You Can't Handle the Truth!

Much of the paradigms, ideologies and purported truths that we hold as fact are often mere opinions propagated by individuals who are passionate about their subjective truths and espouse it with such passion that it makes us feel like it should be true. Emotions roused by these individuals, who are often characterized as charismatic, have nothing to do with objective truth. Saying what you believe with passion and loudness does not make it true. With a greater level of awareness through reading and analysis, this distinction becomes increasingly clear. People, while disagreeing with a point of view, can appreciate the thought and consideration that went into an opinion versus one that has no semblance of logic. The difference between the two is based on how well read the individual espousing the perspective. Religious movements, civil and even human rights come out of thoughts based on popular sentiments. Out of the great thinkers of history like Emerson, Rosseau and Machiavelli, a person begins to gain greater awareness of the world by living vicariously through these thinkers, compounded with various other disciplines.

While it may be the meek that will inherit the earth, it will be the thinkers that will maintain its existence! Individuals who have pushed the proverbial envelope intellectually, have forged the advancement of human kind by “turning old words into new ones” as noted by William Shakespeare.

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Knowledge Is King

William Shakespeare wrote, "All the world's a stage and we mere players….". Transforming this statement into contemporary usage, we are all playing some role that is either strengthening or weakening our ability to being more charismatic, empowering or focused. Are we the "go to" person when people need information or something done? We have all heard, "Education is power." Yet, very few of us position ourselves to be experts on a subject matter. When we hear of someone purporting to be an expert within a field, we grow intimidated, viewing this individual as being supremely extraordinary. On the contrary! An expert is a person who has a high degree of inquisitive interest in a particular subject, in which she has opted to thoroughly investigate the subject fusing her analysis with practical experiences.

The Oxford Desk Dictionary and Thesaurus American Edition define an expert as "Having special knowledge or skill." That's it? Yes, merely finding a subject that interests you, which you deeply investigate and make some determinations about
makes you an expert. I make this point to tear down the myth that an expert is surreal, so that you can begin positioning yourself within your own expertise. This specialty will be more important in the coming years than it ever was. In the past, you could be a "jack of all trades, master of none" and become the person everyone called on for everything.

However, the Information Age has made general information passé and specialized information more desirable and sought after. Brainpower rules the day, which has truly become a sequel to "Revenge of the Nerds."

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