In this era of diminishing values and appreciation of good, societies are decaying into materialistic moulds of lust for power and physical pleasures. Human instincts have morphed into those of animals. It is an unending vicious circle of prey, eat and sleep, all through the power of material possessions and comforts, following a cyclonic pattern. Maslow’s need theory, which views self-actualisation as a pinnacle, finds itself untenable with humans lost at this lowest tier of survival. As sapiens, in the race to the top, we have somewhere lost our ground at the base. The opportunity cost of signing up for this has displaced the reference framework of human thought from even our peripheral view, and the same is being discussed in this column.

Dreaming big is very much a motivational speaker’s mantra these days, as it pushes people to anticipate success, honour, or reward, or even make them wait patiently. It helps people live their lives instead of just consuming them. Anticipation gives us a reason to engage with tomorrow instead of just enduring today, as expecting something feels more exciting than having it. Without anticipation, life gets downgraded to a sequence of mere motions; a state often resulting in chronic boredom or frustration. At the collective level, this shows up in how communities organise time around shared expectation: religious festivals, harvests, elections, reunions, the start and end of the school year. These are not just calendar events. They give large groups of people a shared rhythm of waiting, planning, preparing, building patience, cooperation, and a sense of........

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