I knew I couldn’t keep facilitating team meetings and giving strategy presentations — staples of the consulting services I had provided for many years. But I still loved my work and needed to stay active, and my clients were open to trying a new approach, so I began managing my coaching relationships exclusively through written dialogue in instant messages, emails, and other electronic documents.
via What I Learned About Coaching After Losing the Ability to Speak
In an ideal world, feedback would always happen face-to-face, so the other person could read your body language and hear your voice. But there are times when you have to provide input through email, text message, or even instant message, and in these cases it’s important to be careful about tone. Written criticism can easily lead to misunderstandings, since it’s missing the natural empathy that comes from talking to someone in person. And once it’s typed, it’s harder to take back than a spoken comment. Generally, your written feedback should stick to descriptive, rather than evaluative, language. People are usually more receptive to, for example, “This is what I see happening” than to “This is what I think you should do differently.” The latter can be read as harsh and uncaring, whereas the former is more objective. You’ll have more latitude if you have a strong relationship with the recipient, because the person is less likely to perceive the criticism as an attack. Still, the extra effort you put into thinking through what to say and how to say it will help the person hear your message (even if they’re reading it).
Adapted from “What I Learned About Coaching After Losing the Ability to Speak,” by Mark Rosen
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“The moment is not properly an atom of time but an atom of eternity,” Kierkegaard wrote in contemplating the paradoxical nature of time half a century before Einstein forever changed our understanding of it. As relativity saturated the cultural atmosphere, Virginia Woolf was tussling and taffying with time’s confounding elasticity, the psychology of which scientists have since dissected. We are beings of time and in time — something Jorge Luis Borges spoke to beautifully in his classic 1946 meditation on time: “Time is the substance I am made of. Time is a river which sweeps me along, but I am the river; it is a tiger which destroys me, but I am the tiger; it is a fire which consumes me, but I am the fire.”
That riverine dimension of being is what Ursula K. Le Guin (October 21, 1929–January 22, 2018) explores with spare words and immense splendor of sentiment in “Hymn to Time” from her final poetry collection, Late in the Day (public library) — a poem embodying her conviction that “science describes accurately from outside, poetry describes accurately from inside, [and] both celebrate what they describe.”
In this recording created as a warmup for our second annual Universe in Verse, astrophysicist Janna Levin — who has written beautifully about the nature of time herself — brings Le Guin’s poem to life in thirty-five transcendent seconds:
HYMN TO TIME
by Ursula K. Le GuinTime says “Let there be”
every moment and instantly
there is space and the radiance
of each bright galaxy.And eyes beholding radiance.
And the gnats’ flickering dance.
And the seas’ expanse.
And death, and chance.Time makes room
for going and coming home
and in time’s womb
begins all ending.Time is being and being
time, it is all one thing,
the shining, the seeing,
the dark abounding.
Complement with Hannah Arendt on space, time, and our thinking ego, then revisit Le Guin’s feminist translation of the timeless Tao Te Ching and Levin’s splendid reading of “Planetarium” by Adrienne Rich from the inaugural edition of The Universe in Verse.
Right Off the Bat
Meaning:
Immediately, done in a hurry; without delay.
The Hermetic Revival: 7 Ancient Principles For Self-Mastery
via The Hermetic Revival: 7 Ancient Principles For Self-Mastery
An ADHD Diagnosis Took Nearly 30 Years
via My ADHD Diagnosis Took Nearly 30 Years – Member Feature Stories – Medium
Life advice aimed at the average person won’t help people like you or me. It might even make things worse. Sure, we’re all different. But some of us have more differences than others.
via Self-help for night owls and odd balls – Jessica Wildfire – Medium
द्यदालिखति मनः आशावर्तिकाभीः हृदयफलके ।
तत्तद्बाल इव विधिर्निभृतं हसित्वा प्रोञ्छति ॥
Whatever the mind inscribes (paints), with the brushes of desire, on the board of the heart, fate, stealthily smilingly, wipes it all out, like a little child!
भारोऽविवेकिनः शास्त्रं भारो ज्ञानं च रागिणः ।
अशान्तस्य मनो भारः भारोऽनात्मविदो वपुः ॥
– योगवासिष्ठ, वैराग्य
An idiot would find the scriptures heavy.
A person who enjoys worldly pleasures finds knowledge heavy and unbearable.
A restless man finds his mind heavy.
If one does not know his self, he will find his body heavy.
William Shakespeare eloquently summarized the existential nihilist’s perspective when, in this famous passage near the end of Macbeth, he has Macbeth pour out his disgust for life:
Out, out, brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more; it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,Signifying nothing.
In real life, I have dealt with some pseudo-Nihilists and my experience is :
“A nihilist is a manor a woman who judges of the world as it is that it ought not to be, and of the world as it ought to be that it does not exist.” According to this view, our existence (action, suffering, willing, feeling) has no meaning: the pathos of ‘in vain’ is the nihilists’ pathos — at the same time, as pathos, an inconsistency on the part of the nihilists.
A song can make or ruin a person’s day if they let it get to them.
Keeping up with the news is hard. So hard, in fact, that we’ve decided to save you the hassle by rounding up the most significant, unusual, or just plain old mind-blowing stories each week.
After a couple of blissfully massacre-free weeks, this week opened with not one but two separate jerkwads deciding to take out their problems on the world by killing a bunch of people. Depressing as these two events were, the news wasn’t all doom and gloom. Elsewhere we had new velvet revolutions, scientific advances, and big steps toward the federal legalization of marijuana.
This column has noted before the recent tendency of morons to use vehicles as their weapons of choice. Typically, this has been related to Islamist terrorism but not exclusively. On Monday, Alek Minassian bucked the trend by smashing a van into crowds walking along Toronto’s Yonge Street, leaving 10 dead and 14 injured.
His pathetic apparent motive? No women wanted to sleep with him.[1]
Just before committing mass murder, Minassian posted a message to a Facebook incel community praising Elliot Rodger, the rampage shooter who killed six in California in 2014. Rodger was a rampant misogynist who existed on the fringes of the incel community—a loose online grouping of men who are “involuntary celibates” and usually blame women for their problems. Like Rodger before him, Minassian is alleged to have deliberately targeted women.
Thankfully, Minassian was taken alive. Cop Ken Lam was first on the scene after the van crashed and Minassian leaped out, claiming to have a gun. Lam’s response? “I don’t care.” He arrested the killer, who will now have to face justice.
Although four people died, several more were injured, and the gunman was disarmed by a wounded, unarmed man with sheer bravery coursing through his veins, the Waffle House mass shooting on Sunday will likely be remembered for one bizarre detail. After allegedly committing mass murder, Travis Jeffrey Reinking fled the crime scene on foot. According to police reports, he was semi-naked.[2]
Reinking was known to police. Among other incidents, he’d previously tried to breach the White House perimeter. A sovereign citizen, he’d apparently wanted to talk to President Trump. His guns had been confiscated after this, but his father had managed to get them back and returned them to his son. Thanks to his actions, four people are now dead.
Reinking was apprehended late Monday after a 34-hour manhunt. He is currently under suicide watch, awaiting trial.
Last week, we told you about the mass protests gripping Armenia, a poor nation in the Caucasus region. Former President Serzh Sargsyan had just been appointed prime minister after serving out his constitutionally allowed term . . . having previously stripped the presidency of its powers and given them all to the PM’s office. At the time, we noted that mass protests had previously failed to stop Sargsyan’s power grabs and seemed unlikely to this time.
How wrong we were. On Monday, Sargsyan stepped down. By that point, nearly a quarter of the country was estimated to be marching against him.[3]
The lack of deaths or violence has led to the movement being called a “velvet revolution,” a reference to the anti-Communist Czechoslovak revolution of 1989 in which not a single shot was fired. However, Armenia isn’t out of the woods yet.
Sargsyan’s Republican Party is still in power, and protesters are still marching, demanding the entire government’s resignation. Will Armenia finally see the change it desperately needs? We’ll find out in the coming weeks.
Chuck Schumer is one of the most powerful Democrats in the United States. As Senate minority leader, he’s about as mainstream as you’re gonna get. Which is what makes his announcement last Friday so interesting. In honor of 4/20, pot’s unofficial day, Schumer declared his support for the decriminalization of marijuana.[4]
He joins former Republican House speaker John Boehner, who had joined the board of a cannabis company just a week earlier, signaling his intention to advocate for legalization. It now looks like the pro-pot faction has the wind in their sails. As more states make weed legal and reap the tax windfall, it appears to be only a matter of time before the federal government follows suit.
This is a huge about-face from only a handful of short years ago. As recently as 2017, the idea that a Senate leader and a former House speaker would vocally come out for drugs would have seemed absurd. But these things move pretty fast. It now looks like we’ll see legal pot before the decade is out.
The former British colony of Swaziland is one of the last absolute monarchies left in the world. Pretty much whatever the king says goes, which leads to some occasionally bizarre pronouncements. Such was the case late last Thursday, when King Mswati III unveiled his latest decree. Effective immediately, he was changing Swaziland’s name to eSwatini. Swaziland is no more.[5]
The name “Swaziland” was a colonial-era hangover, sort of like if Ukraine was still called “the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic” or Ghana was still known as “the Gold Coast.” While most countries changed their names at independence, eSwatini waited 50 years until the king himself turned 50.
Interestingly, King Mswati III moved the country’s official day of independence to coincide with his birthday this year—because that’s the sort of weird thing you can get away with when you’re an absolute monarch.
Despite the name change, eSwatini is still a struggling land. It has the world’s highest prevalence of HIV and one of the lowest life expectancies. And it is sandwiched between the two regional superpowers of South Africaand Mozambique.
For the last two weeks, the UK government has been embroiled in a scandalof its own making. Shortly after the end of World War II, London legalized immigration from all Commonwealth nations. Until the early 1970s, anyone arriving in Britain from India, Pakistan, Canada, Jamaica, Australia, or any of dozens more nations were automatically considered UK citizens, whether or not they acquired a UK passport.
This last part is important because it meant many of the so-called Windrush generation (the first boat to bring Caribbean immigrants was called the Empire Windrush) only had a single document held by the government confirming their legal status. In 2010, the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition ordered the destruction of these documents. Under Theresa May’s watch, the Home Office then began deporting Windrush immigrants even though they had every legal right to remain.
The scandal blew up a week or two ago. But this week, it picked up even more steam when current Home Secretary Amber Rudd admitted that Windrush immigrants had been deported to fulfill arbitrary quotas. The resulting political storm has badly damaged Theresa May’s government and caused much unnecessary suffering for elderly British citizens who just happened to be born in the former empire.[6]
Universal basic income (UBI) is held by some as the holy grail of 21st-century society. A guaranteed monthly stipend for the entire population of a country, whether they’re working or already rich, is held by some on the left to be the only workable safety net in the coming age of automation and by some on the right to be the perfect way of freeing citizens from a stifling welfare state.
In short, it is a serious movement that many are touting as the next big thing in policymaking. This week, though, it suffered a setback. After being a leading light for UBI for two years, Finland finally closed its experimental program. The world’s only large-scale UBI pilot is now officially dead.
The Finnish trial provided 2,000 unemployed people with €560 a month, which they continued to receive whether they got a job or not. The social security agency had asked for more funding to give a random sample of 2,000 employed people the same benefits. Instead, Helsinki nixed the program before any firm conclusions could be drawn.[7]
Billions and billions of years ago, 14 young galaxies erupting with new, dazzling stars crashed into one another. The resulting cataclysm was probably all sorts of destructive, but it eventually resulted in the formation of a gigantic galactic cluster infinitely denser than our Milky Way and likely the most massive thing in the observable universe.[8]
About 12.4 billion years after this violent merger took place, the light of this ancient catastrophe finally reached Earth. Revealed by an international team in Nature this week, it not only marks the discovery of the biggest thing in the night sky but also threatens to rewrite everything we know about the universe’s origins.
