The Missing Ingredients

What's missing?

My daughter worked in a start-up company that was beset with problems, not of a business nature but of a Human Resources nature.  There was a total lack of "culture," i.e. accepted and expected behavior, attitude, and personal values.  It even went so far as to have a committee address the issue.  Nothing was resolved, the company simply disintegrated and became worthless.  It was a shame because the idea and the needs that it met were real.  Another entrepreneur advanced the idea and it was successful.

Burger King floats the idea that any woman impregnated by a World Cup competitor would receive free hamburgers for life.  A restaurant in Lexington KY refuses service to a White House staffer.  Time magazine uses a composite photo of the president and a child that misrepresents both of them.  All of these are cases of poor judgement.

We see a lot more of this now because there are three ingredients necessary for an idea or an organization to succeed.  These are intelligence, judgement, and discipline.  All three of these have to be in play in order to avoid missteps and embarrassment.  And in today's environment two of the three are missing.

Why do we see more of this?  I submit it is because we are evolving a society that doesn't value experience.  Experience by those who have been there, done that, and are sadder but wiser for it.

Lacking a stratum of experienced heads, the people who don't know any better are making decisions.  The mistaken belief that knowledge, i.e. knowing facts and interpreting them, is all that it takes to be successful.  We have abandoned any idea of an older wiser opinion having value.  We are reluctant to even discuss what we are going to do for fear that it will be nixed.

We are into our screens, searching data bases, and reading news that is manipulative.  Isolating ourselves from any and all who might disagree with us.  And when we think we are right, we do it.  Like the person with the right of way on the road, sometimes we are dead right.

We don't have social intercourse with others in general, in waiting rooms, on the bus, at the fitness center, at the ball game (or any other sports venue.)  If we aren't familiar with someone, don't know them, we have nothing whatever to do with them.

So the idea is put into action and things blow up in our face.  It's time to temper intelligence with experience, to have the wisdom to base our actions on judgement and the discipline to think and ask before acting.

Such a Good Boy

Why do we do whatever?  There are things we do to seek pleasure, things we do to avoid pain, things we do to be left alone.  And, I think, that just about covers the territory of motivation.

One of the pleasures we seek is the "attaboy" or "attagirl."  That little hint of recognition of a good job.  We often spend that little bit of extra time to get it right for the same reason or, perhaps, because we don't want the pain of embarrassment that comes along with a less than satisfactory performance.

Then there is the phenomenon of what we say and when it is said.  Upon reflection, I have often said things, spouted facts, truths, and opinions that would indicate that I am smart.  At least it would make me feel that way and, therefore, to others.  That the others were in awe of my smartness was not necessarily always the case.

I think I know from whence this comes.  For me it has to do with being told I could no longer attend a school because of a low grade point average.  I thought it indicated that I wasn't very smart and have been recovering from that rejection ever since it happened.  From that day on I felt that I had to prove to me and others that I was in fact smart, intelligent, and in the know about any and all things.  Until now that is.

 For the record, and yielding to the need to be thought of as smart, I went back to that school and graduated in my original field and was on the honor roll every semester from then through graduation.  I went on to get an MBA from a prestigious school and, objectively, was successful as an engineer, manager, and executive in a large corporation.  So you see, I am still haunted by this.  Any hint of failure or unsatisfactory performance causes me great angst.

Since retirement I have backed way off of this line of thinking.  I'm involved with acting in theater, films, and voice where one is only as good as his current performance.  There is no need to impress anyone when not performing and there is a need for humility to yield to the wishes of the director during rehearsals.  There is still the need for good performance in the current production.

Recognition comes from having been seen on stage or film, not from a perceived position of power in the community.  With no power or influence there is no need for anyone to be obsequious nor is there a need for me to be so to anyone else.  Praise comes from performance and allowing others to vicariously be in the limelight.  And, if my performance is good or even great, they take away a good or even great feeling about it as well.

