Strength-Weakness Paradox?

Black Swan

“Your greatest strength begets your greatest weakness” (William Shakespeare).

Your interpretation?

AllForIt

To be really good or 'strong' in some endeavour, takes single minded effort. As admirable of that is, that very state of mind has it's negatives.

So, one is focused too much on one 'thing', the negative of that is you have no attention on other things, things of equal importance in the long run.

It's a bit like being 'obsessed' with something. Your're so obsessed with something, you may even become a noted expert on it, but utterly unless in other regards. Trivially, you may be a expert car mechanic, but can't fry an egg.

Please don't beat me up if I've got this all wrong, at least I tried lol.

ILoveYourVibes

You have to know you are bad at something to produce something better.

The best students don't always do well in life or even that partic subject. They get the grades without trying.

More fatally ....some people never learn how to get GOOD at something they were once terrible at.

Its much easier to get good at something you had a natural talent for.

Someone who had a natural talent for running etc vrs someone who was terrible at the start but made it to the olympics.

I would look out for someone who rose to the top of their game from further down.

The first thing to learn ..is to learn HOW to learn.


Interesting story.

There was an Argentinian magician. His name was Rene Lavand.

When he was 9 ....he lost his arm ...

A little while later ..he discovered he wanted to be a slight of hand magician.

To his dismay ...he found that all the books ...were written for two handed magicians ..

And he realized that they relied on the hand being faster than the eye ...to fool people.

And so he realized he has to teach himself.

And he did.

And he became famous. But even more famous amongst magicians. Because he did things very very slowly. But no one saw.

This was considered true mastery. Because everyone else used speed to hide what they did.

He realized he couldn't do that...he couldn't work as fast with one hand and he couldn't rely on speed to fool people.

He also realized ...he needed a stage presence to overcome his missing an arm to bring on stage and show to the public.

And thus ....he developed into the greatest stage presence ..the greatest teller of stories ..



Other magicians lauded him because if you slowed down their tricks ..or put them on video ..often you could see how they were done. With him ...he worked slowly anyway that was his strength...his slowness.

His most famous trick was called

No se puede hacer mas lento ....it cannot be done more slowly.

He literally turned slight of hand on its head ....emphasizing the weakness of other magicians with two hands ....they couldn't slow it down or people would see.

Just before his death ..he realized a video ...containing instructions for all of his tricks and how to do them. HE said that he didn't believe that he could teach anyone ....that they had to teach themselves ...but he wanted to show other people ..maybe one handed hopefuls ...it can be done.

He was famous all over latin America Spain the US and was even on the Paul Daniels magic show.



He had a finesse so few others had. He was a gentleman. Highly intelligent.

He could even let the camera shoot from any angle ..and even close up.

And though he couldn't work fast ...no one could work as slow as him.





He would suddenly mention ...'Bach was the kind of counter point '..and talk about the counter point between two hands ..he said ..when he lost his left arm it never was really lost ...there was a magician ...even tho the gods condemned him to live in a dungoen that could only be opened with the right hand ....he never lost his left hand ....because it never stopped trying ... one day he saw the door open ..but ....he was paralyzed in the dungeon ..he could see his hand hanging from the door ..

When Lavan lost his hand ....as a boy ..he saw it hang only partially attached to him ..from the door handle.

...or discuss philosophy of art ....he could be spellbinding. People forgot he was one handed. They forgot his disablity. But yet ..he told them ....in such a way they were affected so so so deeply.

please watch this video ..Click for the subtitles ...you wont see magic like this often

the above video ...is shot to make him look like he has two hands but its ...for dramatic affect

ILoveYourVibes

Cu Chulainn was a dumb jock .slow ...behind ..embarrassed...and ended up becoming the wisest man in the world.

gozunda

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

Cu Chulainn was a dumb jock .slow ...behind ..embarrassed...and ended up becoming the wisest man in the world.

I dunno as a kid - he was faster than the hound who attacks him on the plains of midhe and later learns the art and wisdom of battle from the renowned warrior-woman Scáthach in the land of Alba. Though foretelling told of his greatness - it was said he would never grow old. Alas the Salmon of Wisdom was not won lightly. He sealed his fate by breaking his own geis ...