The 14 super bright galaxies are known as starbursts, galaxies that form new stars at a tremendous rate. The weird part? We wouldn’t expect that many of them so close to the dawn of the universe. Nor would we have expected a galaxy cluster to form in such an impossibly ancient period. It may just be time to rewrite our entire timeline of the universe’s birth and early childhood.
Just last week, we reported on the death of Barbara Bush, wife to President George H.W. Bush and mother to President George W. Bush. This week, we very nearly had to report on the death of her husband, too. Following his wife’s funeral, former President George H.W. Bush was hospitalized with sepsis and placed in intensive care. You could almost hear obituary writers across the nation scrambling for their laptops.
Fortunately, the 41st US president survived and was moved out of intensive care on Wednesday. At the time of this writing, though, he remains ill and under close observation.[9]
The likelihood is that Bush will pull through this current malady and live to fight another day. However, his brush with death highlights the fact that two of America’s surviving presidents likely won’t be around much longer. Jimmy Carter is 93 and in ill health, a description that also applies to George H.W. Bush. It could be that we’ll soon lose two members from the tiny club of surviving US presidents.
By the time you read this, Kim Jong Un and President Moon Jae-in of South Korea may have made history. No, not by Kim blowing up everything in a 1,450-kilometer (900 mi) radius but by taking some serious steps toward peace.
At 9:30 AM local time Friday, Moon is scheduled to meet Kim at the border between North and South Korea. They will then walk together to a summit on the southern side of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). It will be the first time since 1953 that a North Korean leader has set foot on South Korean territory.
Since this column is filed a few hours before the deadline, we don’t yet know how these talks will go. The hope, though, is that Kim and Moon may sign a peace agreement formally ending the 1950–53 Korean War, while also paving the way for a possible summit between Kim and President Trump later in the year.[10]
North Korea is difficult to read and has given plenty of reasons to doubt its commitment to peace in the past. Still, this time, Pyongyang could be for real. Hey, anything that might lead to the denuclearization of the peninsula is worth a shot.
No matter what anyone tells you, everyone farts. In fact, if the average person farts 14 times a day, there are 365 days in a year, and the average lifespan is approximately 80 years, then you will fart over 400,000 times in your life. Not only human beings fart, though. All kinds of animals, including cats and dogs, do, too. This is because any animal with the right diet as well as a certain type of gut bacteria is able to generate gas in its digestive system.[1]
In nature, some animals use their farts for strategic advantages. On the other hand, as is the case in this article, some farts result in situations that leave a person facing the strong arm of the law. This list will review ten times that intervention by law enforcement was ultimately required just because someone broke wind.
Farts can empty rooms. So can bomb threats. In 2012, Harold Wayne Hadley was studying at the Jones County Junior College’s Terrell Tisdale Library in Mississippi when he went to the bathroom.
While there, Hadley decided to write a fart joke on a piece of toilet paper. Because Hadley was born in a rural area, he decided to refer to his fart as a “bomb,” which resulted in him facing quite an amount of trouble when someone else found the slip of paper.
A nearby teacher was able to distinguish that the writing was Hadley’s. A total of 11 emergency response agencies arrived at the school to find out that there was not actually a bomb. As a result, Hadley was arrested and held on a $20,000 bond.[2] At time the accident occurred, Hadley was a straight-A student and was scheduled to graduate in a few months.
Most people don’t enjoy it when someone passes gas around them. In 2016, Deborah Ann Burns of Immokalee, Florida, became angry when her boyfriend, Willie Butler, “farted in her face” while the two were watching TV. When the woman confronted her boyfriend about his flatulence, he told her to shut up. At this point, the two began arguing. At some point, Burns threw a kitchen knife at Butler’s stomach. She also picked up a stick and hit Butler’s harm. The fight ended when Burns ran away from her farting boyfriend. Police later arrived and arrested her on charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. Bail was set at $50,000.
This isn’t the only fight that occurred in 2016 over farting in Florida. At the Sloppy Joe’s bar in Key West, an argument arose one night between two couples when someone farted at the bar.[3] Unable to let the rule “whoever smelt it, dealt it” decide matters, one of the patrons ended up trading words with another customer, which led to a fistfight and a dislocated shoulder. While law enforcement was called to the scene, the injured patron declined to press charges.
California’s Governor Jerry Brown has been a staunch advocate for laws that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which includes regulating activity at dairy farms and landfills.
In 2016, Brown even approved Senate Bill 1383, which addresses black carbon, methane, and other gases that harm the environment. In addition, these gases also can make people sick.
One of the primary products at dairy farms that emits these gases is manure, or cow poop. Gases are also emitted by cows that belch and fart. In accordance with 1383, dairy farmers are required to cut methane emissions to 40 percent below 2013 levels by 2030.[4]
To help farmers follow these regulations, the state of California even established a fund to help dairy farmers purchase digesters, which are large machines that turn the methane gas from cow farts and manure into electricity. California, however, lacked the funds to provide a digester for every farm in the state. As a result, more cows than California would like are still farting.
One of the largest crime scandals that shook Berlin didn’t involve violence at all. Instead, the subject was farts. In February 2016, police officers asked a man who had been partying for ID. The man farted. Twice.
The officers accused the man of having aimed his flatulence at one of them, and he was eventually fined €900. The man refused to pay and was ultimately forced to go to court over the matter in September 2017. The case was dismissed in less than ten minutes.
The whole smelly affair, or rather the taxpayer money spent on trying to prosecute this apparently criminal farter, ignited a scandal in the city. The press referred to the debacle as the Irrer-Pups Prozess (the “Crazy Toot Trial”).[5]
Farts can do all sorts of things, like clearing a room. In the case of the following story, one forced a plane to land. In 2018, an elderly man’s flatulence on a flight from Dubai to Amsterdam caused the airplane to make an emergency stop.[6]
Passengers on the plane were unhappy with the man’s gassiness and asked him to stop, but he refused to do so. The pilot of the plane even directly ordered the man to stop farting, but this request didn’t work, either. As a result, two passengers who were sitting next to the elderly man started a fight, which got so out of hand that the pilot was required to make an unscheduled stop.
After the plane landed, police boarded the aircraft and removed the men who caused the fight as well as two women who were seated nearby. No arrests were made in the end.
Farts have disrupted other flights as well. In 2017, an American Airlines flight was evacuated because it smelled like someone made a very foul fart. The smell, however, was determined to be a mechanical failure.
In 2006, law enforcement was required to bring bomb-sniffing dogs onto a plane due to the smell of burning matches, which were determined to be from a woman who was trying to hide the smell of her farts by lighting a match.
There is no shortage of strange lawsuits, with one of the most infamous being the McDonald’s coffee that was too hot. In what was likely the first lawsuit of its kind, however, a case arose in Romania concerning farts.
In 2013, a lawyer in Pitesti, Romania, sued an Orthodox bishop and four priests because these religious leaders failed to exorcise the “flatulent demons” from the man’s home.[7]
The case arose when the lawyer’s home began to stink badly, which the lawyer attributed to very gassy demons. In an effort to remove the smells from his home, the man contacted religious authorities. While the four priests attempted to drive the farting demons from the lawyer’s home, their efforts were unsuccessful.
Accusing the priests of fraud, the lawyer told the court that after these efforts, he continued to see the demons in the form of animals, including crows. The demons, the lawyer claimed, also turned his TV on and off and continued to make foul smells that gave him headaches.
Both a lower Romanian court and the Romanian high court rejected the allegations. As a result, the lawyer took his case to the European Court of Human Rights, which hears cases involving potential violations of various human rights provisions.
Farting too much can annoy people around you. Sometimes, it can even cost you a job. In 2014, Richard Clem was fired from his comptroller position at the Case Pork Roll Company in New Jersey due to flatulence.
Clem alleged that his extreme gas (as well as uncontrollable diarrhea) resulted from a gastric bypass surgery he had in 2010. Later, in 2013, Clem’s symptoms grew worse and created a significant disruption for other workers at the Case Pork Roll Company.
According to Clem’s wife, the company’s president made Clem work at home and said things like, “We cannot run an office and have visitors with the odor in office,” and, “Tell Richard we are having complaints from people who have problems with the odors.”
In response, Clem’s wife filed a lawsuit against his employer, claiming that the termination was a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Clem also took legal action through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Clem’s attorney insisted that farting was “the sexy part of the story,” but that Clem suffers from obesity, which is covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Unfortunately, the lawsuit was dismissed.[8]
People don’t often forget pranks, particularly those involving farts. In 2018 in Yakima, Washington, Joel Cruz got mad when he started thinking about his brother farting in his face a decade earlier. So, Cruz put a pot of vegetable oil on the stove, turned up the heat, and left the house. The fire that arose burned down his parents’ home. Police arrived and arrested Cruz on charges of arson. After claiming that he heard voices in his head, law enforcement gave Cruz a mental evaluation. They tried to place him in a state hospital but could not because he was determined to be a danger to himself and others.
There are many other cases of farts leading to fires. In 2016, a woman was undergoing surgery at the Tokyo Medical University Hospital when she farted and ignited a laser that was being used in the operating room.[9] The resulting fire burned most of the woman’s body, waist, and legs, necessitating another surgery. Medical professionals reported that there were not any other potentially flammable materials in the room at the time that could have caused the fire.
It’s never a wise idea to use a fart for revenge purposes. In 2016, a man in Sweden was reported to law enforcement for executing a revenge fart because a woman did not want to have sex with him.
This event occurred after a man and woman in Laholm, located in Southwest Sweden, agreed to have sex and went to the woman’s home. Once they were there, she changed her mind. After she denied the man’s advances, the disgruntled suitor farted and left. The woman proceeded to inform law enforcement about the gas and claimed that the event disrupted her peace of mind. While Swedish law enforcement is obligated to investigate any reports of crime, they declined to pursue the matter in a court of law, as it could not be proven that the man broke wind on purpose.
Farts might just be an effective measure to stop the authorities. In 2017, police in Kansas City, Missouri, took Sean Sykes Jr. in for questioning over drug and gun charges.[10] During the interview, Sykes leaned to one side of his chair and let loose a loud fart. Afterward, he continued to be particularly flatulent. The detective questioning him decided to end the interview early due to Sykes’s flatulence. He still ended up facing the aforementioned drug and firearm charges, though.
Farts can have some particularly grisly ends. In 2012 in Ohio, 16-year-old Shaakira Dorsey got into a fight over farting. Dorsey had teased another girl after she passed gas, resulting in a fistfight that led to Dorsey’s death. As a result, the accused farter was charged with one count of murder.
Among the many other farts that have resulted in the deaths of people, the incident that probably claimed the most lives occurred in Jerusalem during the first century AD. The historian Josephus reported that during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, a Roman soldier dropped his pants, bent over, and farted.[11] This fart enraged the surrounding crowd, resulting in a riot that claimed the lives of 10,000 people.
“It’s good to do uncomfortable things. It’s weight training for life.”
— Anne LaMott
Meaning:
When something is about to begin,
get serious,
or put to the test.
Meaning:
A rhetorical question used by a person who feels they are being given less consideration than someone else.
HAVE you felt Ignored, Have you been given a short shrift. Have your interests and your priorities overlooked by people who are supposed to oversee them.
Meaning:
Having confidence in a specific outcome;
being almost sure about something.
Do you sometimes feel like announcing to the World to Eat Your Hat?
Well, sometimes I do.
