Are we as a society conditioned to not see opportunity?

I recently reviewed a social experiment that involved an interpretation of a picture. The opinion was the serious side of what many would view as simple play. The results were interesting to me but unrelated to this article. The division of agreement or at least those willing to embrace another point of view was about 50/50. No one suggested that they saw an opportunity in the situation.

I understand that as humans we function largely on emotions and the flight or fight response. Do the emotions prevent us to think? Are we a society that can only focus on one thought and then our minds stop? In a study by Microsoft “Tech is Shortening the Average Attention Span” in 2013 was 8 seconds. It is suggested that the attention span of a Goldfish is 9 seconds. Does the mind switch to looking for the next bit of entertainment? As a society are, we focused on accepting what we see and moving on instead of seeing the big picture? The big picture to me means seeing what is in front of me as well as how the pieces fit and effect other things. I have spent years seeing what is going on and understanding how the pieces fit together. Leaders, Managers, and business people need to concentrate on the big picture to inspire others and/or find the opportunities that are in almost every situation.