In hindsight, things are always a little clearer and sometimes more obvious. If you look back through history you will see that many disasters which came as such a surprise could have been quite easily predicted. The economic crashes or the wars that broke out all had a chain of events that very few paid attention to but it was possible to see these things coming. If you looked at your own life you would notice the same such as the job you lost or the relationship that ended. You may have been shocked and wonder why you did not see it coming. The problem is that we do not see the signs.
Throughout history, homo sapiens have been able to survive in part because our brains can theorise and anticipate what could happen in the future. Ancient farmers could predict the weather and hunters could track their prey all because they paid attention to the signs which they learned to interpret. We live in a systemic world and when we learn to see the various cycles the systems around us go through and how they interact with other systems, then making predictions is logical. Science is based on the ability to predict certain outcomes.
Unfortunately, the majority of people have difficulty seeing the world systemically. Most people focus on cause and effect seeing the world in linear terms. People are also very distracted and absorbed in their own lives. They do not see the trends and the inevitable outcomes of their actions. This is understandable since we live in a world of ever-increasing complexity. We are also distracted to the degree that we never have been before. Demands on our attention are so high that many struggle to remain focused on any one thing for more than a few minutes if not seconds. Our memory, attention span, will power, and decision-making ability begins to deteriorate in an environment of information overload.
How then can anyone be expected to see the signs of impending problems with so many demands on our attention? It is not really fair to ask anyone to be aware of all the systems at work around us. Everyone has their own problems to deal with but it is in your own best interest to become more aware of the signs life is presenting you. If you want to be more aware then start by growing your awareness of your impulses or behaviours and try to notice how they are being manipulated but internally and externally. Recognise your own biases and most of all think systemically. Systems thinking requires you to recognise things, people or situations as individuals and part of a greater whole. See the relationships between different parts of a system and try to look at things from different perspectives. When you do this you will better be able to recognise where things are going wrong and hopefully see the signs life is offering you that either good or bad situations are headed your way.
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