To brainstorm and bring to the Boil inside the potboiler I generate some Random Inputs like this one:
The memory we used to share is no longer coherent.
I generated some thoughts to go with this Input.
It is a past- A memory.
Treat it like a ‘Baggage’ you do not wish to carry forward all your life.
Leave it behind.
It must be painful to both.
You both do not wish to share anymore.
Think of that memory as being incoherent.
Forget it. It is not easy, I know, give it your best shot.
Am I taking a potshot at your situation?
NO!! far from it.
The day both of you feel it is incoherent – just bury the memory. Don’t bring it back like the HeadMaster DumbleDore 🙂 .
Enjoy life full. Life is to live well and must be enjoyed in full.
Let me know what you think about this and do you wish to read more Random Input Generated?
Here are some for your to think about?
I am a WayFarer with feet firmly on the Ground. I wish to help people, I am a social entrepreneur advisor and a life coach. I love to write original quotes about life, disappointments, triumphs, relationships and everything in between.
I wanted to start a blog where the situation that has gotten way more serious or interesting due to recent complexities or developments and people need instant answers. I motivate and impact people.
This blog is to Inspire, Influence and Impacts people Positively so they bring out their latent Strengths to the fore. Strengths come to light. Monetise them. Live Life Well. Inspire others. Life is wonderful.
I hope all blog readers can join me on this journey.
Thanks for joining me!
Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton
Thanks for joining me!
Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton
… that today is National Richter Scale Day? Today, we honor American seismologist and physicist Charles Richter, born near Hamilton, Ohio, on this date in 1900. Richter is most famous as the creator of the Richter magnitude scale that, until the development of the moment magnitude scale in 1979, quantified the size of earthquakes.
~~~
Today’s Inspirational Quote:
“It’s not selfish to love yourself, take care of yourself, and to make your happiness a priority. It’s necessary.”
— Mandy Hale
Did you know…
… that today is National Richter Scale Day? Today, we honor American seismologist and physicist Charles Richter, born near Hamilton, Ohio, on this date in 1900. Richter is most famous as the creator of the Richter magnitude scale that, until the development of the moment magnitude scale in 1979, quantified the size of earthquakes.
~~~
Today’s Inspirational Quote:
“It’s not selfish to love yourself, take care of yourself, and to make your happiness a priority. It’s necessary.”
— Mandy Hale
“He has achieved success who has worked well, laughed often, and loved much.”
via Today’s Quote https://ift.tt/2yyqWOk
“Every dogma has its day.”
via Funny Quote of the Day https://ift.tt/2EECBRY
NOT IN YOUR STARS
BY HARRIET HALL, M.D.Astronomy is science; astrology is superstition, mythology, and pseudoscience. Depending on how surveys ask the question, anywhere from 22 percent to 73 percent of people believe astrology is valid. Horoscopes still appear regularly in newspapers. Over 90 percent of adults know their zodiac sign. It never occurs to some people to question whether horoscopes are valid, and if they do think to ask the question, they may not have the necessary critical thinking skills to find the answer.
Kimberly Blaker has written a delightful new book, Horoscopes: Reality or Trickery?, that encourages readers to ask those questions and gives them the tools to find the answers for themselves. It is aimed at children age 9-13 but is also suitable for adults. It is short, entertaining, easy to read, and is illustrated with cartoons. She begins with her own horoscope and shows how the description seemed to fit her perfectly. Then she asks if there is a scientific explanation for why it seemed so true.
She covers the 5000-year history of astrology, how it was originally used as a guide for when to plant crops and as a source of omens to guide the state, and how zodiac signs and horoscopes were a later development. She goes over the evidence for astrology and shows how it is flawed, based on unreliable testimonials and flawed reasoning. She says, “Scientific studies make it possible to examine a claim and determine its validity.” And then she goes over all the scientific studies that have shown no correlation between astrological bodies and personalities or life events. She points out that the position of the Sun shifts over time and is now off by one whole zodiac sign, and astrologers have not made any adjustments.
She reviews the psychology of how people are misled into thinking their horoscope is accurate for them. In one study, 94 percent of people recognized themselves in the horoscope of a serial killer! People remember the hits and forget the misses, they like to read things that make them feel good about themselves, they are looking for something to help them make decisions, and they react to a self-fulfilling prophecy by changing their behavior so that the prediction comes true.
She asks if there is any harm in believing in astrology and shows that yes, it can be harmful. It can waste money and can lead to poor decisions and illogical thinking.
Order the book for a child you know! Recommended for ages 9–13 (but also suitable for adults).
In a final chapter, she encourages readers to try a series of fun, informative activities to examine astrology for themselves. They can compare horoscopes from different sources to look for contradictions. They can follow their own horoscopes and tally how many predictions came true versus those that didn’t (“You’re prone to accidents today.” “You’ll get a big surprise.”). They can show a single horoscope to lots of people and tally how many agree that it describes them well. If astrology is valid, only one in 12 should agree, but most horoscopes are so vague that most people can see themselves in them.
Blaker provides a good explanation of how we know astrology doesn’t work and why some people still believe it does. In the process, she teaches valuable lessons in critical thinking. This book is the first in a planned series of Sleuthing for Explanations books from Grove Press. I look forward to seeing more in the series. In this age of fake news, it is vital that we teach critical thinking skills to our children at an early age, and books like this are a perfect way to get the job done.
About the Author
Dr. Harriet Hall, MD, the SkepDoc, is a retired family physician and Air Force Colonel living in Puyallup, WA. She writes about alternative medicine, pseudoscience, quackery, and critical thinking. She is a contributing editor to both Skeptic and Skeptical Inquirer, an advisor to the Quackwatch website, and an editor of sciencebasedmedicine.org, where she writes an article every Tuesday. She is author of Women Aren’t Supposed to Fly: The Memoirs of a Female Flight Surgeon. Her website is SkepDoc.info.TAGS: astrology, critical thinking, horoscopes, mythology, pseudoscience, skepticism, superstition
via Skeptic » Reading Room » Not in Your Stars
via Dhananjay Parkheº’s Mentoring Blog: Psychology Quotes Collection by Useful Gen I liked
Psychology Quotes Collection by Useful Gen I liked
This article is also available on LInkedin
I sought a Feedforward from my Mentees, Friends, Peers, Ex-Bosses and Mentors about this article.
The responses have been most overwhelming, challenging and quite motivating.
1,Thank you AVM from Bengaluru for this fabulous feedforward:
Quote “Hello
First of all fantastic compilation of the areas which suits very well to what you are doing currently
Below are my rating
Connector – 10 (Always have seen your eagerness to help after we put across new proposal. The efforts you take to connect with the like minded people will really amaze me always. Kudos to that)
Cheerleader(Exec, startup, Biz) – 10 (Always on A game with the business strategies)
Educator – 10 (Beautiful educator especially the way you connect through your stories. I have had some amazing memories)
Ideator – 10 (This always tops my list. The amount of new ideas you generate on the go after knowing the business is fascinating)
Librarian – 9
Superstart and Idol – 10 (Definetely a great idol and role model for startups)
Challenger – 9 (Have seen instances vey often how to challenge team to get the action done after the strategy meeting)
Teammate – 9 (I have not seen this scenario, so would not like to comment on this. I am sure you would be the best teammate)
Brand – 9 (I liked Jay brand. Surely this goes well and i hope your knowledge reaches to many more lives and impact them immensely)
Coach and Mentor – 10 (Put together all the earlier points)” End Quote.
“Hi sir really a wonderful write up nice narratioN”
17 By BSK
Managing Partner at Text & Print
“Jay it was intEresting reading your work and business profile we are into sportswear manufacturing specially Football.”
18.By BSM
Global C Level Retained Executive Search| Technology & Functional Leadership Hiring | Technology Entrepreneur
“Great article and an awesome write-up.”
19 By GK
Army Veteran experienced in Telecom, Security Management, Training, Administration, Procurement & Logistics
“Great synopsis….do connect , we manufacture footwear”
20. By JRI
Author
“Jay is what he says he is, eleven rolled into one. Man of kindness and determination. He had a bit of health problem and the way he came back and started his daily walk one should admire. Kindness I find in him and he stands by what he says to all. I find consultants reluctant to direct another to probable end user, is not the case with Jay. There is a plentifulness in this world that he is ready to share with. Good man to follow. Happy he put it in 11 challenges that others face that he can happily resolve. “
21.By AG
Vice President, Regional Business Unit Brakes Components, Asia-Pacific – CHINA
“Very thoughtfully evaluated and described, variety of roles a mentor has to play. Apart from most important and trustful bond between mentor and mentee, mentor also plays vital role to harness technical, functional emotional, social competence to pursue own goals with determination. This all a experienced Dhananjay can well and truly deliver !! All the best”
22. DG- DELHI
“HI Sir i read it. Difficult for me to comment. People are multi-dimensional beings. I can’t conceptualise ppl by categorising their traits.
If i have to talk about someone i will do it in story form talking about how they experience life n see the world n how different the perspective is. HAPPY TO SERVE. “
23. RS -PUNE – EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR – Top Law Firm and Retired DGP- ED.
“Excellent write up. Summarises your capabilities pretty well. Keep Going.”
24 By SG
Director (Skill Education) PUNE
“Simply I can see , he is the perfect idol for any entrepreneur. All roles with detailed descriptions is truly Amazing. I personally vouch for his strategic inputs on challenges, funnelling our difficulties, make to understand us on focus of business, conceptual thinking , how to break the glass ceiling , I can give more then 10 marks for each role if it is in my hands”
Most appreciated SG. You are very kind – Jay
25.Ms. MK – Mumbai
Cluster Manager
“DP Sir as we all call him has been a wonderful guide,coach and a mentor to many of us who have been fortunate to work with him.One person who is always ready to embrace change, learn and apply new things and technically updated.These 11 points are just a synopsis of a bigger personality that he is.”
26. By PSB
Chairman of a leading NGO in Karnataka wrote
Quote”
In all I received the Ratings from over 100 of my recent mentee.. i wait till 30th April to receive all Feedforward and Scorecard and begin tabulating final scores for my personal improvement and development gap analysis. Meanwhile, There are few bloggers who began following me on www.parkhe.com and were reciprocated on their blogs
Apart from the 250+ personal messages, Smileys, Thumbs Ups, Hi-Fives from busy friends and Mentees and the Likes on the Linkedin Page – these Ladies and Gentlemen who wrote their comments Made my day. Sometimes – even a mentor needs to re-channelise his inward focus and negative energy – OUTWARD and Re-Create one’s own Brand Magic ! Thank you all for your kindness and your valuable time. Most appreciated.
I will look after all who are mine wherever they are. Long for what is real. You will then have no time for worrying over what may never happen. Truth and love, which are one, you will find and they will give you permanent happiness.
Both are expressions of the one God who is in all — your beloved Baba.
Lord Meher Online 1978
Photo Courtesy: Meher Baba Irani.com
https://ift.tt/2HWFDzh https://ift.tt/2FdtVND
Discover “Nu couché (sur le côté gauche)”, Amedeo Modigliani’s greatest painting from his legendary series of nudes. Upon their debut in 1917, these striking and sensual images stopped traffic and prompted the police to close the show. Today the series is recognized as one of the seminal achievements in Modern painting, giving new life to what is perhaps the most classic art form.The majority of the reclining nudes are exhibited in Museums, such as the Guggenheim or MoMA, and “Nu couché (sur le côté gauche)” was most recently featured as the star of Tate Modern’s Modigliani Retrospective. Nu couché has the highest estimate ever placed on a work of art at auction and will be the centerpiece of Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale on 14 May in …
Filtering in a connected world
There is more going on here than we might think we know.For instance, did you know that often the information we see online is being filtered for us, by someone else?
