Category: Development

What Have You Started That Didn’t Exist Before?

A plan, a business, a drawing, a person: what have you started that didn’t exist? When have you made something new?

Creation is a funny thing. Often, you start with nothing — a blank page, for example. And then an idea comes, you put that idea down on the page, and suddenly something exists that didn’t exist before. It’s like magic! You created something from nothing, conjured something from thin air.

Another example seems almost miraculous, but in fact is incredibly common: the act of giving birth. A man and a woman, together, create an entire human being who didn’t exist before. While the resulting baby can’t do much on their own at first, eventually they are a self-sufficient adult. It’s the way of the world, but it doesn’t make it any less remarkable.

Intellectual Roundtable is another example. Back in 2016 it started as a simple idea, and after some fine-tuning and some back and forth between Michael and me, in 2017 we debuted our first question, Why do we like what we like? Before we had the idea, registered the domain name, rented some server space, thought of some questions, and then published the first one, Intellectual Roundtable simply didn’t exist. Now, years later, not only does it exist, we’ve published more than 1300 distinct questions.

Indeed, the world is full of things — chairs, books, songs, spatulas, equations — that someone had to think up and turn into something to share with other humans. None of those things existed before, at least not in their current form.

So what about you? What is an example of something that you made, that you brought into being from nothingness? It might be something as simple as a doodle, or as complicated as a building. Because of you, what exists that didn’t exist before?

Related questions: Where do shared ideas exist? Create or consume? What art do you make?

 

Strengths Or Weaknesses?

When developing your skills, should you concentrate on your strengths to become an expert? Or to shore up your weaknesses so you aren’t bad at anything?

Share why if you wish.

Strengths Or Weaknesses?
Results

How Can We Encourage Curiosity?

Curiosity is an important trait to have for any healthy human. How can we make sure that we are as curious as possible?

There are many ways that curiosity helps us, and there are also ways that a lack of it can hurt us.

For instance, being curious about our environment is how we learn as children. We wonder about about the things around us, and that helps us with motor skills, language, reasoning, and other developmental skills.

It also helps us continue our education, both formally and informally. Formally through school and from teachers, and informally as we read on our own and in the hobbies we pursue.

To see how a lack of curiosity can hurt us, look no further than today’s political climate. Most people are content in echo feedback chambers, listening to opinions that mirror their own. They seek out news outlets that confirm their own viewpoint, and may even choose friends the same way.

One way out of this problem is to be curious about people you disagree with. Do you dismiss them out of hand, or do you wonder why they have another opinion? Being curious about something different — different religion, political party, skin color, native language,  and so on — allows us to be more understanding.

Curiosity can also lead to better mental health. As we age, learning about things you don’t already know keeps our brains flexible. It can help our own health as well as helping society at large.

So those are some of the benefits. But what are the specific methods we can employ to achieve these positive outcomes? What can we do in our everyday lives to encourage curiosity?

Related questions: How do you learn? What does it mean to be healthy? How do you adopt new ideas? How can we maintain wonder?

Who Do You Want To Be?

An important part of self-improvement is having a road map to follow. In other words, who do you want to be?

It is hard to get somewhere if you don’t know where you are going. Thus, in order to get to the place you want to go to — that is, the person you want to be — it is crucial to know in advance who that is.

Maybe you feel it best to be a good partner, or parent (or grandparent), or maybe a good employee. You might want to be the kind of person who reads every day, or someone who sees the world. The possibilities are nearly endless.

One way to determine which traits you wish to have or to develop is to look for role models. If there are people around you who behave the way you want to behave, try to figure out what it is that helped them get there. You may even want to ask them.

There are also many books extolling one virtue or another. You may want to read up on someone you admire, to see what makes them tick. How do they lead a creative life, or make money, or increase empathy, or whatever you wish to emulate?

Once you decide on what you wish to improve, there is the secondary task of actually doing it. If you think that, for example, punctuality is important, ask yourself: how can I be more punctual?

Reaching your potential, and becoming the person you desire to be requires that you put some thought (and eventually some planning) in place. Who do you want to be?

Related questions: How do you set priorities? How do you want to be remembered? Who are your role models? What does it mean to be a good person?

How Have Your Parents Influenced You?

The parent-child relationship is an important one for most people. Can you think of ways you have been influenced by your parents?

The first relationship that we have is with our mother, followed shortly by our father. For most people, they remain of primary importance throughout our development and into adolescence.

Because of this, the relationship we have with our parents helps to define who we are, what we believe, and often how we think and what we like.

Related: Listen to an episode of the Intellectual Roundtable Podcast, where Lee and Michael discuss this question: ‘What makes you you?’ We also discuss another question as well, ‘What gives a person value?’

Of course, that fact might also lead to problems. There is a reason that many therapy sessions deal with understanding the way we were treated growing up, and how it might impact our behavior as adults. Additionally, many people end up with romantic partners that have behaviors similar to a parent.

Some people have a complicated relationship with their mother and/or their father. Even if you don’t, you can probably trace some of your likes and dislikes, as well as some of your beliefs, to one or both of your parents.

How have your parents influenced you?

Related questions: How are you just like your parents? Why do we like what we like? What makes you you? What is your favorite childhood memory?