I woke up this morning and finally understood the point of thinking about three generations when you make decisions. I have no idea why this came to mind, but sometimes you see the light.
I always thought when First Nations say "think of three generations when you make a decision" this was a storytelling way of saying make a 75 year projection. It was a pitch for taking a long term view, even though projections generally don't like to go beyond 25 years because the probability of being right takes a serious nose dive.
I now realize the 3 generations concept is so much more than that. I was taking a linear view of what it is offering. It is a circular thinking concept, so I switched hats and everything became clearer. The point of thinking of the impact on three generations is to make it personal. These are not years, they are people, people that carry my blood.
Thinking of three generations is thinking about what my genetic continuation would care about and experience as a result of my action - it really impacts how I behave myself right now. It effects how I WANT to behave myself - it is not even a struggle to do the right thing. It creates a subjective canvas on which to consider what is enough, what is really meaningful to me now, and how do I want to be remembered.
Thinking of three generations is a powerful way to inspire people to think in a circular way, integrating many aspects of the decision to be made that are not considered in linear thinking.
I always thought when First Nations say "think of three generations when you make a decision" this was a storytelling way of saying make a 75 year projection. It was a pitch for taking a long term view, even though projections generally don't like to go beyond 25 years because the probability of being right takes a serious nose dive.
I now realize the 3 generations concept is so much more than that. I was taking a linear view of what it is offering. It is a circular thinking concept, so I switched hats and everything became clearer. The point of thinking of the impact on three generations is to make it personal. These are not years, they are people, people that carry my blood.
Thinking of three generations is thinking about what my genetic continuation would care about and experience as a result of my action - it really impacts how I behave myself right now. It effects how I WANT to behave myself - it is not even a struggle to do the right thing. It creates a subjective canvas on which to consider what is enough, what is really meaningful to me now, and how do I want to be remembered.
Thinking of three generations is a powerful way to inspire people to think in a circular way, integrating many aspects of the decision to be made that are not considered in linear thinking.