Google has been personalizing your search results since 2005 if you were signed in and had your web history enabled. If you were being cautious and didn’t sign in, starting in 2009 they began using 180 days of your previous search activity to accomplish the same thing.
Google might call it personalizing, but others see it as constricting.
Information filtering, or “filter bubbles,” as author and cofounder of Upworthy Eli Pariser calls it in his TED Talk, can circumscribe the information we see when we conduct those searches.Filtering results in isolated information ecosystems of our own making.
via Can’t seem to stop those ads from following you around? Why not become ‘metaliterate’?
The Veil of Ignorance
Justice is blind, should we be? (Mural of Lady Justice by Alex Proimos. (Wikimedia Commons))
This experiment was devised by John Rawls in 1971 to explore notions of justice in his book A Theory of Justice.
Suppose that you and a group of people had to decide on the principles that would establish a new society. However, none of you know anything about who you will be in that society. Elements such as your race, income level, sex, gender, religion, and personal preferences are all unknown to you. After you decide on those principles, you will then be turned out into the society you established.
Question: How would that society turn out? What does that mean for our society now?
Rawls argues that in this situation we can’t know what our self-interest is so we cannot pursue it. Without that guidepost, he suggests that we would all try to create a fair society with equal rights and economic security for the poor both out of moral considerations and as a means to secure the best possible worst-case scenario for us when we step outside that veil. Others disagree, arguing that we would seek only to maximize our freedom or assure perfect equality
This raises questions for the current state of our society, as it suggests we allow self-interest to get in the way of progressing towards a just society. Rawls’ ideas about the just society are fascinating and can be delved into here.
via Seven thought experiments to make you question everything | Big Think
March 16, 2018 by PAUL RATNERThe hierarchy of disagreement, by Paul Graham.
Many find themselves arguing with someone on the Internet, especially in these days fraught with political tensions. A great tool, the web also seems to drive dispute. It is also a reflection of the larger reality, where divisiveness has spread throughout our society. A classic essay from one of the Internet’s pioneers suggests that there is a way to harness such negative energy of the online world and disagree with people without invoking anger—a lesson that extends far beyond the web.Paul Graham is an English-born computer programmer with a Ph.D. from Harvard, an accomplished entrepreneur, a VC capitalist as well as a writer. He created the first online store application which he sold to Yahoo and was one of the founders of the famous Y Combinator—a startup incubator that funded over 1,500 startups like Dropbox, Airbnb, Reddit, and Coinbase. Being a true Renaissance man, Graham also studied painting at the Academia di Belle Arti in Florence and the Rhode Island Institute of Design as well as philosophy at Cornell University.
Dubbed “the hacker philosopher” by the tech journalist Steven Levy, Graham has written on a number of subjects on his popular blog at paulgraham.com, which got 34 million pages views in 2015. One of his most lasting contributions has been the now-classic essay ‘How to disagree’ where he proposed the hierarchy of disagreement which is as relevant today as it was in 2008 when it was first published.
via The hierarchy of disagreement: The best and worst argument techniques | Big Think
via Why intelligent people suffer more mental disorders | Big Think
People with high IQ are considered to have an advantage in many domains. They are predicted to have higher educational attainment, better jobs, and a higher income level. Yet, it turns out that a high IQ is also associated with various mental and immunological diseases like depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, ADHD as well as allergies, asthma, and immune disorders. Why is that? A new paper published in the journal Intelligence reviews the literature and explores the mechanisms that possibly underlie this connection.
The study authors compared data taken from 3,715 members of the American Mensa Society (people who have scored in the top 2% of intelligent tests) to data from national surveys in order to examine the prevalence of several disorders in those with higher intelligence compared to the average population.
The results showed that highly intelligent people are 20% more likely to be diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), 80% more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD, 83% more likely to be diagnosed with anxiety, and 182% more likely to develop at least one mood disorder.
When it comes to physiological diseases, people with high cognitive abilities are 213% more likely to have environmental allergies, 108% more likely to have asthma, and 84% more likely to have an autoimmune disease.
Credit: Journal of Intelligence / High intelligence: A risk factor for psychological and physiological overexcitabilities
The researchers turned to the field of psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) to look for some of the answers. PNI examines how the chronic stress accumulated as a response to environmental factors influences the communication between the brain and the immune system.
The researchers point out that highly intelligent people have tendencies for “intellectual overexcitabilites” and a hyper-reactivity of the central nervous system. On the one hand, this gives people with high IQ heightened awareness that helps their creative and artistic work. In fact, the field of cognitive ability recognizes one aspect of highly intelligent people to be “a broader and deeper capacity to comprehend their surroundings.”
This hyper-reactivity, however, can also lead to deeper depressions and poor mental health. This turns out to be particularly true for poets, novelists and people with high verbal intelligence. Their intense emotional response to the environment increases tendencies for rumination and worry, both of which predict depression and anxiety disorders.
Heightened psychological responses can affect immunity, write the researchers. People with overexcitabilites may have strong reactions to seemingly harmless external stimuli like an annoying clothing tag or a sound. This reaction may turn into low level chronic stress and launch an inappropriate immune response.
When the body believes it is in danger (regardless of whether it is an objectively real one like a toxin or an imagined one like an annoying sound), it launches a cascade of physiological responses that include a myriad of hormones, neurotransmitters and signaling molecules. When these processes are chronically activated, they can alter the body and the brain, dysregulate immune function and lead to conditions like asthma, allergies and autoimmune diseases.
The scientific literature has confirmed the association between gifted children and an increased rate of allergies and asthma. One study shows that 44% of those with an IQ over 160 suffered from allergies compared to 20% of age-matched peers. Тhe exploratory study done by the authors of this latest paper further supports that connection.
Based on their findings and previous studies the researchers have termed this phenomenon the hyper brain / hyper body theory of integration, explaining that:
The overexcitabilities specific to those with high intelligence may put these individuals at risk for hypersensitivity to internal and/or external environmental events. The rumination and worry that accompanies this heightened awareness may contribute to a chronic pattern of fight, flight, or freeze responses which then launch a cascade of immunological events. […] Ideally, immune regulation is an optimal balance of pro- and anti-inflammatory response. It should zero in on inflammation with force and then immediately return to a calm state. In those with the overexcitabilities previously discussed, including in those with ASD, this system appears to fail to achieve a balance and thus inflammatory signals create a state of chronic activation.
Credit: Journal of Intelligence / High intelligence: A risk factor for psychological and physiological overexcitabilities
The authors conclude that it is important to further study the relationship between high intelligence (particularly the top 2%) and illness, especially in order to demonstrate causation and further bring to light the negative aspects of having a high IQ. As they say, “this gift can either be a catalyst for empowerment and self-actualization or it can be a predictor of dysregulation and debilitation” and in order to serve this group, it is important “to acknowledge the rumbles of thunder that follow in the wake of their brilliance.”
Searching for meaning in your life? This Japanese concept can help you find it
February 6, 2018 by PHILIP PERRYA map of the ancient Japanese concept of ikigai.
In the post-modernist, Western world, religious life has decreased substantially, patriotism has been replaced with a widespread distrust of the government, and getting ahead has become exceedingly difficult. As a result, more and more people are falling victim to ennui. This dreadful feeling of bitter disillusionment stems from the loss of meaning in their lives.A lack of purpose can increase the risk of mental health issues, such as anxiety and depression, resulting in poorer sleep, worsening health, and in extreme cases, substance abuse and thoughts of suicide. Some have turned to the East, most recently, to the ancient Japanese concept of ikigai, which means, roughly, “to live the realization one hopes for.” Another interpretation, “that which makes life worth living.” Take note that there’s no exact English translation.
Iki means “life,” whereas gai means “value” or “worth.” Gai comes from the word kai meaning “shell.” This refers back to the Heian period (794 to 1185), when shells were considered valuable. We can interpret ikigai as finding value in one’s life or discovering one’s purpose.
In the West, self-help gurus and movements of one flavor or another have come and gone, and in the wake of each, though often lighter in the pocket, few of their participants find real solace. Perhaps rather than happiness, which is generally momentary and fleeting, we should seek a purposeful life. Exploring the concept of ikigai and the questions that come with it, can help one find a solid purpose and through this, contentment and drive.
The whole concept has been boiled down to four questions:
1) What do you love?
2) What are you good at?
3) What does the world need from you?
4) What can you get paid for?
Here’s a handy Venn diagram:
Credit: Twitter.
If you’re retired, you may not have to worry about what you can be paid for, so you can delete that one and focus on the remaining three. The idea is not only to find your purpose but the proper balance between all aspects surrounding it. Another consideration, one’s ikigai doesn’t affect the individual alone.
For the Japanese, the concept has a social element. It’s about getting comfortable with your role in your family, job, and society. It’s traditionally split along gender lines. While men usually associate their ikigai with their work and career, women (at least traditionally) associate it with motherhood and their role in the family. And even though ikigai has recently become the latest New Age buzzword in the West, this doesn’t make it any less effective for those who find themselves at a crossroads, with no sign to guide them.
via Searching for meaning in life? The Japanese concept of ikigai can help you find it | Big Think
If I am made up of DNA, am I a double helix?
If one thing comes from another, do they have to share traits? This might seem like a convenient bias to have. However, do redwood trees seem to have much in common with their seeds? The genetic fallacy is the assumption that anything with an origin in one thing is highly likely to share traits.
What should I do?
This one is easy to do by accident, but also simple to overcome with a little extra thinking. Remember that things need not have the same traits as their origin. Think of the Volkswagen company; it was founded by the Nazi labor front. Does that make it a Nazi company now? Of course not, we would have to examine its present merits by themselves to determine that. The best thing to do for this fallacy is to try to examine why a thing has the traits it has without using its origin as an end-all answer.
via 10 logical mistakes you make every day, and what to do instead – StumbleUpon
blockquote>From Victim To Killer
Dry Kill Logic
Album Of Vengeance and Violence
1 1
FROM VICTIM TO KILLER LYRICS
(Verse 1)
Fallen victim, feel the weight of the world
Crush the thought of what could have been
Will it end here? Have you given enough?
Did you reach your death bed alive?
