Third-order Effects
In the early 1440s, German craftsman Johannes Gutenberg introduced the printing press which revolutionized the way books were produced. Prior to this invention, books were extremely expensive to produce and only available for the elite. With the printing press, that changed. Books could be produced much more quickly and at a much lower cost. This had the first-order effect of making them more widely available to people, which, in turn, led to a second-order effect – an explosion of knowledge and ideas. One of the people who was influenced by this new availability of knowledge was Martin Luther. He read a copy of the Bible for himself and had a revelation that people could connect with God through faith alone, without needing to rely on middlemen or the infrastructure of the Church. The idea that people could acquire knowledge and understanding without gatekeepers was a natural extension of this concept. With books more widely available, people could acquire their own personal copies and interpret the meaning for themselves. This also meant that people from all walks of life could access specialized information about new technologies, business strategies, and financial opportunities, which ultimately had the third-order effect of driving innovation and economic growth, first in Europe, then to the rest of the world.
Austrian Wills
Sigmund Freud, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Viktor Frankl were all prominent figures in the fields of psychology and philosophy who lived in Vienna, Austria at some point in their lives. They were all interested in human nature and wrote extensively about the motivating forces powering human drives. Freud was a proponent of the Will-to-Pleasure perspective which suggests that people are driven by the need to maximize pleasure and minimize pain in their lives. Nietzsche, on the other hand, posited Will-to-Power approach where people are driven by the need to overcome obstacles and be in control of their lives; Frankl, for his part, came from the Will-to-Meaning perspective where people are driven by the need to make meaning out of their different circumstances. Most people are driven by a combination of the three wills: Will-to-Pleasure, Will-to-Power, Will-to-Meaning
Whorf’s Hypothesis
In his now classic 1940 journal article, Science and linguistics, Benjamin Lee Whorf proposed the controversial position that the way we think about the world is influenced by our language.
As humans, we like to hold ourselves up as rational beings that have used the power of intellect to bring nature to its knees. We cite the examples of Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein – the great men of science whose elegant mathematical formulas form the foundations upon which our present understanding of the physical world is built.
Yet, we take for granted the role that the language they spoke played on the way they thought.
For instance, in English, sentences take the form of actor-action. So, we say, ‘The boy is running’ or ‘Lightning is striking’. In contrast, in Hopi, a language spoken by a Native Indian tribe in North America, sentences take the form of action duration. Therefore, instead of saying ‘The boy is running’, the Hopi people will say ‘Running’, and instead of saying ‘Lightning is striking’, they will simply say ‘Lightning’.
This slight distinction in language implies that to those who speak English, an action can never occur in isolation – there must always be an actor responsible for causing the action. In contrast, the Hopi are satisfied with actions without a cause.
The same event occurring in the world evokes a reaction in the observer that is dependent on the language he/she thinks in!
Digging for Gold
Proverbs 21:5 says, “The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness, but everyone that is hasty only to want”
In the original Hebrew text, the word translated “diligent” implies the continual act of mining for gold or digging a trench.
No one digs for gold by striking the topsoil once with a shovel before giving up.
Yet, when we think, we don’t hold our thoughts and spiritual impressions long enough for them to take root.
The Bible promises that if you’re diligent with the thoughts that God impresses upon your heart in the same manner a man mining for gold continues to digs, you will lead a fulfilling life.
Consider this: Perhaps the reason you’re facing chaos in your life is because you’re too hasty in thought – refusing to consider a thought long enough before jumping into your next bout of busyness and distraction.
