It seems that science, history, psychology, and even magic are based on the employment of inductive logic. Due to the one-way flow of time—from past to present to future—we can examine experiments, historical anecdotes, behavioral anecdotes, or arcane rituals to see whether or not they can be employed as useful tools, or at least draw a conclusion which can guide our efforts. To cut through the ambiguity/flavors/quirks behind all of these methods/approaches, I like to ask one question:
Is it effective or not?
I believe this takes all the formality, all the pomp and circumstance, all the navel-gazing, and all the woo-woo right out of it—allowing me to navigate all methods, all styles, and all forms of thinking in order to address any given context.
(The next question would be: “What’s the MOST effective?” And between these two questions, I think, arises the concept of strategy)
Dirty Sci-Fi Buddha 
Just think…
Only predators
Use strategy
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I disagree with “only.” Not only does prey use strategy, leaders, parents, entrepreneurs, martial artists, first responders also use strategy. That’s only the tip of the iceberg.
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Exactly, consciousness breeds instinct? Or instinct breeds consciousness? Either Way, self awareness leads to self protection. Guess it depends on what you hunt. If we all strategize, what’s your game? I’m more of a gatherer than hunter. That’s my strategy. Self sufficiency depending upon Mother Nature.
I agree. Strategy is relative to the goal. Technique seems to be the subtlety. How we approach and apply our problems makes a difference.
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Effective is a certain sounding word with often blurry edges. In society we have so many perspectives and environments that what one might dub “effective” others might experience as useless or detrimental. Social effectiveness is a psychological result which relies on emotional processing and responses. Mechanical effectiveness is the clearest, when predefined results can be used as measures.
Also, the duration of effectiveness and the persistence of effectiveness can vary widely.
It sounds like you have standards and requirements of effectiveness that are important to you. Others might not even notice the effort and results you value, so setting your own measures and methods is vital to your success.
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I agree. I also think that setting personal measures and methods of effectiveness is an art in and of itself, as it requires self-knowledge derived from clean self-reflection, which seems to be difficult for many.
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Many do not see the benefits of being conscious of these elements you try to control. They just “go with the flow” and cut stress where they can. Both ways of life seem to coexist around the world.
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I think many also see the benefits; entire industries have sprung up around the age-old message of knowing oneself to maximize fulfillment. It just requires short-term discomfort, which is perpetually unpalatable, which gives rise to perpetual interest in said industries.
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Perhaps put another way from my own life, is something helpful or not helpful to a given situation – I find this a way of looking at things that can cut right to the heart of a situation where a thoughtful action is especially important. Leaping from there, in psychoanalytical practice as I understand it, if we can’t understand someone’s motive, look at the outcome and then infer the motive and work from there. Just flowing with my consciousness, if you are looking at things from a quantum perspective and considering time going in all directions then orientation is important to determining what progress really is.
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I agree. All effectiveness depends on context. Understanding context is dependent ona clear perception, which is dependent on knowing oneself, which is dependent on clean self-reflection and studying oneself over time.
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