DEDICATED

A celebration of caring and community within our often bloodless digital world.

Davis, co-founder of the Democracy Policy Network and Getaway, which offers vacation escapes to tiny, off-the-internet cabins, expands his recent Harvard commencement speech into a heartfelt argument in support of the “Counterculture of Commitment” and rejection of the “Culture of Open Options.” Characterized by infinite browsing and fluid attachment to any identity, place, or community, the Culture of Open Options can yield certain pleasures, such as flexibility and novelty, but also leads to decision paralysis, shallowness, and isolation, “the malaise of having no connection to anything, of having no expectations set for you.” Drawing on abundant examples of “long-haul heroes” from friends, family, public figures (Martin Luther King Jr., Ken Burns, sports champions, and political activists, among many others), and myriad interviewees, Davis makes a persuasive case for dedication as “an alternative path of life.” He acknowledges that commitment may generate fears: “If we commit to something, we will later regret having not committed to something else instead,” or we fear undermining “our identity, reputation, and sense of control.” But he asserts that rather than threaten identity, commitment enhances it, bestowing the “gift of solidarity” within a shared moral culture rather than affiliation with the kind of micro-identities found in Twitter communities and on Reddit boards. Davis laments that in the Culture of Open Options, education focuses on training for personal advancement rather than on cultivating attachments or honing professionalism. “To be educated for attachment,” he writes, “is to learn the art of settling—into particular professions, crafts, causes, and communities—and to find there the peace of reverence and duty.” Commitments foster looking out for others rather than only for ourselves: “They structure our world, giving us authority to respect, myths in which to see ourselves, and communities in which we have a voice.”

An earnest invitation to reassess personal priorities.