A way of looking...discovering what is hidden in plain sight
When it seems that we have said and done everything... When it seems that we have written everything and sent it out into the world, we are far from having completed the task.
After having traveled a path that has touched almost all possible topics in our field of activity, we begin a new year with different expectations. We have gone from direct scientific action (developing our research projects) to an activity that opened the doors to a new universe.
In current times, people tend to live in an all-encompassing and dominant, omnipresent universe. They are immersed and conditioned by the pressures, rules and tendencies imposed by the environment that are assimilated and “conscious” “unconsciously” (pun intended) as their own.
The topics of study, research and work tend to form a universe per se.?
The ontology and effect of the “Products” create by themselves a kind of ecosystem to which each individual must belong or at least have a sense of belonging, which is usually presented as an equivalence:”belonging = identity”.
The perception of one's own value or one's own ideas is usually applied and reflected in the mirror of the environment of belonging (corporate, religious, political, social, sports, scientific, philosophical and of any kind that moves human groups organized and brought together with a purpose). common goal for the majority.
The value of our actions, products or ourselves is usually taken based on the group acceptance that they may have, as a foreign assignment and not our own, which will depend on the degree of massification or majority conformity that is achieved.
Enjoying great dissemination, the paradigmatic phrase that reads the following can be found in many places:
“There are no brilliant ideas if they are not accepted and put into practice by the majority.”
This phrase, as a paradigm, is very true and recognizable in everyday life. However, here we begin at the end. The objective is to ensure that the idea is reflected in a product that is disseminated and used by as many people as possible, generating revenue, which if confirmed, returns the original idea to a “Brilliant Idea.”
This is a very practical and effective way of thinking and acting, as long as one is not the one who dedicates his life with passion and love to developing what may have been the discovery of his life and that could undoubtedly be a much better idea. How brilliant, but ostracized for having a small audience.
It occurs to me to cite an example in an anonymous story that I once read and which is about a peasant with carpentry skills, who lived in the mid-19th century in the North American West.
The farmer one day made a folding table to adapt it to the narrow space left in his cabin; He had to add a guest to his table because he had received for an indefinite period a guest who, having fallen into disgrace, lacked a place to live.
The peasant carpenter devised a folding table with certain functional characteristics, so that it would fulfill more functions than a simple table, and this is what his entire family did and used.
One afternoon, an infrequent guest who visited the town and came from the big city arrived at the peasant's house because he knew his ancestors who had emigrated from the city some time ago and went to try their luck as settlers, from which the family emerged. peasant of the protagonist of the story.
With the modesty of his resources, the peasantry his house as best he could to receive the illustrious visitor.
At meal time, there was only one place for it and he obviously unfolded his articulated table and prepared it for the diners.
The visitor was shocked by the precision of the table's movements; He was struck by the delicacy of its parts and the mechanical precision, as well as the modular functionality. The visitor's eyes shone and without further ado he said to his host:
The peasant, overwhelmed, did not know what to do and after a few moments of coming out of the stupor of surprise and joy, everyone was happy in one feeling, without even thinking about what he was talking about, his guest told him categorically that will count with him for whatever.
The guest quickly sketched out an eventual assembly plant he would build in his barn; He made a roadmap and planned a process of assembling the tables that the carpenter had made so that they would be sold en mass in the city and promoted as a technological advance for its time.
Almost without realizing it, the assembly shed had been erected and he was already hiring personnel to assist him in the standardized and easily scheduled maneuvers that each operator should do. He only had to do one thing and no other, to avoid the requirement of any degree of expertise, while the farmer supervised the entire process.
Everything was going smoothly and sales took off. The farmer did not understand much about business, sales and promotions. He was only responding to the demands of the new market that his friend had opened in the city.
Spurred on by the pressure of growing demand and considering that the workforce had never been abundant, the equation was equalized by increasing the hours dedicated to manufacturing. The businessman spared nothing in paying the services of the workers who were happy to dedicate all their time to the company that provided them with circulating money that they had never seen with their annual harvests.
The carpenter himself is now under pressure to innovate his model and design new products for the assembly line, with the consequent promise of increased profits.
