I admire Will Smith. But some people think he’s crazy after what he said in an “inspirational” Youtube video.
He said, “2 + 2 only equals 4 if you accept that it equals 4.” And the comments that follow the video are attacking him personally for such a wacky assertion.
Personally… I don’t know what he’s talking about.
If he’s saying anything close to one of my favorite quotes, then I agree.
“All you need is ignorance and confidence and then success is sure.” ~ Mark Twain
I like this quote because for every person who thinks they “can,” there’s 100 more who think that person can’t.
And each of those 100 people have a handful of reasons why you can’t. Some of these reasons may even be pretty good.
But the creative genius who thinks they can is ignorant of many of these reasons… and armed to the teeth with confidence.
Being ignorant and confident removes many self-imposed limits that keep other people from reaching their potential. If you don’t “know” that you can’t, then you often can.
Hence, the Wright brothers were able to take flight even though normal folks “knew” it was impossible.
Most people think time travel is impossible. And it may be. But we may find out differently in the future.
So Will may be wrong and 2+2 may equal 4 absolutely. But there are plenty of ideas in our head that we think are absolute truths… that we’ll recognize as false in the future.
The people I admire most are constantly challenging assertions to do just that.
Here’s the video with Will. It’s worth listening to even if you’re not interested in his mumbo jumbo.
Just wait until he starts talking about being willing to die on a treadmill – that is inspirational.
Is this video too big for the white space? running in to the margins? Works OK for me but I’m hearing it’s too big for some. Let me know!
It’s my personal observation that good business owners are often ignorant about certain aspects of their business.
It allows them to say, “Hey Joe, make this happen.” Joe says it won’t work, but the owner won’t take no for an answer. Guess what? Joe finds a way to make it work!
Very good point. Thats another plus for not getting too involved in every aspect of a business. Stay ignorant and achieve more!
I hope he means what you think he means. Otherwise, he may be talking in some sort of cosmic, new age, Scientology type of mumbo where you can defy reality and even “create new realities”, as his friend Tom Cruise would say.
I hope he means what you think he means. Otherwise, he may be talking in some sort of cosmic, new age, Scientology type of mumbo where you can defy reality and even “create new realities”, as his friend Tom Cruise would say.