Why the obsession with living in the present?
Have we learned nothing from the past?
Written by Neil Gonsalves for Seeking Veritas on Substack
“I am not someone who was born with knowledge… I simply love antiquity, and diligently look there for knowledge” - Confucius (551-479 BCE)
“This is the dumbest generation that has ever walked the planet” said every preceding generation throughout time.
The simplicity of our world view is captured aptly in the circular discussions about generational differences. Every single generation thinks the one before them were lacking and the one after them lost. - Gen Zs will get there too. There is a certain predictability to human behaviour that time has proven repeatedly.
“Tomorrow is gone, and the future doesn’t exist yet, so be present live in the moment…”
Some version of the quote above is commonly in circulation at any given time; Live in the moment has to be one of the most overused phrases, typically infused with pseudo-profundity masquerading as gravitas by motivational speakers and self-indulgent amateur writers (honestly, you should unsubscribe the day I tell you that “today is yesterday’s tomorrow”; at that point I may just be at the bottom of the creative barrel). But, the truth, is always more complicated.
The present is a by-product of the past and a variable influencing the future. There is a continuity across time that we often take for granted at best or, ignore at worst.
Given history has demonstrated that we humans are predictable and seemingly inextricably predisposed to bad decision making, you would think we would be more willing to learn from the past rather than live obliviously in the present. We would benefit from seeing the various generations as team mates in a cosmic relay race.
Our predecessor handed us the baton, filled with knowledge, experience, and lessons learned. It is incumbent on us to take the next generation as far as we can before handing off the baton, replete with revised lessons learned, new mistakes, new opportunities and a greater understanding of our complex world.
No one in their right mind should want to throw away that knowledge baton and start over. We really don’t have to personally make every mistake over again to learn its consequence. - Why are we so accepting of vicarious trauma but so opposed to vicarious learning?
Kong Fuzi, known to Westerners as Confucius lived in ancient China from 551 BCE until 471 BCE. He placed a high value on the relational nature of human beings and believed that virtuous living starts in the family. - He taught that being an excellent human was synonymous with being an excellent community member. He philosophically viewed the community and society as larger extensions of family.
For this reason he puts a great deal of emphasis on early socialization within the family and considered it central to human development. - Based on his view of social relationships he argued that one’s public, social, and political life were mere extensions of their natural family life. - Many years after this death, China adopted his teachings as their official state philosophy; culture and society based on tradition and family values.
Somehow in contemporary speak we have turned the phrase “family values” into a conservative dog whistle and therefore shun anything that is apparently carried around in some sort knapsack that is not visible - But I’m yet to actually meet anybody who doesn’t espouse the virtue of a positive family; fewer still who see no value in community - And almost no one who could even imagine turning back the clock on all the progress made by those who came before us.
Were they wrong about some things? Of course they were! - Do you think the next generation will think this current one did everything right?! Let’s call that last one rhetorical.
So, maybe we shouldn’t always live in the moment, perhaps we should stop and recognize the men and women upon whose shoulders the present has been built; then reflect on why we are trying to make society better given our relatively short stay on this planet.
Bio: Neil Gonsalves is an Indian-born Canadian immigrant who grew up in Dubai, U.A.E. and moved to Canada in 1995. He is an Ontario college professor, a TEDx speaker, a German Shepherd lover and a recreational dog trainer.
(The views contained in this article are solely those of the author, intended for opinion based editorial purposes and/or entertainment only. They do not represent the views of any organization we are otherwise associated with.)