what’s the difference between unwilling and unable?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
lots of people do have poor reading comprehension and are lousy listeners. are they unwilling or unable?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Andy Grove\u2019s High Output Management, he talks about how, in the context of the workplace, there are only ever two reasons why somebody isn\u2019t doing something. Either they lack the ability, or the motivation. Either they can\u2019t do it, or they don\u2019t want to do it. And so if you\u2019re someone\u2019s manager, you either have to train or motivate people in order to get them to do whatever needs to be done. Training and motivation are, of course, more complicated things in turn, but those are the broad strokes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I first read this I found myself kind of startled. It seemed like a very reductive model. But\u2026 could it be true? I was reminded of other remarkably simple models in other domains. Jane Jacobs argued that all wealth is created by specialization and trade. I believe it now, but I hesitated to accept that it might be that simple. David Deutsch has something similarly elegant to say about how knowledge comes from conjecture and criticism, as we strive towards better and better explanations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve carried the model with me since I read it, and I\u2019ve been testing it out, and over time<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I guess rather than write some sort of grand theory about everybody else I could just examine myself in public<\/p>\n\n\n\n
and speaking of which it\u2019s interesting to me how some people think examining oneself in public is narcissistic<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I want to examine something, I\u2019m a nerd, I like to examine things. If anybody was willing to give me access to their lives, I would be happy to examine them<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rosalind: \u201cInsecurity creates coercion by accident: it emits a field of \u201ci wont be okay unless you do what i am hoping\u201d. Anyone programmed to respond to such a field will comply, but (sooner or later) perceive you as coercing them.\u201d Is this a causality-laundering power play?<\/p>\n\n\n\n