Falling further than ever, no more
From victim to killer, forgive you for failing the mentor
Taking over what little is left of you
(Chorus)
Your battle called self destruction isn’t what it used to be
No hope for the disillusioned, so forget what you see
There’s not enough here to go around
So unfortunately, you’re the one with the shortest straw
And I guess that you is me
(Verse 2)
Stand and defend
Save the little that’s left
Never let the past show, no regret, break the broken
Given all the remains and take heed from the silence spoken
No room for failure, depends on a lifeless center
Living for a shadow of closure
Leaving nothing but the chaos because of you
(Chorus)
Your battle called self destruction isn’t what it used to be
No hope for the disillusioned, so forget what you see
There’s not enough here to go around
So unfortunately, you’re the one with the shortest straw
And I guess that you is me
(Bridge)
(No hope for the disillusioned)
And you is me
(No hope for the disillusioned)
And you is me
(No hope for the disillusioned)
And you is me
(No hope for the disillusioned)
And you is me
(Chorus)
Your battle called self destruction isn’t what it used to be
No hope for the disillusioned, so forget what you see
There’s not enough here to go around
So unfortunately, you’re the one with the shortest straw
And I guess that you is me
That you is me
That you is me
That you is me
That you is me
via Dry Kill Logic – From Victim To Killer Lyrics | Genius Lyrics
Cheap Thrills
Sia
Produced by Greg Kurstin
Album This Is Acting
0:00
3 828.3K 74
CHEAP THRILLS LYRICS
[Verse 1]
Come on, come on, turn the radio on
It’s Friday night and I won’t be long
Gotta do my hair, put my make up on
It’s Friday night and I won’t be long
[Pre-Chorus]
‘Til I hit the dance floor
Hit the dance floor
I got all I need
No, I ain’t got cash
I ain’t got cash
But I got you baby
[Chorus]
Baby, I don’t need dollar bills to have fun tonight
(I love cheap thrills)
Baby, I don’t need dollar bills to have fun tonight
(I love cheap thrills)
But I don’t need no money
As long as I can feel the beat
I don’t need no money
As long as I keep dancing
[Verse 2]
Come on, come on, turn the radio on
It’s Saturday and I won’t be long
Gotta paint my nails, put my high heels on
It’s Saturday and I won’t be long
[Pre-Chorus]
‘Til I hit the dance floor
Hit the dance floor
I got all I need
No, I ain’t got cash
I ain’t got cash
But I got you baby
[Chorus]
Baby, I don’t need dollar bills to have fun tonight
(I love cheap thrills)
Baby, I don’t need dollar bills to have fun tonight
(I love cheap thrills)
I don’t need no money
As long as I can feel the beat
I don’t need no money
As long as I keep dancing
[Bridge]
(I love cheap thrills)
(I love cheap thrills)
I don’t need no money
As long as I can feel the beat
I don’t need no money
As long as I keep dancing
Oh, oh
[Chorus]
Baby, I don’t need dollar bills to have fun tonight
(I love cheap thrills)
Baby, I don’t need dollar bills to have fun tonight
(I love cheap thrills)
I don’t need no money
As long as I can feel the beat
I don’t need no money
As long as I keep dancing
[Outro]
La, la, la, la, la, la, la
(I love cheap thrills)
La, la, la, la, la, la, la
(I love cheap thrills)
La, la, la, la, la, la, la
(I love cheap thrills)
La, la, la, la, la, la
(I love cheap thrills)
Bad Religion
Bad Religion is a punk rock band that formed in Los Angeles in 1979. The band makes extensive use of soaring 3-part vocal harmonies (which they refer to in their album liner notes as the “oozin’ aahs”), guitar solos and intellectual lyrics that often contain political or religious commentary. Their lyrics often relate to matters of social responsibility. The band’s lineup has changed several times over its lifespan, with lead vocalist Greg Graffin being the only consistent member; the current lineup, however, features three out of four of the band’s original members (Graffin, Brett Gurewitz and Jay Bentley). more »Year: 1983 30 Views
Play “The Dichotomy”
on Jango
Hey did you find the pieces your mentor left behind?
And did you care, did you trade his genius for your despair?
Did you walk the line?
Did you see the mongrels on either side?
Did greasy finers grasp for pieces of your mind?
OCT
16
Ma Rewa – Blog Action Day 2010
I’m surrounded by despicable culture
It influences everything I do
I’m surrounded by cynical vultures
Who pick at the pieces of everything I do
Everything
Everything
Everything
EverythingNeed to go to the Temple to ask a few questions
To question everything I do
Context is cloudy, this darkness it dulls me
It confuses everything I do
Everything
Everything
Everything
EverythingCome down here
Be my Mentor
Won’t you influence
The things I do
Step down here
Be my Mentor
I want your
Influence I doCome down here
Be my Mentor
Won’t you influence
The things I do
Step down here
Be my Mentor
I want your
Influence I doIf the people fear moralising
Then how else to fill this vacuous space
Within my heart a Sun is rising
And it distracts me from my disgrace
In everything
Everything
Everything
EverythingCome down here
Be my Mentor
Won’t you influence
The things I do
Step down here
Be my Mentor
I want your
Influence I doCome down here
Be my Mentor
Won’t you influence
The things I do
Step down here
Be my Mentor
I want your
Influence I doIf darkness avoids me
Then I know you’re right
If with honey you quench me
Then I know you’re right
And if this vagueness disperses
Then I know it’s right
If Winter’s cold turns to Summer’s bright
Then I know you’re rightCome here
Be my Mentor
Won’t you influence
The things I do
Step down here
Be my Mentor
I want your
Influence I doI do
I do
I do
I do
I do
We are all a One Man Company. Jay is A Complete FootBall/ Cricket/ Hockey Team Rolled into one as an Accomplished Mentor
1. Jay is a Coach. ( For Executives / StartPreneura / Businessman/Woman):
When you need to have older, wiser person around, who is better attuned to your industry and job, Jay can coach you through tough moments, think big picture on projects and ideas, and helps Mentees solve work-related problems. Coach is required when you need someone to help you think-through difficult problems. A good coach doesn’t solve problems; they help you see both the problem and your role clearly. They do this by observing, listening, asking focused questions, reflecting back, and challenging. Coaches can suggest strategies for solving problems you may not have considered, and can help you think “bigger picture” on ideas and possible solutions.
2. Jay is a Connector – All Mentees need this.
There is an old saying, “It’s all about who you know?” Well, it’s who you know — along with who they know, and to whom they are willing to introduce you. Jay willingly opens up his network to help move an entrepreneur and his or her business forward. Whether it’s staking his own credibility on helping find a first customer who’s willing to take a risk on the unproven entity, or making that connection to a critical hire, Connector Jay is one of the most valuable mentoring assets a startup can have. People are generally inward looking. Connector Jay is outward-facing (makes you do a short exercise with your thumbs too which is his trademark style). Jay’s satisfaction comes from helping people meet each other. Jay has met a half dozen true connectors in life and without them, he would not have had as much success. Nobody knows why Jay loves connecting people, but this sharing traits comes from having bountiful amounts of energy and loving new ideas. Jay is a networker for 15 years of Social Media and has a wide and very deep network of people who all respect me and they often «get things done.» If you meet one of these people, hang on. (He may be prove to be your GodFather moment! 🙂
Jay is also an expert on Social media, Blogging and Networking and has spent 15 years in self-learning. He offers valuable tips, technology help, productivity support thru web tools he has tested over the years.
3. Jay is a Challenger – For StartPreneurs, Business People, Social Enterprises.
Jay is not a mentor you’ll be spending New Year’s Eve with because he is there to call bullsh– on a lot of things that will sometimes make you uncomfortable. But that’s OK. If you want lots of happy talk, call your Mom. She will love everything you do. If you want to grow, you will want some challengers in your life who will tell you when they think you’re doing something wrong or if an idea just plain sucks. They’re the ones who, after you call the Cheerleader about your great idea, will tell you a dozen ways why it won’t work unless you do X, Y, and Z. This criticism, if it comes from the right place, will set you on the right path. Challenger Jay is super smart and super fast–:) he often doesn’t have a lot of time so you’ll find he’ll give his dose of advice quickly and move on. Call on Jay only when you need him. He is not an ATM – Any Time Mentor! An entrepreneur’s drive needs to come from within, but many of us also need a healthy push to heighten our sense of passion and urgency and keep us moving forward. The Challenger’s role is to push an entrepreneur to put in the hard work, to sweat the details that matter, to hit key milestones and to outwork his/her competition. It’s also The Challenger’s responsibility to confront assumptions and ask the tough questions that ultimately prevent an entrepreneur from making costly errors.
4. Jay is a Cheerleader – Executives, StarUps, Businesses.
You remember the people whom you can call after getting a big promotion and they will be as thrilled for you as your mother. And believe me, nobody will ever be as thrilled as Mom. In a cutthroat world, you need people who will genuinely be happy for you and who will be there when everyone else has left–i.e., after your company has gone bankrupt. Jay is one person like this who will sends encouraging texts or takes calls immediately if you are having a particularly bad day. Sometimes that’s all you need to get you through. You don’t need too many people like this–sometimes one is just enough, but this person is your rock.
Cheerleader Jay can give an entrepreneur the motivation and energy needed to persevere. That energy is also found in a supportive spouse, parent or in good friends, but it really helps to have someone with relevant experience and credibility say, “You can do this.”
5.Jay is an Educator – An Advisor for Business People
Jay was a Visiting B School Faculty for 15 years and and Advisor to Two New Educational Institutes and three Skills Development companies. As an Educator: Starting a business is the steepest learning curve anyone can experience. The tests of building a business are frequent — and lessons are ongoing. Educator is someone who sees in an entrepreneur a desire to learn and is willing to sit down and teach him/her when needed. From business basics to complex ideas and practices, they’ll take the time to understand knowledge gaps and help entrepreneurs avoid the costly mistakes that can be caused by being too proud to ask for help or advice. Educator is a person who takes the time to sit down and share their expertise with those who want to learn. Educators love to help others by sharing their wisdom. They want to see everyone succeed!
6. Jay is an Ideator – StartUp, Running Businesses, C-Level Executive Coach
Jay is a Creative Thinker, Critical Thinker, Lateral Thinker and also an Elastic Thinker = The Ideator Jay asks you Are you dreaming big enough? Are you being as creative as you can be? When an entrepreneur is buried in executing day-to-day tasks and sweating the small stuff in the trenches, taking the time to pause and survey the bigger picture is critical for keeping a business moving in the right direction. The Ideator loves to play the role of thought partner which Jay calls as Accountability Partner a term he borrows from his Mentor and Coach Dr. Marshall Goldsmith as an entrepreneur thinks critically about how to build a creative and differentiated business
7. Jay the Librarian – Executives, StartUps, Businesses,
Jay is a powerhouse of knowledge and experience. He is a walking encyclopedia on subjects he likes and has invested his time to learn more, informally. As you navigate through life, it’s helpful to be able to pull from various resources to help you get along. The Librarian has a wealth of information on your community, clubs, organizations and support systems. They know a resource for almost any need and are aware of where to go to get questions answered or to get things done.
8.Jay the Super Star and Idol to many of his Mentees – Executives, StartUps
We need to find people who we admire. People who are living parts of ourf life in a way you aspire to, or who currently have the career that you want to have. Spend time with them and get to know their routines, their resources, how they go about their days. While their way is not the only way, you can gain valuable insight into steps you might want to take to get you closer to your goals!
9.Jay can be your Teammate – Executives, StartUps, Businesses
Some days you just need an awesome listener. Someone to remind you that it’s okay; tomorrow is another day. A good teammate realizes that you aren’t always looking for a solution to your problem, or a motivational speech to spur you on. You just need someone to listen with a sympathetic ear, and then allow you to move on.
10. Jay is a small brand – Startups and Businesses. Social enterprises.
with image, reputation and following – I support your Brand Story development by sharing my successes and failures transparently and helping you find your own answers in moments of Crisis. Jay helps entrepreneurs Dream Big – Define their Vision, Set their Mission, Goals, Objectives, Action Plans by working on a Long and Mid Term Strategy for their businesses. He then helps them to begin execution by drawing up a Project Management dummy set up with timelines, deadlines, Reviews, course correction etc.
Not all Jay’s mentees need his Entire gamut of skills. They sometimes pick and choose specific ones to save time, energy and effort or duplication.
Jay takes an impassionate, detached, cold look at the business as it passes thru its crisis, turnaround, loss making phases and offers to work with the team to find solutions by brainstorming, creative thinking technique. His methods are unique, they do stand the test of time eventhough they may not have been tested in your industry.
Nihilism (/ˈnaɪ(h)ɪlɪzəm, ˈniː-/; from Latin nihil, meaning ‘nothing’) is the philosophical viewpoint that suggests the denial or lack of belief towards the reputedly meaningful aspects of life. Most commonly, nihilism is presented in the form of existential nihilism, which argues that life is without objective meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value.[1] Moral nihilists assert that there is no inherent morality, and that accepted moral values are abstractly contrived. Nihilism may also take epistemological, ontological, or metaphysical forms, meaning respectively that, in some aspect, knowledge is not possible, or reality does not actually exist.
