The Tao of "So?"

The universe is a truly complex place: What with the mysterious nature of the big bang and the structure of galactic filaments and the uncertainty of quantum phenomena and Pi. Would someone please explain Pi to me? And don’t pretend to be professorially elusive by passing it off as a simple ratio. Nothing that goes on forever can possibly be simple.

As complex as the physical world appears, its child’s play compared to human behavior. In the physical world, for every effect a cause can be isolated and identified.  Have you ever heard of a planet spontaneously reversing its orbit?. Of course not but we have all changed our minds about something. As complex as the cosmos is, to the limits of our experience, it seems to be predictable; or at least demonstrate predictable patterns.  Can the same be said of people?

I believe that Psychology, Sociology and the balance of human behavioral sciences are severely limited.  The practitioners of these dark arts gather data and apply statistical methods to define the likelihood of human behavior.  But these pseudo prognostications are always couched in averages and probabilities, trends and tendencies.  Their limit is reached however with the attempt to predict the next behavior of the next test subject with total accuracy.  Look to your own life experience and count the number of times you have asked yourself, “Why did I do that?”

Obviously the person uttering that question has recognized a personal failure and in retrospect has identified the moment of critical thinking breakdown.  After the event and its consequences have played out, the errant individual can clearly see what should have been done and where they strayed from the trajectory that would have resulted in a satisfactory conclusion. But that only helps them navigate future occurrences; and then only if they can successfully assimilate their experience into tomorrow’s challenges. And just like the psychologists’ predictions about specific event related behavior, it’s a long shot.

I have learned during my journey through life that my own capacity for recognizing dangerous waters and executing a plan to navigate them uninjured are no better and often less satisfactory than those of my fellow Terrans.  If you are new to these writings or don’t believe me because I have in some previous encounter dazzled you with my B.S. (for the more naive among you, this is not an abbreviation for Bachelor of Science) at some time, refer to my previous posts for examples.

Recognizing my shortcomings I determined to develop an approach to life that would significantly bolster my chances for long term survival.  After brainstorming, defining, executing and reviewing I gravitated toward the notion that simplicity is key.  In fact; the simpler the better!  Thus I committed to constructing my own personal philosophy, “So?”

The journey began by first stripping away all of the philosophical baggage acquired by several decades of life, its challenges and associated failures. What need had I for the likes of Plato, Buddha, Nietzsche or Elmer Fudd?  Had they ever put a rabbit in the pot? No, because they let themselves get muddled in complexities and nuance, subtlety and moral relativism.  I needed a guiding principle stripped of elitism and uncertainty. I had to have a statement that truly defined me: “I yam what I am!” 

Thus, I had begun the journey of self-realization; define yourself in terms that leave no doubt you know who you are. What words more clearly state comfort with one’s self? But could this be seen as vague? Perhaps an acknowledgement of one’s limitations: “I yam what I yam. And that’s all that I yam!” a brilliant blend of self-assurance and modesty.

Once I was comfortable with who I was (am) it seemed reasonable to use the same technique in defining the world.  I began the process of stripping away the layers of complexity.  It was my goal to render the world understandable; only to myself of course, the rest of you can cling to your multi-level misunderstanding of what the heck is going on as long as you wish.  But for me, the quest is to define every observable event in as simple terms as possible.

Now I can see how many of you would perceive this a daunting task.  There is so much to understand and so little brain power to apply.  And very early on, I’d estimate in the first ten seconds of my new crusade, it occurred to me as well. I determined that what I needed was a lens that would allow me to focus on the truly worthy questions of existence. The focal point of said lens would be… Me!

To eliminate the vast majority of subjects that could be pondered, I would concentrate my efforts on only those that affect me.  While contemplating how to separate the wheat from the chaff, I turned to the myriad drill down techniques I had been exposed to by virtue of the seemingly never ending parade of business management seminars thrust upon me by various employers over the course of my career.

But all of their offerings included data gathering, measurement, analysis, flow charting; it seemed counter intuitive to me that the search for simplicity should be so complicated.  I resolved to find a new technique; one that would allow me to strip away the layers of distracting conflicts and identify the truth.  Then the revelation appeared as clear as Johnny B. Good a ringin’ his bell.  Any conundrum encountered or proposed by another would have to pass the test; “So, what does it mean to me?”  I refer to this technique as the Tao of “So?”

Whenever I find myself struggling with an issue of any kind, my first step is to ask, “So, what does it mean to me?” If the answer returned, either from my own internal voice or some other sentient being seeking wisdom, is ‘”Why, nothing at all!” the problem is summarily dismissed. I have found that somewhere between ten and ninety percent of dilemmas are eliminated at this stage.

If, and this happens more often when the question is posed by someone else, the answer is other than, “Why, nothing at all!” I find that a slightly modified test using the proper inflection, “So, what does that mean to me?” will convince the petitioner that we have come to the end of the trail as far as chasing this rabbit is concerned. For particularly knotty inquiries posed by highly energized seekers of truth, this test may need be applied several times before the inquisitor becomes frustrated, exhausted or rendered unconscious by a sharp blow to the head. It is unavoidable that some intellectually talented over achiever will eventually thrust past my parries and identify some connection between his issue and lack of interest.  At that point, I turn to another brilliantly conceived technique.  See my future posting entitled, “The Art of Delegation”.