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If you put your mind to it, you can achieve anything. Except compute an uncomputable function. Or transmit information faster than the speed of light. Or simul

If you put your mind to it, you can achieve anything. Except compute an uncomputable function. Or transmit information faster than the speed of light. Or simultaneously measure the speed and momentum of a particle with errors whose product is less than half the planck constant. But apart from that, anything.

crazygringo 14y ago
Do you really believe that, or are you being sarcastic? Because I hate to tell you, someday you'll collide with real life. If you put your mind to it, can you become president? Chances are simply, no. A lot of people have put their mind to it, like Romney, McCain, Hillary, Kerry... it's not like they were lacking in motivation or desire. So... no, sometimes, no matter how hard you want something, you are not going to achieve it. I know there's a big self-help movement, believing in attracting positive energy, believing in yourself, and whatnot... but a lot of people can't seem to always tell the difference between realistic expectations and self-delusion.
- crntaylor 14y ago
  > Romney, McCain, Hillary, Kerry They probably just didn't want it enough. If they'd really thought positively, if they'd just visualised themselves in the position they wanted to be in, they'd all be president now. And if you're going to say "but what about their opponents?". Well, if they believed in themselves enough, then they'd be president too. If Romney and Obama both believed in themselves, then they'd both be president. Now that's the power of positive thinking.
  - delluminatus 14y ago
    So you were being sarcastic. Having said that, positive thinking and motivation are very important factors in goal achievement. It's often the case that when someone fails to accomplish something, it's because there was simply something else more important to them that inhibited their effort.
    - swombat 14y ago
      In other words, positive thinking is very helpful, possibly even a necessary precondition for some outcomes (like becoming president - ain't gonna happen unless you really do want it), but it is neither a predictor nor a principal factor. On the other hand, it is arguable that negative thinking can be a fairly strong predictor of failure. That is perhaps the most useful take-away from the otherwise relatively useless field of positive thinking: if you keep thinking you're going to fail, keep visualising and expecting failure, chances are very good that you will indeed fail, even if you had all the other necessary factors for success.
  - crazygringo 14y ago
    Touché. :)
- pomber 14y ago
  Hello? Hello? Anybody home? Think crazygringo think
- snowwrestler 14y ago
  The point of these types of stories is that the right mental state is a prerequisite for success--but not a guarantee. Yes, it's true that most people who want to be President, won't make it. But it's also true that every single person who thinks it is impossible to become President won't make it either.
msutherl 14y ago
The issue with this statement is that you don't actually want to achieve "anything". You want to realize your potential. Before you do anything, you must discover what you love and what you're good at. You can then do that thing. It feels like "anything" because if you had a choice of anything, that's what you'd choose. But you can't actually do things that you wouldn't want to do anyway.
Xcelerate 14y ago
> Or simultaneously measure the speed and momentum of a particle with errors whose product is less than half the planck constant. This is easy to do actually. Unless you define error as a value that depends on multiple measurements. I prefer to just go with standard deviation and keep the ambiguity out of it.

crazygringo 14y ago

Do you really believe that, or are you being sarcastic? Because I hate to tell you, someday you'll collide with real life. If you put your mind to it, can you become president? Chances are simply, no. A lot of people have put their mind to it, like Romney, McCain, Hillary, Kerry... it's not like they were lacking in motivation or desire. So... no, sometimes, no matter how hard you want something, you are not going to achieve it. I know there's a big self-help movement, believing in attracting positive energy, believing in yourself, and whatnot... but a lot of people can't seem to always tell the difference between realistic expectations and self-delusion.

crntaylor 14y ago
> Romney, McCain, Hillary, Kerry They probably just didn't want it enough. If they'd really thought positively, if they'd just visualised themselves in the position they wanted to be in, they'd all be president now. And if you're going to say "but what about their opponents?". Well, if they believed in themselves enough, then they'd be president too. If Romney and Obama both believed in themselves, then they'd both be president. Now that's the power of positive thinking.
- delluminatus 14y ago
  So you were being sarcastic. Having said that, positive thinking and motivation are very important factors in goal achievement. It's often the case that when someone fails to accomplish something, it's because there was simply something else more important to them that inhibited their effort.
  - swombat 14y ago
    In other words, positive thinking is very helpful, possibly even a necessary precondition for some outcomes (like becoming president - ain't gonna happen unless you really do want it), but it is neither a predictor nor a principal factor. On the other hand, it is arguable that negative thinking can be a fairly strong predictor of failure. That is perhaps the most useful take-away from the otherwise relatively useless field of positive thinking: if you keep thinking you're going to fail, keep visualising and expecting failure, chances are very good that you will indeed fail, even if you had all the other necessary factors for success.
- crazygringo 14y ago
  Touché. :)
pomber 14y ago
Hello? Hello? Anybody home? Think crazygringo think
snowwrestler 14y ago
The point of these types of stories is that the right mental state is a prerequisite for success--but not a guarantee. Yes, it's true that most people who want to be President, won't make it. But it's also true that every single person who thinks it is impossible to become President won't make it either.

msutherl 14y ago

The issue with this statement is that you don't actually want to achieve "anything". You want to realize your potential. Before you do anything, you must discover what you love and what you're good at. You can then do that thing. It feels like "anything" because if you had a choice of anything, that's what you'd choose. But you can't actually do things that you wouldn't want to do anyway.

Xcelerate 14y ago

> Or simultaneously measure the speed and momentum of a particle with errors whose product is less than half the planck constant. This is easy to do actually. Unless you define error as a value that depends on multiple measurements. I prefer to just go with standard deviation and keep the ambiguity out of it.