Osler's Razor

Mark … great piece. Words and stories/speeches do matter, and as you powerfully y portrayed, we never know who is listening. I think about this all the time in the work I do. Several years ago I had a client that was a young veteran and the son of a tough ranking career officer. It had the feel of Conroy’s Great Santini. During his first run at college, prior to enlisting in a fairly tough branch of the service … an English Prof commented in class “that more could be accomplished with an open hand than a closed fist.” It stuck with him and messed him up for years (we call that cognitive dissidence in my field). He told me the comment challenged his previously unflinching, unquestioning belief in military service … and he could not rid himself of this while being in a branch that demanded his full allegiance. He did his tour, and unlike his father, elected to go in a different direction … which is when I met him … and he was playing with being a poet. And, of course, his story and the comment made in class, have also stuck with me.
 

Craig-- I think it is a lot healthier to let those words work within you and change you than to just deny them; that can tear you apart. "Cognitive dissonance" is a term I learned from you!
 

Yes, we sometimes bear witness to the truth and influence the future to a greater degree than seems possible at the time. Another powerful example of this from across the pond was a speech in the House of Lords on February 9, 1944, by Bishop George Bell.
 

… right you are … both in your observation and correcting my subpar spelling & typing skills, although I kinda like the unintended play on my miss-used words … dissonance and dissidence … the unconscious works in such wonderful ways!
 

Mark,this is such a great story. Thank you for sharing it and thank you for Andrew for making his "futile speech." What we say and do and believe makes a difference.
 

Great piece and a convincing argument that exercises in futility can sometimes yield unexpected achievements, but I’m not sure how your article fits in the religion section of HP. Other than perhaps the transforming power of perseverance and the truth revealed and prevailing along the seemingly fruitless way.
 

Marta--

I actually put it on the "Impact" page, but it looks like they don't quite know what to do with it. :(
 

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