Appendix: Linear vs. Holistic Time

Appendix - Linear vs Holistic Time Much of the history of psychology has been dominated by a framework in which people and animals are driven by the past. Dr. Martin Seligman, father of American positive psychology. In this brief appendix, I will detail some of the foundational psychology beneath the scaling framework. Specifically, this section delves into the psychology of time and how it works. In chapter 2 of this audiobook, you were taught the concept of applying time as a tool. There are deep psychological insights and applications here. Let me start by highlighting the common and ineffective linear model of time, which is pervasive in psychology, but also how people commonly think of and approach time. The Common Linear Model of Time You can see an image in the PDF that is a graphical representation of linear time. The core assumption of linear time is that the past determines the present, and from there, the present determines the future. Linear time is based on Newtonian physics. Another core assumption of linear time is that time flows consistently and equitably. Those were the very words of Newton's definition of time, which he published in his master work, Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, first published in 1687. One of Newton's assumptions in regard to linear time was that, because time itself flows consistently, the events within time must also be consistent with each other. In other words, events in the present and future must be consistent with what happened in the past. The word "must" may sound strong here, but it's not. The past is where all the power is with this view and model of time. Dr. Brent Slife, a theoretical psychologist, explains that because linear time assumes consistency, change itself must always be incremental, never disruptive or discontinuous. All change moves from the past and present in a neat and orderly manner into the future. The past is the greatest predictor of the future. Interestingly, modern research shows just how sweeping the adoption of these linear assumptions are and how people think about themselves. When people are asked to think about their own future selves, even over a decade away, the common assumption people have is that their future self will be extremely similar to their present self. As the Harvard psychologist, Dr. Daniel Gilbert, stated, "Human beings are works in progress that mistakenly think they're finished." An obvious problem with linear time is that it has no clear direction. Instead of having a future guiding what you do, you're letting the past and present dictate the future. The arrow is always forward with linear time, which makes the future as a concept both weak and unknowable. The future is a byproduct, not a cause. Take for example public education. The linear model of public education is that a student naturally passes from first grade to second and on up through high school. At each successive year, the student is given what are assumed to be important benchmarks for the succeeding years, without respect for what each student's future will be. As the billionaire Peter Thiel writes, "By the time a student gets to college, he spent a decade curating a bewilderingly diverse resume to prepare for a completely unknowable future. Come what may, he's ready for nothing in particular." You can know if you're operating in a linear model of time if you use your past and present as the basis for the future you're creating. You do this when you let your previous results and performance directly dictate the goals you pursue. As an example, perhaps your company did $5 million in revenue last year. If you're operating linearly, then you'll base your goal this year on last year's performance. This is not utilizing time as a tool powerfully, though we'll get into that more when explaining holistic time, which is more psychologically accurate and powerful than linear time. Interestingly, linear time is taken for granted, not as a way of viewing time, but for most people it is viewed as the only way of viewing time. Brent Slife explained that outside of physics, the majority of scientific explanations assume linear time without question, as he details in his book Time and Psychological Explanation. Linear time pervades psychological explanation. Linear assumptions are foundational to both basic and applied aspects of psychology. How intriguing is it to note that this issue has virtually never been discussed? With rare exceptions, time has not only managed to avoid systematic examination, it has scarcely been acknowledged anywhere in the field. How could a metaphysical assumption of this importance escape some sort of scrutiny? The Holistic Model of Time Most creatures live in the immediate present, and their mental powers are entirely devoted to processing what is happening now. Human beings are different in that people are able to think explicitly about past and future events. Moreover, they use these thoughts about other times to guide their actions in the present. People think far more about the future than the past. Pragmatic Prospection holds that people think about the future so as to guide actions to bring about desirable outcomes. Dr. Roy Baumeister and co-authors This quote from Dr. Baumeister and his research partners is a bit thick, and if you're not careful, you'll miss what they're saying. Basically, that single quote catches you up on and synthesizes the past 30 or so years of insight in both positive psychology and neuroscience. Breaking down what Baumeister is saying, most