People say the world is ‘not just black and white’, this is crap.
It is always possible to design questions which give true/false answers, if they are specific enough. So really everything is black and white on a small enough scale, therefore everything really is a shade of gray, but only because we can’t focus on the absolute truths. In order to obtain absolute truths we must therefore test statements with yes/no questions; if there is any doubt as to the answers absoluteness then the question is not specific enough and the relevant truth cannot be derived from it.
People describe events in their lives as doors, one closes and another one opens.
Other people use the journey metaphor. A mountain foorpath springs to mind: Through life you see new things, when you have to make decisions you reach a fork, advice is printed on sign-posts and maps, but how do you know where you are? You arrive at corners you can’t see round, you round the corner and can’t see back.
But no-one can ever create a metaphor for life, there are just some things that exist only in life, and cannot be compared. Take for example our entry into the world, one moment we do not exist as a life, the next minute we are a conscious entity sprung from nothing. Nowhere else do we see something form from nothing. Also, we are never asked if we want to be brought into the world, not even forced into it, we just arrive there, knowing of nothing else. How odd…
But as a linguistically dependant society we crave metaphors, we need them to get a proper grip on something otherewise unfathomable. Perhaps that’s why so many people feel a vague sense of misplacement in life…
Ever been comparing two objects and been stumped for an explanation on why one appears to be intrinsically better?
Chances are it was made by an intrinsically better person.
The lesson?
If you want to perform well in your work, try and perform well in life.
