Beware the Anesthetized Life

It’s common to assume the big problem driving political and cultural polarization is that we feel too deeply—our passions run too hot, and we’ve become too intense about too many things. What we need is to lower the temperature and learn to chill out, to simmer down the passionate feelings that lead to so much unrest. I wonder, though, if the deeper problem for many in our society is the reverse. We don’t feel enough. Our emotions are shallow and superficial, our mouth stifling a permanent yawn.