Universal thinking and long term vision

 

Universal thinking and long term vision

An all-original poem by Sujay Rao Mandavilli

 

As we in the narrow tides of the present wallow,

In half-baked initiatives shallow and hollow,  

Or endeavours, chained, encumbered and callow,

Whether it is with respect to our own respective half-lived and unfulfilled lives,

Or the world at large that allow various nearsighted acts to flourish and connive,

The dangers of presentism are there for the wise to visually see and feel,

In all its ramifications and incarnations indeed,

Fellow brethren let us relieve ourselves from such agonizing myopism and take leave,

Regardless of race, colour, ethnicity, nationality or creed,

Of all facets of human undertakings that are devoid and bereft of lofty vision,

That work stealthily and willy-nilly to our utter derision,

Visionary skills along with cogitation and deep-rooted thought,

And strategizing must be intrinsic and not an afterthought,

We had even given these a name as an aforethought,

Linkages across time we had christened aeterntism,

Linkages across space we had baptized ominmodism,

Exponential thinking with transformative growth and progress,

Are vitally important and must be followed to the hilt lest we regress,

Trend analysis, along with data study and all other forms of critical analysis,  

The absence of which will lead inevitably to an analysis paralysis,  

Don’t dwell in the present alone,

Understand the past well enough lest you later repent and atone,

Don’t winnow its real or imagined glory,

Or you’ll eventually be remorseful and sorry,  

Understand its long-lived strengths and harsh and bitter lessons to be learnt,

Its weaknesses, Its limitations, Its dilemmas adroitly avert,        

The present is incomplete without a dissection or an anatomy of the past,

You cannot skillfully comprehend the present without dissecting the past,

At bay and distraught,

All your arrogance in this regard shall come to naught,

Anyone who succumbs to presentism must even be labeled an ignoramus, a bigot or an idiot,

This is true of diverse arenas such as engineering, medicine and philosophy,

Or science, esteemed know-how and technology,

Or birth control and necessary population management,

Or environmental movements and human trusteeship of the planet,

Or assessments of the relative speed, power, and efficiency of automobiles even scientifically,

From the dawn of automotive history,

Understand the nuances, intricacies and gradations of progress verily,

Never oversimplify aspects of history,

Even follow passionately the march and heartbeats of history,

Just don’t brood over the past or anaemically dwell in the past,

Even though you must not disrespect the past,

And must respect all its innovators and inventors to a great degree,

For we rest on their laurels truly and effectively,

Learn from past mistakes collectively and individually,

Don’t act just transactionally,

Episodically,

Or anectodically,

Do not think merely in bits or pieces or incoherently,

But judiciously, cogently and harmoniously,

Don’t be dreamy eyed or apprehensive about the future’s presents or gifts,

That will zanily lead to aberrations in thinking and witty and jocular clefts,

Just take it in your stride,  

And smile,

Pull no punches,

Bare no bones,

Yet wisely and effectively link the past with the present,

And carefully and cautiously link the future with the present,

Effortlessly and seamlessly,

Overcome and overlook short term considerations that is the wise man’s decree,

Make short-term considerations subservient to medium and long-term considerations,

As far as possible no short-term gain or short-term pain,

Neither long-term pain nor long-term gain,

Balance the two judiciously,

And harmoniously,

Just as you must make local considerations subservient to global considerations,

The following are veritably the need of the hour, namely institutional coherentism,

Epistemic coherentism and methodological inductivism,

This is lacking sorely and dismally in  quotidian endeavour and behaviourism,

First they say theory A is good, then B, then again, A,

They also sometimes first say heavier cars are safer, Then lighter cars,

Make up your mind before it is too late,

The world is a nested loop, the world is a nested chain,

There is a continuous dialogue between the past, present and the future,

Whether it may even be in the realm of global warming, or environmental degradation,

There is no ready savior,  

No room for quick fixes and no indeed short term fixes,

No space for ham handed approaches and no myopic approaches,

No time for blinkered vision and no knee jerk reactions,

Understand the long-term implications of everything,

Understand the long-standing pain of lesser cultures,

Short-term attention spans are dangerous,

Focus on vision and focus on strategy,

Focus on wisdom and philosophy,

Focus on long-term consistency,

This must be a cultivated art,

Taught in schools and colleges and carefully reinforced also through media and art,

Avoid the kiss of death,

And shrewdly dodge the dance of death,

What works well in the long-run and what is good for the long-term,

Is good for now and for all time,

What works well for all occasions and all locations,

Is as good as gold indeed,

Only those who synthesize the present with the past duly,

Only those who syncretize the present with the past astutely,

Will do no one’s bidding and think wisely,

Adtroitly,

Loftily,

And shall predict and deftly prognoze,

Adroitly and expertly,

Also alertly,

Throw hard and throw your weapons far and long,

And aim fast,

Only those who syncretize the present and future with the past,

Shall contribute to humanity’s progress,

And shall add to the march of civilization and science,

That is the stone cold and the barebones truth,

Those who do not understand time’s linkages act, think and feel myopically,

Those who do not fathom time’s myriad and multiple associations act, think and feel shortsightedly,

And will inevitably be foolish and raving foolhardy,

Those who do not comprehend time’s interrelationships act, think and feel incompletely,

Their actions would only lead catastrophically to a hail Mary pass.