Is Anything Really Different?
When anyone says, “it’s a different world now, it’s not the same, things are changed,” they aren’t really talking about the WORLD. They’re speaking from inside their perception of an unfamiliar time. Unfamiliar because they have elected to ignore the less obvious.
The critical practices of civilization repeat themselves with each generation. Our mistakes are compounded as often as hindsight is ignored, history rejected and a blind eye turned toward a leader with a blind eye. Yet we can’t break the cycle. We seem to be genetically predisposed to repeat the errors of our ancestors.
Technology changes and while learning focuses on new details, easier ways, the foundations upon which such details are to be built are left buried, lost, relegated to some future archeological dig. Some distant generation might then discover, “wow they understood all that, too bad we have to go through it all again.” Leaders should derive their knowledge from history and the cumulative learning of civilization, where experience trumps, “I think” speculation, every time. When combined with wisdom, knowledge can be a potent teacher.
JC CALKINS with COMMON SENSE 4 UNCOMMON PEOPLE
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