Ask and Ye Shall Perceive

Four questions to ponder this year

Before I dive into this column, a quick programming note: You may have noticed some formatting changes in today’s issue of Quality Digest. Starting today, on each Thursday we will present a special edition of our newsletter, with a pair of particularly thought-provoking articles from our library of contributed content and an exclusive piece of editorial written by one of us on the QD staff.

I’m kicking off the in-house portion of this effort with a look at some broad, industry-affecting questions on my mind as we start the year. How, we all might wonder, could 2017 ever top 2016 in terms of momentous and unexpected occurrences? The short answer is that it probably can’t, and for many of us in the United States, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Just because this year will likely (hopefully) be less crazy than last doesn’t mean that everything is smooth sailing on the political, economic, and social fronts, however. The year 2017 opens with numerous questions, the answers to which will have significant repercussions for everyone, not only in this country but around the world.

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Comments

Interesting Article

I wish asking one simple question was the pivot to change. What does arise from the lessons learned from the past is more questions of validation and clarity. As a nation of people we have grown from simple communal gatherings to assist and prosper together to a machine billed as a method to generate great wealth and prosperity for ALL. And where does All end?

Backed into looking for that defining essay to understand the end goal I am faced with the 5 "Why's". So to speak!

Why did we move from simple to industrious? Was it progress or was it simply the beginning of an age of deceit that separated the have's from the have not's. I do not believe for a minute that anything was created to dupe the unknowing rather it was created to capitalize and grow. So without the ideas of growth, the capital to put it in motion and the desire to see it to fruition we as a people would simply stagnate. So a system is born to grade, revise and improve, then eventually steer one idea into another to sustain the growth needed to enable population booms.

Why the greed, not financial greed either. Why emotional greed? The kind that has for centuries turned friends to foes for the sake of being accepted in a hierarchy of peers as superior. On a grand scale we have all fallen to the expectation of placement in society where we are graded by accomplishment and status. Which is where the financial greed comes in. Without the higher collections of value be it monetary or physical gain we fall into the abyss where being heard as valuable is non-existent for a great majority.

Then what is purpose? How do we decide when the boundaries of right and wrong are reached?Can we, if we are continually rediscovering the outer limits of human tolerance while recreating the culture norms that embody our society? In the midst of MORE it seems greed of all forms lends to hidden values that are better described as dark sides then redefined as necessity for those unwilling to understand truths.

Fast forwarding to today when people are more infactuated with the fake and false inputs because they feel more sensational and express offense and fear for the truth because it is to simple and less arguable!

Is it time to inspect, recalibrate and audit? Always!

And so the button is pushed... Enjoy a Prosperous and Thought Provoked Year!

Re: Interesting Article

Thanks very much for responding to my request for feedback! And whew... there's a lot in your response that's worthy of thought. To start with, I don't believe any of us can escape the shadow of greed. No one, no matter how social conscious, can put others first all the time. It's like that eternal question... is there any such thing as a truly selfless act? No, because the giver is getting something from that interaction at all times, and even if that something is "only" a sense of satisfaction from helping one's fellow human, it is still a self-interested response. And yet, if that act creates benefits for the giver and receiver, which ripple out to affect others for the good of society, do we really care whether the initial impetus for the good deed was self-interest or not? In terms of technological advancement and the march of progress, I would argue that the complexity that you point to has been a great boon for mankind. Yes, the differences between the fantastically wealthy and the abysmally poor are more pronounced now than ever before, but at the risk of a horrible oversimplification, the poor in modern America are better off than the poor in nearly every culture in nearly every age throughout the history of humanity. Is that worthy of self-congratulations? Absolutely not! Government should, I believe, continue to help those in need and do as much as possible to get out of everyone else's way. We the people, and those that represent us, must continue to assist the least-fortunate among us. I'm happy to see my tax dollars used in this way, and happy that I and others can fund charities as well to help bridge gaps that taxes can't cover. As you say, we must always inspect, recalibrate, and audit our thoughts and emotions. As quality professionals, we can do no less.