All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence. – Martin Luther King Jr., a leader in the American civil rights movement who established himself as one of the greatest orators in U.S. history with his “I Have A Dream” speech.
The other day after completing an emotional 4 day coaching session, I found myself in the airport a bit dazed and confused so I decided to accept the offer to upgrade my seat to a more comfortable business class. The $49 dollar charge seemed a small price to pay for a solid 3 hour nap with my Ipod tuned to some light classical lullabies; only to arrive at the gate and find my flight delayed due to weather problems. I quickly hustled to customer service to secure a seat on an earlier delayed flight scheduled to leave at my original time, but with no promise that I could keep my upgraded seat. By some turn of fate, I ended up on the plane in business class destined for home. As I boarded, my seat mate greeted me with an extra big smile and began to tell me about his own ordeal that had him bouncing around the country with a 9 hour delay. What was most remarkable about this elderly gentleman was that he told the tale with a constant chuckle and an obviously pleasing personality…but there was even more…
Things should be made as simple as possible, but not any simpler. – Albert Einstein, world renowned theoretical physicist who at the age of 16 first performed his famous thought experiment visualizing himself traveling alongside a beam of light.
In the 14th century the English logician William of Ockham founded the principle that states the explanation of any phenomenon should make as few assumptions as possible, eliminating those that make no difference in the observable predictions of the explanatory hypothesis or theory…in ‘simple terms’…all other things equal, the simplest solution is the best! So think about that for a minute…have you ever watched a murder mystery and tried desperately to figure out in some complicated way “who done it” only to find out it was the obvious choice. I think the writers of these shows just toy with us knowing all the while that humans have this need to over think and complicate everything. We can’t get out of our own way! Why?
See the problem is that we have the ability to reason and be a thinker, so ironically, that which puts us at the top of the food chain is our very own Achilles heel! The root of this problem seems to lay hidden in the depths of our own insecurities. We have an unbelievable desire to appear smart, but instead of engaging in productive conversation with other people we shrink in embarrassment because what if we say something that is wrong? What if we look stupid? What if the other person laughs at us? Sound a bit neurotic…because it is? The very fact that we are ‘smart’ leads to our own paralysis because we get caught up in over thinking EVERYTHING! I would even argue that this is the foundation for almost all our fears. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m certainly not suggesting that you turn your brain off and run headlong into disaster throwing all caution to the wind; but I am definitely saying that we need to use Ockham’s razor as a thinking tool to cut through the nonsensical mental rantings about why we can’t do something or why we can’t figure it out!
Be the change you want to see in the world. – Mahatma Gandhi, the pioneer of resistance to tyranny through civil disobedience in a completely non-violent way, which lead India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world.
I find myself currently in the midst of an economic period that includes an overwhelming amount of negative news. I do empathize with the news media as it has become obvious that unless they lather their respective product with the stories of the down trodden, then it’s most likely they will see a dramatic decline in sales. The danger in this of course is that it breeds contempt on the part of those who take this drivel in as part of their steady diet. In other words, if you read or listen to enough of this garbage, your vision of the world will certainly become jaded and increasingly negative. Of course it’s not really your fault because you are forced to listen or watch on a regular basis especially when you are relaxed and your guard is down…BUT…
…you can certainly stop yourself from complaining. Maybe it’s the fact that I have five kids under the age of twelve at the time of this writing that has me on edge…but I can’t stand complaints. It would be less painful if I put a huge chalk board in my house and had someone scratch on it all day! And yes I do mean it! It’s bad enough when kids do this, that’s just a rite of passage to a certain extent, but when adults do it, it’s disheartening. Nothing takes the steam out of my sails more than when I hear an adult launch a series of complaints. The point of this whole matter is that life serves up a steady flow of curve balls and you should be ready for that…what are you really expecting? That each and every day you roll out of bed the stock market will be on an upward tear, the price of your house will have doubled and even better your salary tripled…your kids are all dressed for school and miraculously breakfast is served!! Even if you hang around Disney’s utopia long enough, I’m sure you’ll start complaining about the long lines, it’s too hot, the turkey legs are cold, the merry-go-round makes you dizzy! Madness!
We know the truth, not only by the reason, but also by the heart. – Blaise Pascal, 17th Century French mathematician, physicist and religious philosopher
Just simply turn on your television any given night and you’ll find some show featuring cops interrogating someone…whether fictitious or reality this stuff must get super ratings or it would never be so prolific. The best part of these cop shows is definitely the interrogation as the cops move in on the culprit in search of a confession. Getting the truth out of these people is like pulling teeth but the cops persist. Although there are many techniques, there is none more dramatic than the “good cop, bad cop” approach. With both cops in the room, the first one plays the role of the bad guy…directly accusing the suspect of the crime and promising many years behind bars. The scene usually escalates to the point where the bad cop has risen to a boiling point basically intimidating the witness. In contrast the good cop promises that he will use his connections to see that the sentence is reduced if the suspect will simply comply and confess. The technique is effective because it gives the suspect the impression that there is actually someone on their side, rooting for them to do the right thing…ultimately, it’s a small step to a complete confession.
