Circles and Lines

We humans were designed to think spherically and act linearly. Prior to the Industrial Age, this was the societal norm. Thinking spherically and acting linearly was at the core of the teachings of all of the great spiritual teachers, original thinkers and philosophers.

The Industrial Age flipped the polarity of this ancient design. And now, most of us in the Western world (especially Americans) have it backwards …

We think linearly and act spherically.

Linear thinking is largely due to the social conditioning and influence of government, religion and education — then later, corporations. It produced great progress in the Industrial Age and in the expansion of America’s influence and power. But it also produced the great cost of our more shameful behaviors as a nation. This single-minded obsession from getting from point A to point B is necessary and useful skill if in survival or expansion mode. It is a must-have for the lower ends of Maslow’s Hierarchy.

Acting spherically still permeates much of our behavior in society, business and politics. We want all the options. We want a plan A — Z to support our point A to point B strategy. We want insurance, assurance and reassurance. We want security and certitude. We want money back guarantees. And now we have more information than we will ever need to make sure we have all the bases covered.