I can’t remember who said the
statement above, but it definitely seems to be relevant today. As we look around the world we live in a few
observations can be made. One, the world
at large is beset by many problems. As
people look into these problems, they are finding that most of these problems
are related. Two, many of our problems
don’t seem to fit into old frameworks.
Old theories don’t seem to explain things. The maps that guide us into the future seem
to be distorted.
The anthropologist A.F.C. Wallace
calls these internal maps "the mazeways." We look around and see old familiar forms
falling apart. One just has to glance at
the daily paper to read about the problems.
War, crime, inflation, pollution, unemployment, the list goes on and on. What is troubling about all these phenomena
is that the old, tried and true solutions do not work anymore. It seems as if old solutions make our
problems worse. In other words, as
Korzybski said, "the map is not the territory." Our internal maps instruct us to act a
certain way. In the past this
"way" might have been appropriate, but reality is always
changing. The old ways of thought are
good for a time, but as time moves on we may find ourselves rigid, static, and
fearful. Eventually, the evidence
becomes overwhelming. Change is imminent
This is a recurring cycle in
history. A society starts off with new
ideas. These ideas become the vision for
the majority of the people. There is a common consensus that all will work
out. The future always looks brighter. As time moves along though, certain anomalies
keep popping up. People begin
fragmenting into different parties. The
synergy so necessary for a healthy society, starts to loosen. Everyone
perceives their needs to be different from everyone else. This leads to many breakdowns. In government, powerful special interest groups
become the norm. The future looks
increasingly darker.
In his book The Image of the
Future, Fred Polak, a Dutch futurist, wrote that our images of the future play
a crucial part in what shapes our society tales. In healthy societies, the images were positive. When there were weak images, the culture was
decaying. He ended by saying, ‘bold
visionary thinking is in itself the prerequisite for effective change."
With a positive vision of the
future, crisis opens the door to understanding.
Problems become opportunities to which we can open to new ways of
seeing, to visualize new maps, maps that fit the new territory. This new territory is much different in many
ways. It will take cooperation in all
spheres of life. In this way humans will
be able to work together to solve our many problems.
The above essay is a brief
description of the context we are in. It
is a ever-changing world. We are at a
crossroads. We need a restructuring of
the way we tend to view the world.
Humankind is going to have to let go many of its past assumptions. Failure to change these basic assumptions can
only lead to more problems.
