Daily Opinion: Science Will/May Always Be Incomplete

I already know I may catch some crap for this one, but trust me, I’m using nothing but reasoning here.

I LOVE science. It’s the reason why I loved Nova when I was younger and it’s the reason why I love Brain Games now. I was just watching an episode about the paranormal and it got me thinking .

So what, so what, so what’s the scenario?

In this episode, the focus du jour was the paranormal. In one of the experiments, people were checking out a $1.5 million house that was on sale for about $650,000. Quite the steal, right? Well, eventually the people were told someone was murdered in the bedroom. Without fail, people were like, “Oh hell nah!”

I would be too.

What was more interesting was the scientific explanation  for this response. Per the show, even if you aren’t superstitious, your brain applies the idea of transitive properties to many things. It can start with something as simple as “fire is hot, therefore if I touch it, I will get hot.” Our brains apply this transitive feeling to events, which is what caused most people to freak out.

Oh science, you so smart.

But here’s the thing: are we actually smarter for knowing what the brain is doing, or is there a valid reason the brain acts this way, but we’re just unaware of what it is.

Everything we know of is based on our awareness. EVERYTHING. Even science. Why? Because science isn’t as unbiased as we’d like to think. This is totally science from a human perspective. If you really want me to break it down, science is nothing more than the understanding of the things of which we are aware. From that understanding, we can create advancements and progress as a species, but we will always have a limit, which is our awareness.

When we are unaware of something, but we have an educated idea, we have a theory. People much smarter than me debate, discuss, and maybe even agree. Some theories even get proven right because we figure out ways to use technology to expand our awareness. Suddenly humanity is jerking itself off at how awesome we are at science. But what about the things of which we are aware, but they don’t fit any logical explanation. Is that just phenomena? Where things get tricky are things people become aware of that can’t possibly be confirmed by anyone else.

Now, I’m not going to take that next leap in logic because I want to make sure I stay focused. I notice humanity has an odd association with things that have been staples in the majority of our collective culture. For example, people look at money as being valuable instead of something that just represents value. Language is thought of as the be all, end all of communication (even for your inner “voice”). Math is seen as this concept of numbers instead of a means of translating ideas and concepts. The same thing happens with science.

For ages, people smarter than the rest of humanity have been making sense of this world. They observe, calculate, invent, and do all their sciencey duties in order to create a truth. Science is boundless by nature, but rules are placed. Some ideas are accepted while others are accepted. But for the rest of us, we depend on the people smarter than us. Someone created science so it has to be right… right?

Who created the word twerk? It exists as a word only because many of us acknowledge it. These rules apply to science as well; consensus equals truth. But there is so much we may NEVER be aware of simply because we don’t have the ability. Or there are things only one person can be aware of. One is a product of a lack of ability while the other is a personal experience. But one sounds more credible than the other, doesn’t it?

Hmmmm…

I don’t know… I’m not writing this because I want to prove a point. I just want to present an idea. Math, language and science are awesome tools, but much like religion, we place a lot of faith in them as if what we have right now is infallible. Some things may honestly be pretty rock solid, but humans have been discovering for god knows how long. And we’ve been wrong… a lot. All I’m saying is, let’s not totally write off possibilities. You never know what we may become aware of in the future.

Previously: Are Modular Jobs a Possibility?

Lessons from a New Self-Earner: Use Body Language to Improve Networking (Part 1)

Photo Credit: Lars Plougmann

Networking and communication is HUGE, not just for those looking to be self-earners, but for EVERYONE. We wouldn’t have gotten as far as a species without them. Where would you be in life without them? Thing is,as we’ve grown smarter, we rely on words more heavily to build relationships. However, body language is an essential skill to reinforcing communication and building bonds. I’m a huge believer in this because I’ve been fairly successful at it in my personal and professional life.

I have really bad ADD. As such, I can potentially end up daydreaming as someone is talking to me.

You can imagine how that can adversely impact conversation.

Though I’m far better at keeping my ADD in check nowadays, I’ve developed a few ways of masking the fact that I stop paying attention at some point. It’s all about body language and being able to communicate as such. The thing is, unlike words alone, communicating via body language is difficult to fake. Great liars can combine false words with convincing body language. If there was body language alone or words alone, the lie would be less convincing.

But this isn’t about lying. Your body language should reflect the true intentions of your words. You don’t want to deceive here. If you do, that just shows your lack of confidence in the real you and what you have to offer as a person or business. The goal here is to bond and build trust. Do so responsibly.

