Friday, February 20, 2009
Train of Thought
Ever heard someone say "I lost my train of thought"? Sure you have. It's happened to all of us. Now visualize that saying as a metaphor. . . a massive train slugging along filled with cool ideas and innovative though. We should all strive to be trains of though continually sharing thoughts and ideas with those alongside our tracks! (for more on way of thinking/living, read Love is the Killer App by Tim Sanders).
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Who was Fyodor Dostoevsky?
Building off a topic discussed in a previous posting 'Boat Without a Rudder', I'd like to drill a bit deeper on the topic of habits and how they affect our lives. But FIRST, let's take a gander at a quote and its author.
"The second half of a man's life is made up of nothing but the habits he has acquired during the first half." - Fyodor Dostoevsky
Just who was this Mr. Fyodor Dostoevsky? His wiki page gives a pretty good overview, but in short he was a Russian writer in the early 1800s, and you've probably heard of his novel Crime and Punishment. Dostoevsky - as he's commonly referred to - lived in hard times. Russia isn't exactly a FUN country. It's cold. It's communist. And in many ways, it's suppressive to human nature and conducive to hard times. In fact, Crime and Punishment was inspired by an all-out gambling bender that left Dostoevsky high & dry, in-debt, quasi-homeless and hungry. Out of this precarious situation was born his protagonist - Rodion Raskolnikov.
Moving on. . . Let's examine the quote. Basically, Dostoevsky argues that the latter half of a man's life is driven by the habits he acquires in the first half. Cynical? Maybe. Depressing? A bit. But is it true? ABSOLUTELY.
Why? We humans are simple creatures. We don't like to hear that (I don't like writing it), but our minds ARE susceptible to repetition. At first glance, it's easy to assume a "habit" is a BAD thing. Just think of how many times you've heard the term "bad habit". But habits can just as easily be GOOD! You just don't hear about them as much.
From our psychological perspective, our minds are designed to make sense of patterns and organize things. When you learn a new task, or view a new painting, our minds build neural connections so that next time the mind can recall it quicker. It's how we learn! Without going into too much depth, these neural networks expand over time and our though patterns become more routine. It's true, I swear!! Just think of a little old GRANDMA going about her day the same way she's done for twenty years. Sure there are little variations here and there, but the underlying neural activity is very similar.
You may be thinking - what the heck do I have in common with a crazy Russian and an old grandma! Good question. But try thinking about it a different way. Dostoevsky's environment was very confining and limiting. He, like many Russians, were in many ways oppressed, maybe even tormented. Propoganda abound. Obedient, mindless behavior FLOURISHES in this environment. Just think of a prison. Yuck.
But on the flipside, we Americans have SO MUCH personal freedom we don't even know what to do with it! The global information age inundates us with more information than we know what to do with! We are figurately swimming in more options and choices than we know what to do with.
. . .But just as Dostoevsky's habits guided him through a Communist winter, so do our habits lead us into a Democratic spring.
"The second half of a man's life is made up of nothing but the habits he has acquired during the first half." - Fyodor Dostoevsky
Just who was this Mr. Fyodor Dostoevsky? His wiki page gives a pretty good overview, but in short he was a Russian writer in the early 1800s, and you've probably heard of his novel Crime and Punishment. Dostoevsky - as he's commonly referred to - lived in hard times. Russia isn't exactly a FUN country. It's cold. It's communist. And in many ways, it's suppressive to human nature and conducive to hard times. In fact, Crime and Punishment was inspired by an all-out gambling bender that left Dostoevsky high & dry, in-debt, quasi-homeless and hungry. Out of this precarious situation was born his protagonist - Rodion Raskolnikov.Moving on. . . Let's examine the quote. Basically, Dostoevsky argues that the latter half of a man's life is driven by the habits he acquires in the first half. Cynical? Maybe. Depressing? A bit. But is it true? ABSOLUTELY.
Why? We humans are simple creatures. We don't like to hear that (I don't like writing it), but our minds ARE susceptible to repetition. At first glance, it's easy to assume a "habit" is a BAD thing. Just think of how many times you've heard the term "bad habit". But habits can just as easily be GOOD! You just don't hear about them as much.
From our psychological perspective, our minds are designed to make sense of patterns and organize things. When you learn a new task, or view a new painting, our minds build neural connections so that next time the mind can recall it quicker. It's how we learn! Without going into too much depth, these neural networks expand over time and our though patterns become more routine. It's true, I swear!! Just think of a little old GRANDMA going about her day the same way she's done for twenty years. Sure there are little variations here and there, but the underlying neural activity is very similar.
You may be thinking - what the heck do I have in common with a crazy Russian and an old grandma! Good question. But try thinking about it a different way. Dostoevsky's environment was very confining and limiting. He, like many Russians, were in many ways oppressed, maybe even tormented. Propoganda abound. Obedient, mindless behavior FLOURISHES in this environment. Just think of a prison. Yuck. But on the flipside, we Americans have SO MUCH personal freedom we don't even know what to do with it! The global information age inundates us with more information than we know what to do with! We are figurately swimming in more options and choices than we know what to do with.
. . .But just as Dostoevsky's habits guided him through a Communist winter, so do our habits lead us into a Democratic spring.
"Build GOOD habits or suffer my wrath!"
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