Francis Berger
  • Blog
  • My Work

Problems Are The Other Window To The Soul

11/15/2019

3 Comments

 
I believe the old saying the eyes are the windows to the soul is true – eyes really can reveal much about the quality and character of an individual’s soul. But eyes can also be quite deceiving. Or they can be easily misinterpreted, even by the best “eye readers.” I have occasionally misjudged souls based on evidence I thought I had perceived in the eyes. In light of this, I think it is prudent to acknowledge studying eyes is by no means a foolproof method of soul evaluation.

In my experience, problems are a far more accurate and effective means of measuring the quality and content of an individual’s soul. People reveal much about themselves when they discuss matters, circumstances, or situations they consider distressing and detrimental. They reveal even more when they offer suggestions as to how these objectionable, unwelcome, and vexing matters should be handled and, ultimately, surmounted. Conversely, people also provide a window to their souls by when they discuss matters, circumstances, or situations they do not view as upsetting and harmful.

Case in point, the other day I overheard a snippet from a debate in Brussels between two female members of the European Parliament. One was Dutch; the other, Hungarian.

The Dutch EP member regarded Hungary’s lack of media freedom to be a major problem. The Hungarian politician rebutted this by stating that 80% of online media sources in available in Hungary were critical of the government and were also beyond government control. This elicited a round of mocking laughter from the audience who appeared to mostly university-aged students. The Hungarian EP member also claimed that the most popular television broadcaster and newspaper in Hungary are also independent and biased against the government. Thus, in her view, the Dutch politician’s vexations regarding media freedom in Hungary were exaggerated.

In turn, the Hungarian raised mass migration and open borders as troublesome and damaging to Europe in general. The Dutch EP member countered this by refusing to understand what her counterpart had put forth. As far as the woman from Holland was concerned, there was no mass migration problem. It simply did not exist. She was also at a complete loss as to why Hungary had constructed a nearly 200 kilometer fence along its southern border back in 2015. As for open borders, the Dutch MP claimed these ceased to exist when national governments in countries like Germany, Austria, and Denmark reinstated border checks and controls within the Schengen Area. The Dutch woman made no effort to explain why these border checks and controls were reinstated in the first place.  

The example I have used above is probably not the best I could have found to illustrate my point about problems providing other windows to the soul. In all honesty, I’m not sure politicians – regardless of where they hail from – even have souls. All the same, much can be learned from exchanges like this (if you have the stomach for it).

I have found definitions and descriptions of problems to be a far more accurate soul gauge then they eyes alone could ever be. So the next time you are curious to know the content of someone's soul, simply listen to them describe a problem. 
3 Comments
Bookslinger
11/18/2019 22:37:19

"Exception processing." I agree.

When everything is normal, then our response can just be taken by emulating what we see others do in normal circumstances.

Exceptions to the normal require us to think, and to deduce/calculate an appropriate response based on our more basic assumptions, beliefs, training, etc.

Reply
Francis Berger
11/20/2019 20:31:09

@Bookslinger - Thanks for the comment and subsequent explanation. Good point!

Reply
Bookslinger
11/21/2019 15:20:16

"Exception processing" is a technical term in system analysis and system design. It can refer to a computer algorithm/program, or a workflow plan/diagram.

To clarify with some examples... the problems/exceptions can be local and individual as well as national and international.

A warehouse "picker" is assembling/gathering goods in a warehouse to fulfill an order. As he goes to a bin/location to get an item, he may (or may not) notice that an item he "picks" is damaged, or is a different item that has been put in the wrong bin.

if he does notice it is wrong or damaged, what does he do? What was he trained to do? How does he handle getting the correct item, and what does he do with the damaged/incorrectly-binned item?

If he is a less-educated person, perhaps an immigrant from a third world country, he may not be able to recognize that the item is damaged, or is incorrect, especially if the item picked is the last one in the bin, so there is nothing to compare it to.

If he is under pressure to pick a minimum number of items per hour, he may purposely avoid corrective action in order to meet his quota, and knowingly fufill the order with a damaged/incorrect item.
--

Then the warehouse "packer", who wraps and boxes the order might, or might not, notice a damaged item. What are they trained to do when that happens, and then what does the packer actually decide to do? Again, time and quota restraints may affect decision-making.

I mention this because receiving damaged or incorrect goods is a common thing when purchasing from Amazon or Walmart.

It appears to me that Amazon and Walmart do not have adequate "exception processing" and "quality control" procedures in place. So how do *I* handle it? Do I accept the damaged/inferior product? Or if I return the damaged/incorrect product, how do I describe the problem in online communication, and any included notes in the returned package?

--

How a customer handles problems/exceptions in a restaurant is also a window to the soul. Slow service? Incorrect order? Improperly cooked food? How does the customer inform and treat the server in those situations?

--

If you are double charged for something by the cashier at a store, how do you handle it? What if the actual price at the check-out register did not match the advertised price, what would you do? Do you check your reciept before you leave the store, or when you get home?

What if you were not charged for something, as in the case where an item was not scanned? Would you take it back, have it scanned, and pay for it?

--

How does a person react to car problems on the road? If you get a flat tire, how do you react? Do you yell and curse and kick the tire, or treat the situation as just something normal that occasionally happens.
--

If someone else's car breaks down on the road and is blocking and slowing traffic, do you drive around them and keep going, or (if it can be done safely) do you stop and help push their car over to the side so it no longer blocks/slows everybody?

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    RSS Feed

    Blog and Comments

    Blog posts tend to be spontaneous, unpolished, first draft entries ranging from the insightful and periodically profound to the poorly-argued and occasionally disparaging.
     

    Comments are moderated. Anonymous comments are never published (please use your name or a pseudonym). 

    Emails welcome:

    f er en c ber g er (at) h otm   ail (dot) co m
    Blogs/Sites I Read
    Bruce Charlton's Notions
    Meeting the Masters
    From The Narrow Desert
    Synlogos ✞ Aggregator
    New World Island  
    New World Island YouTube
    ​Steeple Tea
    Berdyaev.com
    Adam Piggott
    Fourth Gospel Blog
    The Orthosphere
    Junior Ganymede

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    June 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    April 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012

    Picture
    A free PDF is also available in My Work. 
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.