Natural ability. I find that an interesting -- and mostly true -- concept. There are skills that some people just seem to be "naturals" at. A few off the top of my head (in alphabetical order just for the fun)...
art
budgets
crafts
faith
gardening
hosting
kindness
making speeches
math
music
parenting
small talk
sports
telling jokes
tolerance to blood and guts
willpower
volunteering
The list could probably go on and on and be as long in number as there are people. Making me postulate that everyone is a natural at SOMETHING. I'm curious ... what are you a natural at?
That's not to say one can't do things that don't come easy or "naturally". With interest, time and dedication, I think we can gain skills and nurture talents for the things we truly care about.
(Do we always find that natural something? Like could one of my kids be a real talent for blowing poison darts but we'd never know because that's just not something we do in our family? Musings for another post to my blog!)
And some people seem to be naturals at nearly everything. They walk into new situations and tasks as if they've been doing them forever. I hate them. Well ... "hate" may be too strong. I'm just jealous and sour grapey. Not something I'm proud of but that's a fact jack.
I think I've realized that I'm a semi-natural at being a devil's advocate. Only semi because my natural avoidance of confrontation keeps me from arguments MOST of the time. Also, I'm the epitome of wishy-washy. I can see most sides of an argument but am never sure which one is the "best."
However, my compulsion to push an opposing viewpoint comes on strong if I perceive someone has an extreme this-is-the-right-only-answer-and-if-you-question-it-you're-a-dummy attitude. That turns on my inner devil.
Mostly I devil my family. (As my mom, uncle JH and nephew DJG know all too well, I fear.) But a couple of months ago, at CAG's parent-teacher conferences, I was at my semi-devil best (or worst, depending).
CAG's Physics teacher bugs her a lot. And from her description of him, I can see why. He seems to have what my college Communication class defined as "allness."
Allness, according to the online Interpersonal Communication Book by Joseph A. DeVito, is the tendency to describe the world in extreme terms that imply one knows all or is saying all there is to say. (http://wps.ablongman.com/ab_devito_intrprsnl_10/9/2355/603126.cw/index.html%20parentloc)
Ooooo. Allness just begs for a little prodding. You can probably guess what happened at my conference. He tickled my devil's advocate. Can you blame me?
(Surprisingly, my behavior made CAG happy rather than embarrassed. She was glad SHE didn't have to talk to him at the conference, I think.)
In my next post, I'll describe the devilish conversation with the PHYSICS TEACHER (perhaps with the tiniest bit of embellishment). I don't think you'll be embarrassed either.
(Do we always find that natural something? Like could one of my kids be a real talent for blowing poison darts but we'd never know because that's just not something we do in our family? Musings for another post to my blog!)
And some people seem to be naturals at nearly everything. They walk into new situations and tasks as if they've been doing them forever. I hate them. Well ... "hate" may be too strong. I'm just jealous and sour grapey. Not something I'm proud of but that's a fact jack.
I think I've realized that I'm a semi-natural at being a devil's advocate. Only semi because my natural avoidance of confrontation keeps me from arguments MOST of the time. Also, I'm the epitome of wishy-washy. I can see most sides of an argument but am never sure which one is the "best."
However, my compulsion to push an opposing viewpoint comes on strong if I perceive someone has an extreme this-is-the-right-only-answer-and-if-you-question-it-you're-a-dummy attitude. That turns on my inner devil.
Mostly I devil my family. (As my mom, uncle JH and nephew DJG know all too well, I fear.) But a couple of months ago, at CAG's parent-teacher conferences, I was at my semi-devil best (or worst, depending).
CAG's Physics teacher bugs her a lot. And from her description of him, I can see why. He seems to have what my college Communication class defined as "allness."
Allness, according to the online Interpersonal Communication Book by Joseph A. DeVito, is the tendency to describe the world in extreme terms that imply one knows all or is saying all there is to say. (http://wps.ablongman.com/ab_devito_intrprsnl_10/9/2355/603126.cw/index.html%20parentloc)
Ooooo. Allness just begs for a little prodding. You can probably guess what happened at my conference. He tickled my devil's advocate. Can you blame me?
(Surprisingly, my behavior made CAG happy rather than embarrassed. She was glad SHE didn't have to talk to him at the conference, I think.)
In my next post, I'll describe the devilish conversation with the PHYSICS TEACHER (perhaps with the tiniest bit of embellishment). I don't think you'll be embarrassed either.
Ha. I can imagine. Nice to get a shout out!
ReplyDeleteSocrates was the one who could claim to be the wisest man because he alone knew that he knew nothing. His way of getting out of problems was his theory of forms, which asserted that all things are mere images of a more real plain of ideal forms. Of course, people didn't like him poking all those holes in their reality, so, much like troublemakers today who poke holes in things (e.g., Chinese dissidents), the people just had him up and offed. Perhaps the reason people don't like lawyers is because they are so skilled in the Socratic method...
Of course physicists are the opposite. Their goal is to create a unified theory of everything--all actions can be reduced to mathematical models if we search hard enough. We don't execute physicists much though any more.