Confucianism in the Modern World

Welcome to Apocalypses in the Modern World! 

This podcast was created for GenEd 1001: Stories From the End of the World. 

Faiad Alam, a current sophomore studying global health studies at Yale University, will help me facilitate a conversation where we will compare Confucianism with Islam, the largest growing religion in the world originally founded in the 7th century. At first glance, Confucianism and Islam appear to be two completely different schools of thoughts that share no common ground, but we will discuss the ways in which they’re more similar than originally imagined.

In an era of well-defined states, effective leadership is an important aspect in maintaining political stability and social harmony in the modern world. Find out what the qualities of an ideal leader are and explore the way in which Confucian leaders can provide the key to solving many of our world's issues.

There is so much that humans do not understand about the carnal world and Confucius advocates that finding a willful purpose is the key to truly comprehend life itself. Find out how Confucius' perspective on death & one's willingness to explore new aspects of the world determines one's ability to optimize their time on Earth.

Modern psychology tells us that the one thing which makes humans different to all organisms is the human experience. However, even though the concepts of modern psychology are fairly new and weren’t conceptually known during the Warring States period of China, Confucius understood the complexities of the human experience and developed parts of his philosophy on the grounds of maximizing the capabilities of the human mind.

In the age of social media, it is very common to surround yourself with a superficial view of the world, as in this age of likes, shares, and fast information it is easy to receive a skewed representation of the world. Because of this, many people struggle to find true meaning and purpose in their lives. Find out how Confucius' teachings from 2000 years ago provide the foundation to live joyfully and meaningfully in the 21st century.

People are complex beings. However, despite the complexity of the human experience, a quality that all humans share is an innate desire to live a good & satisfying life. Confucius believed that the key to attaining this good & satisfying life lies in the ability for people to master what he calls self-cultivation. Find out how one can attain the best version of themselves by cultivating the 5 Virtues and learning to routinely break from bad habits.