Revisions 1

Humans are futile. How teen does that statement sound. It is true though. We, as with all else in the universe, are subject to a natural experiment on truth of existence in transience. We cannot think ahead, as to realise one’s future is to realise one’s nonexistence, a concept that the human brain is just not built for. We must only think of now because to think of after is to think of not thinking, a tripwire in the mind to indefinite dread of the future, near or far. To cope with this, we experience the “Keep Moving Forward” effect or KMF. This is a status universally found in all our minds at some point or another. This form of thought directs towards a single purpose: a solution for the problems of the moment after, nothing later or sooner. A mindset solely forcing work on the next thing to do. The average person in my generation thinks this way often, though they may not know it. The idea that “exams are still months away” or the constant ignoring of the to-do list to tidy and clean on impulse alone. It makes its way into every long-term school project, every plan to write a book, every dissertation or research paper, even to primary legislation at the top end of British society. No-one is safe from the mind in the moment. Plans are never plans, simply outlines that we can stand because we don’t need to think too hard about them. Ideas left behind shall rot until hopefully, one curious mind picks it up in the future. This is critical to the history and development of humanity. We move forward in fluid chunks through the belief that what we do today will save us from whatever comes tomorrow, and that tomorrow we will be free to do the same for the day after. Tim Berners-Lee did not expect google. Bismarck in no way expected the atom bomb. Victoria never expected an unempowered monarchy chained to the desk by parliament. This is not a fault or slight on any of them, but rather an example of intelligent, powerful people ignoring the direct line of progression laid in front of them, due to the forced negligence of dodging existentialism. The unavoidability of KMF. From an engineer’s point of view, this is bad. It is an evidenced expression of the fact that the current generations in authority will never comprehend the future enough to help further generations of people under them. Unfortunately, we cannot view a subject as complex as grey matter in such monochrome terms. My personal and what I believe to be a philosopher’s popular theory is that this is not bad, or good, as it is the only possible path.