#41 Unaligned agendas

ByLukas
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Benefit and harm all depend on your perspective. The futurist John Smart suggests looking at phenomena, trends, and events through four different lenses (the “Foresight Tetrad“):

  • Personal
  • Organizational (=collective)
  • Global
  • Universal

Every level has its own agenda, but their interests are rarely fully aligned.

For example: for evolution and natural selection to work, a life form must have a reasonably short lifespan, reproduce quickly, and most importantly, not clone their DNA perfectly. Because small genetic reproduction errors help a species evolve and become better adapted to our environment.

Sn an organizational/collective level (taking all of humanity together) those genetic errors are a good thing. In fact, without them, human beings in our current brain, with our current intelligence, wouldn’t even exist. Not at a species level, and not at an individual level.

But to stumble upon a couple of beneficial “genetic errors”, evolution also needs tons of harmful genetic errors.

That means that every newborn runs the risk of genetic errors that can cause medical conditions, pain, and suffering – on an individual level.

We suffer individually to evolve collectively.

Another example: in our quest to improve the condition of humanity as a whole (at the organizational/collective level), we’re harming other species and change the climate (at a global level).

Ignoring the principles the universe and the earth as an ecosystem might well lead to collapse of that ecosystem – and result in the collapse of humanity.

The universe has an agenda.
Natural selection has an agenda.
The global earth has an agenda.
Humanity as a whole has an agenda.
Individuals have an agenda.

We can’t afford to ignore any.

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    #71 Muffled feet

    ByLukas

    The ankle and foot complex contains 26 bones, 33 joints and over 100 muscles, tendons and ligaments.

    Considering both feet, that makes a total of 52 bones, making up about a quarter of all bones found in the mature adult body.

    https://3d4medical.com/blog/facts-about-feet

    There are more nerve endings per square centimetre in the foot than any other part of the body.

    https://www.simardfootclinic.com/feet-facts

    A wealth of sensory information – suppressed by the padding in our shoes, orthotics – until we don’t sense anything anymore.

    It’s like wearing safety ear muffs all day.

    What was walking on this earth like, before we learned not to listen?

    Muffled feet.

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    #232 You’ll know when it’s time

    ByLukas

    First, you write. Then you become a writer.

    First, you run. Then you become a runner.

    First, you set boundaries. Then you become good at setting boundaries.

    But before all that comes the decision to write. To run. To set boundaries.

    Because you’re dissatisfied with the past and say never again.

    Because you’re filled with excitement about a future vision.

    Because you know you’re ready to make the change.

    You’ll know when it’s time, my friend.

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    #118 The Process is Predictable

    ByLukas

    First, you practice doing the process every day – because if you don’t do the process consistently, you’ll never move towards an outcome in the first place. Tiny Trust Builders always come first.

    Then, you practice becoming good at the process – because the better you are at the process, the more likely you’ll reach an outcome.

    But, unfortunately, even if you become excellent at the process, you still won’t be able to predict an exact outcome.

    Outcomes are fickle.

    Even progress is fickle.

    But the process is predictable.

    And who knows, maybe the process IS the outcome.

  • #13 Write & Publish. Then write some more

    ByLukas

    Here’s a question Tim Ferris asks startup founders (and himself) when deciding to invest time and money into a new project:

    “If, in one (or two, or three) years from now, this whole project has failed miserably… Which assumptions you hold today were proven wrong?”

    Tim Ferris

    Answering the question first requires defining failure and success.

    For my project of publishing a daily insight on this blog success looks like this:

    Write & publish.

    Edit.

    Write & publish.

    Edit.

    Then write & publish some more.

    Good, bad, well-received or not, received or read by anyone at all, it doesn’t matter.

    Because first of all, writing is a creative outlet for me.

    Second: long as I write & publish consistently, I trust I will get better at writing and publishing.

    Finally: I trust that from all that sculpting away, day by day, will come better and better insights.

    A pretty low bar for success – which, counterintuitively, often leads to more progress long-term.

    Now we have established that:

    What are the assumptions that could be wrong if next year, it turns out I failed to write & publish every day?

    Here are some I can think of:

    • Writing and publishing every day is going to be a long-term fulfilling activity for me
    • I am truly fine with writing and publishing without anyone ever reading it
    • I am fine spending considerable time on starting a new project that I might never monetize
    • Writing & publishing every day really leads to better writing skills and interesting insights (although even if this assumption is false, it wouldn’t necessarily stop me from writing.)

    Will these assumptions be proven wrong?

    Only time will tell.

    Until then… I write & publish… then write & publish some more.

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