It is tempting to tout my intelligence but less and less.  I look forward to when I don't feel a need for it.  The most frequent situation now is answering questions.  I find it tempting to answer any and all questions that come my way, therefore showing how smart I am.  Maybe I'll simply register the question and not answer it.

As for my personal need to feel that I have a superior intelligence, I believe I will simply have to get over that.  There are many instances where I don't have a more intelligent answer or solution and I thank me for not speaking up and showing my lack of having one.

My aphorism: "Impervious to the remarks and opinions of others, I have more fun," speaks to this but it has to go deeper.  So I will add another: "Looking at my accomplishments and activities, I see that I am at par or better."

I have to reach a fundamental understanding of my intelligence, not that it is superior but that it is what it is and that I can look back on my accomplishments and be satisfied that I am not inferior in any way.

I put it that way on purpose because in the past I have striven for a feeling of superiority.  It came from my history and my education as an engineer where we were taught to derive the solution and not simply apply formulas.

In retrospect and upon reflection, I understand that I am not a mathematical nor scientific genius.  Not better than nor worse than anyone else who makes their way in the world.  Capable of being duped and excusing me when I have been.

Another aspect of the way it was is the exception that I took to any question of my intelligence.  I would react strongly to any suggestion that I was less than "in the know."  This has abated considerably and instead of the all knowing nod or mm-hmm, I ask why, or what, or where, or when, or how much.  Often I am surprised by the answers that I get.

So "Impervious to the remarks and opinions of others, I have more fun" will stand and I'll add "Looking at my accomplishments and activities, I see that I am at par or better," because they are two different things.

These blog entries may be part of my need to prove my intelligence but I quickly add that they are made for me.  Others may enjoy them but I ask them to hold their criticism because it is not sought.  Suffer in silence.

Respite or Escape

In the way we spend our time, there are two basic types of things we do; that which we should do and that which we would like to do.  It's a good day when what we should do and what we  would like to do are the same and we move toward the fulfillment of our dreams.

There is, however, an insidious activity, or two or three or more, in which we engage that is completely and totally a waste of time.  Doing it for a break, a respite, is one thing but often these activities are those in which we get lost, for sometimes hours, and when we finish there is nothing to show for it.

They are in a category by themselves, escapes  We of course like to do them or we wouldn't but sometimes the allure of doing them gets hold of us and before we know it we are involved where we shouldn't be.  It is so much easier to make an escape than do what would be more constructive and even profitable.

So the big question is why?  For one they are enjoyable.  Some give a sense of accomplishment; such as solving a Sudoku puzzle or Crossword puzzle, others entertain, such as a YouTube video or a scroll through Facebook, still others provide for social contact such as an Email, a phone call, or even a face to face chat with another.

One thing they all have in common is that they are readily available and convenient.  There is no planning or preparation involved, there is no result that must be achieved, there is only the engagement of the device or the "hello" to another and we are off and running.

Since there is no result that must be achieved, there is no fear of failure or unmet anticipation of success.  Avoiding the need for a specific and good performance we can get lost in the activity itself.

This creeps into practice, such as at the pool table shooting balls without proper attention to the shot.  It can happen on the driving range at the golf course.  I've done it and have seen others do it; stand there, shoot the ball, it goes where ever and shoot again, and again.  In running, they call it "junk miles," in riding, they call it a "trail ride,"  mindless activity.

In our Time Utilization grid, these activities are not urgent nor important.  Recognizing them and curtailing participation in them to a "time-out" is the necessary action to be taken.

The dream of our ideal is important because one of our more cognizant persona will recognize the distraction and call it to the attention of  Director who will then reorganize the activities and engage in those that would advance the realization of that dream.

This, of course, is not the only purpose for having a dream of our ideal.  Other equally important or even more important aspects of having a dream are elucidated  in other essays.

Engaging in escapes may be a hold over from when we were young and forming our patterns of thinking, moving, and feeling.  Since we had no life dream to guide our activities, we simply did whatever we enjoyed and used the many iterations as learning experiences.  And since we had no schedule we could keep up the trial and error until successful.

