Concents in Anathem

I’ve always had an unusual attraction to the monastic life. I’m not religious and it’s not theology that draws me in, but this idea of a focus on the essentials. My perception of a monastery is a small group of people, maybe 100-200 people who are mostly self sufficient. They live off of donations, but they may have gardens, cook, clean, and generally maintain everything to continue their lifestyle. The rest of their time is this collective spiritual journey, which they are more attune to as they are closer to the primal human condition. There’s some core thread within that thinks in some ways, this could be a superior ways of living. One of the core ideas of Anathem that really resonates with me is this idea of a concent which draws inspiration from universities and monasteries, but instead of theology they focus on math, history, and philosophy.

The concent contains Maths which house different generations of sorts. There’s 1 year, 10 year, 100 year, and 1000 year Maths. The number determines how often their gate is opened during Apert to the rest of the concent as well as the outside world. The ten year Math only opens once every 10 years during Apert. During the 10 days of Apert, the people of the Math are able to go out into the rest of society as well as interact with any of the other Maths whose gate has opened. The idea is that they are sheltered from the outside world’s events for the time in between their Aperts. The thousanders have people who are utilizing information from their last Apert which could be hundreds of years prior or many lifetimes. They are self sufficient, have no ‘deadlines’, and are primarily focused on pushing understanding forward.

There’s something appealing about spending my whole life learning about myself and others. There’s so much we don’t really understand about the human condition, yet we race along regardless. I often feel like we’re chasing dopamine when contentment is right at our feet. A world without constant distraction, no constant stream of news, no new “hotness” to keep up with sounds pretty good to me. How much of our life to we spend paying attention to transient ideas that are gone days later to never be paid attention to again.

I’ve been working toward a balance. I think having a job is a huge intellectual asset and relying on donations isn’t sustainable. A business is a real contract with society, it requires an empathy of sorts and an ability to interact. 200-300 people could live in isolation but that isn’t realistic and knowing how to interact with the outside world is ideal. I think a balance of being an active member of society and producing an income is vital so you can focus on the knowledge, understand what is valuable to you, and can change your life accordingly.

How does one cultivate an environment that is as encouraging as this? In modern times, once school is complete, it feels like it’s largely your job. Jobs aren’t encouraging unless you work in specialized environments that are very research focused. What is the ideal? Communal living? Community centers? How can we bring together groups of people in a way that actually builds trust, a shared vision, and relationships around these core ideas. I want a future that isn’t just more stuff, but where people are engaged and thriving in their daily focus.

In a way, it’s kind of a great time to exist. I’m fortunate to be in tech and get to learn about things I care about while at work. I’d say at least a quarter of my time is learning semi-relevant skills for my interests. Additionally, I make a solid wage and can live relatively minimally. This allows for a freedom that I could shift to a less demanding job or find a lower paying job that is more in line with my goals. Because everyone is so focused on accumulating and spending money, if you can accumulate and invest accordingly, you can live relatively minimally. Everyone wants to get rich, but it’s totally possible to live relatively cheaply. This would become even easier if more of our basic communal needs were met outside of work.

My dream would be to have some sort of community center within walking distance that encourages math, philosophy, art, reading, exercise, etc. A place you can just show up and see what’s going on. Additionally, it would be amazing if there was access to cheap healthy meals. It doesn’t cost that much to cook healthy food at scale with the goal of sustanence. If there was a place that offered a filling, nutritious meal for 10$, you’d have community and food. That’s massive. Even this requires taxes, it requires someone funding it.

The concents of Anathem are very collective focused. In the main characters home, they have large communal eating areas where a rotation of avout cook, meaning everyone has to know how to cook. They tend to have an avocation like wine making or gardening which essentially encourages them to have hobbies, though it seems their hobbies tend to also benefit the rest of the concent. It follows closely with the four tenants of a balanced life: physical activity, mental engagement, community/social, and a good diet. I constantly question - why is technology driving us apart? We have had everything we need for ages.. why do we distract ourselves?

What’s your ideal? What’s stopping you from working toward it today - how do we make this happen?