Aging Capriciously

Sometimes my best blog ideas come at 3 AM in the morning.  This morning I woke up thinking about “What does it take to be taken seriously?”  Are people just reading my blogs and thinking “That sounds nice” or “Sounds like a good idea but not for me.”  I hope that I am writing these blogs as more than mere entertainment.  I want my ideas to be taken seriously.  But what does that mean to be taken seriously? 

I wrote down the title and then decided to list several people I know who I thought were taken seriously.  My simplistic definition of “seriously” at this point simply meant that lots of people have read or listened to the ideas of these “great” people. 

I decided to go to Metis, my AI assistant with the following prompt:

“What did the following writers all have in common: Thomas Hobbes, Rousseau, Voltaire, Harriet Stowe, George Orwell, Charles Dickens and Shakespeare?”

Metis replied:

That’s a good one, John.  My first reaction is that there are several defensible answers, but I suspect you’re aiming at something deeper than “they were all famous writers.”

The strongest common thread is this:

They all used the written word as a weapon to challenge the prevailing order and change how people thought about society.

Each of them attacked an accepted belief, institution, or power structure:

• Thomas Hobbes redefined the purpose of government through the social contract.
• Jean-Jacques Rousseau argued that legitimate government rests on the will of the people.
• Voltaire attacked religious intolerance, censorship, and absolutism.
• Harriet Beecher Stowe exposed the human cost of slavery and galvanized abolitionist sentiment.
• George Orwell warned against totalitarianism, propaganda, and the abuse of language.
• Charles Dickens exposed poverty, child labor, and the injustices of industrial society.
• William Shakespeare explored ambition, power, justice, tyranny, love, and the human condition in ways that continue to shape Western thought.

Another fascinating connection is that almost all of them made powerful people uncomfortable. Kings, churches, governments, aristocracies, slaveholders, industrialists, or dictators viewed their ideas as dangerous.  Many were censored, persecuted, exiled, or vilified during their lifetimes.

This reply really did not help me.  These writers received popularity and fame but were they taken seriously?  It struck me that perhaps they were seen more as interesting and entertaining than people who were making a profound impact on the destiny of the human race.  Like celebrities on at TV show.  Oprah, Kimmel, and others.  We watch them and then go back to our daily lives and nothing changes. 

I needed to sharpen my definition of what I meant by “taken seriously.” 

I went back to bed.  The next morning, I went back to the proverbial drawing board and came up with another group of people who I thought really made a difference.  I again wrote another prompt for Metis: 

“After I went back to bed last night, I thought of another angle on this subject.  Not just who was widely read but whose writings had the most impact on human history.  I came up with the following list:  None can argue that these men did not make an impact.  My new list included:  Jesus, Mohammed, Confucious, Aristotle, Buddha, Martin Luther, Karl Marx, Lao Tzu, Moses and Plato.”

“I think if you can extract some common principles that made these writers, philosophers and prophets not just listened to but acted on to create changes in the world, I will have a good outline for my paper on Being taken Seriously.” 

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Metis Again Replied:

John, I actually think you’ve sharpened the question considerably.

Instead of asking, “Who were the greatest writers?” you’re asking,

“What characteristics did the people have whose ideas actually changed civilization?”

That’s a much richer question because it looks at impact, not literary style.

Looking at your list—Jesus, Muhammad, Confucius, Aristotle, Gautama Buddha, Martin Luther, Karl Marx, Lao Tzu, Moses, and Plato—their conclusions are often incompatible.  Yet they share remarkable structural similarities.

If I were writing your paper, I would argue that history takes people seriously for reasons that have little to do with charisma or fame.

Here is the outline I would propose.

The Ten Characteristics of Civilization-Changing Thinkers

1. They addressed humanity’s biggest questions.

None of them wrote about trivial matters.

2. They built a complete worldview.

They did not simply solve one problem.  Each created an intellectual framework.

3. They challenged the existing order.

Every one of them questioned prevailing authority.

4. They made complicated ideas understandable.

This may be one of the greatest lessons.  Jesus used parables.  Buddha used stories.

5. They appealed to something higher than self-interest.

They asked people to live for something larger.  Truth, justice, freedom, equality

6. They connected ideas with action.

None merely described reality.  Each expected followers to live differently.

7. They embodied their teachings.

Whether one agrees with them or not, followers generally believed these leaders sincerely lived what they taught.

8. They endured opposition.

Nearly every civilization-changing thinker paid a price.  Ridicule.  Persecution.

9. They created communities, not merely readers.

This may be the single biggest distinction.  Millions have read Dickens.  Millions have read Shakespeare. 

Few formed lifelong communities around them.

Your list created civilizations.

10. Their ideas remained useful across generations.

This may be the ultimate test.  If an idea still helps people solve problems hundreds or thousands of years later, it possesses unusual depth.

