Wednesday 13 January 2010

Uncertainty: The gift of creation

“The quest for certainty blocks the search for meaning. Uncertainty is the very condition to impel man to unfold his powers.”
Erich Fromm

Uncertainty is a key characteristic of complex systems, the world in which we live being just such a system. The existence of such uncertainty must not only guide our future actions but might also be a source of true enrichment of our lives. As the above quotation suggests I believe our current prevalent desire for control as a source of certainty is actually preventing us from living truly meaningful lives. Life itself grew out of uncertainty and chaos and is to some extent sustained by it, if you stop to wonder at the world it is the unexpected which is truly captivating. It is the unexpected that gives us the most pleasure; it encourages us to develop as people. If we could only let go of our desire for certainty, be that in what will happen or what we believe, we might find a wonderful array of new possibilities.

The world is pregnant with possibility, as are we, when was the last time there was a paradigm shift in the way human beings choose to behave or see things. If we are to radically change, then the systems and structures which govern almost everything we do must change too, with that will come massive uncertainty and unless we are able to positively embrace it we will be driven back with fear, and like the proverbial ostrich bury our collective heads in the sand and say the threat really isn’t there. We’ve been doing that for the last 20 years and we are now firmly on the tonight’s menu.

Today's most powerful people benfit from things being as they are and use our innate fear of the unknown to support our 'devil we know' attitude, rest assured if they continue to prevail and we do not move a way from a consumer driven economic model the degree of uncertainty that will be visited upon us all will be beyond imagination. The extremely wealthy may be able to protect themselves but not their offspring. Death does not discriminate....

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