As we approached maturity, we were educated by those in positions of authority and our activities became more directed to achieve results, achieve our dream.  But "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy," so we occasionally we revert back to our pre-schooling days for a break in the intensity of performance.  Once refreshed, we should go back to the grind.  It's when we don't give it up that the trouble ensues, the time is wasted and never recovered.

The moral of the story is obvious and not lost on me.  I'm off now to achieve my dream.

What Rules a Life

There seem to be two external things that rule our lives, appointments and responsibilities.  Then there is the crisis imposed situation with which must be dealt.  Think about it and everything else is internal and that's another essay.

An appointment can be defined as a commitment to meet someone, for a specific reason, at a specified time and place.  These include seeing the doctor for a physical examination, doing an audition, attending rehearsal and performing, attending class, and on and on.  We usually manage these with a calendar or date book of some kind to remind us to be there and then.

Responsibilities are those tasks that must be carried out to meet obligations to others or complying with laws, regulations, and rules that are set forth by various outside entities.  The simplest of these is putting the trash and garbage out for pick up on a certain day of the week.  Even getting to the bus/ train stop on time for the ride counts as a responsibility and there are myriad others from filing and paying Federal and State taxes annually, renewing licenses on time, paying the bills, managing the cash.

 The boundaries of our lives are appointments and responsibilities, we either set them, agree to them, or they are enforced upon us and we accept them.  In any event we participate at some level in defining them.  This holds true for all of the appointments and responsibilities that we have.

Then there is all the time that is not taken up with these two categories and that, my friends, is life.   We are free to do whatever we would like for the time that we are not keeping an appointment or meeting a responsibility.

My wander through the wilderness didn't necessarily teach me this at the time but I am realizing it now that I am back to every day living.  There is a difficulty in deciding just how to spend this time in between; there are the cop-outs of TV, radio, electronic device games and interactions.  Then there are the ToDo lists that many of us make.  Then there's the nap but we even wake up from it eventually.

When I moved to Houston and was learning my way around and about the city and the territory, I devised a weekly planning method that evolved over the years into elaborate plotting and scheming for what to do next to reach certain aims.  This is fun but totally unnecessary.

I have come to the conclusion that one must have a dream and from that point on simply do whatever, including taking steps towards it.  "A dream is a wish your heart makes," and the lyrics go on with basic truths about dreams.  The dream is like setting your destination as Paris, committing to it and then; oops there's the Eiffel Tower!

With a dream, all of our personae work for the attainment of it.  Detailed planning is not necessary because within the depths of our being there are many of us who can pick up on the slightest clue as to how to get there.  A statement made by another is taken to heart; a billboard, or TV commercial strikes a chord, a book or paper suddenly comes alive with an idea.  Our whole being is sensitive to attaining the dream.

There are still hurdles to go over.  The biggest is certain of us who would do something else and, because we have free will, which is another way of saying we can be distracted, we do something other than move towards our dream or we reject the hint that we are given.

But that hint is not forgotten, the one persona who was sensitive of it does not forget it.  It remains there in the background for when the right opportunity arises for it to be brought to the fore.

Collectively we know so much more than of what we are aware at any instant.  Each and every one of our multitude of personae are always on the alert even if the director doesn't have them in the driver's seat at the moment.  They see, hear, touch, taste, and feel everything that is sensible, they intuit that which is not, they reason out the way to go, and make it available to the being.  All that needs doing is to do it.

This is easy to say but not easy to accomplish.  We are the remnants of all that has happened to us and much of what we do is to satisfy needs that were unmet in the past, or impressed on us by outside influences.  These combine to distract us from reaching our dreams because they take away the time to do that which will allow us to reach our dream.

Examining how we spend the in between times will give us a clue to the distractions, the outside influences, that forestall the fulfillment of our dreams.  Once found and dispelled we can move smartly on to realizing our dream.

During these times, we are governed by a set of rules by which we have decided to live.  At first they are imposed upon us and as we mature we either accept or reject them, more or less one by one.  Some rules may lay in the background for years without surfacing, others are invoked frequently as we live through each day.

