Are ideas bulletproof?
We reside in an age of ideas sprouting up every nook and corner, and innovation is paving the way to the future. “A thought or suggestion as to a possible course of action” – is how Google defines an idea, something that has no origin but is the origin of all our actions, which completely negates causality or does it?
Decisions have a cause, which is our perception of a situation and leads to action. As Newton's Third Law Of Motion, also precisely states; "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction." To look at the entire process of decision making from this perspective, we can draw a conundrum that motivation is the key initiator of the process. Once motivated, we look for information that could help us understand or judge the situation, based on which we frame our personal decisions or take actions. In turn, these influence our behaviour and, eventually, our emotions, to further dictate what motivates us and what doesn’t. This closed-loop process once initiated, keeps looping all in itself. Now, various factors affect this process- rewards, incentives, feedback, reinforcement, biases, and, utter vitally, our brain. Everything from expectations to experience influences our decision-making, but.. Ever mused, "What initiates this process?", "What motivates us initially?"
David Hume, Scottish philosopher stated that "Humans divide everything, either into ideas or impressions, and beautifully differentiate between them in terms of liveliness." He made two claims- one, that “Ideas” are cloned from “Impressions,” and second, those impressions are livelier than the ideas derived from them. After all, a raw product always remains an important pre-requisite. These two claims completely nullify all arguments which support the thought process of ideas having no origin, no cause, but only effect. Hume further explains that ideas can have two origins- either memory or imagination. Memory conjures up ideas from our experiences while imagination plays with different ideas, combines them, and gives birth to new ideas.
According to Hume, ideas can be fantastical or factual, depending on how we envisage them, by our experiences, or by letting our imagination run wild. Reverting to the title now, we can ponder whether ideas are bulletproof or not. When I say, “Ideas are bulletproof”; I mean that ideas live on, even if the creator dies, provided the idea is communicated amongst people. But would this work if we look at this the way David Hume did. Yes, the ideas will be shared and will live on with the people, but would they be the same? Would the be carried further with the same natural effervescence they had been produced with, or would they lose their charm meanwhile?
Every individual has variant experiences, impressions, beliefs, and ideas. Any idea that originates in one mind can be shared with someone else, but how it is interpreted changes with people. So, in essence, it’s not the same idea. The idea that originated with you disappears with you. A distorted interpretation of the same lives on with the next, and it keeps getting distorted every time it is shared.
"Ideas are like a moth- they flick and flutter, yet hard to catch." All I would pen down with is, capture thy ideas before they escape into the zenith.
Ideas aren’t bulletproof, but your ideas live with you as long as you do.
Decisions have a cause, which is our perception of a situation and leads to action. As Newton's Third Law Of Motion, also precisely states; "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction." To look at the entire process of decision making from this perspective, we can draw a conundrum that motivation is the key initiator of the process. Once motivated, we look for information that could help us understand or judge the situation, based on which we frame our personal decisions or take actions. In turn, these influence our behaviour and, eventually, our emotions, to further dictate what motivates us and what doesn’t. This closed-loop process once initiated, keeps looping all in itself. Now, various factors affect this process- rewards, incentives, feedback, reinforcement, biases, and, utter vitally, our brain. Everything from expectations to experience influences our decision-making, but.. Ever mused, "What initiates this process?", "What motivates us initially?"
David Hume, Scottish philosopher stated that "Humans divide everything, either into ideas or impressions, and beautifully differentiate between them in terms of liveliness." He made two claims- one, that “Ideas” are cloned from “Impressions,” and second, those impressions are livelier than the ideas derived from them. After all, a raw product always remains an important pre-requisite. These two claims completely nullify all arguments which support the thought process of ideas having no origin, no cause, but only effect. Hume further explains that ideas can have two origins- either memory or imagination. Memory conjures up ideas from our experiences while imagination plays with different ideas, combines them, and gives birth to new ideas.
According to Hume, ideas can be fantastical or factual, depending on how we envisage them, by our experiences, or by letting our imagination run wild. Reverting to the title now, we can ponder whether ideas are bulletproof or not. When I say, “Ideas are bulletproof”; I mean that ideas live on, even if the creator dies, provided the idea is communicated amongst people. But would this work if we look at this the way David Hume did. Yes, the ideas will be shared and will live on with the people, but would they be the same? Would the be carried further with the same natural effervescence they had been produced with, or would they lose their charm meanwhile?
Every individual has variant experiences, impressions, beliefs, and ideas. Any idea that originates in one mind can be shared with someone else, but how it is interpreted changes with people. So, in essence, it’s not the same idea. The idea that originated with you disappears with you. A distorted interpretation of the same lives on with the next, and it keeps getting distorted every time it is shared.
"Ideas are like a moth- they flick and flutter, yet hard to catch." All I would pen down with is, capture thy ideas before they escape into the zenith.
Ideas aren’t bulletproof, but your ideas live with you as long as you do.
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