[Neurons] 2020 Neurons #67 2020 HINDSIGHT

[Michael Hall]

From: L. Michael Hall   

2020 Neurons #67

December 21, 2020

 

2020 HINDSIGHT

 

I've been looking back on this past year to see what insights I can harvest.
As undoubtedly one of the most disruptive years I've ever experienced- it
turned so many things upside-down and interfered with multiple plans that
were set up with scores of people.  What is strange about it is that
typically we use the metaphor of "20/20 eyesight" for seeing into the future
even though we know that it is "hindsight that is 20/20," not foresight.

 

"If only I had known what was going to happen in 2020!"  If you feel that
way, I'm sure there are millions more who share that sentiment.  I certainly
do.  I started out 2020 with a full calendar of trainings and conferences
and while in Spain in January and Egypt in February, the thought never
crossed my mind that the whole world could be stopped, put on hold, and
everything I planned cancelled or postponed.  "Who would have thunk it?"
And because no one else anticipated it- 2020 was one of Nassim Taleb's Black
Swan events- an event that could have been predicted, but was not, and yet
which now looks somewhat obvious in hindsight.

 

Looking back the events of 2020 certainly underscore afresh that we humans
are intimately interconnected.  Even though the planet is large and
spacious, our life together is that of villagers who are equally affected by
what happens.  I never anticipated that a virus in a far-away city in China
could, within a couple months, spread around the whole world and bring about
a shut down of every economy on the planet.  Oh, yes, I've seen the Zombie
movies of viruses that turned the infected into mindless Zombies who turn on
the uninfected, but I didn't really consider that a cornavirus could do what
covid-19 did, minus the Zombies.

 

At the beginning of 2020 I could not imagine governments start classifying
jobs as essential and non-essential.  If you had predicted that, I would
have laughed and dismissed it as foolishness.  And yes, I can understand
that health care workers have jobs that are obviously essential.  What
doesn't make sense are so many of the jobs suddenly declared non-essential.
I'm now thinking about all of the communication jobs that enable people to
think better, feel better, interact better- coaches, therapists,
consultants, educators, trainers, etc.  In terms of surviving and coping
well, these are essential jobs, not non-essential.  But, of course, they
were many of the first jobs to be shut-down and prevented.

 

And now, these many months later we are paying the price for that.  Domestic
violence is up, child abuse it up, so is drug and alcohol abuse, depression,
suicide, etc.  As holistic persons, in addition to staying safe from
infection, surviving includes mental and emotional well-being.  And what
shall we say about all of the people, at least in the US, who started
rioting, attacking the police, burning down businesses, etc.?  Locking
people up for months, preventing millions from going to work so they have
meaningful work and activity to be engaged in- no wonder there were so many
ready to take out their frustration and anger when given a chance.

 

Looking back gives many insights about human nature and what happens to
people under restricted conditions.  Human beings thrive best when they are
free.  We operate best as self-determining and self-responsible persons.
Lock-downs are like being under house-arrest.  It is not good for the human
spirit.  Not being able to freely get with family and friends also speaks
about how much we are social beings and having a rich and rewarding social
life is so important for our well-being.

 

Kids are also social beings.  And kids learn best in person with a teacher
and with peers, much better than on-line with a computer at home.  The best
learning is experiential- true learning is not about pouring facts into an
empty head.  It is not downloading all the known facts about a subject.
Learning involves integrating and using.  It is in the application of
knowledge that one truly learns.  Millions of children have essentially lost
a year of learning because of the unscientific decision to close schools.

 

And some humans have a hunger for power so that when there's a crisis, they
use it to grab all of the power that they can.  We saw that in the United
States with a few mayors and governors. They issued forth unreasonable
restrictions.  In Michigan you could go to the liquor store, but not to
church.  You could buy groceries but not paint or items to fix up your home.
No wonder the idea that "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts
absolutely" still resonates with us.  Abraham Maslow was the one who noted
that the person who wants power is precisely the person who should never be
given power.

 

Looking back on the pandemic of 2020 we see how consumerism has been, and
is, a scourge for many people.  Those who lived on the edge financially,
living paycheck to paycheck immediately got in trouble.  They may have had a
sufficient job and paycheck, but they had the disease of compulsively
spending, always needing the latest and best.  Now they go to food banks and
stand in line for handouts.  I wonder how many will learn the lesson about
saving, budgeting, and planning for emergency situations?   Will they learn
the basics of healthy wealth creation? 

 

Here's to you developing and using your 2020 hindsights to become more
insightful and wise in 2021.  Here's to you making good use of the crisis.
I raise a glass to your resilience! 

 

 


 

 

 

L. Michael Hall, Ph.D.

Executive Director, Neuro-Semantics

P.O. Box 8

Clifton CO. 81520 USA

www.neurosemantics.com 

 

To unsubscribe to Neurons, send request to meta at acsol.net 

Resilience is one of the most powerful meta-states possible --- the modeling
of resilience launched Neuro-Semantics ...  in a world where things can go
wrong--- we need RESILIENCE (2020).

 

 

 

130513 Neuro Semantics Resilience Book FRONT Cover

 

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