Time passed, work and earnings grew, but he had lost sight of the evolution and growth of his children, who before his eyes had become young people and adults without him realizing it. His craftsmanship was now subject to a trademark that his mentor had placed upon him. Now his talent was another trademark product. His talent was more valuable than before, but its price was subject to the product placed on the market. His name as such was no longer recognized or linked to the products of the brand that he supported with his own creative talent.
One afternoon, exhausted from a hard day's work, he sat down to watch the sunset. While he delighted in the color palettes that nature displayed on the horizon streaked with clouds that took different colors of the spectrum to combine them in a natural impressionist painting that subjugated whoever sat down to observe and that is exposed in a different way every day without exception. Whether it was clear or cloudy, cold, snowy, rainy or brightly sunny, the painting came to life and changed with each twilight.
Without realizing it, a tear ran down her cheeks, it was a tear of emotion and subjugating contemplation of everyday life, simple but of such complexity that it was impossible to make it evident, only to contemplate it.
As if he had been stung by a spear, he stood up abruptly, ran home, hugged his wife and told her that he loved her deeply.Then he turned to his children, he called them, hugged them and told them that he loved them more than his own life. The entire family had been surprised by the reaction of the husband and father of the family who was usually taciturn and methodical.
He sat down at the table and asked his wife to prepare a dinner that she particularly liked to make.
They all had dinner together and then he confessed that he had made a strictly personal decision and that he prayed that they would understand and follow it and would accompany in the process, after which he told what it was about. To his happiness, he received unanimous approval and unconditional support for his decision.
The next morning, he met with the businessman who was the patron of his artisan talent and told him that he would no longer continue as a partner in the modular furniture factory. He had understood that his life was passing before his eyes and he was not willing to continue paying that price.
The businessman, a little surprised, another confused and another angry, replied:
The peasant answered calmly: - the value of my life, my emotions and those shared with my loved ones is worth much more than money and you put a price on me, which my name or my talent can never pay. I make things of value and you make things that have price. Tomorrow there may be another offer that causes its price to decline until it disappears, however the value is everlasting - concluded the farmer who, after making his final numbers and accounts for the disarmament of the company, went to his farm and never heard from the businessman again. .
The farmer continued with his peaceful and happy life with his family, whom he saw prosper and grow; He watched his grandchildren run through the fields and continued to watch the twilight every day.
120 Years later, in an antique store in the city of San Francisco, an argument occurred between two distinguished customers who were fighting to acquire the same object.
It was a modular folding table that was impeccably preserved and in perfect functional condition.?
It was the first table conceived of that type and had a mark branded on the inside of one of its folding leaves; The burnt mark said John Smith, August 1857…
The governance of work, research and study topics:
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The advancement of technologies associated with scientific research and influenced by the modern concept of Patronage linked to the “market and sustainable development” not infrequently tends to generate empty spaces of abandoned applications, which contrasts with technological advances and the facilities that these enable. These advances are instead attracted by market trends and their impact as a commercial product on that of scientific knowledge; the symbiosis of technology with life sciences can be good examples.
However, instead of achieving a multiplier impact in the fields of application and new knowledge, ?those applications that are transformed into consumer products are amplified by almost all mass and market products in publicly traded companies. This is the modern form of the function Patron from the actuality. This action substantially limits the variability and variation in the menu for creating new research topics that are not necessarily linked to those of large-scale application (we would say industrial).
Despite progress, “we know fewer things more deeply”
Let's talk a little about the individual activity of researchers and developers who generate products and works that transcend them.
When it is transcended in the works, they exalt the personality of the person who creates them for a time. But after this time, the works, whether material or immaterial, become part of society and finally they are perpetuated in their effect and their author will become anonymous in some way. Our works transcend us and they come to life per se . Although our contribution is progressively forgotten in general and in the best of cases it will become a name or a historical figure, we should not believe that our works are going to represent us even when they are part of our essence.
The value of oneself is usually placed in the opinion of “Others”; in their opinion linked to the relevance, opportunity or need for our work. Through their contribution to the group, value is built and eventually also price in current times.