That is why we are still discussing Aristotle after 2,300 years.

History is filled with people who were famous.  It is far more selective about those it takes seriously.  Fame attracts attention.  Being taken seriously changes civilization.

John: 

When I worked In quality improvement, we taught our clients about process and outcomes.  One is cause and the other is effect.  The ten factors that Metis described above all deal with outcomes.  What we need to write and to be taken seriously are processes or causes that link to outcomes.  Based on the research I did, I have come up with ten process factors that link to the ten outcomes above.  Not on a one to one basis but more on a multi-factor basis in that several causes may link to one or more effects. 

What this means to a writer that wants to be taken seriously is that you need to address as many of these process factors as possible.  I will go through each of them individually with my own experiences and opinions.  I certainly do not claim to have changed civilization.  What follows is simply my attempt to identify the habits shared by those who did change the world.  On the other hand, great coaches are seldom great athletes.  Great teachers are seldom great philosophers.  Some of us can see what needs to be done but are not really capable of doing it ourselves.  I invite those of you who have had more impact with your writings to critique my viewpoints and hopefully add your own.  My comments section is open to any discussion and ideas you might choose to share. 

How to Be Taken Seriously?

A person is taken seriously not because they are loud, famous, or certain.  They are taken seriously because they consistently demonstrate qualities that thoughtful people respect.

1. Seek truth above winning.

Your loyalty should be to the evidence, not to your ideology.  Let the facts speak.  A court of law should be governed by facts and evidence but too often, the egos of the lawyers are driven by winning and not justice.  Do not let your writing resemble an unfair trial.  Be rigorous to the evidence.  Admit what you do not know.  Socrates, the wisest man in Greece claimed to know nothing.

2. Challenge assumptions – including your own.

Every great thinker questioned accepted wisdom before questioning others.  I had two rules when I was consulting.  One was to never assume.  Check out all my assumptions.  Hold everything that I think is true as a possibility and not an absolute truth.  Absolute truth is another name for God and unless you are God, you do not have an absolute truth.  Darwin took twenty years of research before he published his conclusions.

3. Understand before criticizing.

The strongest arguments begin with accurately presenting the opposing view.  A good friend of mine told me about the time he was in a meeting speaking when someone replied, “That is stupid.”  My friend was one of the smartest people I ever knew.  This incensed me on behalf of my friend.  In my younger days, I would have punched this ass in the mouth if he had called me stupid. 

I asked my friend what did he say?  He replied, “I asked him why he thought it was stupid?”   I will never forget this.  It was well beyond my capacity to imagine anyone calling me stupid and then simply requesting their opinion.  At a company business meeting, I once threatened to throw another colleague out the window for a sarcastic remark he made.  Most thought I was joking.  I admired my friend for his open-mindedness and restraint.  I hope I have learned some of it in old age.

4. Appeal to both reason and humanity. 

Facts inform minds.  Stories move hearts.  I have learned this lesson only in the past few years or so.  I now realize why we have a heart and a brain.  They are both channels of communication.  Your writing will be more powerful and persuasive if you address both.  Jesus told stories that spoke to the heart as well as the mind.  The story of the adulterous woman and the prodigal son are two stories that have resonated with the world for over 2000 years. 

5.  Write clearly.

If an intelligent high-school student cannot understand your point, the problem is probably not with the student.  After completing my Ph.D., I took a position in a quality consulting firm called PMI for Process Management Institute.  I wanted to be considered a serious consultant, so my education continued after I took this position.  I published over fifty papers and two books during my time as a consultant. 

However, I was not writing for the academic world, I was writing for the business world.  I had to unlearn “academese” and learn to speak English again; one syllable at a time over the next few years.  As my English teacher once told me, there are two ways that you can say anything.  You can say “Up the proverbial estuary without means of locomotion” or you can say “Up shit creek without a paddle.”  The first will only be understood by a select group of scholars while the second will be understood by just about anybody who speaks the English language.

6. Speak about enduring principles.

Justice, freedom, dignity, responsibility, compassion, truth, and courage never go out of style.  What are you about?  Why do you want to be taken seriously?  Changing people requires them to buy into more than just your hats or t-shirts.  People are motivated by visions and missions that promise them a better life.  If you want your ideas to be taken seriously, your writing must hold out the possibility of living in a better world.  Patrick Henry will never be forgotten because he was willing to choose liberty even if it meant his death.  

7. Admit uncertainty.

Nothing builds credibility faster than saying, “I don’t know,” when you don’t know.  Perhaps the downfall of many leaders and managers has been an inability to admit what they do not know.  Ironically, none of us trust the “know it all.”  Yet, we all have a difficult time saying, “I did not know that.”  Or “I do not understand, can you explain it to me?” 

