Music

Humans love to plan.

Whether it's a child's birthday party or a time capsule designed the last centuries,

we have a knack for planning and preparing for things.

Starting back on the pages of history, that much should be completely obvious.

A great example is the famous stone circle at Stonehenge.

Most agree that the standing stones were first put in place around 5,000 years ago,

although there's evidence that an earlier wooden structure existed before that.

And while it's fun to speculate all the purposes it might have served,

there's one thing most scholars can agree on.

Stonehenge is a calendar.

And it's not alone. Around the world there are countless neolithic structures that serve a similar purpose.

And it makes sense, really.

In an era when humans were transitioning from wandering tribes of hunter-gatherers

to farmers who needed to stay in one place for a long time,

planning for the future became incredibly important.

When will winter finally be over? When should they plant their crops?

And when should they harvest them?

Planning helps us survive. It unites us.

And it speaks to one of the most enduring qualities we have as human beings.

We are people of hope.

We look for patterns in the world around us and hope that our careful plans can thread the needle and succeed.

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