WISDOM in CAVEAT

One of the basic concepts of Catastrophic Thinking is to THINK BACK. That means draw on history, experience, and wisdom to anticipate what is to come. The BIBLE is a book of collected wisdom. It is not a science book, nor a history book. But it is the go-to book for catastrophism. In the Old Testament are stories of all sorts of catastrophes. There’s Noah’s Ark, the plagues of Egypt, Sodom and Gomorrah, earthquakes, all kinds of war, and the occupation by heathen foreign powers. Then in the New Testament there is the most optimistic book on the Apocalypse ever written, the Book of Revelation. In the Book, the writer John prophesizes that a fourth of the world (6:7) suffers and dies and then a third of what is left (9:10) dies too. That’s half the world population. But in the end Christ and the Church prevail.

My analysis frequently takes me off the beaten path of Christian religion. I draw on the passages which are rarely referenced from the pulpit. For example, did you know the expression to “head to the hills” in a catastrophe came from a paraphrase of a warning from Jesus Himself? Matthew 24:16. There is much guidance to be drawn from the Bible on catastrophic thinking. But CAVEAT covers only three of the four foundations of thinking: Assumptions, expectations, and values. Usually the literature includes a fourth foundation of beliefs. However, in reaching a consensus, it is usually best to ignore the divisive foundation of beliefs. Beliefs are irrelevant to catastrophism; everyone of every faith can be rallied to a common cause of survival. Only the fanatical lunatic fringe does not care about saving their own skin. In terms of designing public policy and reaching a consensus, they can be ignored.