“The universal aptitude for ineptitude makes any human accomplishment an incredible miracle.” Col. John Stapp
My cousin tells the story of a South American who had recently moved to Atlanta to work at her company. He called in one day, having gotten lost while driving around the city (likely on one of the 71 streets in Atlanta with a variant of “Peachtree” in its name). My cousin asked him to read off the nearest street signs, to which he replied: “I am at the corner of ‘Dead End’ and ‘One Way’.”
While this was an honest mistake made by any motorist faced with unfamiliar signage in foreign land, it points to the far-too-frequent situation where the facts of the matter are misinterpreted and the misinterpretations are held to be true. If you look closely, you’ll see that this happens more often than you might imagine.
For example, a cursory review of the history of medicine reveals many points in which the dangers of things long considered safe and effective are exposed to be unsafe or even harmful or when entire theories are discarded in favor of new models which more closely approximate the truth of the matter. This is almost a weekly occurrence if you follow the medical and health news. The most recent example can be found in relation to the recognition over the dangerous side-effects of overtreatment.
The rapprochement of conventional wisdom and truth is not always met with open arms. For starters, people don’t like to admit that they are wrong. They also tend to be obsessive about maintaining continuity, a disorder which I suppose began with the earliest human departures from a life governed by truth. Add to that the inertia which comes when immense personal and corporate investments are at stake and you have a recipe for well, the world we have today.
One of my professional goals is to locate our corporate headquarters at the intersection of ‘Conventional Wisdom’ and ‘Common Sense.’ Moreover, it is my hope that my team continues to refine its ability to discover and map out the intersections of conventional wisdom and common sense, like the great explorer’s of old who risked life and limb to advance human understanding and capability.
Col. John Stapp, who once held the title of being ‘the fastest man on earth’, was one such explorer. One of his life goals was to improve automobile safety and he eventually ended up proving, using his own body as a test subject, that the human body could survive g-forces far beyond what conventional wisdom held (18 g’s). His own personal record was 46.2 g’s…a remarkable proving that required a significant adjustment to the limit commonly held to be true.
Stapp suffered repeated injuries from his rocket sled experiments, including broken limbs, broken ribs, detached retina and other traumas that affected his health later in life, but I am sure he would do it all over again knowing that his life was spent nudging those whose lives he touched (whether they were aware of it or not) a little closer to the truth. Though few people know it, Col. Stapp’s contributions to science made air and road travel much safer than they once were.
We, as a people, have lived at the intersection of ‘Dead End’ and ‘One Way’ for far too long. It is high time that we awaken ourselves and our fellows out of the comfortable slumber we’ve convinced ourselves is okay so that we can begin to live a truly examined life.
Gregory Hake 
Great post and the article was scary but sadly I’ve had my own experience with this. One thing I have decided to ban from my health care decision making process are the words, ” This is the standard treatment procedure for this.” I now make my decisions based on my personal health history NOT the average person or the standard response. I’ve realized only I can give away my participation in these decisions. I ask questions, do my research and weigh my options then I decide on what my treatment will be. If my doctor wouldn’t accept my participation I’ve moved on and found a doctor that would. They are out there.
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Great points to consider for all of us to find that intersection of conventional wisdom and common sense. Here that intersection would expand into greater state of communion and productive function. Your blog is really calling for more than our own personal refinement. It is a call to find our collective state of oneness and continual integrated creative release.
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I know nothing about having or owning a business, as I have never experienced that, but I think there is a connection between business and the humans involved in them, or with them. What I have realized within my own self, is that I do not meet things in an open frame, but filter everything through what I regard as my own past experiences. My old judgements, and thoughts about what is right and wrong, good or bad, etc. have become a prison. My challenge for my own self, is how to break free of this thinking and all of the emotions that it carries. I desire to become empty of all preconceived ideas, but do not know how to bring that about. I believe only by doing this, will I be able to see the “truth” of this moment.
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Sounds like a dangerous intersection! Great points about how to get out of it.
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Love this!
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We need people who like Col. Strapp, who are willing to put their money where their mouth is when they see that change is needed. I would say that many, if not most people you ask would say that there are many things in our world that could be changed for the better, but how many are willing to start with themselves? If you aren’t willing to start there it is all nonsense anyway, as that is the only place you really can start.
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Yours is a worthy cause as far too often common sense gets tossed out the window in favor of other uses of intelligence. The motive has to be truth and understanding, where if other stronger influences exist, the ego will warp reality to fit whatever it wants to believe.
One way to look at this would be to see how effective and efficient are the solutions you come up with, and you have to be really honest with yourself. You must let go of the tendency to explain away or rationalize your shortcomings. The principle of Occam’s razor is a good starting point where in essence it states that the simplest possible solution tends to be the best one. More specifically, it is a principle urging one to select from among competing hypotheses that which makes the fewest assumptions. I love this because it speaks of economy and parsimony, and to me, those two qualities are highly underrated and undervalued in every day life. Nature does not waste – why should we?
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That is a painfully true opening quote. I appreciate the story of Col. Strapp. He obviously had a larger vision which he was willing to release his own personal comfort for, to the benefit of us all. A great example!
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I enjoyed this post, especially the link to the article on over treatment.
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