On to the fun stuff.

1. When first meeting a person, start off strong. You are somebody. You are just as much of a somebody as anyone else, despite what others think about your income, nationality, weight, gender, etc. Act as such. Stand tall, speak clearly, chin up, maintain eye contact. You are not trying to be domineering here. You simply want to show you have no fear of anything in the situation. You are equal to the person or people to whom you are speaking. You need to believe this. Get any notions out of your head about being less or greater than any other person. You’re not. Acting in this fashion will garner a mutual respect.
2. Test mimicry. A key sign people are on the same wavelength is mimicry. I kid you not. Have you ever spoken to someone and you find yourself matching one of their behaviors? Maybe they’re following your lead. It could be as simple as scratching your nose or tapping your foot. Test this out by specifically performing a subtle action every so often. This is a great way to test if  the person to which you’re speaking is willing to follow you.
3. The dance of mimicry. As with anything, there is a balance to the delicate dance that is mimicry. First of all, make no mistake about it, mimicry is all about who the alpha is. Who is the leader and who is the follower? Someone may not mimic you at all while others are all too willing to oblige. Building a meaningful relationship should not be founded on either of those extremes. You want a dance partner, someone who will match you. This fosters willingness to network rather than networking out of pity or fear. Or maybe not networking at all. But this still needs to be genuine. If not, people may become aware of you and themselves, subsequently impeding body language communication. So dance away! Let yourself be both the subject of mimicry as well as the mimicker. Do some purposely and others less so. Observe how you are in relationships and practice incorporating more or less mimicry for a more balanced means of communication. Do this enough and you will naturally be more balanced when communicating or networking with anyone.
4. Other body cues. There are other ways to gauge a person and open them up to non-verbal communication. Some methods are tried-and-true while others are less so. Here are some quick tips to take with you.

• Crossed arms may be a sign of defensiveness or insecurity. Stand or sit in a more relaxed way in order to bring their guard down. You can reinforce this by using self depricating humor (not too much though as to give the impression of being weak).
•  Use open movements when possible. Hand something to someone with your palms up. If you speak with you hands, use less pointing motions and more movements where your hands point to the sides. Notice how doing this compels you to keep your palms up.
• Separate nervous habits from general tendencies. General tendencies are often done regardless of the situation. Nervous habits, on the other hand, are generally in response to something. If the person is already in a nervous or submissive role, watch their reactions to what you say and do. You should alter your “dance” in order to discourage nervous habits.

I’m not about to kill you with information here. This is all about learning theory and the basic concept behind body language communication from my point of view. It’s super simple and, like any language, must be practiced in order to reach proficiency. Observe yourself as well. Does your body language match your words and intentions? What are your tendencies. Body language communication means knowing yourself just as much as you know others. Take away any biases because they’ll only color your ability to communicate.

Anyway, I think next time I’ll speak about different personalities and how body language should be tweaked accordingly. Stay tuned for more!

Previously: Lessons from a New Self-Earner: The Power of Persistence (and the Things that Inhibit It)

What’s More Important: the Structure or the Message?

As a writer…

Ooh, that feels good to say. Much better than Support Director.

Ew.

…I tend to nitpick over grammar and word usage. It comes with the territory.

After all, a great man once said, “It’s rules to this shit.”

But sometimes I think about language and why the rules matter so much. Who made the rules? Are we, as writers, never allowed to question the rules of our craft?

Well, that’s silly.

Okay, now that’s silly.

Language was (organically) created as a way of conveying a feeling. We use music, paintings, and other art forms in a similar, but less restrictive way. But it conveys a feeling nonetheless.

“Oh my god, it’s a giant tarantula!” is only induced by one’s particular feeling when they see a giant tarantula. Insert whatever scenario you want; at the end of the day, language is just an interpretation of thoughts and feelings.

That might be the reason why sometimes people can’t find the right words for a situation.

So you scream instead.

Or laugh.

Or whatever silly human sound we make because words are not enough. It’s the same reason we use emoticons in casual messaging. It’s a shame we’re so stuck on the rules that we don’t allow them in more formal writing. Maybe we’d be able to specify context better ;]

But we’re stuck on the rules to a certain extent. In everyday practice, I’m a horrible writer. Hell, I even bastardize the structure of the written English language on my blog. Yet somehow, people still understand me. Hmmm…

So what’s more important, the structure or the message?

