Modern systems rely heavily on the assumption that the future will look much like the present. We build cities, sign thirty-year mortgages, and invest in pension plans based on a steady, predictable trajectory. If every person truly internalised the volatility of markets or the eventual decay of institutions, the collective momentum might stall. Panic is bad for growth. Long-term planning requires a certain level of psychological comfort that ignores radical uncertainty.
This isn't necessarily a conspiracy; it is a functional necessity. Economic engines need people to commit labor and capital toward distant goals. If we lived in a state of constant, acute awareness regarding systemic instability, the resulting anxiety would likely paralyze individual productivity. We trade a degree of existential truth for the ability to plan a life, save money, and work toward a future that we assume will actually exist.
While this 'delusion' maintains order, it creates a brittle foundation. When the gap between our expectations of stability and the actual reality of change becomes too wide, the system cracks. Stability depends on this shared belief, yet the belief itself hides the very risks that eventually threaten that stability.
