By Kerby Anderson

One of the challenges for us in the future will be perception. We observe the world with linear perception, but we live in exponential times. Exponential growth is very different from arithmetic growth. We live our lives in a linear way. We live day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to-month. But the changes taking place around us are increasing not in a linear way but in an exponential way.

Exponential growth is not something that we would consider intuitive. Scott Armstrong demonstrated that when he asked a graduate class of business students the following question. If you folded a piece of paper in half forty times, how thick would it be? Most of the students guessed it would be less than a foot. A few guessed it would be greater than a foot but less than a mile. Two students guessed it would be greater than a mile but less than two thousand miles. The correct answer is that the paper would be thick enough to reach from here to the moon.

This is the challenge of living in exponential times that are affecting everything from economics to the environment. If the trend on a graph is linear, we have a fairly good grasp of what that will mean for us in the future. When the graph curves upward exponentially, we have a difficult time comprehending its impact.

Another challenge is trying to integrate all the various trends (many growing exponentially). This makes it difficult to accurately predict the future. We might know the individual trends, but trying to integrate hundreds of trends into a comprehensive picture is difficult, if not impossible.

That is why I believe we need Godly wisdom and biblical discernment like never before. The future is coming at us at an unprecedented speed. We need to search the Scriptures and depend upon the Lord like never before.