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Here's why seeing into the future would be good -- and bad


How to Understand PeopleHow might your decisions be different? How might your life be different?

Well, perhaps you would dump the guy you're dating after seeing he would eventually cheat on you.

You might change jobs after noticing that your boss would gradually become abusive toward you, or change careers after seeing all the jobs in your current field would require upwards of 50 hours per week.

Maybe you would not have kids upon discovering he or she would be born with an illness. Or perhaps you'd opt to move to a different neighborhood upon discovering your present one will see a rash of robberies in the coming years.

Since we can't see into the future, it's impossible for us to always make optimal decisions. The best we can do is plan ahead and think carefully before making a big decision. Even then, what seems like a well-conceived decision today could turn out to be a disaster later on.

The problem is that far too many people make decisions on impulse -- without at least considering other alternatives. They're driven mainly by emotion rather than rationality.

I've cited examples in other posts, like having one night stands, betting big at the casino, and buying the first expensive car or house one sees.

While having a magic ball at our disposal would likely make life easier in a lot of ways, it would also take the fun out of it.

I think it would make one's life story feel far too scripted. We'd walk around like robots, not having much to worry about or look forward to because we already know what the future holds for us.

While pain is an unfortunate part of life -- and no one likes making mistakes -- it's all part of being human. The only way for us to grow is to make bad decisions and learn from them.

While we may not be psychic (at least not most of us), we can still have the foresight to stay away from things and people that we know deep down aren't right for us. If anything, our gut is the best weapon we have in our arsenal.

When all else fails, use it as much as you possibly can to guide your decisions, as it's usually on point.
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