The term is sometimes used in association with anomie to explain the general mood of despair at a perceived pointlessness of existence that one may develop upon realising there are no necessary norms, rules, or laws.[2]
Nihilism has also been described as conspicuous in or constitutive of certain historical periods: for example, Jean Baudrillard and others have called postmodernity a nihilistic epoch;[3] and some religious theologians and figures of religious authority have asserted that postmodernity[4] and many aspects of modernity[5] represent a rejection of theism, and that such rejection of theistic doctrine entails nihilism.
At 12, I was already a Single Parent kid, having lost my father and a child labour trying to find ways to earn to find my personal identity and dignity of labour.
I found a mentor who taught me some of these 100, 200 years old Greeko Roman Philosophies which I learnt but forgot in the ensuing years of learning to survive, find status, make a family etc. etc.
As a Mentor, I did come across some pseudo Nihilists which I shall describe in coming posts. Pure Nihilists do not exist. They change with times. The famous saying of Henry David Thoreau = “Things don’t change, We Change” , aptly describes a Nihilist. Many of Nihilists I have met have self fulfilling Rules, Truths, morality which they make and change to suit themselves while denouncing those who try and impose upon them the socially established norms of behaviour such as sympathy, empathy, gratitude, conformity, obedience, non-diffidence but the pseudo Nihilist displays tendencies of Memory of convenience, Logic of Convenience to suit themselves and justifies it with Nihilism.
Such people deserve, deep peeling of their layers of masks painfully without even offering them plastic surgery as they need full and complete exposure in public for their misdeeds, misbehaviour, misdemeanour and hideous, hypocritic behaviour which can be detrimental to the people (including do-gooders) or the society in general.
nihilistic delusion
Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Legal, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.
Related to nihilistic delusion: delusion of poverty, delusion of negation, Cotard Syndrome
delusion [dĕ-loo´zhun]
a false belief that is firmly maintained in spite of incontrovertible and obvious proof to the contrary and in spite of the fact that other members of the culture do not share the belief. adj., adj delu´sional.
bizarre delusion one that is patently absurd, with no possible basis in fact.
delusion of control the delusion that one’s thoughts, feelings, and actions are not one’s own but are being imposed by someone else or some other external force.
depressive delusion a delusion that is congruent with a predominant depressed mood, such as a delusion of serious illness, poverty, or spousal infidelity.
erotomanic delusion a delusional conviction that some other person, usually of higher status and often famous, is in love with the individual; it is one of the subtypes of delusional disorder.
fragmentary d’s unconnected delusions not organized around a coherent theme.
delusion of grandeur (grandiose delusion) delusional conviction of one’s own importance, power, or knowledge, or that one is, or has a special relationship with, a deity or a famous person. It is one of the subtypes of delusional disorder.
delusion of jealousy a delusional belief that one’s spouse or lover is unfaithful, based on erroneous inferences drawn from innocent events imagined to be evidence and often resulting in confrontation with the accused. It is one of the subtypes of delusional disorder.
mixed delusion one in which no central theme predominates. It is one of the subtypes of delusional disorder.
delusion of negation (nihilistic delusion) a depressive delusion that the self, part of the self, part of the body, other persons, or the whole world has ceased to exist.
paranoid d’s an older term for delusion of grandeur and delusion of persecution; its use is discouraged.
delusion of persecution a delusion that one is being attacked, harassed, cheated, persecuted, or conspired against. It is one of the subtypes of delusional disorder.
delusion of reference a delusional conviction that ordinary events, objects, or behaviors of others have particular and unusual meanings specifically for oneself.
somatic delusion a delusion that there is some alteration in a bodily organ or its function. It is one of the subtypes of delusional disorder.
systematized d’s a group of delusions organized around a common theme; typical of delusional disorders or paranoid schizophrenia.
Miller-Keane Encyclopedia and Dictionary of Medicine, Nursing, and Allied Health, Seventh Edition. © 2003 by Saunders, an imprint of Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.
de·lu·sion of ne·ga·tion
a delusion in which one imagines that the world and all that relates to it have ceased to exist.
Synonym(s): nihilistic delusion
Farlex Partner Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012
nihilistic delusion
[nī′hilis′tik]
Etymology: L, nihil, nothing, icus, form of, deludere, to deceive
a persistent denial of the existence of particular things or of everything, including oneself, as seen in various forms of schizophrenia. A person who has such a delusion may believe that he or she lives in a shadow or limbo world or that he or she died several years ago and that only the spirit, in a vaporous form, really exists. See also delusion.
Mosby’s Medical Dictionary, 9th edition. © 2009, Elsevier.
A rare delusional disorder linked to depression, suicidal ideation, sleep deprivation or derealisation, in which a person believes he/she is dead or dying, doesn’t exist, is putrefying, or has lost his/her blood or internal organs
Management Tricyclic antidepressants, serotoninergics
Segen’s Medical Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All rights reserved.
via Nihilistic delusion | definition of nihilistic delusion by Medical dictionary
nihilistic delusion
Related to nihilistic delusion: delusion of poverty, delusion of negation, Cotard Syndrome
delusion
a false belief that is firmly maintained in spite of incontrovertible and obvious proof to the contrary and in spite of the fact that other members of the culture do not share the belief. adj., adj delusional.
bizarre delusion one that is patently absurd, with no possible basis in fact.delusion of control the delusion that one’s thoughts, feelings, and actions are not one’s own but are being imposed by someone else or some other external force.
depressive delusion a delusion that is congruent with a predominant depressed mood, such as a delusion of serious illness, poverty, or spousal infidelity.
erotomanic delusion a delusional conviction that some other person, usually of higher status and often famous, is in love with the individual; it is one of the subtypes of delusional disorder.
fragmentary d’s unconnected delusions not organized around a coherent theme.
delusion of grandeur (grandiose delusion) delusional conviction of one’s own importance, power, or knowledge, or that one is, or has a special relationship with, a deity or a famous person. It is one of the subtypes of delusional disorder.
delusion of jealousy a delusional belief that one’s spouse or lover is unfaithful, based on erroneous inferences drawn from innocent events imagined to be evidence and often resulting in confrontation with the accused. It is one of the subtypes of delusional disorder.
mixed delusion one in which no central theme predominates. It is one of the subtypes of delusional disorder.
delusion of negation (nihilistic delusion) a depressive delusion that the self, part of the self, part of the body, other persons, or the whole world has ceased to exist.
paranoid d’s an older term for delusion of grandeur and delusion of persecution; its use is discouraged.
delusion of persecution a delusion that one is being attacked, harassed, cheated, persecuted, or conspired against. It is one of the subtypes of delusional disorder.
delusion of reference a delusional conviction that ordinary events, objects, or behaviors of others have particular and unusual meanings specifically for oneself.
somatic delusion a delusion that there is some alteration in a bodily organ or its function. It is one of the subtypes of delusional disorder.
systematized d’s a group of delusions organized around a common theme; typical of delusional disorders or paranoid schizophrenia.
de·lu·sion of ne·ga·tion
a delusion in which one imagines that the world and all that relates to it have ceased to exist.
Synonym(s): nihilistic delusionEtymology: L, nihil, nothing, icus, form of, deludere, to deceive
a persistent denial of the existence of particular things or of everything, including oneself, as seen in various forms of schizophrenia.A person who has such a delusion may believe that he or she lives in a shadow or limbo world or that he or she died several years ago and that only the spirit, in a vaporous form, really exists. See also delusion.
A rare delusional disorder linked to depression, suicidal ideation, sleep deprivation or derealisation, in which a person believes he/she is dead or dying, doesn’t exist, is putrefying, or has lost his/her blood or internal organs
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It is ” rarest of rare” for a Mentor to get a Nihilist as Mentee and it is even more difficult to find the kind of delusions the mentee has about him/herself. It requires not just watching, but deeply observing the behavioural patterns and deep probe / exploration, observing of the biorhythms that the Mentor comes to know and can rationalise the behaviours on display.
Mentor advice – Walk away. Let the psychotherapists do their job as mentors are mentors – not NLP, Hypnotists, Doctors least of all psychotherapists. They must use all their skills to walk away without causing any negative reactions or a STATE that becomes difficult for even the therapists to handle.
Erotomania is a type of delusional disorder where the affected person believes that another person is in love with him or her. This belief is usually applied to someone with higher status or a famous person, but can also be applied to a complete stranger.
Erotomania – Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ErotomaniaCan stress make you delusional?
Abnormalities in the functioning of brain regions that control perception and thinking may be linked to the formation of delusional symptoms. Environmental/psychological: Evidence suggests that delusional disorder can be triggered by stress. Alcohol and drug abuse also might contribute to the condition.May 18, 2016
Delusional Disorder: Types & Causes of Mental Delusions – WebMD
https://www.webmd.com/schizophrenia/guide/delusional-disorder
Search for: Can stress make you delusional?
Is delusional disorder the same as schizophrenia?What is delusional jealousy?
Pathological jealousy, also known as Morbid jealousy, Othello syndrome or delusional jealousy, is a psychological disorder in which a person is preoccupied with the thought that their spouse or sexual partner is being unfaithful without having any real proof, along with socially unacceptable or abnormal behaviour …
Pathological jealousy – Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pathological_jealousyWhat is a nihilistic delusion?
In the delusion that things (or everything, including the self) do not exist; a sense that everything is unreal. Synonyms: nihilism Type of: delusion, psychotic belief. (psychology) an erroneous belief that is held in the face of evidence to the contrary.
nihilistic delusion – Dictionary Definition : Vocabulary.com
https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/nihilistic%20delusionErotomania – Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erotomania
Erotomania is a type of delusional disorder where the affected person believes that another person is in love with him or her. This belief is usually applied to someone with higher status or a famous person, but can also be applied to a complete stranger.
via erotomanic delusions – Google Search
In mentoring sometimes one comes across many cases which show several symptoms or the Mentee himself keeps sharing the symptoms Or the mentee keeps sending behavioural overt or covert signals, cues, prompts, triggers, strong elbow nudges to the Mentor to discern the patterns and in rare cases overtly admits the scientific name given to their mental disease.
The mentor is then advised to quietly move one without causing any further damage to the affected individual.
Thrill Killing is the act of committing murder for no reason other than self-satisfaction or to receive either a sexual or emotional “high” – due to the fact Thrill Killers often target complete strangers and have sadistic personalities that involve torturing and dehumanizing their victims as well as the fact they commit extreme crimes for no reason other than personal enjoyment they are the most feared and hated kind of killers.
Thrill Killing has been blamed in modern times on violent media such as video games, access to pornography on the internet and a “modern world of sin” mentality – in reality however the modern world has not seen an increase in Thrilling Killing, it is simply being exposed to a larger audience than it was in the past.
Thrill Killing is a classic sign of sociopathic behavior and can also involve the torture and murder of animals, as many Thrill Killer pick targets they believe will not fight back and who can be easily “snuffed out”.
Thrill Killers are often stereotyped as vicious teenage males and although this is sadly the truth for many not all Thrill Killers are roaming gangs of young males.
Many Thrill Killers enjoy collecting videos and pictures of their actions and some go as far as releasing them in the hopes of gaining infamy for themselves – although the rise of media sites and video-sharing has once again been blamed for this behavior the practice is much older than the internet (for example Jack the Ripper frequently left notes taunting the police, presumably for thrills – the most infamous of which is the “Letter From Hell”).
via Thrill Killing | Real Life Villains Wiki | FANDOM powered by Wikia
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I am a Senior Citizen. We don’t need any qualification to become one . Just live 60 years of life and you become one 🙂
Many of mentees/Coachees complain to me that they can not cope up with Jay. He is too fast paced and his Speed of delivery is phenomenal. Jay spent good 25 years in the Speedy, Express Delivery business with TNT and in his own Enterprise. It has to have its impact on his life. But the point of this article is not that. It is a wonderful quote I read from The World Tennis Champion which is very motivating:
“At my age, I see the finish line. And when you see the finish line, you don’t slow down. You speed up.” —Serena Williams
I have watched her and her sister play Tennis on TV and their Speed, Stamina, aplomb, Self Confidence and the Spirit to Win is phenomenal.
