Mar 15, 2020
The long-held gambits and counters are finally revealed, so that anyone can one-up the greatest scoundrels of all: magicians. It's all in Upmanship Tricks: Secrets of One-Upping Magicians.
Source details and larger version.
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The long-held gambits and counters are finally revealed, so that anyone can one-up the greatest scoundrels of all: magicians. It's all in Upmanship Tricks: Secrets of One-Upping Magicians.
Source details and larger version.
One-Upping the 1960s
How to one-up a 1960s aficionado: "Well, when it comes to the sixties, there's nothing like the literal sixties — the decade beginning 60 CE. Take the wedge, for example; how can one compare the 1960s' wedge-heel shoe to Gaius Suetonius Paulinus defeating the rebels at the Battle of Watling Street using a flying wedge formation? Sure, there was the Nehru Jacket, but you should have seen what Nero was wearing! Granted, the Civil Rights movement took a lot of gall, but so did Civilis when he led the uprising of Gaul. Imagine comparing the Grateful Dead to the Dead Sea Scrolls — if I may be so 'blunt.'"
Need or Want?
Very early in life, we were taught that patience is one of the most coveted qualities and is a part of learned behavior. I have learnt that it is in proportion with our needs and their fulfillment. The law of demand and supply is directly proportionate to our levels of patience. It is a need of a baby to be fed instantaneously when it is hungry. These are called “demand feeds” because patience is an unknown word to the little baby. But as age advances, the natural needs change into wants, a scenario where patience AND ethics take a back seat many a time.
“I can’t wait “is a common phrase heard everywhere, whether it pertains to a simple need like “needing” to go for a movie, or, a more compelling one like “needing” to become a multi millionaire. Both are wants, not needs. At some point, most of us start using the words “want” and “need “ as synonyms, though they are far from being synonyms. “I “want” this because it is my “need”, is a common place feeling. Our mind cannot separate the two because our needs become wants over a period of time. What we want is not necessarily what we need. Our needs are basic to our survival while on this earth, whereas our wants are inspired by a desire for excesses, extras, and greed for “just a little more”. The latter are imbalances of ego driven insecurities and desires within us. When our wants start multiplying, it means we are indulging ourselves and craving for more than what is needed to sustain us through life.
When it is a question of wanting, we are like instant coffee. Everything must be achieved NOW. I used to teach vocal music to a few students who wanted to perform after doing four or five classes when we had practiced for years to reach a common minimum standard. It is understandable that getting an endorsement or approval from others is great feeling. But those who have their goal defined and the determination and perseverance to achieve it with patience are more likely to have the depth of knowledge to be successful. Patience is a long path to amazing rewards. “Too much too soon” does not define wisdom. I guess, the satisfaction of a need is its own reward but the satisfaction of a want breeds more and more “wanting” to which the satiation levels are not well defined or guaranteed.
At the same time, we also need to ask ourselves how much we need in order to be happy. Not much really! If we didn’t seek our identities in the eyes of other people, we would lead a much more stress free life and also be satisfied with what we have. Our “wants” are perhaps more for social recognition than anything else. Many of us have more than we need and some have much more than they will ever need.
Philosophers and Thinkers have always emphasized the concept of “simple living and high thinking” for a good reason. The more we get involved with comparisons of material gains and walk into the race for “one upmanship”, the more our wants increase, gradually becoming out of control. The imbalance thus caused shifts the focus from what we are here to achieve as spiritual beings to illusory gains in a temporary world, a world which we are actually just passing through in our journey. For a very short lived satisfaction, therefore, are we digressing from our evolutionary path?
The time for introspection is now.
Surekha Kothari
www.BodyMindSoulCentre.com
Primary Ps-Upmanship In The Rigor ! http://newish.info/65879-primary-ps-upmanship-in-the-rigor