I have seen and recommended a publication of a short story in which its collectively assumed moral is that one should go where we are given “our fair value”; and this is very true and accurate, however, what happens if we do not find that place or if our value is not directly considered because it is of another scale or another dimension?
On the other hand, what parameters do we use to assign a value to our actions and to ourselves or third parties?
Is value confused with price?
Let us remember the famous work (in the second instance and by accident) of the Dutch painter Vermeer, “
Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) was born and died in Delft, a city in the Republic of the Seven Netherlands, where he never left.
One of his works “young girl looking through the window” shows, as its title indicates, a young teenage girl who is absorbed in reading a letter. Her face can be seen completely in profile from a spotlight far away from her, located behind a curtain, while the other face can be seen in its reflection on the window leaf open to the interior, which acts as a kind of conjunctural mirror to complete the environment of your face without too many details.
The painting focuses on the image of the young woman who stands out, albeit subtly, in an environment with a single point of light entry, where chiaroscuro and intermediate zones, everyday and simple, predominate, which nevertheless captivate the viewer. and they transport him to step on those mats; feel its texture with bare feet and slightly draw the curtain of heavy blue-green fabric, without disturbing the attention, also difficult to interpret, of the young woman who is oblivious to the outside world, using it only to receive the daylight that enters through the window , the only physical connection with the outside, reads the lines written on that paper.
We can speculate and I think that almost everyone will agree on the origin and content of the letter, which in any case, the artist leaves to the imagination of each viewer and therefore is not relevant. On the other hand, its own environment, the young woman's stay in that place and her bond with it is a trunk full of content that is enriched in every look we take from our "indiscreet” site behind the curtain.
This painting, which was anonymous and later known as a work by Rembrandt, (erroneously cataloged at the time) However, it was as a result of this author attribution error that gave it safe passage to become visible to the world and to be subsequently valued as one of the outstanding works of the universal collection, but not only for its pictorial quality, but also because it contains in its own structure, a mystery that was discovered in the seventies of the 20th century, thanks to X-ray studies carried out by restorers, who placed it on the list of works with apocryphal added value.
Apparently, under the (https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/eduardo-terranova-2578865b_cuando-dos-rios-confluyen-al-menos-parcialmente-activity-7042511862055223296-voN9?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop )
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I use here an excerpt from an article that we published in 2023 to evaluate the relativity of the factors for assigning the value of an object.
At first it was confused by the style, theme and general strokes with a work by Rembrandt. This mistake, however, earned it great value and appreciation.
Later, its true author (Vermeer)? was discovered and the fair and deserved value was assigned to it retroactively, facilitating in turn the evaluation of his later works such as the “Maid with a Pearl Earring” called Mona Lisa of Holland.
However, it arises from a discovery in the 70s of the 20th century, through an After various examinations by experts from around the world, it was concluded that this was an addition much later than the execution of Vermeer's original painting and that it was then hidden with masterful quality some time later, only to be rediscovered in the 20th century.
Here is another question we can ask ourselves regarding the artistic evaluation of the work. We start first from an assessment based on author error and wrong assignment to an already established author. Then fair credit is given to the author of the original work (Vermeer) but after that appears the mystery of the hidden image that was made with mastery by an anonymous artist and hidden on the same canvas with greater mastery by the same or perhaps a third painter also anonymous.
In conclusion, where does the true value of the reference work of art lie?
Is it based on Vermeer's worth? Or in the anonymous painter(s) who masterfully adulterated and then corrected the act? Or perhaps in the value imposed by the collective unconscious on a well-known painter like Rembrandt? Probably the true value is a combination of each and every one of the events that led to the finally discovered work.
If we take this example and extrapolate it to the very brilliantly used example of the story of the“place where our values are most recognized”, (https://www.dhirubhai.net/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7147919880825044992?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop )
may be It would be necessary to add to this metaphor, that of self-valuation based on the discovery of oneself and the agreement between the dreams that at some point in our childhood forged for us an unconscious road map that will govern the maxim:“Life shows you what it is going to give you” and this is valid only for oneself and one's self-perception. The rest comes in addition, although it may not be the most comfortable, pleasant and may not fit into the paradigms of success that prevail in the masses and society in general. But on the other hand, it is possible that this self-assigned paradigm from introspection is more impactful, even if it is less immediately evident, but that it does leave an intangible legacy that transcends us and that marks other paths.
