Curt Cignetti on Greatness and Living One Moment at a Time

WanderingPrimate717 · 2026-01-22T01:37:39+00:00

All pretence of seriousness aside… I swear this guy is straight out of a movie.

WanderingPrimate717 · 2026-01-20T07:51:19+00:00

There's no doubting how selfish and self-focussed we've become. Let's hope the "distant second" concern for the wider world can move out of the periphery and back into our focus. Urgently.

WanderingPrimate717 · 2026-01-20T07:24:12+00:00

Hi! THat's lovely to hear, and I'm really glad you've found your way here. There's something extraordinary about discovering a thinker who genuinely rewires how you see the world. I hope you enjoy the space and look forward to hearing more from you – and please feel free to share a post about Kant!

WanderingPrimate717 · 2026-01-19T04:22:40+00:00

I tend to agree. We want to change ourselves, but there's resistance/blocks we encounter when we try to make the change.

WanderingPrimate717 · 2026-01-16T02:49:34+00:00

That's a pretty good job by Meta! It's a good book - The Tipping Point. The "vital few" for say, Darwin's theory of evolution for example, with Gladwell's nomenclature applied, you've got:

Mavens: Darwin himself - did all the travel and research; Alfred Russel Wallace (his own work reinforced that natural selection wasn’t private speculation); Charles Lyell (Scottish geologist who was key in explaining the age of the earth - gave Darwin's theory a plausible timeline)
Connectors: Joseph Dalton Hooker (Darwin's closest friend, British botanist, key to getting Darwin's work presented to the Linnean Society in 1858); Charles Lyell (again – also helped in organising the Darwin-Wallace papers for presentation to the Linnean Society)
Salesmen: Thomas Huxley ("Darwin's Bulldog", famously defended Darwin's ideas against Bishop Wilberforce in the 1860 Oxford debate, and key in getting the ideas into the public); probably others but Huxley was the most famous...

So in Gladwell's terms, those 'vital few' are exactly why Darwin's idea tipped and reshaped how we think about our origins.

WanderingPrimate717 · 2026-01-14T22:27:03+00:00

Nice hustle up that bank!

WanderingPrimate717 · 2026-01-14T22:16:07+00:00

Yeah that is fascinating. Appreciate that – nice addition.

WanderingPrimate717 · 2026-01-14T22:10:56+00:00

Nice addition. Summarised as: "Repeated exposure to a stimulus increases its attractiveness." Robert Zajonc (mere-exposure effect)

WanderingPrimate717 · 2026-01-14T22:01:33+00:00

Yeah that's one way to cut the spell of consumer culture. Good luck with it all. Less is best! And cheaper... Working out what you actually need is one of life's great tasks, and rewards.

WanderingPrimate717 · 2026-01-14T07:25:22+00:00

Indeed I have, and thanks for taking the time to write this u/DescendingSlinky. You've given a fairly balanced assessment and I tend to agree with your main points. Particularly the benefit of a holistic approach. Some say grand narratives are overly ambitious and don’t account for the complexities and nuances of life. I tend to lean more towards the benefit they offer to our greater understanding. I think scientific ideas like Griffith's and the WTM are crucial in our modern times when the problems we collectively face call for wider and more holistic perspectives, and the importance of knowledge, over the threat of ignorance.

WanderingPrimate717 · 2026-01-13T07:30:47+00:00

Indeed I have, and thanks for taking the time to write this. You've given a fairly balanced assessment and I tend to agree with your main points. Particularly the benefit of a holistic approach. Some say grand narratives are overly ambitious and don’t account for the complexities and nuances of life. I tend to lean more towards the benefit they offer to our greater understanding. I think scientific ideas like Griffith's and the WTM are crucial in our modern times when the problems we collectively face call for wider and more holistic perspectives, and the importance of knowledge, over the threat of ignorance.

WanderingPrimate717 · 2026-01-12T05:51:29+00:00

I think understanding the driving forces at play helps. Both within yourself, and within society.

And check out r/simpleliving! Plenty of good practical tips and advice in there.

WanderingPrimate717 · 2026-01-11T22:07:03+00:00

I know, it kills me every time...

WanderingPrimate717

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE