The collective paradigms predominant in the West have rewarded rational skills over humanistic skills, which are neither tangible nor generate direct wealth.
These rational skills are related to the brain’s left hemisphere, which is in charge of logic, mathematical calculations, the notion of time, language structure, reading, and writing. In short, it allows us to decipher analytically and rationally.
However, having such a rational notion of the world is only a half-truth since it is the perspective of only half of the brain. All the content of consciousness that many call with disdain “irrational, illusory, and fantastic” is the faculty of the human being to look at the world from the opposite pole: the right hemisphere.
Looking at the world only from the linear rational perspective will not allow us to overcome the crisis we are living in. An analytical process of the left hemisphere cannot solve a dangerous and unknown situation. With its overall perception of the situation or systemic view, the right hemisphere allows us to act serenely and creatively.
In this way, facing the VUCA, volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous environment in which we find ourselves and, according to experts, will continue to live, it is essential to be aware that our collective paradigms are biased and that these affect how we perceive reality and the future we can imagine.
The more successful and experienced we are, the greater our bias will be, and the more we will tend to face disruptive situations by extrapolating the past.
To overcome this inability that limits us, it is necessary to develop the ability to unlearn the paradigms and beliefs that we have adopted through our years of education and work experience, to learn new concepts that will allow us to create a more prosperous world and face the coming disruptions, such as the effects of climate change, population growth, increased poverty, and economic recessions, among others.
In the words of writer and futurist Alvin Toffler: “The illiterates of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn”.
Bárbara Ferrer
Initially published in “La Bioguia”.
Photo by Dmitry Ratushny on Unsplash