What is certain is that it will contribute, as a reward of the path, to the fulfillment of the walker.
In the example of the metaphor of “the place where we are best valued”, going to the act of assigning value to the reference car, this is a series product from a few years ago that has its followers and therefore its high price at which it is finally searched in the message is promoted. However, it is still a production car. How will we evaluate it if we compare it with a 1912 Bentley made manually to order and whose existence, being almost unique and 100% handmade vs a very good stock car from the 90s with many attributes but stock at the end?
Is the value of an object confused with its price?
Value is not the same as price. It can even represent antagonistic positions regarding the essence of the object.
There are situations, products and works that, due to their specificity, complexity or simply interest of the masses, constitute discrete objects or products in terms of their number, volume of existence or use by people, yet they have a significant impact on society. even beyond generations.
The invention of the tire was credited to John Boyd Dunlop, a Scottish veterinarian who lived at the end of the 19th century. His tire invention focused on solving a problem: providing a more comfortable solution for bicycle mobility, inspired by his son's difficulty riding his wooden-wheeled bicycle.
Although it is not documented, his inspiration for such an invention was based on the anatomy of the horse foot, which has an elastic pad that facilitates and improves the efficiency of venous return from the hoof to the central circulation. Using an inverse syllogism, he thought of a way to cushion shocks with the ground using pressurized air in a closed chamber in the wheels of bicycles. It goes without saying what the value of the tire is today and over more than a century in multiple areas of human activity.
Now, did anyone put a price on the original invention?
Probably or surely it would never have reached the price it deserved if we study the impact over generations. What is certain is that very few people in the world will know who Dunlop was, even less what his profession was and much less that he invented the tire and even less what inspired said invention.
His work transcends it and takes on its own ontology.
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About value, price and the impulse to acquire
As a corollary thought, reflection arises on the attitude we have a priori for the generation, improvement and constant universalization of a universal and omnipotent tool.
Once we have the tool, we intend to improve and expand its fitness. This is a vicious circle that we cannot get out of once we enter it.
We then begin to live and work to keep this universal tool in force and the tool becomes an end in itself.
The obsession and pressure is so globalized that it knows no borders or cultures in the 21st century.
We then begin to condition even our paradigms of “success” based on the magnitude and capacity of our tool.
At the end of our lives it usually happens that we have an exuberant totipotential and universal tool but whose final and definitive application we never knew what it was or why we conceived it.
It is not difficult to imagine what tool we are referring to, but just in case, we are talking about Money.
What is it about money that attracts everyone and permeates all areas of modern human activity?
Capitalism is the optimal and definitive natural environment for the circulation and valuation of money, although not the only one nor the first.
Capitalism is another invention by another Scottish man:? Adam Smith.
Money can basically be said to be a concept; an idea of intangible credibility represented by symbols whether on paper or metal or simply in a computer algorithm, representing a unit of generic value of anything that can be exchanged for others. Its application and versatility far exceeded the capabilities of barter as a form of commerce and became the universal totipotential and generic tool. Its value is such that those who possess it in large quantities are usually accompanied by conditions of solvency and prevalence over their peers, which usually becomes power. However, simply having a large amount of money does not ensure this power, much less personal fulfillment or happiness. Money should ideally be preceded by great capacity for valuation and criteria of responsibility and enlightenment of its bearer to be truly useful.
Just as it can satisfy needs and desires, it can also corrupt.
On the other hand, money is closely linked to the Price of things but not necessarily to the Value.
Money has its price and it also has its value.
There are two versions of the price and value of money: one relative and the other absolute.
The absolute price of money is the cost of generating it and leaving it available and circulating, while for the user, the work and time of his life that must be allocated to obtain it in sufficient quantity.
Absolute value: it is the universal tool to acquire almost everything in society.
