Is the world more Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous (VUCA) now than ever? Does it feel like your pace of life is speeding up? How should you navigate your work and life? Let’s explore

History is the most reliable path to understanding the present and anticipating future problems.

“It is a precarious enterprise, and only a fool would try to compress a hundred centuries into a hundred pages of hazardous conclusions. We proceed.”

Despite the statement above, “The Lessons of History” by Will and Ariel Durant is the best, the shortest, and the most dense history book I have read.

What are the lessons?

1. The present is merely the past rolled up into this present moment.

2. In the last 3,500 years of recorded history, only c.300 years have seen no wars. Humans lived in peace and harmony less than <10% of the time.

3. Life is competition. Competition is not only the life of trade, but it is also the trade of life

4. Freedom and equality are sworn and everlasting enemies and when one prevails, the other dies. There is no perfect freedom without extreme inequality, perfect equality curtails freedom

5. The concentration of wealth in a small portion of the population is a pattern that repeats itself throughout history. The most valuable talents and skills are confined to a few people, which means the most valuable wealth is confined to a few as well. This pattern shows up again and again.

If nothing has changed, why the pace of life is speeding up?

Technological innovation is speeding up life.

The brain has evolved to react and respond to what can be seen, heard, or felt.

Until recently, human communities were not interconnected, the impact and response were largely local.

Information travelled at human or horse's pace for 3500 years, the brain processed limited information.

Innovation in transportation technology meant information travel accelerated to 550 miles per hour at the speed of an airplane.

With the advent of the internet, information travels at the speed of light, it takes just 8 minutes to travel from the Sun to Earth.

The speed and quantum of information flow have increased exponentially, whereas the size and function of the brain have largely remained unchanged.


How should you navigate your work and life?

1. It is time to prioritize a healthy mental diet and align it with the human brain’s evolutionary capacity.

2. Limit information intake and process information during day time.

3. Install as few apps as possible on your mobile, and turn off notifications.

4. Make 2 or 3 good decisions a day.

5. Spend time in nature away from technology as much as possible

Mental obesity is the next big crisis.

The day is not far when solitary confinement will be a luxury retreat for the rich and famous and criminals will imprisoned with mobile devices with notifications turned on.

Note: Views are personal, keep learning, join my learning journey, and follow Guru Padmanabhan

You can read my writings at view all blogs.