The Beaver Without a Dam: Are We Destined to Forever Drift Downstream?
An Anatomy of Modern Confusion and a Call to Rebuild.
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A beaver is born with the inherent, evolutionary knowledge of how to build, how to fell a tree, how to strip its bark, and how to shape it into a perfect piece of a dam. Its very DNA provides it with the blueprint of engineering. Now imagine a beaver, perfectly happy on a sunny summer's day, just minding its own business. It clutches its matcha, spiced, cinnamon, chocolate chip, vanilla, whipped cream latte in one paw, and an iPhone in the other. A seemingly limitless bounty of "trees"—representing all the building blocks of an individual's skills and foundations—stand towering above it. Here are the sturdy oaks of critical thinking, the flexible willows of empathy, the firm maples of logical reasoning. This seems quite pleasant, does it not? So much opportunity and all.
The Invisible Threads: A Beaver Bound
But here's the cruel twist: this beaver is, unknowingly, bound by an invisible, yet pervasive, network of fine, almost imperceptible threads. These threads represent a failure in formal education, the numbing grip of tech addiction, a lack of time in the day, unhealthy social relationships, lack of support structures, financial problems, exterior global pressures, and struggles with mental health. Subtly, these threads prevent the beaver from using its own inherent abilities, and by extension, the vast resources around it.
When the beaver tries to approach a majestic oak of critical thinking, the threads tighten, making the effort seem insurmountably difficult. The energy required to even begin gnawing at the strong wood feels immense, almost painful. The willows of empathy or the maples of logical reasoning also appear too formidable to tackle, their inherent strength becoming a deterrent due to these unseen bonds. The beaver struggles to even begin to topple these essential "trees" that would form the strong foundations of its dam.
The Turbulent River: Debris and Desperation
Into this scene flows the relentless, ever-present river of information (by now you likely see where this is going, but please humor me). This river is a turbulent torrent of news, data, opinions, and narratives that gush at us daily. It's heavily laden with deceptive debris: brittle poplars of fleeting trends and the easily accessible, thorny thickets of appealing misinformation.
Desperate to build, feeling the urgent need for a dam, yet unable to reach the true "trees" in the forest, the beaver begins to desperately clutch at this debris as it passes. It holsters its delicious beverage and chucks its phone on charge, now straining in an effort to gather the fleeting poplars and thorny thickets, frantically trying to piece them together. It works tirelessly, but to no avail. The flimsy trends splinter, the sharp edges of misinformation fail to interlock, and the structure it attempts to create immediately disintegrates under the river's unyielding force. It wastes precious energy on these useless materials, all while the sturdy oaks and maples stand just out of reach. An ironic, constant, and frustrating reminder of what could be.
The dam the beaver is meant to build from the "trees" (its internal skills and frameworks) represents its worldview. The beaver should be able to pick and choose at will what stays and what gets scrapped in a controlled environment. Yet, because the beaver is subtly, but profoundly prevented from utilizing its own innate abilities to choose and process the robust "trees" in its forest of skills, it simply cannot construct a resilient worldview. The unyielding flow of information, now recognized as carrying problematic elements like trends and misinformation within its current, will not be managed. It will simply crash over the beaver, leaving it adrift, confused, and unable to form stable understandings, likely to be swept away, despite being surrounded by all the foundational skills it inherently knows how to use, if only it weren't so insidiously bound by that which the eyes can't see, and tragically misdirected by the very nature of the river's flow. An extra note - it seems that all the beaver is upset about after being swept away is that its latte spilled and its waterproof phone is a bit wet. I would be too, to be fair.
Does the beaver ever notice these threads whilst they shimmer in the sun? Does it ever try to bite at them? Can the threads snap?
A Manifesto of Resilience: Why I Believe
Am I a pessimist? No.
Am I simply baffled by the amount of people I witness in my everyday life just accepting something as gospel as it happened to pop by on their screen for a moment or two? Yes.
Analogy aside, I believe a person can realize their own restraints imposed on them by the failings of a society they were randomly assigned to at birth. In fact, I think this is something we have all become very good at. I also believe that a person is more than capable of trying to combat these restraints to better their circumstances. This is the part I believe people tend to struggle with. Despite this, I am in full and utter belief that a person can still succeed.
Why am I saying all of this? Why am I saying it here? Why right now?
Well, despite my apparent fixation with beavers, and as incredibly interesting as they are, I really do have a love for humanity. I think we are simply brilliant (yes, that means you too). We are profoundly resilient to that which would have us be no more. A large problem arises and says 'Hello... time is up, let's go!' and we as a species band together and simply reply by saying, “not today.”