As a Mentor I start with the belief that :
The Master Appears when the Pupil is ready.
Magic Happens !
In IMDR’s 1988 HR class Prof. Deven Dhanak used to refer to this statement “Why people behave the way they do “and used to talk about Chrys Argyris theories around them.
Over the years when I joined NHRDN I found the same question was relevant even in 1993.
When I reflect in my pre-retirement period and the discussions with HR thinkers – they were very quietly talking about HR Makeover or transformation and at the core of discussion this them would always be present.
I subscribe to a newsletter and I read this short article which I am quoting below:
“People will only ever do something to
Exactly what people do depends on the
They then
Usually they choose a short term outcome instead of one further in the future.
So now you know – make use of this knowledge to the good of others and yourself.”
David Taylor is a global speaker and best selling author of ‘The Naked Leader trilogy’ Naked Leader – What we do – Leadership that makes and saves you money, by ensuring that you make the fast, lasting and measurable choices you really need to make
PwC 2018 Global Consumer Insights Survey
In my mentoring assignments, I have found following pitfalls
1. Poor Assessment of mentee’s background (knowledge and skills).
2. Identifying mentee’s motivation and clear identification of the needs.
3. Inability to Deal with mentee’s inexperience (knowledge and skills) e.g. Computing skills, Smartphone skills etc.
4. Failure to Address mentee’s misconceptions about science
5. Failure to Set reasonable, time-bound goals for the project
6. The inability of Taking charge of Calendar and Keeping mentee engaged and allowing too much flexibility.
7. The inability of the mentor to Support the mentee financially
8. Inability in winning Mentee’s trust quickly and Building mentee’s confidence
9. Mentor’s inability to Foster mentee’s independence, priorities, health needs, family issues.
10. Failure to Decide on the best solution to a given mentoring challenge
11. Overlap in Setting limits and boundaries for the business mentor/mentee relationship and personal mentoring aspects.
12. Failure to Address lack of planning issues very firmly.
13. Failure Giving negative strokes to the mentee on lack of progress
14. Inability to Allocate time and ensuring that delays are not pardoned and discipline and adherence is appreciated.
1 5. Finding resources- people, furniture, fixtures communication equipment, office equipment, multimedia, and software.
16. Remaining patient even when not desired to lead to Mentee taking the mentor for granted.
The Life of the Mind: Hannah Arendt on Thinking vs. Knowing and the Crucial Difference Between Truth and Meaning
“To lose the appetite for meaning we call thinking and cease to ask unanswerable questions [would be to] lose not only the ability to produce those thought-things that we call works of art but also the capacity to ask all the answerable questions upon which every civilization is founded.”
BY MARIA POPOVA
In 1973, Hannah Arendt became the first woman to speak at the prestigious Gifford Lectures — an annual series established in 1888 aiming “to promote and diffuse the study of natural theology in the widest sense of the term,” bridging science, philosophy, and spirituality, an ancient quest of enduring urgency to this day. Over the years, the Gifford Lectures have drawn such celebrated minds as William James, Werner Heisenberg, Niels Bohr, Iris Murdoch, and Carl Sagan, whose 1985 lecture was later published as the spectacular posthumous volume Varieties of Scientific Experience. Arendt’s own lecture was later expanded and published as The Life of the Mind (public library), an immeasurably stimulating exploration of thinking — a process we take for so obvious and granted as to be of no interest, yet one bridled with complexities and paradoxes that often keep us from seeing the true nature of reality. With extraordinary intellectual elegance, Arendt draws “a distinguishing line between truth and meaning, between knowing and thinking,” and makes a powerful case for the importance of that line in the human experience.
In 1973, Hannah Arendt became the first woman to speak at the prestigious Gifford Lectures — an annual series established in 1888 aiming “to promote and diffuse the study of natural theology in the widest sense of the term,” bridging science, philosophy, and spirituality, an ancient quest of enduring urgency to this day. Over the years, the Gifford Lectures have drawn such celebrated minds as William James, Werner Heisenberg, Niels Bohr, Iris Murdoch, and Carl Sagan, whose 1985 lecture was later published as the spectacular posthumous volume Varieties of Scientific Experience. Arendt’s own lecture was later expanded and published as The Life of the Mind (public library), an immeasurably stimulating exploration of thinking — a process we take for so obvious and granted as to be of no interest, yet one bridled with complexities and paradoxes that often keep us from seeing the true nature of reality. With extraordinary intellectual elegance, Arendt draws “a distinguishing line between truth and meaning, between knowing and thinking,” and makes a powerful case for the importance of that line in the human experience.
Arendt considers how thinking links the vita activa, or active life, and the vita contemplativa, or contemplative mind, touching on Montaigne’s dual meaning of meditation, and traces the evolution of this relationship as society moved from religious to scientific dogma:
Thinking aims at and ends in contemplation, and contemplation is not an activity but a passivity; it is the point where mental activity comes to rest. According to traditions of Christian time, when philosophy had become the handmaiden of theology, thinking became meditation, and meditation again ended in contemplation, a kind of blessed state of the soul where the mind was no longer stretching out to know the truth but, in anticipation of a future state, received it temporarily in intuition… With the rise of the modern age, thinking became chiefly the handmaiden of science, of organized knowledge; and even though thinking then grew extremely active, following modernity’s crucial conviction that I can know only what I myself make, it was Mathematics, the non-empirical science par excellence, wherein the mind appears to play only with itself, that turned out to be the Science of sciences, delivering the key to those laws of nature and the universe that are concealed by appearances.
The disciplines called metaphysics or philosophy, Arendt notes, came to inhabit the world beyond sense-perceptions and appearances, while science claimed the world of common-sense reasoning and perceptions validated by empirical means. The latter is plagued by “the scandal of reason” — the idea that “our mind is not capable of certain and verifiable knowledge regarding matters and questions that it nevertheless cannot help thinking about.” (Four decades later, Sam Harris would capture this beautifully: “There is more to understanding the human condition than science and secular culture generally admit.”) But Arendt is most intensely concerned with the world we inhabit when we surrender to thought:
What are we “doing” when we do nothing but think? Where are we when we, normally always surrounded by our fellow-men, are together with no one but ourselves?
To begin solving this riddle, Arendt turns to Kant’s famous distinction between Verstand, or intellect, which seeks to grasp what the senses perceive, and Vernunft, or reason, which is concerned with the higher-order desire for understanding the deeper meaning behind such sensory input; while intellect is driven by cognition, reason is concerned with the unknowable. He memorably wrote:
The aim of metaphysics… is to extend, albeit only negatively, our use of reason beyond the limitations of the sensorily given world, that is, to eliminate the obstacles by which reason hinders itself.
Arendt unpacks Kant’s legacy and its enduring paradox, which plays out just as vibrantly in our ever-timely struggle to differentiate between wisdom and knowledge:
The great obstacle that reason (Vernunft) puts in its own way arises from the side of the intellect (Verstand) and the entirely justified criteria it has established for its own purposes, that is, for quenching our thirst, and meeting our need, for knowledge and cognition… The need of reason is not inspired by the quest for truth but by the quest for meaning. And truth and meaning are not the same. The basic fallacy, taking precedence over all specific metaphysical fallacies, is to interpret meaning on the model of truth.
This vital distinction between truth and meaning is also found in the fault line between science and common sense. Arendt considers how science’s over-reliance on Verstand might give rise to the very reductionism that becomes science’s greatest obstacle to tussling with the unknowable:
Something very similar seems, at first glance, to be true of the modern scientist who constantly destroys authentic semblances without, however, destroying his own sensation of reality, telling him, as it tells us, that the sun rises in the morning and sets in the evening. It was thinking that enabled men to penetrate the appearances and unmask them as semblances, albeit authentic ones; common-sense reasoning would never have dared to upset so radically all the plausibilities of our sensory apparatus… Thinking, no doubt, plays an enormous role in every scientific enterprise, but it is the role of a means to an end; the end is determined by a decision about what is worthwhile knowing, and this decision cannot be scientific.
This sounds remarkably like the notion of moral wisdom — the necessarily subjective values-based framework that, by its very nature, transcends the realm of science and absolute truth, rising to the level of relative meaning. Adding to history’s finest definitions of science, Arendt writes:
The end is cognition or knowledge, which, having been obtained, clearly belongs to the world of appearances; once established as truth, it becomes part and parcel of the world. Cognition and the thirst for knowledge never leave the world of appearances altogether; if the scientists withdraw from it in order to “think,” it is only in order to find better, more promising approaches, called methods, toward it. Science in this respect is but an enormously refined prolongation of common-sense reasoning in which sense illusions are constantly dissipated just as errors in science are corrected. The criterion in both cases is evidence, which as such is inherent in a world of appearances. And since it is in the very nature of appearances to reveal and to conceal, every correction and every dis-illusion “is the loss of one evidence only because it is the acquisition of another evidence, in the words of Merleau-Ponty. Nothing, even in science’s own understanding of the scientific enterprise, guarantees that the new evidence will prove to be more reliable than the discarded evidence.
And therein lies the paradox of science — the idea that its aim is to dispel ignorance with knowledge, but it is also, at its best, driven wholly by ignorance. In a sentiment that Carl Sagan would come to echo twelve years later in his own Gifford lecture — “If we ever reach the point where we think we thoroughly understand who we are and where we came from, we will have failed.” — Arendt writes:
The very concept of an unlimited progress, which accompanied the rise of modern science, and has remained its dominant inspiring principle, is the best documentation of the fact that all science still moves within the realm of common sense experience, subject to corrigible error and deception. When the experience of constant correction in scientific research is generalized, it leads into the curious “better and better,” “truer and truer,” that is, into the boundlessness of progress with its inherent admission that the good and the true are unattainable. If they were ever attained, the thirst for knowledge would be quenched and the search for cognition would come to an end.
In considering this “illusion of a never-ending process — the process of progress,” she returns to Kant’s crucial distinction between reason and intellect:
The questions raised by our thirst for knowledge arise from our curiosity about the world, our desire to investigate whatever is given to our sensory apparatus… The questions raised by the desire to know are in principle all answerable by common-sense experience and common-sense reasoning; they are exposed to corrigible error and illusion in the same way as sense perceptions and experiences. Even the relentlessness of modern science’s Progress, which constantly corrects itself by discarding the answers and reformulating the questions, does not contradict science’s basic goal — to see and to know the world as it is given to the senses — and its concept of truth is derived from the common-sense experience of irrefutable evidence, which dispels error and illusion. But the questions raised by thinking and which it is in reason’s very nature to raise — questions of meaning — are all unanswerable by common sense and the refinement of it we call science. The quest for meaning is “meaningless” to common sense and common-sense reasoning because it is the sixth sense’s function to fit us into the world of appearances and make us at home in the world given by our five senses; there we are and no questions asked.
This disconnect between the common-sense criteria of science and the quest for meaning, Arendt argues, reverts to the original question of thinking and the limitations of “truth”:
To expect truth to come from thinking signifies that we mistake the need to think with the urge to know. Thinking can and must be employed in the attempt to know, but in the exercise of this function it is never itself; it is but the handmaiden of an altogether different enterprise.
