This question really checks your geography/history intelligence...
The funny thing is although nearly everyone really knows the answer...YET the majority get it wrong!
Here's the question: What was the tallest mountain on earth before Sir Edmond Hillary found Mount Everest?
What do you remember from your elementary school geography classes?
Dig deep...the answer is there!
Many people tell me that they do not remember anything from those lessons...
Some will (in frustration) tell me that this information does not matter...
In reality...the information does not matter...BUT...
What matters is what you response teaches you!
What is the answer?
Mount Everest...
Hillary did not create the highest mountain...he only discovered it!
Before he discovered it...it was the highest mountain on earth and remains the highest to this day!
OK...I am proud of you! You knew the answer!
When this question was first posed to me...I allowed my ego to make it necessery for me to dig into my cranial archive of mountain names!
I listed probably 20 or more earlier known mountains...
My "academic arrogance" clouded my interpretation of the sentence and my perception of the real world...or at least my answer...
I learned an important lesson about interpretation and perception from that experience...
What we accept as fact often clouds our ability to see the real truth!
Do you know what I mean?
Shifting gears...kind of!
Early in the 20th century...Albert Einstein looked at the world a bit differently...and from his perspective proposed the "Special and General Theories of Relativity." This was sparked by his inability to use Newtonian physics to reconcile how he saw the universe...things just didn't look right!
Newtons "laws" especially related to gravity had been accepted as the way to see the universe for over 200 years! It was time tested, seldom challenged...and nearly grounds for a charge of scientific blasphemy or heresy if something contrary was proposed.
It didn't take much looking for him to find an alternative explanation for what he "found"!
The scientific community was intrigued by his discovery...but refused to accept it until it was tested, confirmed, retested and verified! Finally the day came and it was announced in newspaper headlines around the world..."THE UNIVERSE HAS CHANGED"
The fact of the matter was...the universe DID NOT change...it had been operating under those laws since its creation!
Gravity always warped the universe's fabric...we just didn't see it that way
Light always acts a certain way...we just didn't see it that way
Matter has always acted a certain way...we just didn't see it that way
The way that it was seen was a matter of generally accepted interpretation which dorve the science communitys' perception....
But what the scientists were seeing based upon their assumptions was not real...although everything that they saw was real!
Confusing?
When Einstein was asked about the "laws" he created...he admonished his interviewers with..."I did not make those laws" I only found them!
He realized that man creates nothing...only finds it!
What we accept as fact often clouds our ability to see the real truth!
Lesson Learned!
Unless things have changed since I went to bed last evening...mankind does not possess the ability to create anything...
In our arrogance we may think that we do...but the fact of the matter is...we only have the ability to discover the hidden gifts and laws with more clarity than our predecessors...
We only have the ability to take what we have found and put them into unique, useful and valuable combinations...
We are simple creatures...that are totally restricted to cause and effect!
We may think ourselves different...but we cannot affect immutable laws...just discover them...
True genius arises when a law (relationship) is discovered and we can apply that knowledge consistently...to a predicted outcome!
This in fact goes beyond genius into a realm that we call "wisdom"...
Although our knowledge grows on a continuous basis...knowledge alone has no value if it narrows or filters our vision...causing to miss seeing the mountain that stands before us!
Newton was good...his explanation served humanity well for 2 centuries...
Einstein was better...his explanation will serve humanity well into the 21st century...
Knowledge is good...but the downside of it is that we often accept is as fact and overlook some brilliant gems...
What we accept as fact often clouds our ability to see the real truth!
Someone is watching you!
Shifting gears...
Have you ever had that feeling that you were being watched?
Do you drive differently when a police officer is behind you or beside you?
Do you act one way when with certain people and differently when with others?
Answering "YES!" to any of those questions is part of the explanation (definition) of consciousness...
What I think is interesting is that we retain the right of consciousness to ourselves...In our narrow view of existence we believe that inanimate objects such as rocks or even simple living organisms lack consciousness...
Given that narrow perception...it follows that...
Atoms do not have consciousness...they are the building blocks of our universe...
...and it follows that sub-atomic particles do not have consciousness either...
Now...Watch this!
Interesting huh?
The electrons acted differently when they were observed!
...not unlike how we acted as teenagers...when our parents were around!
We behave with one set of rules when left to ourselves and entirely different set of laws when watched by our parents!
Heck...many of us act one way in church and entirely different in a bar!
I like this observation because it changed the way that I look at consciousness...thinking that we are the only conscious creature may be totally wrong!
So I have concluded that consciousness is more than perceiving a certain situation and acting relative to those conditions.
Or...
Perhaps the issue is not with the definition of consciousness...but with who or what I think is conscious!
What we accept as fact often clouds our ability to see the real truth!
Does this make sense?
Success and Perspective
What I have learned from all of this has deeply affected how I look at success and my pursuit of it!
First and foremost is that we as humans totally lack "crea-tive" powers...but we are awesome at "rela-tive" powers...
The great strides in our society and science were not "crea-ted"...but discovered and later "rela-ted"
The world is full and many hidden gems...waiting to be discovered...and many things discovered that need proper understanding...
Genius springs from the ability to perceive the world differently so that we can see these jewels that are hidden in plain sight!
Think about it...warped space...gravity...did not suddenly appear when Einstein explained it...he simply found a way to put it into terms that science reluctantly bought into after they saw the value!
Success is not found in getting many people to believe in what you saw...Einstein saw light and gravity differently for decades...he was alone...but succeeded...
...thousands of people claim to have seen Bigfoot...yet it is not proven...
Success is found in the broad range application of what you have found...its impact...what I call true wisdom...
If you seek success...do not try to create something...
"It is what it is!"
Nothing exists that hasn't existed since the beginning...it has always been there...(some astrophysicists will argue with me on the creation of elements heavier that hydrogen and helium...but this is nit-picky at this point).
It is up to us to change the way that we look at the world around us and find the components that will lead to our success...
The foundation of success lies in a different perspective...until it changes...we'll always see things as they are...
What we accept as fact often clouds our ability to see the real truth!
Enough Said...
OK...One more thing...
Pura Vida!
No comments:
Post a Comment