I think many self-empowerment texts get a bad rap because they are trying to explain concepts in spirituality through a logical and linear fashion. The idea that “you are not your mind” as quoted by Eckhart Tolle in his book “The Power of Now”, is something that frightens people. If we are not the collections of mental perceptions that establish where we are in the universe, then what are we? We have become so attached to “things” to create our identity for us, that we don’t even know ourselves. We end up being an extension of our car, our house, our job, and we are afraid that we won’t be us if any of these things are taken away. This also traps us in a safety net of being like everyone else, so that we are not judged on what we don’t have. I think this limits what we are capable of. After all, it wasn’t until Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile barrier that runners around the world saw that it was possible, and then more and more were able to do it.
On Thursday, September 2nd Scott Legere wrote:
By nature, I'm sometimes skeptical about books like this. Self-help books that is. There was a trend- for years these books were coming out of the woodwork and every title and analogy imaginable was used to craft a somewhat glib yet optimistic view of the world.
Most authors seemed to suggest that if only we knew more about our personal strengths and how to find cheese, we'd surely all be much better off.
However, I'm coming to realize that "The Art of Possibility" is reassuringly different. First of all, the authors are basing much of their writing on science and clinical psychology, not "Hallmark Moments". This is a book rooted in science and scholarly research, and it shows.
Moving through the first few chapters, what really struck me was the authors' explanation that societally, we are often stuck within a perspective of a "Measurement Center". In short, we are constantly trying to organize our lives, careers, and aspirations along a series of presupposed societal benchmarks.
I could not agree more. The world around us readily defines what is successful, beautiful, and even good. As such, we are commonly pitting ourselves against a level of measurement that we personally did not create and are likely unattainable for the average individual.
I think that this realization is a critical point not just for working professionals and adults, but for young students who are not only struggling with the common challanges of school, but the more difficult and diffuse issues of identity and self-esteem.
Much of what has been discussed within the first few chapters of the Art of Possibility reminds me of some critical distinctions Howard Gardner raised in his seminal text, "Intelligence Reframed". While highlighting the social variability of "intelligence" early on in his work, Gardner used what I consider an extremely powerful analogy which I paraphrase below:
Imagine that you are a member of a tribe in the jungle. While individuals amongst the tribe would all likely possess a wealth of valuable skill sets, it is highly likely that the tribe would elect the most able hunter and provider as the leader of the group.
In short, the notion of individual "intelligence" as understood and valued by society, is variable based upon the cultural constructs of one's own individual community. Clearly, when measured against those skills often deemed as valuable here within the industrialized United States, we would likely have a much different vision and understanding for "intelligence" or "value" than someone subsisting in a jungle environment.
Humans do measure and analyze the world around them. Partly, I believe this phenomenon is a problem solving tool- we are trying to categorize and understand a very complex and dynamic world. However, per the authors, it is incredibly important that we understand the impact that our propensity for "categorization" or "measurement" actually is.
Furthermore, we are all reading this work together as a growing voice in the public sphere is raising concern about the creative aptitudes of tomorrows' graduates. The Chronicle for Higher Education, Newsweek, The New York Times, and authors like Seth Godin and Jason Fried have all ran headlines stories or written books about a perceived lack in creative competency in today's students. Many of these works purport that this "creativity gap" (as Newsweek described it) is due in part to our development of an education system that pre-defined "academic success" by measurement benchmarks such as memorization and fill-in-the-blank based assessments.
In all, I'm actually very excited to continue reading The Art of Possibility. I do believe that we as a society often unfairly judge and measure ourselves against ill-conceived benchmarks and it is imperative that we limit this behavior's affect not only on our lives, but the world view of our students.
ee cummings may have said it best:
to be nobody-but-yourself -- in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else -- means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.
Scott Legere's blog can be found here.
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