White Space

Memory is the constituent building block of a mind. The mind is a collection of memories and the intricate set of associations between them.

As with most systems, having controls around the inputs is what determines what the outcome or output is going to be.

I believe that I exercise good control over what kind of stimuli I let into my mind. No is is perfect. But, it’s important to have a system for measurement in place. To measure how we are thinking, acting, behaving and feeling. As well, to consult with an evidenced based practitioner and as it relates to enabling well-being.

I also like to keep things simple. There was a time in my life when I worked a lot, ignored my physiology and developed bad habits. It was not a co-incidence that this is the time of my life where I suffered the most.

Since then, I have started putting different ledgers in place. Like Peter Drucker once said, “What gets measured, gets managed.” I am beginning to exercise more regularly. If the gym is shutdown, then I go for walks or do a workout in the backyard. Sometimes the covid19 situation does get to me and I either sleep in or do not leave the house.

What this post is really about is white space. This is a term from Ori Brafman and Judah Pollack’s book titled: the chaos imperative

It’s absolutely crucial to have structure/focus and discipline in order to achieve a particular set of outcomes or an outcome at that. But at the same time, it’s also super crucial to have moments of relaxation baked into your day to day routine.

It’s been a while since I read the book and I may not be able to do justice here. As well, this post makes me think about the actual nature of work now and in the future. A topic that I think about, specially considering how different technologies are maturing at a rapid pace.

Going back to the inputs, I often take time off. During my time off, I do the following set of activities: * Meditate in different ways. * Look at insects, clouds, trees and observe them. This is not a recommendation. On the contrary, this is something that I have always done. For as far back as I can remember. And within reason, you too should do the things that you have always done. The things that spark a sense of curiousity and wonder inside of you. Things that make you ponder about the reality that we all share. For me, these observations make me think about the enormous timescale that and the many many iterations it has taken in order to power all this life around of us. Biology is truly remarkable. It may not have a purpose, but what remarkable machines it powers! * I look at flowers. * I talk to people. Ideally folks who I can learn something from. Folks who are interesting and beautiful. Not necessarily in a cosmetic sense. But that’s also good! * I volunteer my time towards causes that are important to me. I am not a big fan of filling out forms. If I have an area of interest, I just dive right in and start collecting information and conducting experiments. * I think. About a variety of subjects. When I was a kid, I used to look at the patterns on the sidewalk. I am definitely weird in some ways and I’ve always been like this and I love it! So on the sidewalks, there are these zebra patterns. So I’d count them and then the automobile would start picking up speed. And as the automobile picks up speed, the patterns blur into a stream of sorts. Then, if you keep looking at it sometimes appears that the automobile is moving backwards. At some point in my life, I realized that people aren’t really thinking about what they are saying. Most of the individuals are just repeating what they heard from others. We all do this. Some more than others. It’s a very interesting topic, this thinking about thinking. This didn’t happen when I was a kid, but at some point I realized that there are different forms of thinking via our biological (non-enhanced) brains. One technique that I employ and it is so unconscious that it’s running there somewhere and I do not even notice it. This technique involves placing ideas,thought constructs,though experiments in these places in your mind. There are different elements to this technique. I think there is a focus element and a myelenation element. So it’s connected with nutritional intake, exercise, environment, relationships +. My personal philosophy is that if you cannot contribute meaningfully in order to help improve a situation, then one ought not to contribute. This does not mean that one ought not to share how one feels about a particular instance, and specially once that information is requested. Seeing that a lot of problems still remain in the construct, perhaps it would be useful if others also employed strategies, which would help them think in useful and beneficial ways.

Overall, the enablement of white space is a pivotal component of my overall well-being, wellness. As a life-long student, it contributes greatly towards my on-going learnings. It is something that nourishes my mind.

I think that most of what we categorize as work, is going to get automated away in as little as 10 years. 15 years at the most. And I do not think that the net rate of new job creation is going to be on par, with regards to the number of jobs that are going to go the way of automation. This is a theme that keeps coming up and I think this is going to be an on-going theme now and in the future. I think this issue is tied in with the future of democracy, human rights and well-being. It’s an actually an issue of investing in our future and the long-term thinking required in order to power a given set of realities. The future depends on the set of actions we choose to take or not take today. What I did, was categorize and document this issue in my scenario planning exercise (take 1.0) .

Also, I made a video on the overall topic of Future Scenario Planning that I undertook. This is just one version and based on my very limited perspective. But, even this limited perspective, at-least makes me appreciate that there is a lot of work that remains to be done. These areas are too big for one individual/team/group to tackle. I think it will really take a truly global effort in a distributed sense, in order to define the set of problems and get to functional breakthroughs.

Overall, I think and I could be wrong. But we should think about what kind of a reality is it that we’d like to inhabit now and in the future. And then work on enabling the set of inputs that will lead towards the enablement of those realities. Leveraging reason and humanism as a lens and not treating sustainability as a nice to have.

To get to more creative breakthroughs, the workforce required in order to manifest particular visions have to be focused and disciplined. They have to do the work on a consistent basis, which requires of them train everyday. But the workforce of the future also needs time to nourish their bodies, their minds. To have fruitful relationships. The people who are doing the good and important work of ensuring that we live in an increasingly better timeline now and in the future, should enjoy life. For these reasons and more, cultivating longer stretch of white space is so crucial and pivotal.