This content originally appeared as First Look content, as a member benefit to SU Global Community members, inside the SU Global Community here. In 2007, renowned professor and mathematician, Nassim Taleb, released his novel Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable, wherein he describes Black Swan events as moments containing three characteristics: "it lies outside the realm of regular expectations...it carries an extreme 'impact'...[and] human nature makes us concoct explanations for its occurrence after the fact, making it [look as though it should have been] predictable."
Thirteen years later, and the year 2020 has felt like one long Black Swan event due to the unprecedented impact of Covid-19. It's a year that defies expectation, the impact has been massive, and we absolutely should have seen it coming. For so many reasons it's been a challenging year, a year forcing transformation amidst chaos.But humans are nothing if not resilient, and in spite of the struggles of this year there are many things to be grateful for. Personally, I'm thankful for being forced to learn how to take better care of my physical health at home, how to cook, and how to find contentment and joy without the constant stream of social activities. I'm thankful for the hope I see, knowing that our entire species has come together to solve the problems presented by Covid; perhaps such collaborative efforts between nations, businesses, and researchers around the world will spark a future of heightened trust and cohesion.Finding such gratitude has been immensely helpful for me, and it's no surprise considering studies have shown that gratitude is a signifying trait for well-being. So as we enter Thanksgiving weekend, we thought it'd be best to provide a dose of optimism and gratitude by asking our Global Community the simple yet important question that faces us all this time of year: What are you thankful for?
If you'd like to let us know what you're thankful for this year, become a member of Singularity University's Global Community by clicking here, where you'll also get to trial new products, look behind the scenes at new content, gain exclusive access to events, and be able to converse with a vibrant community of innovative and successful thinkers.