living creatures are completely reactive to and absorbed by what is occurring in the present moment. Human beings are different because we have the cognitive intelligence to reflect beyond the present moment, thinking about other things, particularly our own past and future. Human beings think about the past and future for the explicit purpose of guiding and shaping their decisions in the present. People spend far less time thinking about their past than they do thinking about their future. We don't typically think about the past for its own sake, but instead, we think about the past's implications on the future. Prospection is a term for thinking about one's own future prospects or potentials. As people, we spend huge amounts of time thinking about our future and then letting our prospects or goals dictate our course in the present. The better we get at thinking about our own past and future, and more particularly our own future self, the better we live in the present. Our future not only gives meaning and purpose to our present, but it also guides our path and decisions. And directly, the future dictates and guides the present. This is the exact opposite explanation to the linear approach most people have accepted. Our goals act as the central part of our frame or perspective in the present. Our goals determine what is relevant or signal and what is irrelevant or noise. Thus, our frame determines how we filter our experience. This thinking is a central aspect of learning and goal achievement, and it reflects one's ability to both set meaningful goals and then to effectively find or create pathways to realize them. All of this insight brings up some exciting and illuminating truths. First, from a psychological position, you cannot separate the past, present, and future as is done in Newton's linear and sequential model. The past, present, and future are all co-occurring in the present and each impacts the others. Time is holistic, not sequential. As Dr. Slife wrote, "All three dimensions of time, past, present, and future, co-occur in the now. No one dimension of time can truly be a meaningful dimension without the context provided by the other two dimensions." Knowing that time is holistic rather than sequential, this changes the weight or impact of each dimension of time, rather than the past being the sole driving force, with holistic time that is no longer the case. Yes, the past is useful information, yes it's something you can reference and learn from. However, it is not the guidepost for decisions and actions, it's not the location or locus of control, it's not the driver, it's not pushing you around or forcing you in a particular direction. Instead, the past is a tool for making better decisions in the present and not repeating errors of judgment. It's something you learn from, not live in. Ultimately, with greater psychological maturity, the past is something you actively frame yourself in the present moment. Regardless of what happened, whether something tragic, a misunderstanding, or even a mistake on your own part, it is your job to frame the meaning. It shows that it takes an internal rather than an external locus of control to take ownership and to actively reframe your past as a tool rather than blaming your past. Unless you actively frame the meaning yourself, you are likely to turn your past into the driver of your present experience. This throws you back into linear time where the past dictates the present and future. In linear time, you cannot scale or realize impossible goals. The past isn't a concrete reality. The past is a psychological tool. Don't place the past outside of yourself. The purpose of the past is to improve the present and the future. Like the past, the future is a psychological tool, not an external reality. As shown in the image in the appendix, in the PDF, what we call Holistic Time, the future is where the majority of the weight is. The future is the biggest factor in who you're being and what you're experiencing right now. The future, not the past, is what causes and shapes what you see and what you do in the present. The psychological truth is that the future, more than the past, drives and shapes the present. Since the future heavily dictates the present, the primary aspect of a person's frame or perception is their own goals. It is our goals that determine what is signal and what is noise in our lives. By changing our goals, things that were once signal become noise. Our goals guide and direct our mental filtering, which is called selective attention. Selective attention is an extremely powerful cognitive and emotional skill. Said the neuroscientist, Dr. Carl Friston, the capacity to select is a fundamental part of intelligence and agency, because to select means you're not attending to 90% of the things you could select. The notion of selection is a hallmark of truly intelligent behavior. Selective attention is the process by which you actively filter and find effective pathways to your goals. As the image in the PDF shows, the quality of how we frame our future determines the quality by which we can filter our present experience. Assuming that our goals are the primary aspect of our frame, driving our attention and decisions in the present, it makes sense that the quality of our goals determines the quality of our selective attention we're filtering. This is why impossible goals and impossible deadlines are so powerful. They force extreme filtering in the present, requiring you to let go of all ineffective pathways and select only the most powerful and potent ones.