Grandiose Illusion

There is no iota of a doubt in saying, we are the sum total of our thoughts. For man is the arbiter of fate; moulder and shaper of destiny. This great truth is quite comprehensive as to perpetuate conditions and circumstance of the man.

Nonetheless, how we have being conditioned to think and act contributes tremendously in our opinions of things. For instance, a man with an innovative mentality or rather optimistic perspective tend to see possibilities, while a man with a conservative mentality or rather pessimistic outlook tend to revert to status quo idea of things.

Consider, for illustration, in the early nineties a prominent magician and illusionist Harry Houdini who goes with the stage name “Handcuff King” was quite famous for his art of illusion. Houdini possesses special skill and ability to escape from any designed prison contraptions and police handcuffs.

In 1904, the London Daily Mirror newspaper challenged Houdini to escape from a special handcuff that was claimed had taken famous locksmith “Nathaniel Hart” five years to perfect its mechanism.

In another time, a prison governor nearly outwitted Houdini by using his own illusion against him. The governor had Houdini placed in an “escape proof” cell and closed the door. Houdini tried all his ingenuity on the lock but could not get the needed “click-sound” that indicated the cell is now unlocked.

However, after several attempts on the mechanism proved abortive; few minutes before the deadline, in great frustration, Houdini tried the knob of the ponderous cell. Presto! It opened. The cell hadn’t been locked in the first place.

Sometimes we create our own illusion. Our most trying problems are often the results of our own assumptions and expectations of things. Obviously, Houdini was being tormented with the prior assumptions he had on door mechanism, and not by the mechanism itself. Moreover, the door literally hadn’t been locked in the first place, but in Houdini’s illusive mind the door was locked.

In the beautiful words of Michel de Montaigne, “Anyone who wishes to be cured of ignorance must first admit it.” Put slightly differently, if you wish to be cured of your grandiose illusion, you must first admit it. Because what you thought was real, might not be real at all!

 

 

Mentality and Obsolescence

In this present age, the average man is faced with a paradox; although he craves to be innovative in thought; to be optimistic with lofty assumptions and expectations, he cannot help but to be conservative in thought and pessimistic either.

Discarding preconceptions and admitting novel ideas brings with it the seed of an equivalent pain and peril of childbirth. A lofty or rather innovative idea doesn’t necessarily mean it is better, and an old or rather conservative idea doesn’t necessarily mean it is ideal. For instance, the idea of sun-rise and sun-set is just a grandiose illusion caused by the earth rotating on its own axiscausing one side of the earth to be directly facing the sun while the other sides are in shadow of the earth.

 In his book, “Studying Strategy” James Rowe was quite elaborate on this view when he asked the question, “Will the sun rise tomorrow?” He went further in saying, “The answer seems obviousyes! The sun rises every morning and has done for millions of years (about 10¹⁰ years) so clearly as long as we don’t allow for tricks like ‘not if it’s cloudy’ then the sun will rise tomorrow. Of course the answer is ‘no the sun will not rise tomorrow.’ The reason for this is that relative to the earth the sun is rotating on its own axis whilst precessing around the sun such that if you stand on the earth’s surface it looks like the sun is rising.”

Rowe speculates that we accept the idea of sun-rise and sun-set as a paradigm even after being reminded of its falsity because the idea has romantic allure. But that the idea of the earth rotating on its axis seems rather platonic.

An ancient proverb said it best, “If a good idea doesn’t work, don’t retreat to the familiar, rather try a different idea, but never discard capriciously the familiar.”

Stated slightly differently, we should be pluralistic as well as strategic in our opinions of things whether we are being optimistic or pessimistic.

Francis Bacon corroborates this view when he wrote the following lines: “Ask council of both times: of the ancient time that is best; and of the latter time that is fittest.” Bacon even went a step further in saying, “He that will not apply new remedies must expect new evils.” Expressed somewhat differently, the price for obsolescence is often failure, while the value for innovative mentality is often possibilities. Moreover, the writer Paul said it all when he remarked: “I count not myself to have apprehended all, but this one thing I do: I reach forth unto those things which are before; and forget those things which are behind.”

Dwelling on obsolescence whether in things or idea will keep you in a rut of shabbiness. However, an innovative mind-set will open you to a multiplicity of opportunities.