I once went to a salon where the topic of discussion was “agency.”
What is it? What causes it? How do we feel about it?
I liked this discussion. I’d like to host gatherings like this, with friends: dinner, a complex topic to discuss. Something philosophical, but that we all relate to.
I was talking to someone, recently, about how I want to be more agentic, but I was also aware of the agency I do have. We wound up on a little metaphor:
- No agency is bobbing along in a river — you let the river carry you as it will
- Moderate agency is responding to the river — you’re in a river raft, you steer it to the parts that are safest or most fun, depending on what you want.
- Big agency is moving the river — rerouting it completely. Digging channels, building dams. The gumption! The creativity! Little human taking on huge task.
In some areas of life, we’ll find we exercise very little agency, while in others, we will move the river.
I don’t want to imply that moving the river is always good or the right thing to do. Sometimes we want to be in places where we have low agency — relaxing in an intertube, floating along in the sun. It’s important to rest, to let things be. Also, big agency requires astute judgment. It’s important to know which part of the river needs to be rerouted, if any. Is moving the river even the best solution? Maybe we can ship our goods via train instead.
I also like the river metaphor because I think it helps point at how agency isn’t everything. You may be trying to steer your small raft as furiously as you can, but if you’re in the rapids or you’re not very skilled or you don’t know this river, you may not be very successful. And it points at the fact that “big agency” is often not a one-person job. Maybe there’s a main instigator, but the dam doesn’t get built by one person with a shovel. That’s part of what you can think about when being agentic too — what is possible if you pull people together, instead of just relying on yourself?