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Slow is Fast, Small is Big, Soft is Hard
The counter-intuitive relationship between aspiration, attitude, and achievement.
I used to teach philosophy classes at a community college — after working a full day at my 9–5 job. I would leave the office at 4:30, drive about an hour to the campus, and try not to bore a group of tired students to death while I droned on for almost 3 hours about (of all things) philosophy. I did this 2 days a week for 10 semesters. The pay was almost nonexistent, there were no benefits, and I loved it. It’s been a few years since I’ve done it, but I still kind of miss it.
In my Philosophy 101 course, I opened the very first class almost the same way every semester: I warned students that things are often not what they seem, and that in many cases the truth runs counter to what you might expect. That’s why it pays to not accept the received wisdom as gospel, to question the accepted best practices from time to time, and to ask a lot of questions. We end up finding that some of the most helpful pieces of advice we can receive are counter-intuitive — they fly in the face of what we assume as we make our way in the world.
There are 3 pieces of counter-intuitive truths that I have stumbled upon in my time. They are as follows:
- slow is fast, fast is slow
