The Most Powerful Word In The Human Vocabulary: Perspective

http://blog.sokanu.com/the-most-powerful-word-in-the-human-vocabular

by sthomps • 16 years ago

52 23 16 years ago

blog.sokanu.com

The most powerful word in the human vocabulary is: Yes.

sthomps3• 16 years ago

Good point, I'm sure some people would argue that "no" is also pretty powerful. We are faced with so many decisions every day that our ability to say no is pretty important.

InfinityX0• 16 years ago

I would say that "No" - without hesitation, is far more powerful than Yes. Yes is expected, yes is what happens very frequently. But when "No" comes, we are taken aback, offended, and potentially have life-changing modifications to our self-esteem.

"Yes" keeps things going as they are - because with every question comes an expectation of "Yes" - if the many single men afraid of approaching a woman are any indication, most frequently, when we ask a question we expect a positive response - the times when we expect a negative reaction, the questions don't get asked.

For that reason, "yes" is - in my opinion, which I feel could be substantiated by data - not nearly as powerful as the opposite, no.

tung• 16 years ago

Anybody can say "yes". Somebody needs to say "no". -- Linus Torvalds

http://www.realworldtech.com/forums/index.cfm?action=detail&...

J3L2404• 16 years ago

'Maybe' is just a cowards way of saying 'No'.

known• 16 years ago

I'd say it is priority

baddox• 16 years ago

I think "power" has a strong case to make.

basicxman• 16 years ago

Whether or not the title was a good choice was merely a matter of perspective ;)

Every human being in the world should read this article; if we can all truly comprehend this text, the world would be a better place.

sthomps3• 16 years ago

Thank you so much for those kind words, I really appreciate it.

sz• 16 years ago

Not exactly original, but well written.

And the choice of words in the title is irrelevant! It doesn't even make sense to argue about the "power" of a word, without a useful definition of power. So don't!

The discussion so far falls squarely under http://sealedabstract.com/rants/why-i-stopped-reading-hn/

sahillavingia• 16 years ago

This is going to be heavily debated, of course, but mine is: thanks.

I live for when people say thanks.

sthomps3• 16 years ago

This is a very good point. Thanks is one of the most underrated words we have. So few people understand how much impact a simple word like that can have.

greenlblue• 16 years ago

A really long winded and melodramatic way of saying how differences make individuals unique and special and how empathy is a good thing.

danilocampos• 16 years ago

True enough. Yet, in the end, it's inarguable that these truths are taken for granted. Absent the provided evidence, would we even consider them?

annajohnson• 16 years ago

Funny, I thought I was about to get a lesson in what words I should be using in our advertising copy. Was the most powerful word 'free' or 'you' or 'sex' or something else? Oh, and then I re-read the article title: 'perspective' and then the article itself. I guess I approached the article with my own very skewed perspective...

lionhearted• 16 years ago

I'm in Saigon right now. This morning I had breakfast with an older guy who is working to stop trafficking and AIDS in Cambodia. Three weeks ago or so, I was walking through the slums of Saigon - literally, no exaggerating, dangerous very poor slums. They were past the train tracks by the canal, if you know the city.

> Growing up in the Western world, most of us are used to the luxuries that we receive on a daily basis. And no matter how hard we try, we still take these things for granted. If we truly appreciated what we had, each and every one of us would wake up and start jumping up and down because we are living with shelter, have instant access to electricity and can eat anything we choose.

This is indeed true, but people often don't ask the question - "Why?" Or, if they do, they come to the wrong answers. Why? Why do we have shelter, electricity, and food? Why do we have technology and all these amazing things?

Last week, I committed to giving 10% of my income to charity henceforth forever. I figure it's a good thing to do. I'm researching starting my own charity, hence the discussion I had this morning. I'm aware that we're lucky. And my question becomes - "Why?" "We're so lucky" - yes, we are. Now, let's figure it out. "Why are we so lucky?"

