Moving Mountains
By Vusi Moloi © 2009
I have observed a variety of people carry out an energized debate with good intentions of convincing or helping the other party to see the light of day. A debate of ideas is a democratic and intellectual exercise especially when carried out in an atmosphere of civility, mutual interest and mutual respect. Debates are even more interesting when participants command the breadth and depth of expertise in their subject of discussion within a confine of intellectual honesty. In order to succeed we must be bounded by two simple principles which define success i.e. the purpose of the debate and the measuring of the outcome.
The Purpose
Suppose our goal is to move the mountain. We consistently, methodically and meticulously apply the pressure needed to move the mountain. It’s hard to move the mountain but we do it anyways by exerting the right pressure knowing full well that success is not measured by the outside but rather by the inside. If we are genuine and honestly feel that we are exerting the right pressure according to the laws of physics and to the best of our ability, we are doing well. What happens when the mountain does not move? We shift gears to the second strategy which is measuring the outcome.
Measuring the Outcome
We resort to the strategy of measuring the outcome of our actions in order to verify our best intentions and confirm whether we are still within the confines of intellectual honesty. If we did move the mountain great but if we didn't too bad but we move on. Did we fail? Not really. We define failure to mean using our strength sparingly when we should be maximizing it in order to impact the object.
In this case we didn't have enough horsepower to move the mountain. Maybe this mountain needs a thousand horses and we only had a small fraction of a famished hoarse. We didn’t choose our horsepower or the hoarse; it was given to us. We must be content with that. If we possessed the superhuman strength of a thousand horses and used it maximally and the mountain was still not interested in moving, the mountain would invent other sophisticated ways of defeating our efforts such as rolling rocks upon us and thereafter convince us that it was an Act of God effectively ending the exercise. Either way it was a lost cause and we should have exited the situation upon a quick realization that the mountain had no intentions of being moved.
The Moral of the Story
Any self-respecting debater must have a specific and measurable goal. This will help to leverage one’s unique talents and maximize the efficacy of debating skills. If the person being debated is not interested in considering another view, it's tantamount to moving a mountain as demonstrated above which has no interest in being moved anyways. The debater must know when enough is enough and move on to better things. There are rocks or boulders out there that are interested in being moved. Your energy is better spent there than with a mountain that wastes your energy like a bottomless pit.
Discussion
When we feel energized and ready to engage in a debate of ideas, we should be grateful because we have the strength, the fortitude, the energy and the interest that feels like sunshine. The days are coming when this will not be the case because the sunshine will be gone. Moreover, energy is a scarce resource and will not always be there. The time will come when we shall be disinterested and less energized by what we previously found engaging.
It’s for this reason that we must follow the rules of the African jungle which says that pick the fruit that is closest to the ground so that you will have the energy for the one up the tree.
Resist the easy and popular temptation of following a marketing or advertising strategy which cares less about what we think or feel but is more interested in selling us what we don’t need i.e. salad dressing. Do you think you need salad dressing? I don’t think so. You need the salad but not the dressing. The dressing is a fabrication that dresses up the old salad so that you can accept the unacceptable and believe the unbelievable. That’s why in the African jungle there is no salad dressing because it’s not relevant to your survival requirements. Salad dressing is only relevant to the bottom line of the company’s balance sheets.
In a poem To Convince or Not To Convince the concept of convincing is explored as follows:
“Excessive salt on dried fish
Excessive fat on dried meat
Excessive sugar on dried cookies
To convince you of the fish
To convince you of the meat
To convince you of the cookies” Moloi, Vusi A Goodbye To My Little Troubles, Arizona, 2007.
The English word convince came from Latin and meant to conquer. Are you debating because your goal is to conquer? If so then this is the wrong motivation that detracts from the credibility of the discussion. Ideas are like water; they always find the best way to flow. Let the ideas flow by themselves and good ideas will plant a seed of good in the hearts of some.
The African languages like Zulu or Sesotho in South Africa don’t have a word like convince. Those languages are closer to the natural environment than an English language. In fact the word convince exists in order to make someone believe the unbelievable and accept the unacceptable. When you find yourself attempting to convince another person, you are engaging in a situation where you are going against the resistance like advertising. Advertising and marketing don’t exist in a natural environment like the African jungle because there is nothing to advertise or market. Imagine trying to sell advertising to the lion about some patch that has gazelles. The lion would be convinced that you are a gazelle in disguise and eat you at which point you become dead meat.
Conclusion
A goal oriented debater is efficient because is guided by purpose and measurable outcome. The goal of the debate together with the measuring of the outcome helps to save our energy for much better and more constructive debates. The mountain that refuses to be moved will never be moved and that is an immutable fact. Next time you debate, ask yourself: Is this mountain interested in being moved? If not, collect your poise and run as fast as you can before you lose your sunshine. There are better minds out there ready to be moved and that's where you should be concentrating your valuable effort.
About the Author
A former South African Television Journalist, Vusi Moloi is a published author of a contextual poetry book, A Goodbye To My Little Troubles, and maintains a blog, Zulumathabo on the Internet.
