“I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I’m not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.” This quote, often attributed to the late children’s book author Robert McCloskey, perfectly sums up the problem of communication. The possibility of misunderstanding, misinterpretation, and mis-identification exists any time two or more people attempt to transmit and receive information, often leading to humorous – and sometimes, tragic – consequences.
The picture on the right – usually referred to as the young/old woman illusion – is an example of how miscommunication can happen. The speaker can refer to the “young woman” while the listener can only see the “old woman.”
A few classic examples of how people often say one thing, but mean something else:
Trip to the Grocery Store: A young wife asks her husband to run to the grocery store to pick up ingredients to bake a cake. Her husband, happily engaged in watching his favorite football team play, reluctantly agrees when she assures him it will be a quick trip, as he will be purchasing a minimal number of items. To ensure that nothing is omitted, she lists the six items she needs and hands the list to her husband before starting to preheat the oven. An hour later – the third quarter of the game almost over – the angry husband finally returns from the store, staggers into the kitchen with multiple full sacks, and returns to the car for a second unloading. As she opens the sacks, his chagrined wife discovers the following:
1 bottle of vegetable oil
2 bottles of vanilla extract
3 two-pound sacks of sugar
4 dozen eggs
5 pounds of butter
6 five-pound sacks of flour
In making her list, the wife failed to put periods after the numbers on her list, so the dutiful husband viewed the item number as the amount of units to be purchased. Fortunately, the honeymoon had not ended.
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Conscious Capitalism – A New Paradigm
The idea that a growing economy benefits all classes has a long history of acceptance. It has been embedded in political rhetoric for the past half-century, regardless of party – in fact, John F. Kennedy is credited with the saying, “A rising tide lifts all boats.”
The theory – popularized as “trickle-down economics” – presumes that economic policies that help the wealthy eventually benefit everyone. It’s led to federal legislation reducing taxes on the wealthy and easing corporate regulation, as well as Supreme Court decisions increasing the legal rights of corporations, bringing them in near-parity with natural beings.
Despite expectations that the country as a whole would benefit from these measures, the results have been disappointing. Consequences have included a growing income disparity between the wealthiest members and the rest of society. It’s also led to an increase in national debt and significant corporate abuses of public trust, such as the manipulation of energy and securities markets. As a result, citizens and corporate leaders are rejecting the old paradigm and exploring a new model for capitalism.
Failures of Traditional Capitalism
The 1990s savings and loan failures, Enron’s manipulation of electricity prices in 2001, and the mortgage securities crisis in 2008 are major examples of the negative consequences of capitalism. In the view of many business and citizen leaders, corporate greed and uncontrolled capitalism have also had the following general negative effects.
1. Lack of Equality and Opportunity
The most public critic of the current capitalist system has been Pope Francis. In an apostolic exhortation issued November 26, 2013, he asserted that “today everything comes under the laws of competition and the survival of the fittest, where the powerful feed upon the powerless. As a consequence, masses of people find themselves excluded and marginalized: without work, without possibilities, without any means of escape.” The Pope goes on to say that the minority who do benefit “reject the right of states, charged with vigilance for the common good, to exercise any form of control. A new tyranny is thus born, invisible and often virtual, which unilaterally and relentlessly imposes its own laws and rules.”
Businesses overtly resist the efforts made by governments – which have the responsibility of protecting the rights and interests of their citizens – to pass laws or regulate corporate activities. All this, even as the wealthy benefit the most from publicly owned assets and exorbitant government contracts.
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What is Nanotechnology? What does it mean to you?
In 1959, physicist Richard Feynman predicted a future in which scientists would, by manipulating atoms and molecules, be able to build materials and structures of higher strength, lighter weight, increased control of the light spectrum, and greater chemical reactivity.
Everything of a physical nature – human beings, plants, minerals, air – is composed of combinations of atoms and molecules bound together either by shape or electronic charge. Manipulating atoms on a nano-scale would theoretically allow humans to reproduce everything from diamonds to food.
While the benefits of such technology are virtually countless, it has created considerable concern among some that molecular manipulation may unwittingly bring more problems than solutions – up to, and including, human extinction. Organizations such as Friends of the Earth of Australia, Individuals Tending Toward Savagery in Mexico, and the Organic Consumers Association in America actively oppose any further development of nano-scale projects.
What Is “Scale” and Why Is It Important?
Nanotechnology is the science that deals with the manipulation of matter on an atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scale – in other words, much smaller than what the naked eye can see. Each nanometer is one billionth of a meter – approximately the length a fingernail grows in one second. To put that in perspective, a human hair is roughly 80,000 to 100,000 nanometers wide, a red blood cell is 2,500 nanometers, and a strand of human DNA is 2.5 nanometers in diameter.
It is only through the development of extraordinary precision instruments, such as the scanning tunneling microscope and the atomic force microscope, that nanotechnology has become possible. Its promise and risk arise from our growing understanding of quantum physics, which deals with ultra-small objects. Surprisingly, the behavior of substances on a nanoscale is often contrary to its properties on a larger scale.
For example, substances in bulk form that can’t carry an electric charge – insulators – may become semiconductors on a nano level, just as melting points and other physical properties may change. An aluminum Coke can ground down into a powder of 20 to 30 nanometers may spontaneously ignite in air – a property that makes it a rocket fuel catalyst. Similarly, both a diamond and the graphite in a pencil are made from carbon, but they have vastly different properties due to the way the carbon atoms bond.
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Lewis Interview with CBAC Funding
Michael R. Lewis is a man of many accomplishments. He has led a colorful life which has seen him party with rock stars, play Black Jack in Vegas, trade on the floor of the NYSE, travel around the world, and make and lose millions of dollars in business. Each time he has emerged stronger and continued realizing his dreams. Somewhere along the way he began to start channeling his vast knowledge and considerable experience into consulting and writing.
We asked him about a host of things, from material success and handling finances to what has influenced him the most, and he responded in a heartfelt and philosophical manner. His openness has made for a delightful read.
Budding entrepreneurs or those struggling with balancing their personal life and career ambitions will love this. And so will those who just like to wonder about the nature of success, life, and why people do what they do. In short, there’s something for everybody here, if you have an eye for the things that really matter.
Interview with Michael
What excites you the most about the world of business?
While I enjoy the business of business, its most intriguing quality and challenge is the requirement to continuously improve, to be a little smarter, work a little harder, and be a little better every day. In the world of business, success and failure are moving targets. A good businessperson has to be smart, flexible, willing to work hard, and a leader; a great businessperson has those same qualities plus the ability to see and articulate a vision that inspires and motivates those around him.
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