The time perspective

       Age has provided me time to think about perspective on events.

            Many others, like geologists, also say this. Change in geologic events usually occurs over a long period of time, like much much longer than most people's lifetimes.  Often the times are in millions of years for gradual evolution, though they are sometimes shorter, like during catastrophic evolution, like a comet strike or a giant volcano or a long term nuclear contaminated area.

            Even human events are subject to such ways of thinking.

            For example, for my politics, the period of Obama in the USA is most likely going to be bad in the light of history. Of course, only time will tell.  But a bit of perspective, like a century, is probably best to review the impact on humans both in the new world USA and the rest of the old World.

            To continue this example, suppose human events like financial collapse and major wars erupt and governments changes occur, then probably the perspective of a century or more is better than the current event time frames. Think of it as long term thinking, vice short term thinking as a way to insert perspective into reviewing what is happening. Now of course we all live in the short term, but the perspective is still probably more long term. An example might be something like a dictatorship arises as a short term solution, but disappears in the long term solution. Well then perspective probably best puts things in place. Perhaps perspective even suggests the real problem is continuing over-population, or exponentially expanding energy demands to improve quality of human life.

            So much for examples. There are a zillion of them one can conjure up.

            So back to perspective. I think it is a difficult subject to teach, but I also believe it can be taught, or at least the idea planted in people's minds.

            In the meantime I, as an old man, have the advantage of having it brew in my mind over my time. That's something not taught in my schooling.  Perhaps the school of hard knocks has provided me experience with perspective, but more likely it just brewed over time. Who knows?  Even I am not sure.