The Relative Price that should never be paid is when we set aside the Value of essential things in pursuit of more money.
The highest relative price: When the money is worth the same money.
What role does money play in the success weighting and how does the Money/Value equilibrium state behave in the success equation?
We know, and it is futile to deny it, that money is an essential tool for any activity. That is a fact. But there is a state of balance in which we can move without altering fundamental elements of that equation and resulting in inequality by force.
Often or almost in all situations, the generation of money in considerable quantities is closely linked to the massive consumption of products. They? are used to be derived from the activity carried out to obtain it. Other even more complex situations require dependence on paths who provide it in order to carry out actions of development, research or artistic expressions that have a value independent of the price.? Plus the pressure and power of the path exerts its mandatory attraction towards the production of mass consumption goods since the objective is to make more money and not the product that it finances. Consequently, there is always the risk of distortion of the original objective and perverse deviation of the goals and objectives towards the generation of more financial tools to the detriment of natural scientific, artistic or philosophical creativity.
Far from denying the importance of money as a universal totipotential tool, if we keep our sights set on the real primary objectives of our original endeavors, we will be able to maintain a state of healthy balance between sponsorage with its particular objectives and the original objectives that justify its use. of your financial tools.
Today there is a lot of talk about sustainability. Term referring to industrial processes and the carbon footprint or the greenhouse effect. However, it is no less nor less relevant to talk about another type of sustainability: that of new knowledge which in times of the IV Industrial Revolution, tends to remain hidden under the baseline of technological development.
The exponential development of technology and mass application products that generate great advances and profits of all kinds in many areas, especially reaching mass applicability, but also much more discrete knowledge and developments but with much greater value, which remain in the path of development.
Better access what is known through developed technology and generate new knowledge from these facilities: This is a premise that we should not dismiss.
Throughout the publications of our periodic column, we have mentioned countless examples of highly positive impacts of the technology/science symbiosis and we also did the same in cases of deviation from the original visions of their creators, especially of knowledge.
Technological advances are weighted in exponential terms, but new scientific knowledge does not necessarily respond to the same geometric but rather linear evolution.
Technology facilitates access, manipulation, visualization and popularization of very intimate events located at the molecular and even atomic level of the processes of matter and biology. However, this facility has not led to an exponential increase in new original scientific endeavors that seek, in a more adventurous way, to navigate unknown universes.
The morphofunctional communicating circuits of neural tissues made by Golgi and Ramón y Cajal can be seen today in a 3D animation in real time and can even be manipulated mechanically with nanotechnology, but nothing new has been discovered of relative weight comparable to that of the genius? Nobel? prizes Italian and Spanish respectively.
The universe of the world of genomics at the time of the dawn of the Human Genome project of 1999/2000 was much broader in thematic units of study than those of epygenetics today, which with much greater ease, efficiency and economic accessibility, allows us to do fantastic applications such as precision and predictive medicine, among others. However, there is no knowledge about the intimate processes of many pathologies and instead diagnostic, predictive, genotyping panels and various etc. are improved and massified as a service product.
Despite the ease, it seems that this same property is attracted by the advance in efficiency in those areas that have proven to be in great demand and goes deeper into fewer things.
In some past publications we have used the metaphor of “looking for a needle in a haystack and even more so, a specific straw in a haystack” and we followed that path, finding many prizes on the side of it that were not necessarily those “needles”. Currently, technology is not looking for a needle in a haystack, but rather has the capacity to analyze all the straws in the haystack, massively and simultaneously, but the dilemma is that the generation of information is so enormous that each straw becomes a haystack in itself, since we must assign a function to what we have obtained through a massive sweep.
It isn't easy to close our column today without appearing to take a? subjective view or bias, when it pretends to be the opposite.
It is a fact that our destiny as responsibly free-thinking person, is to observe and invite observation, but I cannot help but ponder the importance that sometimes has to respect the discreet character of certain events, actions and roadmaps because this? discreet character usually gives us greater precision o specificity and detail in the comprehension of natural events.
These events are usually present in discrete and sometimes fractal forms in a chaotic universe.
Eduardo Terranova,January 2024.