Idea 94: Foresight
A man may prophesy,
With a near aim, of the main chance of things
As yet not come to life, which in their seeds
And weak beginnings lie intreasured.
William Shakespeare, Henry IV
Foresight means to know or expect that something will happen or come into existence in advance of its occurrence. That sense of ‘things to come’ is derived from your ability to draw inferences or make projections from the present but at a depth mind level – intuition.
Ask yourself
In my field of business, what is coming next after what is coming next?
According to the historian Thucydides, none surpassed the Athenian statesman and general Themistocles in practical wisdom, which included foresight:
Themistocles was a man who showed an unmistakable natural genius; in this respect he was quite exceptional, and beyond all others deserves our admiration.
Without studying a subject in advance or deliberating over it later, but using simply the intelligence that was his by nature, he had the power to reach the right conclusion in matters that have to be settled on the spur of the moment and do not admit of long discussions, and in estimating what was likely to happen, his forecasts of the future were always more reliable than those of others.
He could perfectly well explain any subject with which he was familiar, and even outside his own department he was still capable of giving an excellent opinion.
He was particularly remarkable at looking into the future and seeing there the hidden possibilities for good or evil.
To sum him up in a few words, it may be said that through force of genius and by rapidity of action this man was supreme at doing precisely the right thing at precisely the right moment.
That ability to do ‘precisely the right thing at precisely the right moment’ – and, one might add, in precisely the right way – is a very good working definition of what practical wisdom means.
The short-range weather forecasts, however, are much more reliable than long-range ones.
Therefore, in Winston Churchill’s words:
It is a mistake to think too far ahead. Only one link in the chain of destiny can be handled at a time.