Stop telling me what's going to happen
We're living through unprecedented times.
In fact, we're also living through an unprecedented use of the?word 'unprecedented'. But I have to say, in this case, it for once seems justified.
Sure, we've experienced pandemics like the Black Death or Spanish Flu before but this pandemic is different - and therefore unprecedented - for a couple of reasons. First, because countries around the world have taken the unprecedented step of 'locking down' and second, because governments have taken the unprecedented measures of 'furloughing' businesses to protect fragile economies.
All of which go to makes for genuinely unprecedented times.
So, given we've never seen anything like this, can I make a polite request to all the gurus, commentators and futurists out there in Linkedin-land to stop telling me what's going to happen next. You haven't a clue and if you think you do, then you're not just wrong, you're probably dangerous.
领英推荐
During the Black Death, the 'experts' offered a list of amazing cures to ward off the pox: leeches, eating crushed emeralds, applying a?human excrement paste, taking urine baths and (my favourite) rubbing yourself with a chicken. I'm sure all those experts back then sounded like they knew what they were talking about, but just like so many of our modern-day prophets, they really didn't have a clue. Most were just taking the opportunity to apply their old beliefs, 'brands' and ideologies to this new problem. Never let a good crisis go to waste eh?
So, this time round, can I just make a humble request: let's not jump to conclusions. As the UK Chancellor said as he flung open the doors to the Bank of England, this is no time for ideology.
Knee-jerk answers won't solve anything, especially if they only focus on local or short -term problems. Ignore the elephant in the room and it will come back to crush us. We need to grasp the bigger picture in order to find he bigger answer, and that requires time and an open mind.?
We need to be flexible in our thinking and resist the urge to fill the void of uncertainty. It's frightening when we don't have answers to such pressing and dangerous problems, but we have to fight that fear if we want the right answer, rather than just any old answer.
Sadly, precedent suggests we're not very good at that.?
Certified Financial Planner | Accredited Member of SOLLA (Society of Later Life Advisers)
4 年Yes. When, apart from now, has the entire world pressed pause together and then likewise had to pull back the curtain together to see if it’s safe to come out again? Opportunity follows difficulty. I wonder if we will have the courage to hold uncertainty in one hand and realistic optimism in the other so that the heartache will not be in vein and the new normal might be better than the old normal? And more ‘human’. More kind.
Yep. Any old answer is the last thing we need.
The affectionate gathering is present, and the friends are all here
4 年Pandemics have unexpected consequences, too. The Black Death was the most devastating pandemic humanity had experienced, resulting in the death of a third of the population of Europe. Yet its aftermath saw a period of unprecedented prosperity. (As Wikipedia puts it: “For many Europeans, the 15th century was a?golden age?of prosperity and new opportunities. The land was plentiful, wages high, and?serfdom?had all but disappeared. A century later, as?population growth?resumed, the lower classes again faced deprivation and famine.“) In the villages of the Linconshire Fens, for instance, prosperity —?from sheep farming —?was sufficient to allow the villagers to build magnificent Gothic churches that are almost cathedral-like in scale. For 80 years, as the population slowly grew back, these were really good times. This is interesting, because this period of prosperity took place against the backdrop of significant climate change: the Mediaeval warm period, in which settlers had been able to farm in Greenland, came to an abrupt end around 1300, with colder weather —?the beginning of the four-centuries long ‘Little Ice Age’ —?bringing crop failure and famine (and, indeed, the effect of this was to drive the small mammals who carry fleas infected with Yersina Pestis out of the African interior and towards the coasts, whence they were carried around the world). I’m not suggesting, incidentally, that COVID-19 will have the same effect?—?even Black Death numbers of deaths would barely make a dent in the world population of 7.7bn, and that‘s not going to happen anyway. But it‘s clear that major *unprecedented* events can have major unexpected consequences.
With many years' design experience in publishing and branding, I troubleshoot and inject new life into brands. Working with partner Abby Wilkinson, we have fun, create beautiful things and contribute positivity.
4 年Very good indeed. It sums up what was once a 30-second culture but is now down to an essential gratifying five seconds. Like chickens pecking at dirt. Incidentally, your mention of the chicken reminded me that erotica is when you use a feather, pornography is when you use the whole chicken.
I agree with you. People have become so obsessed with finding an answer to everything on Google, or from Alexa, or making a "fact-based" decision, or producing "data-driven" advertising that they don't know how to accept that there isn't an answer.