Deceptions Case Study 3 of 3

The ancient text continues the story of Eve and the serpent. Eve’s deception could not be completed without a lie. Yet, the lie was not told by the serpent in the story. The lie was formulated in the perception Eve had of her opportunity to become to self-actualize. In the story, Eve, just after explaining what directions she was given, studied the tree. She evaluated the fruit. In her estimation, it was appetizing and attractive. When Eve began to rationalize, she was no doubt aware of the command given to her husband by the god. “Do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,” was the command. The answer to the serpent’s directive to eat was an emphatic, “No!” As the conversation and Eve’s rationalization continued, the question was no longer, “Should I eat from this tree?” The question became a statement, “Becoming wise is a righteous pursuit.” She further reasoned, “A god who would keep us from being self-actualized is himself wrong. That means that anything the god commands cannot be trusted.”

The lesson to be learned from this story is well below the surface of the supposed wrong choice. Right and wrong are too dualistic to provide important lessons. Consider determining whether your actions are sustainable or unsustainable.

In the story, reason is sustainable. Perception is sustainable. It may even be sustainable to question the directives of the community that you grew up in. The deception here is the rationalization that wisdom can be gained absent from community. The need for immediate results, the desire to demonstrate independence, the disregard for process, all stem from an innate human reality. We each want to trust and to be sure that our trust is cherished.

Often, when faced with the option to trust others, your first instinct is to protect yourself. A decision to trust may result in pain, but it may also result in a success beyond what was possible for you alone. How can you distinguish between reason rooted in community and rationalization rooted in a protectionist trust only of yourself?

Successful Counterfeit: Revelrous

Successful refers to a characteristic experience of achievement. Maslow described this character as “peak experiences.” He talked about individuals who were able to seize opportunities to see themselves as small pieces of a larger puzzle. To Maslow’s observations, I add the idea of small successes in the context of self-motivation.

Peak experiences are not always the completion of a goal. Small successes admonish you to look for the consistent and sustainable path. Success is not only in the destination, it is in the day-to-day approach toward goals.

The counterfeit of successful is revelrous—a life characterized by revelry. As a revelrous individual, you are characterized by highs and lows that threaten your consistency and sap your motivation. When you complete a task, you consider it an end, and celebrate disregarding the road still ahead. When you fail at a task, you fall into a funk, questioning the path you began.

People often see you as a rollercoaster of emotion. Because you put neither achievements nor failures in the context of a larger puzzle, you resort to the extreme reactions of what you think others expect. Your individual relationships are superficial because you are incapable of sharing your fit with others. The group subjugates you to either being the cheerleader or the voice of realism. Neither role is crucial to the team.

To be truly successful, you will see your gifts in the context of the abilities of others and the opportunities of the environment. As a successful individual, you realize that small successes build toward larger successes. This awareness keeps you internally encouraged and building. An awareness of the road ahead tempers your enthusiasm in order to stoke your endurance toward the completion of more challenging goals.

Creative Counterfeit: Indecisive

Creative is a character that brings together form and art to create. Maslow also used the term creative. Creative characters, according to Maslow, were inventive and original. I add an emphasis on the process of creativity to the definition. Creative characters combine a search for knowledge with a respect for the empowerment of self-reflection.

The counterfeit of creative is indecisive. As an indecisive individual, you rely on external pressures or uncertainty to determine projects or goals. It is indecisive because you do not take responsibility for the process. You rationalize that if you wait until the last minute, you always have an excuse for why the product is not perfect. This also makes it impossible for you to work with others.

You want others to see you as original, but you take your cues from the pressure rather than from a careful meditation on form and art. You are often heard to say, “I put that together at the last minute” or “I do my best work under pressure.” This is only half true. You do perform at the last minute, but you fail to take the time to consider the quality of the work that could have been created over a longer period of time.

To be truly creative you will build each product as an exercise in knowledge gathering and self-reflection. Rather than last minute excuses, you will stand behind the work that you produce. You will challenge yourself to learn more about the craft and the methods of your expertise. You will reflect on what you have learned and place it in the context of who you are and the contribution that you would like to make to the world around you.