CONTINUED FROM
BASELESS FEAR ASSOCIATED WITH SHARING WHAT WE KNOW: DEMYSTIFIED
If I don’t share what I know, I’ll cease to be human.
Sounds like an emotional, philosophical curse damning me to perdition if I’m not gonna be altruistic enough towards my fellow beings.
Just that it’s no curse. Take a closer look. It’s a simple truth Cultural Intelligence Hypothesis plops on me, clearing my conundrum…
…by simply prompting me to turn around and look at the evolutionary path we humans have traversed.
I do see that we’ve taken an aerial route over our primate relatives – the Neanderthals – totally eclipsing them with our sheer ability to innovate cultural ideas and share them with the other members of our species.
I see that all the knowledge generated by this ‘sharing’, in fact, got encoded into our very DNA and it got passed over from generation to generation. Minus this fascinating social trait – to share information and pass on knowledge – there’s no way we would’ve acquired the superior abilities we in effect have, acclimatizing ourselves to absolutely new environments.
Amazing I thought… this enlightenment on a simple share fact that has such evolutionary and historical significance.
Okay… I’m, now, trying to connect this macro truth to the infinitesimal iota of the Universe. Me. What do I get out of this ‘share all you know’ stuff?
Coming to think of it, I do get quite a bit actually. In very real terms. This is how.
Somewhere, the philosophical inclination towards things in life has let me acquire a taste for transparency. By that token, I tend not to hold back stuff. So, sharing happens automatically. And, I see its beauty.
I see it’s a win-win for everyone concerned. Am taking a very simple example. My colleagues! By default, they get to know all about the projects I frontend. Sharing! When they do get a full picture, they identify with the whole cause much better, they see the critical role they play in and for the projects. As a result, their cooperation and contribution flow in spontaneously to help projects reach their successful completion… all this, without my demanding them.
Now, do I lose anything because I share all I know? Nothing. On the contrary, I gain so much. Projects cruise on a smooth sail. All my colleagues are totally involved. They are happy. And, they mirror the same transparency by sharing with me what they know. Upshot: I learn. I get more empowered. Over a period of time, I become an evolved soul.
Ha! Is this the same kind of evolution that happened to the human species albeit on a much larger scale?
I guess so. ‘Cause, to me, it looks unequivocally mathematical.
It is.
SAINT MAVERICK 