Potentiality and Actuality
- Martyn Foster
- Aug 15
- 3 min read
Staying in “Wonderland” or a path of commitment and sacrifice.
The child is always symbolised as potential and as we age, we generally turn that potential into something actual, something real. However, it is not a guarantee that age just does this by itself. Evidently, some adults remain “children” long into adulthood. So, how do you take the undeveloped to the developed, turn what is latent into what is manifest.
The reason I feel this is an important subject to bring up is that I see a lot more people nowadays who are stuck in the former (potentiality) and don’t progress to the latter (actuality). To some extent it’s no surprise given that as a culture we continuously reinforce to people that they can be “anything they want to be” – small wonder so many haven’t progressed past that level (or even regressed towards this). You even see the ones trapped in the perpetual loop – the eternal taste tester, but no full meal.
“Potentiality is like having a library of films to watch and actuality is watching one film.”
I go through the process of turning potentiality into actuality on a weekly basis with my writing, amongst other areas. I have to take an ever-growing list of writing ideas and distil one down into something resembling a coherent and cogent piece like the one you are currently reading. Being extremely high in the personality trait openness, I’m incredibly interested in ideas and intellectually curious with a need for creative expression and exploring new things. This puts me at risk of being lost in a sea of potential, but thankfully I’m also extremely high in conscientiousness which helps to get things done, and act as a countermeasure to excessive daydreaming.
“We have a real nasty habit of infantilising adults in our society, and I believe this hinders these individuals in turning their fantasies into reality.”
The technological advancements we have made in recent decades have given rise to the internet, online communities, social media influencers, and video games – a hotbed for the Peter Pans and Panettes of the world. This is not all who dwell here, obviously, but there is a reason why I use the Peter Pan analogy, the word/prefix “pan” means all or every; a world of potential let’s say. The Never-Never Land of loading zones.
As counterintuitive as this might sound – especially given how much society values it – we must learn to get rid of our potential. We need to voluntarily close off the doors and channel that potential through one of them. The doors start to close off anyway, so you might as well do it voluntarily, at least you’ll have some control over it that way. It’s a bit like the voluntary adoption of responsibility rather than having it thrust upon you. You take it upon your shoulders and hold onto it, and you realise the personal agency you have for the direction of your life and the outcomes that arise.
“In order to make a proper commitment you have to sacrifice all other potentials. Building a life is precisely about giving up the possibility of all potentials.”
Now, I know a lot of people feel that they can’t afford to fail or make the wrong decision. They are also terrified of losing options and being trapped where they are. What this can lead to is the problem of choice and decision-making paralysis. Sometimes, the people who are stuck here are afraid of doing a lot of work and having nothing to show for it – they want a guarantee that it will pay off before they begin, but life doesn’t work that way. It’s a bit like that scene in Inception where Leo’s character says he needs a guarantee and then asks, “how do I know you can deliver?”, and Ken Watanabe’s character responds with, “you don’t, but I can”; the former is potentiality, and the latter is actuality.
“Do you want to take a leap of faith, or become an old man, filled with regret, waiting to die alone?” - Inception
The lack of courage, commitment and sacrifice (perhaps even the wrong sacrifice/s?) puts people on a path of perpetual project hopping in all facets of their life. A half-life, a provisional life, waiting for the real thing to come along, but it never does, because the potential is valued greater than the actual, the fantasy world is superior to the reality. This partial existence plagues these people, sometimes for their entire lives.
You’re going to suffer – might as well not do it blindly, wilfully or unnecessarily. Aim upwards towards the highest value and make your life into something real, tenable and fulfilling.
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