I have observed a variety of people carry out an energized debate with good intentions of convincing or helping the other party to see the light of day. A debate of ideas is a democratic and intellectual exercise especially when carried out in an atmosphere of civility, mutual interest and mutual respect. Debates are even more interesting when participants command the breadth and depth of expertise in their subject of discussion within a confine of intellectual honesty. In order to succeed we must be bounded by two simple principles which define success i.e. the purpose of the debate and the measuring of the outcome.
The Purpose
Suppose our goal is to move the mountain. We consistently, methodically and meticulously apply the pressure needed to move the mountain. It’s hard to move the mountain but we do it anyways by exerting the right pressure knowing full well that success is not measured by the outside but rather by the inside. If we are genuine and honestly feel that we are exerting the right pressure according to the laws of physics and to the best of our ability, we are doing well. What happens when the mountain does not move? We shift gears to the second strategy which is measuring the outcome.
Measuring the Outcome
We resort to the strategy of measuring the outcome of our actions in order to verify our best intentions and confirm whether we are still within the confines of intellectual honesty. If we did move the mountain great but if we didn't too bad but we move on. Did we fail? Not really. We define failure to mean using our strength sparingly when we should be maximizing it in order to impact the object.
In this case we didn't have enough horsepower to move the mountain. Maybe this mountain needs a thousand horses and we only had a small fraction of a famished hoarse. We didn’t choose our horsepower or the hoarse; it was given to us. We must be content with that. If we possessed the superhuman strength of a thousand horses and used it maximally and the mountain was still not interested in moving, the mountain would invent other sophisticated ways of defeating our efforts such as rolling rocks upon us and thereafter convince us that it was an Act of God effectively ending the exercise. Either way it was a lost cause and we should have exited the situation upon a quick realization that the mountain had no intentions of being moved.
The Moral of the Story
Any self-respecting debater must have a specific and measurable goal. This will help to leverage one’s unique talents and maximize the efficacy of debating skills. If the person being debated is not interested in considering another view, it's tantamount to moving a mountain as demonstrated above which has no interest in being moved anyways. The debater must know when enough is enough and move on to better things. There are rocks or boulders out there that are interested in being moved. Your energy is better spent there than with a mountain that wastes your energy like a bottomless pit.
Discussion
When we feel energized and ready to engage in a debate of ideas, we should be grateful because we have the strength, the fortitude, the energy and the interest that feels like sunshine. The days are coming when this will not be the case because the sunshine will be gone. Moreover, energy is a scarce resource and will not always be there. The time will come when we shall be disinterested and less energized by what we previously found engaging.
It’s for this reason that we must follow the rules of the African jungle which says that pick the fruit that is closest to the ground so that you will have the energy for the one up the tree.
Resist the easy and popular temptation of following a marketing or advertising strategy which cares less about what we think or feel but is more interested in selling us what we don’t need i.e. salad dressing. Do you think you need salad dressing? I don’t think so. You need the salad but not the dressing. The dressing is a fabrication that dresses up the old salad so that you can accept the unacceptable and believe the unbelievable. That’s why in the African jungle there is no salad dressing because it’s not relevant to your survival requirements. Salad dressing is only relevant to the bottom line of the company’s balance sheets.
In a poem To Convince or Not To Convince the concept of convincing is explored as follows:
“Excessive salt on dried fish
Excessive fat on dried meat
Excessive sugar on dried cookies
To convince you of the fish
To convince you of the meat
To convince you of the cookies” Moloi, Vusi A Goodbye To My Little Troubles, Arizona, 2007.
The English word convince came from Latin and meant to conquer. Are you debating because your goal is to conquer? If so then this is the wrong motivation that detracts from the credibility of the discussion. Ideas are like water; they always find the best way to flow. Let the ideas flow by themselves and good ideas will plant a seed of good in the hearts of some.
The African languages like Zulu or Sesotho in South Africa don’t have a word like convince. Those languages are closer to the natural environment than an English language. In fact the word convince exists in order to make someone believe the unbelievable and accept the unacceptable. When you find yourself attempting to convince another person, you are engaging in a situation where you are going against the resistance like advertising. Advertising and marketing don’t exist in a natural environment like the African jungle because there is nothing to advertise or market. Imagine trying to sell advertising to the lion about some patch that has gazelles. The lion would be convinced that you are a gazelle in disguise and eat you at which point you become dead meat.
Conclusion
A goal oriented debater is efficient because is guided by purpose and measurable outcome. The goal of the debate together with the measuring of the outcome helps to save our energy for much better and more constructive debates. The mountain that refuses to be moved will never be moved and that is an immutable fact. Next time you debate, ask yourself: Is this mountain interested in being moved? If not, collect your poise and run as fast as you can before you lose your sunshine. There are better minds out there ready to be moved and that's where you should be concentrating your valuable effort.
About the Author
A former South African Television Journalist, Vusi Moloi is a published author of a contextual poetry book, A Goodbye To My Little Troubles, and maintains a blog, Zulumathabo on the Internet.
posted by Vusi Moloi at
11:25 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home