Galaxy Quest … for real

If you go to GalaxyZoo you can participate in the exploration of the Galaxy.  They are enlisting our support in finding out how galaxies are born.  They work on the basis that there are lots us and they need many pairs of eyes who have a little time to spare.  They have found that non-experts are actually better at spotting new galaxies and interesting patterns than the scientists.  This is because we are innately programmed to look for meaning and spot patterns.  It is part of how we learn to make sense of the world.

We use exactly the same instincts and skills to make sense of our immediate environment.  So when we can’t understand what is going on around us and in particular when we are feeling threatened then we scan for meaning and patterns in the data we can gather.  This is how wives find out that their partner is cheating and how employees are able to see through the corporate gobbledygook and see what is really happening.

This is just one of the many reasons why it is important to send out clear, authentic messages when you are communicating… because people can just tell when you aren’t so it doesn’t serve you.

“There are no whole truths: all truths are half-truths. It is trying to treat them as whole truths that plays the devil.”  Alfred North Whitehead

“Never apologize for showing feeling. When you do so, you apologize for the truth.”  Benjamin Disraeli

Tags: authentic, Communication, lies

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 17th, 2009 at 13:22 and is filed under Business Change, Communication, General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.