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The Sky Is The Habit
The habit of gazing into the future probably started with observing the sky by the earliest of the humans. The early humans looked at the sky not only for the mysteries of the sky but for the weather. It was the weather which decided the fate of early humans. The sound of thunder, torrential unceasing rains, hot and burning days etc made them look at the sky for future planning.
Our earliest future planning was related to our food and physical security only. Later with the start of the settled lifestyle and agricultural revolution, our future planning, with the help of the sky, shifted mainly to wealth creation, navigation for trade and for rites of passage.
All the uncontrolled natural difficulties of humans came from the sky. They could somewhat control the earthly phenomena but had no influence over the sky. Hence sky was the medium of future planning for our ancestors.
The sky was the humans first software or you can call it the first App. Those who could do data analytics with the sky were the wisest of the men.
Civilized humanity still gazes into the future but for many reasons. The modern art of preparing for the future probably started with planned development models by the government. The 5 year plans etc and stuff like that made it a permanent feature of an educated man’s lifestyle. It became a sine qua non of the formal education’s thinking process.
Do We Need To Plan So Long Into The Future ?
But how far should we gaze into the feature and plan ? I read about plans that talk about achieving climate goals by 2050 and some even say by 2070. Is it even realistic ?
Look at the previous plans of 1950 or 1960s that talked about achieving some targets in say 50 years. What happened to those plans ? Could we achieve those targets ? I would love to know if any such research is done anywhere.
The greatest failure in planning has been in achieving zero poverty and inequalities from the world. As if to mock humanity, the so-called planning has in fact increased poverty and inequalities. It is widely reported that the Billionaires got richer during the pandemic. But at the same time the number of people living in poverty worldwide is increasing day by day during the pandemic.
Irony is that there are tons and tons of long term planning schemes created years back for the eradication of poverty and reduction of inequalities. What happened to those visions ?
I am not against long term planning for a public cause but the fear is that most long term plannings are carefully crafted abdication of the responsibility for the present.
I believe that plans concerning goals of immense importance should be short term only. But we are doing just the opposite of it. Plans for zero poverty and inequalities or climate change should be very short terms so that we know what is happening. Short term plans for big causes means greater responsibility and accountability. Long term planning means a very very long rope to the planners.
But there is a catch here. Mostly the long term profit planning of behemoth companies and super billionaires are mostly successful but not the planning related to zero poverty and inequality reduction. Why ?
Your guess is as good as mine here.
A Bird In The Hand Is Worth Two In The Bush
In some job interviews I have heard people being asked where they want to see themselves in the coming 5 years. I do not know what you make out of this question. It is good to plan for the future but very unrealistic to plan for such a long long time. It does not make much sense except for some formal noises. We are the same people who could not even plan one year before the pandemic struck.
Your personal planning should be realistic and not merely stargazing. It should not look like romanticizing the problems where some flowery words suffice for our response. We have often heard of the adage that justice delayed is justice denied. I say that goals delayed are goals denied.
Plan your life but do not be too formal while planning. Do not set goals too far away in the future. Nobody knows the future for sure. In the game of anticipating the future do not waste away your present.
Think Again..You Are Human
A company may plan a long time away in future. A government may even plan far far away into the future. They are abstract entities but you are not. The company can legally survive for more than 100 years and the government can survive forever as it is immortal.
You are a living human with a mind, soul, desire and a perpetual death warrant signed against you. You cannot survive for such a long time like abstract entities. Do not copy all the concepts blindly that are followed for formal entities. Copy those only that suits you as a human.
Plan for the day, plan for a week and even plan for a year. Try to fulfill those small plans first and believe me the joys would overwhelm you.
If you are engrossed fruitfully and happily with the present then where is the time and desire to think so deep into the future.
You have been assigned a very limited time on earth. This philosophically indicates that you should plan within that range only. Do not plan so long in future, for your personal aims, that you are not there to see it.
Ghalib was ruefully brilliant when he wrote ...
𝗔𝗮𝗵 𝗸𝗼 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗮𝗵𝗶𝘆𝗲 𝗲𝗸 𝘂𝗺𝗿 𝗮𝘀𝗮𝗿 𝗵𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗸 //
𝗸𝗮𝘂𝗻 𝗷𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗮 𝗵𝗮𝗶 𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶 𝘇𝘂𝗹𝗳 𝗸𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗿 𝗵𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗸
𝑨 𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒉 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒔 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒍 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒄𝒄𝒖𝒓 //
𝑾𝒉𝒐 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒍𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒃𝒅𝒖𝒆𝒅 ?
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