The message, obviously.Communication is pointless without it. So can’t we all just agree that there is space for all types of writing styles and they can be employed in different ways? I look at journalism in this way. There’s never been a journalistic piece that surprised me with its written style. I know what I’m going to get and some are written better than others. There’s no room to deviate from rules such as paragraph structure.

I rarely write structured paragraphs.

Fuck paragraphs.

I often write the way I think because it allows people to know me. If you care to know me, that is. I, however, think I’m a pretty awesome guy to know so I write in my voice.

Putting my voice on paper helps to keep it from staying in my head.

That’s an interesting thought I didn’t have until the very moment I wrote this. Maybe I’ll explore that thought further tomorrow.

Anyway, that was by no means a way for me to say my way is the best. It’s just what works for me. I just think there is room for language to be more elastic. We do it all the time anyway. For example…

When does slang stop becoming slang?

Why did English become Old English?

Why did the new English become Middle English?

Will current English be Old English someday?

Bah, what do I know? I just like to ask questions. I do know that language evolves as we speak and the “rules” are never really being followed anyway.

Many religions work the same way.

Har har.

I’m going to definitely touch on that sometime too, but relax, nothing I say will be offensive.

Hopefully.

Anyway, I’m not saying anything needs to be changed. These questions just help to give me an identity as a writer.Now, if you imagine my reaction to seeing a giant tarantula, you’ll know exactly how I’d convey it.

The correct answer is, screaming like a frightened 2-year-old girl.

Or boy. They sound about the same at that age. No need to be sexist about it, right?

Peace out, party people.

 

Spoken Word Piece: Anatomy of Possibility

The animal that’s not an animal because it knows that it thinks
It thinks
It thinks it’s the thought; perhaps that was the first flaw
It believed what it saw
Denied it was god, but it still played the part
The animal is strong, yet weak, paper thin tissue on the surface
Its purpose is pointless against a bigger, hungrier animal
But its strength is in its thoughts; it thought thoughts were more than it could handle
But which came first? It or the thought of it?
Does the thought reside in the being? Perhaps it’s the opposite.
It sees itself in its thoughts after all, through the summers and fall leaves
Christmas tree seasons and spring allergy sneezing
It never stops thinking of what it was and what it could be
But could it be, this being is what it thought it couldn’t be?
No, it couldn’t be. Because it still only clings to what it sees
A picture in its mind. Just another thought, but this thought has no end
But this being perceives as if it sees instead of thinks what it sees
And yet it sees itself. It knows it, because it sees it.
Repeats it until it believes it is not an animal
It is more than that, clenched fists and mandibles
Salivating hatred and love, agony pleads for pleasure
Empathy tempting greed, jealousy
Its thoughts are madness
Constant contradictions lurk despite what it presents
It pretends to be what it thinks others want it to be
Repeats it until it believes
But could it be this being is everything it thought it couldn’t be?
Possibly it’s not what it sees; the being is merely what it believes to be
It is a murderer, a giver of life, the hero and antagonist
Same story, different roles, it’s the pious and the blasphemous
Shame and pride and anything it can describe
It can be anything, because everything is perceived inside its mind
And yet it believes it is only, or simply, or just another
It believes it is a part of everything, but everything plus a single number
Is still everything
And everything means it can be anything, this being is possibility
But possibility became ruined the day it changed its name
Its name is the human

Peace out, party people.

Spoken Word Piece: Two Words

It’s interesting how words can be both powerful and limiting at the same time
They convey the thoughts of the mind, but the soul gets left behind
Words divide ideas like yours and mine, love and hate
Right and wrong when they’re one and the same
The illusion of opposites, so check it
Because the impression I get is you and I is a form of an opposite
If I’m me then I’m not you, but is that really the truth?
Can I have a me without a you anymore than I can have right without wrong?
You see, one begets the other, I would never know who I am without you
Any of you, now that’s the truth
A magnet has two poles, north and south
But unlike the words that exit your mouth, they remain one
Cut one end off and you’re back at the beginning, north and south
One begets the other, sister and brother, star crossed lovers
Can you have a left without right? A night without day?
Once again, it’s all one and the same.
Two halves of a single whole, you see chaos, while I see harmony
You see opposites, I see polarity
So let it breathe and see the fallacy of language, how it damages the truth
It makes us adversaries, wary of the other yous
Because you have knowledge of you, and I am just a stranger
Potential danger, or is that just the culture we created
Fool’s gold we try saving, but if that’s the stake you’re claiming and opposites are all you see
Then, then let one turn into two and that two be peace

Peace out, party people.