I thought about this, and I looked into it.

And the answer is, we're lucky and we have all these wonderful things because someone worked to build it. Our ancestors, our family and countrymen typically, if you live in the Western world. By and large, everything you use, you get to use as the result of someone's effort. I say this, because I see a lot of charity going about things the wrong way. They give a man a fish, instead of teaching him to fish. Whenever I see the, "We're so lucky..." line of writing, first I completely agree and I'm so incredibly grateful for all the amazing things we have. Second, I'm amazed at the people who built them and sacrificed, and I want to build and sacrifice for the future. Somehow, a lot of people feel guilty when they read something about how good they have it - don't! Feel strong, feel good. You have these things because hard work was paid forwards to you. Do the same for others. No guilt - guilt is crippling, guilt ruins your thinking and emotions, guilt ruins your rationality. Feel strong, feel proud, be grateful to the builders who came before you, and build as well to help others. This is the way forwards.

buro9• 16 years ago

> Last week, I committed to giving 10% of my income to charity henceforth forever.

I've been doing this for about 3 years now and not once have I found myself regretting it or unable to afford anything that I want.

I was originally inspired by some Muslim co-workers who told me about the compulsory charity that Islam prescribes for them, and the voluntary charity that they then make on top of it. 2.5% is compulsory for all Muslims, and then most top up to 10% as the voluntary portion is their way to give what God gave to them and by doing so show appreciation for what they have. This happens regardless of how much or little people earn.

Now, I am not religious by any definition, but I was embarrassed and ashamed at how most of my friends and especially myself were not really giving much at all. And I also felt that I could also appreciate what I have by giving some of it away.

Somewhere in an Orwell book I recall reading a bit where Orwell tried to tip a taxi driver a large amount. The taxi driver refused, "I will still be poor tomorrow". That 10%, I don't need it... that alone isn't the definition of rich that I use. Even a bonus once a year won't make me as happy as just working on things I am interested in. So it seems clear to me that I have more to gain by helping others less fortunate with those things than I do.

hackoder• 16 years ago

I started doing the same as soon as I started working.

Something else that I recommend: Bump this up by 5% every few months and see how it works out. We can often get by with so little (especially people like me who have lived the miserly university life) and we can actually be /happy/ with it, that it just does not make sense to hold back.

I also like the idea of dedicated goals: For e.g. sponsor x children, feed x families etc. This helps solve the problem in manageable chunks and is easier for others to understand. (i.e. if every person helped x other people, we'd get rid of poverty/hunger).

Avshalom• 16 years ago

Out of curiosity two questions:

1. Are you focusing on foreign or domestic charities (or just playing it by ear)?

2. Settled on anything yet?

qixxiq• 16 years ago

everything you use, you get to use as the result of someone's effort

While it seems most of HN would agree with our opinion, you also need to keep in mind most of it came from a combination of work, and the enslaving of another people. Should you not feel guilty for the people your ancestors screwed over to get you into the position you are in today?

COP• 16 years ago

Very good post. It very much reminded me the leadership course I participated this summer (http://ssrn.com/abstract=1392406), in which they distinguished the difference between Transformative Learning and Informative Learning.

Informative learning adds to our current bucket of knowledge.

Transformative learning examines the buckets themselves – our worldview and our various frames of reference relevant to this aspect or that aspect of what we are studying.

While both learning are valuable. Maybe our current education system focus too much on the latter. It might be good to have more Transformative Learning to facilitate shifting of Worldview and Frames of Reference in school.

KentHealy• 16 years ago

Very good article. Well written. The idea is definitely one to consider when interacting with others. Without it, common ground is hard to find. His quote, "Every single action that you take determines your world. And that is why perspective is so important to consider. We co-exist with billions of other people that live in their own worlds..." is so true.

Deskie• 16 years ago

I know too many people who need to grasp this concept. I will be passing this on for sure

The Most Powerful Word In The Human Vocabulary: Perspective

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