orwellian regime where malnutrition, suspicion, torture, cruelty, and death are part of everyday life. This is the reality of North Korea, brutally exposed in Beyond Utopia, a remarkable and affecting documentary shortlisted for Best Documentary at this year’s Academy Awards.

Beyond Utopia pulls back the curtain on the misery and pain suffered by the North Korean people and shines a light. It does this through the central character of a gentle pastor called Kim Seongeun, known as Pastor Kim, who smuggles North Koreans to freedom. The film focuses on the plight of a three-generation family; a middle-aged mother and father, two young daughters, and an 80-year-old grandmother—the Woo family. The film’s power lies in showing first-hand through mobile footage the desperate lengths this fugitive family will go to for freedom.  

The Woo’s harrowing journey begins by crossing the Yalu River into China, followed by a challenging trek through the jungles of Laos and Vietnam, culminating in a perilous boat journey across the Mekong River into Thailand. They face not only the natural dangers of the elements but also the threats posed by patrol guards, hunger, and sheer exhaustion, all while knowing the grim fate that awaits them if captured. The film reveals the dubious role of “brokers,” unidentified figures who act as a cross between a guide and a negotiator, driven by profit over ideology, and at times, exploitatively demand more money from the desperate family.

Right there with the family is Pastor Kim, a man with his own physical limitations, the haunting loss of his son, and the threat of a death-penalty. Yet, Pastor Kim dedicates himself to plotting the path to freedom for the Woo family and many others. He believes he may have brought 1,000 people out of tyranny over the course of 20 years. His mission isn’t just to rescue individuals from a totalitarian regime, but to end its rule.

Beyond Utopia reminds us that beyond the geopolitics, there are decent people who had the misfortune to be born in the wrong country, subjected not just to brainwashing and systematic abuse, but the robbing of freedom in every sense. In Pastor Kim, the film highlights his tremendous humanitarian efforts at great personal cost.

I hope that as many people as possible share this story.   

3. What I’m Contemplating

The term utopia describes “an imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect.” Sir Thomas More first used the term in his book Utopia, contrasting the social and economic conditions of Europe with an imaginary island located off the coast of the Americas. His coined term, “utopia,” combining the Greek for “not” (ou) and “place” (topos), expressed his idea that the perfect conditions on his fictional island could never really exist.

In this week’s contemplation, I’m interested in exploring the parallel between the physical entrapment within an oppressive regime, like the one portrayed in Beyond Utopia, and the mental entrapment within our own unexamined beliefs, as discussed in Adam Grant’s Think Again. There is, therefore, a broader concept of utopia not just as a physical location or political identity, but as a state of mind that can confine us or inspire us. Our visions and perceptions of utopia—or a perfect society—can influence our actions, beliefs, and ultimately our happiness and growth.

Utopias, as More suggested, do not exist. The pursuit of an ideal society carries the peril of dogmatism—dictating “the right way” and suppressing any debate or discourse (in which someone is thinking “the wrong way”). The twentieth century witnessed the catastrophic consequences of chasing such ‘perfect’ utopias, with regimes like Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union as grim examples. Yet, the aspiration for better societies has also been the driving force behind significant social reforms and progress. And within the individual, the ability to adopt an open-minded and critical-thinking approach is also a noble pursuit.

Societies thrive best when there is conversation and a collective willingness to listen, work together, rethink, and build not for unattainable perfection, but towards continual improvements and a common good, recognising the value in the journey as much as the destination.

4. A Quote to note

“Dystopias follow utopias the way thunder follows lightning.”

- Jill Lepore

5. A Question for you

Could overconfidence in certain areas of your life be hindering your learning and personal growth, and if so, what steps might you take to challenge this?

Thanks for reading and being part of the Deep Life Journey community. Have a great weekend.

James

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