Observations and Games

My first sentence as a baby was the question “How?”. I have grown up NEEDING to know. Chasing answers like butterflies has been second nature. My entire life has been “Making it Happen” instead of “I wonder what may happen?” OR "Wow look at what is happening?".

Collecting books, opinions, stories, evidence, people and experiences, my obsession with knowledge has transformed from a need to a choice to a black hole of possibilities. Being a raging Life Voyeur and throwing discussion subjects in the air and watching dinner party guests embrace the opinion challenge is my way of appreciating this ancient pattern of mine and keeping black holes open instead of closed off in one person’s certainty. I don’t wish to delete my pattern of “wanting to know”. I choose merely to value it for what it is and remain open to everyone’s “story”.

In my “story”, my observations have led me to a conclusion that the mythology of us, the stories we choose to live, remain – regardless of how much knowledge we gain, “work” on ourselves, develop, train, educate or articulate.

My son is a gifted composer. No matter what style, genre, lyric or production used, he seems to be writing the same song.
My friend is an incredible artist – always painting the same picture.
I am consistently writing the one story in several different forms, characters, locations and plots.
Is this the driving force behind all that we do - our purpose, our myth and ultimately our brand?

Linking results of scientific experiments where we define a truth, form a belief, measure against a benchmark, gather information, characterise, identify, develop hypothesis, analyse and interpret and draw conclusions, apply principles via test and trial, confirm, evaluate and iterate, publish, obtain peer review and ultimately define a truth – isn’t this all filtered via the “story” of us? We examine what lies underneath our logic, our belief, our filtering system.

What underpins what?
How do we demarcate?
How do we know what we know?
What impact does our culture have on the way we use language make assumptions, join the dots and communicate?
What impact does our community have on the way we use language make assumptions, join the dots and communicate?
What impact do our beliefs have on the way we use language make assumptions, join the dots and communicate?

If I link my “story” to research, utilise intelligent articulation of language, told via the value system of my target market, sold in a solid and certain confident manner, isn’t it possible to provide evidence for my “story” in whatever form I choose? Religion, culture, brand, business, philosophy or science?

For example what if I observe behaviour based upon a benchmark that I have created – more often than not as part of my bio survival responses in my childhood. Pleasure = Good. Pain = Bad. Where does the benchmark originate? Parents, school, TV, Movies, Books, Religion – any source which I have deemed to be my authority. Comparison of my observation is made against this benchmark and measured based on a set of criteria (that I have also typically created in my childhood).

Examples of this behaviour are established within this observation, and I identify behavioural characteristics, creating definitions according to these benchmarks. A hypothesis is developed based on this data and predictions are prepared accordingly. My various archetypes play and experiment, test and trial these behaviours as I iterate and repeat patterns creating cycles and structures for my behaviour. As a consequence confirmations of this behaviour are made – either by myself or from the reflections of the people in my life (or well paid professionals), I begin to identify myself with this little scientific experiment that I have so expertly fashioned and created and loop this little pattern again and again, reiterating and reinforcing a definition of a so called “truth.”

In short, I don’t know anything with certainty. And I’m ok with that! I love playing the game of discovery and possibility though – that’s a slightly different game. It’s fun and liberating NOT to close myself off to one opinion. The paradox of course is that in writing all the above words, I have certainty, know much and have opinions about having not one opinion yet still know nothing - especially WHO I REALLY AM.

And truly - does it really matter?