Recognizing and thinking about the rules that govern us is worth the time and trouble.  Deciding which are distractions and which are bona fide rules is important and we even do this without much analysis.  Living up to some of them may be wasting precious lifetime.

Time Travel

Time is a relative measure.  The second is 1/24/60/60, or so, of a revolution of the earth on its axis.  A day is 1/365, or so, of a revolution of the earth around the sun.  These have been further refined to where they are measures, accurate to the nth degree.  The sun, however, is not fixed in the universe and probably moves on a path of some sort as do all of the celestial bodies that make up the universe.  All of them/us are moving.

This motion is relative, i.e., faster or slower depending on the velocity of the mover in relation to the others.  An astronaut in space ages at a slower rate than one remaining on Earth.  The key to this statement is the word slower.  At no time ever does the movement stop; the time vector never goes negative.  It gets shorter or longer relative to another but never less than zero.

There are theories that indicate the relative motion/position of bodies and predict that travel at greater than the speed of light is possible.  Yet none of these register time with a negative vector.

When one looks at it qualitatively, one can see that since time is the measure of motion, in order to reverse time the entire universe would have to stop and then go in reverse; an absurd proposition.

There is, however, the spiritual world, of which we are also a part.  In that world there is no mass, therefore no gravity.  There is no energy, therefore no impulsion.  There is only the existence of the present and the past; there can be no existence of the future since it hasn't occurred yet.  And what will occur cannot be predicted with any assurance.

The past exists with or without our accessing it. It can be accessed by us via our memory, which can be stimulated by any number of external factors.  It may come to us as a revelation, a premonition, a bit of deja- vue; in other words it may just boil up and pop into our conscious.  Could this be a memory cued by a roving spirit in the spiritual world?  So one can say that there is time travel, although not in the conventional, physical sense of it.

How to Get Better

Investigating the 10,000 hour rule, I found some push-back to it.  After reading it all over, I decided that the rule means practice, practice, practice and can be constructively augmented by some advice from other sources.

The unspoken, yet intuitively obvious idea of good quality practice is at the root of the 10,000 hour rule.  It seems that in the 10,000 hours there will be enough "good" practice to make the desired progress.   So it stands to reason if you get a concentrated amount of good quality practice, you can shorten the cycle of becoming expert.

Increasing the entirety of the mental content of practice  creates quality.  We have six centers of influence in our active life: intellectual, emotional, moving, social, sexual, and instinctive.  As we practice to acquire a skill all of these will come into play at some point and the more deeply each is involved the more expert one will become.  This requires understanding that more than rote practice of the skill being acquired is necessary.

This from Tim Ferriss (one can use an internet search to find him):

1. Create a feedback loop
2. Deliberate practice
Mistake? Learn from it and then--
Redo it properly
3. Become a teacher
(Average retention rates of the Learning Pyramid:
PASSIVE: Lecture-5%, Reading 10%, Audio-visual 20%, Demonstration 30%,
PARTICIPATORY: Group discussion 50%, Practice 75%, Teaching others 90%.)

"If you can't explain it to a six year old you don't understand it yourself."

A Discussion of Life

Life is ubiquitous and defies understanding.

 The dictionary defines it as, "An organismic state, characterized by capacity for metabolism, reaction to stimuli, and reproduction."  Furthermore, it defines organismic as "characteristics of an individual constituted to carry on the activities of life by means of parts or organs more or less separate in function but mutually dependent, a living being."

It ranges in size from mycoplasma genitalium, which is thought to be the smallest known organism capable of independent growth and reproduction, to the honey fungus, measured to cover an area of 3.7 square miles and somewhere between 2,000 and 9,000 years old.  Included within this range are all the living organisms that populate the Earth.

That defines it, gives it a range of size, and indicates just how big and varied it is.  Included between the smallest and largest are all the manifestations of life that exist.  We cannot be completely sure that we have discovered, named, and classified all of them but unless and until smaller and larger examples are discovered, these define the range of size and content of living organisms.

