What is it to have vision? Ideas on what it’s all about and how things could be. Is that even what life’s about anymore, or are we more or less going with the flow? And is it even possible to reach an all-encompassing sense of where we want to be headed? It’s interesting to consider, and surely quite important in many ways (see Notes One).
I’ve talked occasionally about the flow of time (Notes Two), essentially toying with thoughts about the ‘weight’ of the past and whether it’s possible to grasp a true understanding of it. We stand at the end of a long chain of experiences and ways of being that have handed us the tools and outlooks at our disposal, and where to go from there seems a valid question.
I mean, we have knowledge on a level never before experienced: knowledge of the material world around us and also of the diverse societies making up the globe, currently and historically. That’s an immense body of information, possibly bottomless, even before looking at the volume of ideas now being churned out each day.
Trying to fathom that and gain a full picture of everything we can know seems to border on the impossible. Of course, the information is there and almost everything can be considered valuable, with a lesson to teach and a human reality to appreciate. But where can we draw the line? Do we have the capacity to gain a truly global perspective, and how much does it ultimately help us to do so?
That’s one part of my question here: can we gain a clear view of the past, the pathway to current realities. Then, beyond that, there’s the issue of what happens next. If we manage to form a sense of ‘where we stand’, does it lead to understanding what should be done for the best?
Which I guess is politics: the ideas we have or defend, the principles we feel we can afford to stand behind, the options we’re offered for society. Whether or not politics can deliver what might be necessary is a completely different question, as is its complex relationships with other areas of social and economic life. But it does seem ‘vision’ finds a home of sorts within politics.
Beyond that though, how does our understanding or worldview shape our personal and interpersonal realities? And where do we get these ideas from? What we think about life and the importance of our roles within it must have a profound impact on our daily decisions and their inevitable consequences (Notes Three).
I suppose what I’m wanting here is to push things back and create a clearer space to work with; to find the essential framework for understanding where we are and what it all means. As thinking beings, surely our ideas on life and the wisdom of our actions matter a great deal. Finding ways to grasp it all, make sense of it, and move forward seems a uniquely modern challenge.
Notes and References:
Note 1: “Towards a New World View”
Note 1: Where’s the right place to talk?
Note 2: History as a process of changes
Note 2: Culture and the passing of time
Note 3: Media within democratic society
Note 3: Need to stand alone & think for ourselves
Note 3: People, rules & social cohesion