In his brilliant political-philosophy book Leviathan (getcho SparkNotes on – no judgment), Thomas Hobbes wrote:
When two, or more men, know of one and the same fact, they are said to be CONSCIOUS of it one to another; which is as much as to know it together.
When two, or more men, know of one and the same fact, they are said to be CONSCIOUS of it one to another; which is as much as to know it together.
And don’t get caught up on the pronoun—the 1700s were a different time. Hobbes was one of the earliest western philosophers to consider women as “persons” when creating a social contract. He insisted on the equality of all people, very explicitly including women (from Stanford University’s online philosophy encyclopedia).Hobbes looked at equality in an interesting way: he considered everyone equal because of a shared vulnerability. Everyone is subject to domination. Nobody is truly “safe” because we’ve all got to sleep at some point. (Intense, huh?)He also noted that everyone is [potentially] equally capable of dominating others.
And it’s the duality of that domination potential, especially when combined with principles of Encompassingness, which can provide valuable insights for paradigm-shifting innovation.Consider Spanx, the slimming-undergarments manufacturer—its founder, Sara Blakely, wanted better pantyhose. So did most hose-wearers. And who doesn’t want to look a bit thinner??Sara identified her need (aka: vulnerability).She made others conscious that it was also their need.She addressed the need in a way that helped everyone.And beaucoup dinero later…Parts of our respective subjective realities are, actually, objective reality, like how it’s annoying when your pantyhose roll down (it’s why you couldn’t keep a pair on Childhood Me!)Exploring our own experiences can help us find things with which others may be able to identify (see: Raising Consciousness) & understand truths that speak to the core of humanity. Using those truths to serve is where transcendental innovation happens & history is written.The ability to make your subjective reality that of others demonstrates incredible influence. However, when you create an entirely-new objective reality… that’s legendary.
