I suspect none of us has the capacity to foretell the future of the human race. No one—not psychics, not visionary philosophers, not doomsayers, not intelligent optimists, mot Indigenous shamans—no one.
There is a persuasive case to be made that this is the worst of times, and an equally compelling case that this is the best of times; a case that everything will collapse into a miserable dystopia and a case that we are on the verge of a golden age. It’s impossible to know in any objective way which is truer.
Anyone who asserts they do know is cherry-picking evidence that rationalizes their emotional bent. The variables are jumbled and profuse and beyond our ken.
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In the meantime, why don’t we do what we can to create a golden age? Below are ideas about how to proceed.
- Prepare for the unpredictable. Cultivate mental and emotional states that ripen us to be ready for anything.
- Don’t be forever lost inside our own heads.
- Avoid being enthralled with the hypnotic lure of painful emotions, past events, and worries about the future.
- Trust empirical evidence over our time-worn beliefs and old habits.
- Turn up our curiosity full blast and tune in to the raw truth of each moment with our beginner’s mind and beginner’s heart.
- Be eager to maintain our poise and grace amidst the confounding questions that tease and teach us.
Everything I just described is also an excellent way to prime yourself for a chronic, low-grade, always-on, simmering-at-low-heat brand of ecstasy—a state of being more-or-less permanently in the Tao, in the groove, in the zone.
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image: This image was originally a black and white wood engraving done by an unknown artist. It first appeared in a book by Camille Flammarion in 1888.
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The coloring of this art is done by a contemporary artist, Roberta Weir
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