Just take a pebble and cast it to the sea
– Greg Lake (1970)
Then watch the ripples that unfold into me
Did I just quote Emerson, Lake and Palmer to start a blog post? You bet I did. Besides being a great song it sprang to mind after a thought I had this morning.
Many times we think of the effects of things we do. This is the concept of dropping a pebble in the water and watching the ripples unfold. But what of the pebble? It falls to the bottom of the water never to be heard from again.
What if rather than thinking of future outcomes which may or may not come to pass we solely focus on the present event? We follow it through to its very end and only after it’s completely run its course and has nowhere else to go we then look at its effects.
Would doing so potentially create a scenario where an event would happen whereas it wouldn’t have if you had thought of the consequences? Is it even possible to not think of the future when doing something in the present? You may not think of all possible outcomes but even one or two would mean you weren’t completely absorbed in the present moment. Even as I write each word here am I not thinking about where each is going to lead next?
Perhaps it is impossible to follow the pebble from the surface of the water to its underwater resting place. Maybe the journey and the ripples need to go hand and hand.
A History of Stupidity 