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How does the glass look to you?
An optimist sees the glass as half full. And a pessimist sees the glass as half empty. But we can always dig a bit deeper into people's perceptions.
For example, how would an engineer see the glass? Probably that it's twice as big as it needs to be. The accountant would want to know if the glass really needs all that water.
The physicist would say that the volume of this cylinder is divided into two equal parts; one a colorless, odorless liquid, the other a colorless, odorless gas. Thus the cylinder is neither full nor empty. Rather, each half of the cylinder is full, one with a gas, one with a liquid. And the quantum physicist would tell you that the glass has a 50% probability of holding water.
The government would say that the glass is fuller than if the opposition party were in power. The opposition would say that it is irrelevant because the present administration has changed the way such volume statistics are collected. And the so-called "super committee" would fail to reach any kind of agreement.
The economist would say that, in real terms, the glass is 25% fuller than at the same time last year. And the banker would say that the glass has just under 50% of its net worth in liquid assets.
The psychiatrist would ask, "What did your mother say about the glass?" The philosopher would proclaim that if no one looks at the glass, who's to say how full or empty it really is? And the social media expert would want to know how many "Likes" half full and half empty have received.
Oh . . . and the seasoned drinker would say that it needs a bit more Ketle One and some ice.
But, my friends, the truly important question today is, How does the glass look to you? If you have your health, hope, loved ones and freedom, your glass is a bright, sparkling gift.
Be thankful.
Posted November 24, 2011
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Tom Asacker is timely and thought-provoking. I went to school on his ideas.
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Nice one Tom.
I especially liked the banker and social media examples.
For the record, I have a lot to be thankful for.
Life is good!
Posted by: Darren | November 25, 2011 at 05:57 AM
An excellent post, Tom. And I can provide an analogy from the predictive analytics world. When developing a predictive model, we sometimes must be satisfied that we can improve the likliehood of finding a direct marketing responder by, let's say, 50%, rather than 100%. So, in this respect, predictive modelers must often be satisfied with the predictive modeling glass being 'half full'.
Posted by: Tumbleweed | November 25, 2011 at 10:31 AM
I would suggest that the blogger is grateful that there is something in the glass to blog about!
Posted by: jason walker | November 25, 2011 at 09:33 PM
Oh thats an interesting post. I was wondering how webmasters looks at glass.???
Posted by: Healthcare IT Solutions | December 09, 2011 at 02:07 AM