The illusion of the future …

… An Antidote to the Age of Anxiety: Alan Watts on Happiness and How to Live with Presence | Brain Pickings. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

The “primary consciousness,” the basic mind which knows reality rather than ideas about it, does not know the future. It lives completely in the present, and perceives nothing more than what is at this moment. The ingenious brain, however, looks at that part of present experience called memory, and by studying it is able to make predictions. These predictions are, relatively, so accurate and reliable (e.g., “everyone will die”) that the future assumes a high degree of reality — so high that the present loses its value.

Have you ever noticed how much of the news is taken up with prediction?