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An idea worth spreading

"Power is the Meaning of the Outer World, Meaning is the Power of the Inner World" I coined this aphorism in 1993 while pondering the observation that all true wisdom is somewhat paradoxical, and includes the integration of 'opposites' (e.g. the "Serenity Prayer").

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• A reply on Talk: Amy Cuddy: Your body language shapes who you are

  Mar 21 2013: Here's my "anecdotal evidence" in support of Dumi Pyo's hypothesis, just one data point for Cuddy's study: (from my Blog.Rockower.com post about Cuddy's talk)
  
  When I was first learning to teach, to make speeches, and give presentations at conferences, in order to overcome the fear of public speaking, I taught myself to imagine I was "leaning into it", to address the audience. It feels like a rotation of a facet of my mind (as well as my body) to bring forward what I call my "public speaking persona". It subjectively feels very kinesthetic, including a feeling that my face as well as my body are involved in projecting power and mastery. It definitely works. It's very effective in changing my state of consciousness, and reducing my nervousness.
  
  A cousin of mine who's a psychiatrist told me it sounds like I'm describing self-hypnosis.
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  A reply on Talk: Amy Cuddy: Your body language shapes who you are

  Mar 20 2013: In my 2006 AIAA presentation on a "Value Proposition for Space Programs" (discussing how to get people to commit to a multi-generational Space Program, a vision and a cause greater than their individual self-interests) I suggested considering "Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in which the lower 'deficiency needs' are complemented by the higher 'growth needs'. Maslow’s later Hierarchy included the need to know, understand, and transcend one’s individual needs through connecting to something beyond oneself." Maslow believed that “Self-actualization preceded self-transcendence”, hence the very top of his later pyramid is "Transcendence".
  
  Perhaps the lower 7 'needs' require more pride, confidence, and power (hence the corresponding body language), whereas the top level, the "need to connect to something beyond oneself", to transcend oneself, requires humility and the wisdom to merge one's identity into a "higher power". The body language of humility helps to affirm, especially to oneself, that connection and release of the ego.
  
  I like to say "there's a yin and yang of everything". Perhaps humility is part of the yin that is actually more powerful than the 'yang' power required for the lower 7 levels of the pyramid. Lao Tzu describes this eloquently in the Tao Teh Ching, e.g. "Nothing in the world is softer and weaker than water, yet for attacking the hard and strong, nothing can be better".
  
  In a way, bodily expressions of humility may, in some circumstances, be much more "meaningful" (hence empowering?) than bodily expressions of power.
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  A comment on Talk: Amy Cuddy: Your body language shapes who you are

  Mar 10 2013: Excellent! Thanks especially for your personal experiences, that made it even more meaningful.
  
  About 100 years ago William James, the great Harvard Psychologist, said something like:
  
  "I don't sing because I'm happy; I'm happy because I sing".

• A comment on Conversation: "Why Can't We Solve Big Problems?"

  Mar 7 2013: Alexander The Great conquered the known world because his brilliance, vision, and passion enabled him to "cut the Gordian knot" rather than allowing an insoluble problem to foil his will. In my Feb. 23 comment I discussed the need for vision and "leadership", here I'd like to suggest that "big problems" don't always need to be "solved"... They just need to be broken through.
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  A reply on Conversation: "Why Can't We Solve Big Problems?"

  Feb 27 2013: Fritzie, that is a great point! The need for an achievable "Vision" is what Leaders help to satisfy. That, in turn, motivates people to action.
  
  Related: In marketing studies of ads aiming to stop people from smoking cigarettes, it was found that images of the consequences of smoking that were too horrible had the opposite effect (because of "cognitive dissonance").
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  A reply on Conversation: "Why Can't We Solve Big Problems?"

  Feb 24 2013: That's great to hear, Kate!
  
  For lack of room, I'd had to delete the last part of my blog about this discussion, from my previous contribution:
  
  "... short-sighted venture capitalists.  We’re now in a period of technological consolidation.  With hindsight, you wouldn’t want to fault the likes of Bill Gates, Richard Branson, or Warren Buffett when they were amassing their huge fortunes, that are now being directed to the betterment of mankind." (alluding to Jason's article where the Silicon Valley VCs are discussed)

• A comment on Conversation: "Why Can't We Solve Big Problems?"

  Feb 23 2013: I. Who says we can't solve big problems? If I measured my child's height, and then measured it again a week later, my friends would laugh at me if I complained to them that my child wasn't growing. Who's to say what the appropriate time-constants for change are, in such a huge dynamical system as our World? About a hundred years ago (only a hundred years!) the son of a President of the United States died because his blister became infected, and there were no antibiotics. That our progress isn't shared by all is indeed a tragedy, but there've been many huge problems solved in the past 100 years.
  
  II. Who's to say that we can choose which problems are solved first, and legislate when they must be solved? That level of control over nature and mankind is indeed a very Western conceit. The "illusion of control" makes us impatient with all the small incremental steps we take as we slog through the swamp of reality, one step back for each one+ step forward. cf. The Tao Teh Ching
  
  III. Perhaps there are seeds of an answer in Pontin's MIT Technology Review article "Why We Can't Solve Big Problems"? I suggest looking at the 3 orthogonal dimensions: 1) Leadership, 2) Technology, and 3) Stakeholders. The Technology is probably almost there, no? The Stakeholders are extremely diverse, many perceiving that they're involved in zero-sum games, hence hindering cooperation. Finally, could it be that the Leadership is sorely lacking. A Leader (or Leaders) must have the charismatic power and legitimacy (of a JFK) to craft and impart a Vision that can mobilize the stakeholders' buy-in, and the economic and political power to galvanize the Technological machines of governments, education, and industry.
  
  "Without vision, the people perish" -- Proverbs
  
  From the above ruminations, I suggest that the issues are more a matter of Will, Leadership, and Sustainable Commitment to a Vision, rather than technology, education, or short-sighted venture capitalists.

• A reply on Talk: Tyler DeWitt: Hey science teachers -- make it fun

  Feb 22 2013: Regarding my 2nd paragraph: In order to stimulate real interest, for business and investing, I began the application of the 'process' by first reading 'action' novels and biographies of successful investors and entrepreneurs. As relating to the characters in those books increased my interest, I began reading histories and technical books on marketing, sales, economics, finance, and related areas.

• A comment on Talk: Tyler DeWitt: Hey science teachers -- make it fun

  Feb 21 2013: Good points regarding making learning "fun". I'd add: "make it 'real & relevant'". Well-known saying: "the shortest distance between the truth and the human heart is a story". I became passionate about science, math, & technology from 1) reading science fiction as a young child, which led to 2) reading biographies of scientists, and then to 3) reading science history & technical books, and finally to 4) being motivated to grow myself into a good student so I could get a Ph.D. in Physics.
  
  One of the smartest things I ever did, in my entire life (seriously!), was to think through how I did that, and then reproduce that process in order to learn about money, business, and investment when I found myself in graduate school, married, with 2 small children, and had to wake up to the reality of my roles and responsibilities as husband and father. The process worked!
  
  I'll be posting a blog item about this in the next week. I plan to include a discussion of how important role-models, mentors, and other means of empowering youth during their difficult "individuation" period are. Fun is good, stories are better, role-models are best!