A few days ago I've read a quote by Meghan McCarthy, one of the writers for MLPFiM. I can't find it right now, but it went like:

Good ideas are common. People who put those good ideas into action are rare, though.

This left me with mixed feelings. I was wondering what line of thought was behind that quote. Because it can be used merely as a belief, thus acting as if it were true and thus more or less unconsciously perpetuating this idea.

Since she is saying that as a writer, she is speaking of (among others) herself as a rarity. Which is nothing remarkable.

Writers sow ideas. They express ideas in an appealing way, thus spread and advertise them. But as she herself said, those ideas are common. She might find it a good idea to spead these ideas, so she works as a writer. She succeeds at putting that idea of spreading ideas into action.

Now those ideas are out there, and few people will be able to actually put them into action. Is this an acceptable state? It is not clear from above quoted statement whether Meghan McCarthy thinks so.

Convincing someone of something might bring a certain responsibility with it, because supporting good ideas and adopting ideals can be difficult; it is a sacrifice, and needs all the support it can get. By McCarthy's very own reasoning, good ideas themselves are not that much in need of nourishment, but putting them into action is. And many people can help with this. THAT is where support is needed dearly.

Many people choose to adopt ideals out of a deep recognition of the good that is contained in them, only then to find themelves in way over their head, left on their own, unsupported by their immediate social environment. And once the good within an idea has been recognized, it is almost impossible to defy that idea. But when it happens, it can cause a massive blowback.

In order to flourish, good ideas have to be practical in the environment they are being put into, and with the evolution of global broadcast media, ideas more and more often fall onto soil regardless of how realistic they are there. Buckshot principle. Fire&forget. It can be like giving a plant a big shot of fertilizer, encouraging a growth boost, that then never gets any fertilizer again and will struggle to keep all its leaves alive for the rest of its existence.

It's easy to imagine all the good coming from spreading good ideas, but did you ever think about the bad that good ideas can cause? An uncomfortable thought maybe, but worth exploring. It might not even be the idea itself so much as the attitude of the messenger that spoils things.

Helping each other to get stuff done is where the mastery lies, for that creates facts by spreading the magic of cooperation and connectedness of all beings in the most direct way possible.

If you've ever heard someone say the line: "I did it, and you can do it, too!"

then ask them: "Show me!" Because without putting their money where their mouth is, so to speak, it's borderline deception of those who are willing to believe easily. It's convenient to project your own philosophy onto other people, but that philosophy will be put to the test. And the less substantial and applicable that philosopy is, the more people will be left nonbelievers. In the end, nothing might be gained but polarisation. A deepending of the gap, leading to less empathy when the messenger is hit by the unconvenient reality of the whole picture, then leading to such denialist thoughts as: If you didn't make it, you're just lazy.

You won't hear the Dalai Lama say: "Buddhism worked so well for me. I'm sure it will for everybody." He knows very well that that's not true.

And yet, philosophies like Buddhism, just like any other, have agents and they have followers.

When a buddhist monk passes a farmer who is struggling to fix a cart wheel, do you think he will tell the farmer: "Just keep trying! You can do it!" or will he lend him a hand? And what message will either of those reactions convey? Which one do you tnink is more powerful? ... What is more powerful? 1 kW of electricity or 1 gram of uranium? A flash of light or a light motion of the flesh?

Are you going to gamble or are you going to get stuff done?

"Let me help you"