A Prelude to The Sophistication of Self-Preservation | SSP
Understanding Nature…
Our strategy for Black uplift must be aligned with the real world and the truth about human nature, intrinsically coupled with time and place in the universe. You cannot live in the past or the future, only the present; but present actions will determine your future outcomes. The push must be strategic and utilize intelligence systems that are based on data science for business, social, and institutional environments in order to advance a prosperity agenda.
In addressing the Plenary Session at the World Economic Forum, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi predicted that in the future, whoever controls data will control the world. He went on to say that data is the ultimate form of wealth, which is true, because everything starts with information and knowledge building. The global flow of data is creating major opportunities as it helps to illuminate — often hidden in plain sight — those trending demand opportunities for entrepreneurs to act upon. So if we are not aware of the process of wealth creation, then wealth itself will remain elusive to us.
Technology is a competitive tool in nature — a hyperextension of the Sophistication of Self-Preservation | SSP. Therefore, the undercurrents of inequality exist everywhere; you can’t get around the metaphysical existence of nature, so stop wasting time and get back in touch with reality. Rigorously seeking knowledge, a better understanding of how the world works, and developing intelligence-based ecosystems to leverage that acquired knowledge in seeking personal gain is the name of the game!
Your value determines your power and influence; no value means no power. Economics is not a morality play, it’s a power play! If Black people continue not to make a real effort to understand the laws of nature, continue to be lackadaisical, settling, non-disruptive of self and systems, and always acquiescing to the delusional comfort of “woke” culture, then nothing will change; the whining and complaining will only intensify, and so will be the losses.
The German Enlightenment philosopher Immanuel Kant recognized how perception depends on the process of “judgment and inference,” since we seldom have direct unfiltered access to objective reality — i.e. to the truth. Our sensory data inputs are influenced heavily by the systems and structures around us. We are very much programmed by and dependent on the systemic environment, and therefore, those in control of the environment are in control of us. Nurture, not nature, shapes our outputs. Our lives are dominated by intelligent technologies everywhere, influencing our subconscious existence tremendously. If we are not conscious of the power of the subconscious world in influencing and directing our lives, then we will always fail to identify the asymmetries in our midst. Our existence will remain dominated by others unless we make a conscious effort to change it.
During the period of the European Enlightenment, in his 1637 work Discourse on Method, French philosopher René Descartes wrote, “I think: therefore, I am” as a first step toward demonstrating the attainability of certain knowledge. In other words, your existence in the universe is confirmed because you can think; there can be no doubt about that fact. However, merely existing is not enough; your success in the universe depends on how you think and whether you apply your intelligence effectively. For the people of the Caribbean, there can be no doubt that the current state of our existence is because we’ve been thinking ineffectively.
Doing nothing and engaging in wishful thinking is the first sign of future extinction. In the end, if you cannot recognize the environment in which you live and cannot create value in it, then you are of no value to the universe. This is the undeniable and quantifiable reality of economics, conflict, and scarcity. It applies to all societies. Therefore, how you think about the reality you face will be critical to how you behave, and that behaviour will determine your outcome.
So, what we think or believe is of little consequence; in the end, and in reality, the only thing of consequence is what is real.
Every morning on the plains of Africa, when the gazelle wakes up, it knows it must outrun the fastest lion or be eaten. At the same time, when the lion wakes up, it knows it must run faster and be more cunning than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. This is nature! Understand it and you’ll thrive in it.