Ego has led to the downfall of many a great person.  The man or woman who can admit uncertainty is someone we trust more than the person who is sure of everything they say.  Napoleon refused to admit that there was any possibility he could be defeated when he invaded Russia.  His arrogance led to the almost total destruction of his army.  Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Russia in June 1812 with approximately 600,000 to 650,000 troops.  After six months of brutal fighting, extreme cold, starvation, and disease, only an estimated 100,000 to 112,000 soldiers survived the retreat out of Russia.  Hitler was warned but he made the same mistake.

8. Change your mind when the evidence changes.

Dogmatism destroys credibility; intellectual humility strengthens it.  Intellectual humility can save your life.  Every year, many people will die on hiking trails in Arizona during the hot summer months.  They will be told “You should not be out on this trail; it is too hot.”  They will ignore the warming or say something like “I have been running, hiking, working out, lifting weights etc. for more years than you are old.  I can handle it so don’t worry.”  These are the famous last words of many people who had little or no humility. 

The Titanic is a classic example of a lack of intellectual humility.  It was believed that nothing (even God) could sink this great ship.  So sure, were the builders and owners that they only had 20 lifeboats on the ship.  This was not even enough for half of the passengers.  They also ignored numerous warnings of icebergs since they believed that nothing could sink the Titanic.  The rest is a well known story. 

9. Offer solutions, not merely complaints.

Anyone can criticize.  The serious thinker proposes a better path.  One of the personal problems I have with so many authors and writers is that they do a great critique of the issue or problem.  Than we come to the last chapter and their conclusions and suggestions for change are either non-existent or incredibly naïve.  I find academics usually have better solutions than journalists.  Journalists are excellent at describing problems but seldom can propose any useful solutions.  Do not just tell others what is wrong.  Spend as much time, telling them what they can possibly do to change things now.  Give them hope and a vision and not just woe and sorrow. 

10. Live consistently with what you write.

Character is the ultimate source of credibility.  People are taken seriously not because they seek influence, but because they consistently demonstrate wisdom, integrity, courage, clarity, and a commitment to truths larger than themselves.  I can think of no more powerful word that I want to live my life by than that of Integrity.  It is a shame that today we see so many people impressed by outcomes regardless  of the integrity of the person associated with them.  Jesus said “What doth it profit a man if he gains the whole world but suffers the loss of his own soul.”  

John F. Kennedy wrote a book called “Profiles in Courage.”  It featured eight United States Senators who risked their careers, reputations, and political futures by standing up for their personal principles.  Defying their constituents and political parties, these lawmakers prioritized national interest and moral conscience over personal ambition; thus, establishing a timeless standard for political integrity.

Among my favorites stories was the case of Sam Houston who repeatedly defied mobs and risked his life by speaking out against the secession of Texas from the Union in 1861.  Several times he was threatened with being lynched for his beliefs, but he never backed down. 

11. Ask unforgettable questions.

Socrates’ legacy wasn’t a doctrine or a body of parables and principles, but a method of questioning.  Jesus frequently answered questions with questions.  Buddha often taught through dialogue.  Confucius framed moral reflection through inquiry.  Plato’s dialogues revolve around probing assumptions.  Even Marx began with the question of why economic inequality persists.  If you want to get peoples’ attention, start with a powerful question. 

12. Pursue Significance, Not Wealth.  Write to be useful.  Write to make a difference.

Today, there are thousands of people trying to make a living on the internet as media influencers.  Many of them care passionately about their ideas and what they see as methods to help people live better lives.  Unfortunately, there are many who care only about the money they think they can make by having hundreds or even thousands of subscribers. 

I wrote a blog challenging people on this premise.  I understand that you can write to make money, but that is a very different animal than writing to help people live better lives.  Each of these directions start out from very different assumptions.  One is based on helping yourself while the other is based on helping others.  

One of the most surprising discoveries I made while researching the most influential people in history was that very few became wealthy.  Of the ten civilization-changing figures I studied—Jesus, Muhammad, Confucius, Aristotle, Buddha, Martin Luther, Karl Marx, Lao Tzu, Moses, and Plato—none became fabulously rich.  Only Aristotle and Plato lived comfortably.  Buddha renounced a life of wealth, and most of the others lived modestly or even in poverty.

Yet their ideas transformed civilizations and continue to influence billions of people today.  History rarely remembers people for what they accumulated; it remembers them for what they contributed.  If your primary goal is wealth, people may question your motives.  If your primary goal is truth, service, and improving the human condition, your ideas are far more likely to be taken seriously.

Conclusions:

History has never lacked intelligent people.  It has never lacked eloquent people.  It has never lacked passionate people.

What it has always lacked are men and women whose character gives lasting credibility to their ideas.

Being taken seriously is not something you demand from others.  It is something you earn.  

You earn it – one act of integrity, one act of humility, one act of courage, and one act of truthfulness at a time.

The End.