We, unlike any other species on earth, can just about choose our own path in this universe. A niche species of snake somewhere all start to become infertile - that's probably their ticket. Humans? One, two, three… and boop, a lab magically appears through the miracle of human ingenuity where you can literally grow more humans. An impressive feat indeed.
But what about humanity's smaller victories? The smaller, everyday things that set us apart from all of green earth's creations. How about... the individual who gives when they themselves are struggling to eat. The person who listens when they themselves don't feel heard. The person who persists even when the end is out of sight. Or even the person who loves, when they themselves do not feel loved. Again, impressive indeed, only caviated by the darker sides to this same coin. The person who feels alone even when surrounded by those who love them. Very much every day, and very much happening all around us. These are people who exemplify what I can only bring myself to refer to as ‘human, all too human’.
Yeah, take that beavers.
I diverged from the beaver stuff for a moment only to highlight the fact that we are remarkably busy, even if we don't realize it. Busy doing all of the ‘human, all too human’ stuff. I want it to be clear that I am not calling anyone stupid, or less capable by design, and those who feel they fit the description of a beaver entangled in thread - I by no means believe you are incapable. Just busy. Life is hectic, and as anyone who has ever played the astoundingly life-like board game Monopoly, the dice often feel rigged. Like I said, I believe in the human ability to survive when all seems bleak, and this problem of being a human in an information led world, currently without the facilities to triangulate real, useful information, is rather bleak. That doesn't make you stupid, only human, and that is utterly brilliant, as it means you will more than likely tussle through and build a pretty nice dam one day. My worry however, is for those who carry far too much weight, the very vulnerable, the ones being targeted as a child, and those who feel completely set in their ways clutching for debris.
My Convictions: The Human Imperative
I suppose that transitions me nicely onto why I would want to talk about this, and related things here. My profound love for humanity drives my desperate desire for us to preserve what I believe makes us, us. However, a looming threat I perceive is the unfortunate reality where too many of us succumb to the currents and drift helplessly downstream.
In our analogy, the beavers who have built strong, beautiful dams – representing individuals with robust worldviews and the frameworks to navigate information – realize the potential for others to be swept away. Yet, instead of helping to remove the invisible threads that bind so many other beavers, they find it suits their interests better if the majority remain constrained. It appears, then, that not everyone can have their dam and eat it too.
After all, no strings mean a dam for all, and a dam is power, and who wants to share that?
Well, I say a dam for all. If information is power, all are entitled to it by divine right. My dream is for everyone to enquire, to analyse, to ask why or how, to theorise, hypothesize and be able to substantiate. I see the future of the world as one where anyone can construct a coherent, stable, and potentially powerful worldview. We might not all agree with each other's worldview, but that's part of the fun. What matters is that we are provided our right to have a real one in the first place, not a fabricated Frankenstein's monster one—a worldview strung together by TikTok Reels and X posts.
The Dallas Digest: A Call to Build
I am writing here as, although I do not sit upon a finished dam, I have started. From my dam, I see those still straining for fleeting debris. Writing here is my attempt at slapping away paws from said debris, and maybe cutting some threads whilst I'm at it. I see every person released from the confines of their threads, and by extension the crosshairs of an upstream beaver tossing debris their way, a little piece of humanity saved.
And why has it taken me this long to get around to this? Well as previously mentioned, my dam is fairly new, as I have spent a long time myself trying to decide what threads to try and snap.
All it took was for me to realize that, no, none of us are in fact destined to forever drift downstream.
This is not just a publication; it is a space dedicated to the rigorous exploration of ideas, to uncovering the unseen threads, and to strengthening the human capacity for a resilient worldview. I aim to foster a community where we can collectively sharpen our critical faculties, deepen our empathy, and explore ideas whilst no one gets left behind.
The Dallas Digest will be a place to:
Deconstruct the Noise: By applying philosophical and political frameworks to current events and societal challenges.
Cultivate Clarity: By offering nuanced analysis and fostering discussions that cut through superficial trends.
Empower the Builder: By providing tools and perspectives that help you identify and utilize the "oaks" and "maples" in your own intellectual forest.
I invite you to join this expedition. If these ideas resonate, if you too believe in individuals' potential to build against the tide, subscribe to The Dallas Digest. Share your own questions, your insights, and most importantly, your experiences, in the comments. Let us build together.
Yours in thoughtful inquiry,
Matthew, a human - not a beaver.
If you have even half hopes for the quality of my future posts, I would appreciate your faith and ask you jump on for the ride now, and don’t miss out on when I finally get into the ‘nitty gritty’ (Specific policy, world politics, predictions, and philosophical dives).