Leo Tolstoy: A man is a fraction
Leo Tolstoy stated
the famous quote “A man is like a fraction whose numerator is what he is and the
denominator is what he thinks of himself”. The quote indicates the worth of a
man for the substance he carries and the impression of himself in his eyes.
The crude
explanation is that if you are a person who is knowledgeable, wise, successful,
and has a great repute in society, and thinks of yourself in not-so-high regard,
your fraction will be much greater than 1 which implies he is a greater
fraction and a person worth veneration. Such people fall in the category of
people who have worldly wisdom but have no egos in their capacities.
The second
category of people have all such qualities as mentioned above but think really highly
of themselves. They assume the world would stop if they were to go. They have a
delusion about their importance and worth. Such people despite carrying a
talent reduce their fraction and respect.
The third type of
people have no special talent around them but consider themselves as a godsend
and quintessential to mankind. Such people make a fool of themselves shortly
after they meet people. Con artists can make a halo effect around them but
reality does not hide for too long. We all have people in our circles with a heightened
sense of self-worth. Such people drown in self-worth and self-praise. They are
narcissists and egoists of the top order.
Better than this
category of people is the one who is neither a learned person nor carries any
special traits. Still, they know their self-worth and accept their limitations.
Such people are humble and understand their position. They still have a
favourable fraction around them that makes them acceptable and respected for whatever
they are.
Now, we may
question what is the meaning of this fraction. What is the practical utility of
knowing a fraction of a person? I feel it is a concept for self-assessment. A tool
to evaluate yourself and keep in check the inflated sense of self. It is a
reminder that thinking highly of yourself does not cause your actual worth to
grow. It only reduces your fraction and wise people can easily assess this
fraction. One should rather focus on the numerator i.e. the actual worth and
try to grow it incrementally.
Learnings of the Day
Authority
through Symbols of Clothing
I am currently reading “Influence” by Robert Cialdini and
continuing the concept of Authority written yesterday.
Today I read about the effect of compliance to symbols of
clothes. Uniforms can enforce compliance more than a person requesting the same
favour who is dressed normally. An experiment was conducted in which a security
guard requested pedestrians to give a dime to a person at a distance who had
overparked and did not have money. The response of the pedestrians was much
more than in the case where the request came from a person with normal
clothing.
Ideas for creating content
Listened to Dr.
Ashdin’s podcast about having ideas for content. The host is a popular guy and
now nearing about 1000 podcasts. His podcasts are bite-sized and carry a singular
concept.
His podcast was about
3 steps to having content that you can share with the world. As in Austin Kleon’s
work, you should share your work with the world. He starts by saying that you
should start by identifying things people don’t know about. Now, this could be a
field where you realize a deficiency that needs to be filled. It could either
be a knowledge gap, a gap in services, or an area less explored by people but
which is important nevertheless. Equip yourself with the knowledge of this
field. Of course, this field should interest you otherwise learning the ropes
in a new field can be overwhelming and lead to its dropping in early stages.
Next is to Do what
you learn. It is to master the craft by doing it yourself. If you are learning
Yoga, it is to be mastered by you. If it is learning to invest, you have to
practice investing styles and produce results for yourself, if it is about
nutrition, you should know what nutrition does to the body through your own
tests and experiments. Once you master the craft through your hands you become
capable of passing it onwards.
The third stage is
to Teach. This stage is where you disseminate the wisdom you have collected to
the world for their benefit. At this stage, there surely would be some learning
for yourself too. You would realize the gaps of understanding that you initially
did not think existed. You should share open-heartedly as the real purpose of
gaining knowledge is in spreading it.
Exercise
Strength: Arms Day.
4 sets of Dumbbell Curls. 4 sets of Hammer Curls. 3 sets
of EZ Bar Curl.
4 sets of Triceps Rope Push. 4 sets of Triceps Kickbacks.
4 sets of Skull-crushers.
7 Pullups.
Rehab: McGill Big 3. (1 set each) for Core stability. Foam Rolling post-workout.
Cardio: Running
Zone 2-3 Training: 30 mins. For the week 91 mins.
Last week 95 mins. Target 180 mins for the week. I will go to Sanjay Vann in
the morning and do trail running. Try to complete the challenge tomorrow itself
which may be a little challenging.
Anything I like to share/ Habit Tracker
Clean for 119 days.
Weight today: 87.45 Kg. Target weight 85.40 Kg by
31.05.23.
Little Andaman, A&N Islands
Comments
Post a Comment