Arendt’s most poignant point explores what that enterprise might be, speaking to the power of asking good questions and the idea that getting lost is how we find meaning:
By posing the unanswerable questions of meaning, men establish themselves as question-asking beings. Behind all the cognitive questions for which men find answers, there lurk the unanswerable ones that seem entirely idle and have always been denounced as such. It is more than likely that men, if they were ever to lose the appetite for meaning we call thinking and cease to ask unanswerable questions, would lose not only the ability to produce those thought-things that we call works of art but also the capacity to ask all the answerable questions upon which every civilization is founded… While our thirst for knowledge may be unquenchable because of the immensity of the unknown, the activity itself leaves behind a growing treasure of knowledge that is retained and kept in store by every civilization as part and parcel of its world. The loss of this accumulation and of the technical expertise required to conserve and increase it inevitably spells the end of this particular world.
The whole of The Life of the Mind is a remarkable feat of intellectual grace. Complement it with the art of reflection and fruitful curiosity, then revisit these animated thoughts on wisdom in the age of information.
In Search of a Better World: Karl Popper on Truth vs. Certainty and the Dangers of Relativism
“Knowledge consists in the search for truth… It is not the search for certainty.”
BY MARIA POPOVA“I dream of a world where the truth is what shapes people’s politics, rather than politics shaping what people think is true,” astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson lamented. Nearly half a century earlier, Hannah Arendt captured the crux of the problem in her incisive reflection on thinking vs. knowing, in which she wrote: “The need of reason is not inspired by the quest for truth but by the quest for meaning.”
This distinction between truth and meaning is vital, especially today, as political propaganda and the “alternative facts” establishment manipulate a public that would rather know than think, preying on the desire for the certitude of ready-made meaning among those unwilling to engage in the work of critical thinking necessary for arriving at truth — truth measured by its correspondence with reality and not by its correspondence with one’s personal agendas, comfort zones, and preexisting beliefs.
This essential discipline of differentiating between truth and certitude is what the influential Austrian-British philosopher Karl Popper (July 28, 1902–September 17, 1994) examined at the end of his long life throughout In Search of a Better World: Lectures and Essays from Thirty Years (public library).
“I dream of a world where the truth is what shapes people’s politics, rather than politics shaping what people think is true,”astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson lamented. Nearly half a century earlier, Hannah Arendt captured the crux of the problem in her incisive reflection on thinking vs. knowing, in which she wrote: “The need of reason is not inspired by the quest for truth but by the quest for meaning.”
This distinction between truth and meaning is vital, especially today, as political propaganda and the “alternative facts” establishment manipulate a public that would rather know than think, preying on the desire for the certitude of ready-made meaning among those unwilling to engage in the work of critical thinking necessary for arriving at truth — truth measured by its correspondence with reality and not by its correspondence with one’s personal agendas, comfort zones, and preexisting beliefs.
This essential discipline of differentiating between truth and certitude is what the influential Austrian-British philosopher Karl Popper (July 28, 1902–September 17, 1994) examined at the end of his long life throughout In Search of a Better World: Lectures and Essays from Thirty Years (public library).
Popper writes:
All things living are in search of a better world. Men, animals, plants, even unicellular organisms are constantly active. They are trying to improve their situation, or at least to avoid its deterioration… Every organism is constantly preoccupied with the task of solving problems. These problems arise from its own assessments of its condition and of its environment; conditions which the organism seeks to improve… We can see that life — even at the level of the unicellular organism — brings something completely new into the world, something that did not previously exist: problems and active attempts to solve them; assessments, values; trial and error.
Popper argues that because the identification of error is so central to the problem-solving process, its corrective — that is, truth — is a core component of our quest for betterment:
The search for truth … no doubt counts among the best and greatest things that life has created in the course of its long search for a better world.
In a sentiment that calls to mind Carl Sagan’s insistence on science’s essential role in democracy, Popper adds:
We have made great mistakes — all living creatures make mistakes. It is indeed impossible to foresee all the unintended consequences of our actions. Here science is our greatest hope: its method is the correction of error.
Looking back on the sometimes troubled but ultimately exponential reach for a better world that had unfolded over the eighty-seven years of his life — “a time of two senseless world wars and of criminal dictatorships” — Popper writes:
In spite of everything, and although we have had so many failures, we, the citizens of the western democracies, live in a social order which is better (because more favourably disposed to reform) and more just than any other in recorded history. Further improvements are of the greatest urgency. (Yet improvements that increase the power of the state often bring about the opposite of what we are seeking.)
What often warps and frustrates our quest for betterment, Popper notes in a 1982 lecture included in the volume, is our failure to distinguish between the search for truth and the assertion of certainty:
Knowledge consists in the search for truth — the search for objectively true, explanatory theories.
It is not the search for certainty. To err is human. All human knowledge is fallible and therefore uncertain. It follows that we must distinguish sharply between truth and certainty. That to err is human means not only that we must constantly struggle against error, but also that, even when we have taken the greatest care, we cannot be completely certain that we have not made a mistake… To combat the mistake, the error, means therefore to search for objective truth and to do everything possible to discover and eliminate falsehoods. This is the task of scientific activity. Hence we can say: our aim as scientists is objective truth; more truth, more interesting truth, more intelligible truth. We cannot reasonably aim at certainty.
[…]
Since we can never know anything for sure, it is simply not worth searching for certainty; but it is well worth searching for truth; and we do this chiefly by searching for mistakes, so that we can correct them.
In a sentiment of piercing pertinence today, as a litany of “alternative facts” attempts to gaslight an uncritical public, Popper offers a definition and admonition of elegant acuity:
A theory or a statement is true, if what it says corresponds to reality.
[..]
Truth and certainty must be sharply distinguished.
Condemning relativistic approaches to truth — ones that regard truth as “what is accepted; or what is put forward by society; or by the majority; or by my interest group; or perhaps by television” — he cautions:
The philosophical relativism that hides behind [Kant’s] “old and famous question” “What is truth?” may open the way to evil things, such as a propaganda of lies inciting men to hatred.
[…]
Relativism … is a betrayal of reason and of humanity.
It is useful here to revisit Arendt’s distinction between truth and meaning, for where truth is absolute — a binary correspondence with reality: a premise either reflects reality or does not — meaning can be relative; it is shaped by one’s subjective interpretation, which is contingent upon beliefs and can be manipulated. Certainty lives in the realm of meaning, not of truth. The very notion of an “alternative fact,” which manipulates certainty at the expense of truth, is therefore the sort of criminal relativism against which Popper so rigorously cautions — something that, as he puts it, “results from mixing-up the notions of truth and certainty.” All propaganda is in the business of manipulating certainty, but it can never manipulate truth. Arendt had articulated this brilliantly a decade earlier in her timely treatise on defactualization in politics: “No matter how large the tissue of falsehood that an experienced liar has to offer, it will never be large enough … to cover the immensity of factuality.”
Popper argues that the ability to discern truth by testing our theories against reality using critical reasoning is a distinctly human faculty — no other animal does this. A generation before him, Bertrand Russell — perhaps the twentieth century’s greatest patron saint of reason — called this ability “the will to doubt” and extolled it as our greatest self-defense against propaganda. The cultural evolution of our species, Popper notes, was propelled by the necessity of honing that ability — we developed a language that contains true and false statements, which gave rise to criticism, which in turn catalyzed a new phase of selection. He writes:
Natural selection is amplified and partially overtaken by critical, cultural selection. The latter permits us a conscious and critical pursuit of our errors: we can consciously find and eradicate our errors, and we can consciously judge one theory as inferior to another… There is no knowledge without rational criticism, criticism in the service of the search for truth.
But this rational criticism, Popper notes, should also be applied to science itself. Cautioning that the antidote to relativism isn’t scientism — a form of certitude equally corrosive to truth — he writes:
Despite my admiration for scientific knowledge, I am not an adherent of scientism. For scientism dogmatically asserts the authority of scientific knowledge; whereas I do not believe in any authority and have always resisted dogmatism; and I continue to resist it, especially in science. I am opposed to the thesis that the scientist must believe in his theory. As far as I am concerned “I do not believe in belief,” as E. M. Forster says; and I especially do not believe in belief in science. I believe at most that belief has a place in ethics, and even here only in a few instances. I believe, for example, that objective truth is a value — that is, an ethical value, perhaps the greatest value there is — and that cruelty is the greatest evil.
Complement this particular portion of the wholly sobering and ennobling In Search of a Better World with Descartes’s twelve timeless tenets of critical thinking, Carl Sagan’s Baloney Detection Kit, and Adrienne Rich on what “truth” really means.
I have been doing a deep search of the web to understand the Speaking Business. One reason is to understand this business better and the other is to help me understand my mentee who is in this business better.
I came across this article which I quote – I found this very motivating and cleared some of my own cobwebs about the business.
Quote”
“As a professional speaker, I am passionate about what people who book speakers think makes a great speaker.”
That is why – at the Asia Professional Speakers Convention 11-12 May that I am chair of this year – we have a panel of three buyers of speaker services sharing about just that. Check out www.AsiaProfessionalSpeakersConvention.com if you are interested.
And that is why I yesterday I asked the question to Mike Doughty.
Mike Doughty is today a speaker and the founder of Get Business Fit. We had a conversation today about speaking as two speakers sharing peer-to-peer, but I also took the chance to ask him about his views from “the other side”.
Mike used to run an event company that would book some of the best speakers in the world. Over the years he booked over 100 speakers – and paid more than 2 million dollars in speaker fees.
I asked him: “What makes a great speaker great?”
His answer?
“The ability to articulate a different perspective in a way that is engaging.”
Sometimes a short, precise sentence is the only thing you need to be reminded of what is important.
As a speaker is your message different?
Are you giving a new perspective?
Are you articulating this message in the best way?
And do you do it in a way that is engaging?
If you answer “yes” to all these four questions you are on your way to becoming a great speaker, now work on getting even better at all four. If your answer – honestly! – is “no” or “a bit” or “perhaps” or “I think so” etc, then put all your effort on fixing that one thing that is missing.
Personally, I think the one thing I need to work most on is “articulate”. As a non-native English speaker speaking almost exclusively in English I constantly struggle to use a more nuanced vocabulary in my speeches.
What is the thing you need to work more on?”
End Quote
Why People Who Are Scatterbrained Are Actually More Intelligent
via Why People Who Are Scatterbrained Are Actually More Intelligent
PERSONALITY TRAIT
Only Scatterbrained People Would Relate To These 11 Things
via Only Scatterbrained People Would Relate To These 11 Things
Empirical evidence – Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empirical_evidence
Empirical evidence, also known as sensory experience, is the information received by means of the senses, particularly by observation and documentation of patterns and behavior through experimentation. The term comes from the Greek word for experience,
critical thinking
The goal of critical thinking is to arrive at the most reasonable beliefs and take the most reasonable actions. We have evolved, however, not to seek the truth, but to survive and reproduce. Critical thinking is an unnatural act. By nature, we’re driven to confirm and defend our current beliefs, even to the point of irrationality. We are prone to reject evidence that conflicts with our beliefs and to attack those who offer such evidence.
via topical index: critical thinking – The Skeptic’s Dictionary – Skepdic.com
Psychologists have concentrated on thinking as an intellectual exertion aimed at finding an answer to a question or the solution of a practical problem. Cognitive psychology is a branch of psychology that investigates internal mental processes such as problem solving, memory, and language.
| synonyms: | reasoning, idea(s), theory, thoughts, line of thought, philosophy, beliefs; More
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| synonyms: | intelligent, sensible, reasonable, rational, reasoning; More
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| antonyms: | stupid, irrational |
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HYMN TO TIME
How to disagree well: 7 of the best and worst ways to argue