How life started on Earth is not known.  There are theories but there is still no definite answer to this question.

Do the physical manifestations of life exist elsewhere?  There are no definite answers to that question either.

We see above the characteristics of it but what is it?

The word spiritual is introduced.  If anything is not physical, and it exists, then it is spiritual.  These two realms are not mutually exclusive.

One could say that life is the physical manifestation of a spiritual realm, which uses it to advance towards an aim.  Could it be that since life continues to evolve, the influence of the spiritual realm is still being felt?  I submit the answer is yes.

Evolution is taking place, and will continue to do so, as long as life forms procreate by the union of two compatible existing representatives of that form.  A sobering thought is that a representative of a species is always one generation away from extinction.

One can look back on the evolutionary trail and see that evolution takes place.  Why it has occurred the way it has is not so easy to deduce.

Evolution takes place as a result of incremental choices made at the instant of procreation.  It is easy to say that evolution is the result of "natural selection" and it is just as easy to say that these choices are influenced by the above mentioned spiritual realm.  Neither statement can be verified.

The argument for natural selection is historically strong but the argument that the spiritual realm has an influence on it can also be made, albeit not scientifically.  The argument for natural selection is just as specious when you get right down to it.

It could be that life arrived here as microbes on a meteor and, guided by that mysterious spiritual realm, has continued to live for four billion or so years; to multiply to become species that exist today.  But why?  That is the moot point.

Life seems to be the condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding inevitable death.  There also seems to be the function of reversing entropy, i.e., bringing order to chaotic situations.

There are physical laws that have been described by humans, verified, and used to enhance the living experience.  There are more to be discovered and those that have been are always precariously in danger of being disproved but we do what we can with what we have.

This isn't to say that other forms of life don't know about these laws, they are governed by them as are humans.  We have no way of knowing if, or how much, other species understand.

Only humans seem to have developed the technique of passing along their thoughts in a way that other humans, completely foreign to the originator, can understand.  Some meanings, such as those expressed by pre-Colombian Americans, are lost due to discontinuity of language and culture.

We read and see the works of the ancient philosophers, mathematicians, poets, playwrights, and artists and even with no genetic relationship to them we can understand and enjoy what they did.  And on the basis of those who have gone before, we extend our knowledge to the outer limit of what is possible and then beyond even that.

One has to ask, are scientific and artistic discoveries the result of the intervention of the spiritual realm?  We seem to be made aware of what is needed to go the next step at precisely the time that it is necessary.

At critical junctures in history, great evils have been successfully dealt a death blow by greater good.  World War II is one example of great evil being overcome by greater good.  Are these the result of intervention by the spiritual realm?

The purveyors of organized religion would argue that it is always "divine" intervention.  Unfortunately they don't have the answer.  They are more like cheerleaders at a game, who don't know the why of what is happening on the field.  Their purpose is to keep the crowd involved while the players on the field, guided by a coaching staff, play the game.

Are we tending toward the achievement of an overall objective of a spiritual realm?  The anwer to the question is, wait and see.

We are where we are because we have been devloping towards this situation for as long as we have existed, the aforementioned four billion years.  We are where we are not by accidental discoveries or choices but for another deeper reason.  We are guided to what is necessary to know, each playing his or her own part in the development of the knowledge necessary to know, each playing his or her own part in the development of what is necessary to achieve whatever goal is "in mind."  We are the servants of the spiritaul realm that guides us.

My thoughts: I think that I, the temporal person, am the servant of a spiritual being who is on the path to become part of the intelligence that is in a spiritual realm.   I refer to that being as Master and he/she/it had a beginning, however long ago; the intelligence in the spiritual realm, with which he strives to be merged, is eternal.  And is life, which I submit is evidence of this intelligence, arrived on this planet in any manner, likewise eternal?  I think, yes.  And at the same time, there is no way of knowing for sure.

Yes, this temporal body will die but Master will inhabit another and continue his development until a merger with that spiritual realm is achieved.  In this way the quest for the whatever is continued.