Thursday, July 14, 2011

Continuum


Continuum can be seen as the backbone of many descriptions. For example, when a person is said to be enthusiastic, the enthusiasm level is measured based on this continuous non-spatial extent. From time to time, we describe ourselves with the use of words, such as cheerful and hardworking. What people may tend to miss out is the degree of it. In other words, those descriptions work as some sort of a mask, semi-covering the true description behind each description, until the day where it is shown via the portrayed behaviours. Using the previous example, a friend may claim herself to have the enthusiasm in completing the assigned task, but at the end of the day, she seems to be producing nothing. Is her enthusiasm sufficient enough to get her moving towards the goal? Most probably not. Frankly speaking, having a desired characteristic does not necessarily mean that we have the quality of it. Perhaps it is somewhat similar to the threshold principle, where we are required to hit the minimum requirement before we are capable of activating an action, creating a force which cannot be stopped by any obstacles ahead. And when we do not hit the threshold level, well, we do not get what we wanted the most. Everything comes back to us at the very end, where we hold the key to strive for our purpose and goals. It does not matter whether we possess the quality or personality, but how we make full use of it by pushing it to the optimal level along the continuum in order to hit the threshold.