The article explores how modern society requires individuals to trust complex systems and expert knowledge that are impossible for any single person to fully verify, drawing on examples from technology, law, and science to argue that belief in such "impossible things" is a necessary foundation of civilization.
The article argues that to function normally, people must accept contradictory realities: that climate change is catastrophic but also that society treats mitigation as economically unviable. It explores the psychological dissonance required to live in a world facing existential threats while continuing daily life without urgent action.
Emotional regulation—the capacity to feel strongly without losing composure—is increasingly rare. Past norms expected adults to handle disagreements and bad news with restraint, but today raw emotional expression often replaces that discipline.