#194: Self-Fulfilling Prophecy, Self-Licking Ice Cream Cone & Self-Demonstrating Article
3 Ideas in 2 Minutes on Autoreflection
I. Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
Imagine a teacher who considers herself bestowed with the gift of foresight. A gift that rivals that of Cassandra, the mythological Trojan priestess whose predictions were never wrong. She just knows which of her students are highly capable and promising. To support them, she gives them more attention and encouragement than the other students. Her assumptions inspire her actions, leading to better performance of her chosen students and the seeming confirmation of her initial belief.
So is our teacher the Cassandra of our age? Or merely a master of Self-Fulfilling Prophecies, the psychological phenomenon where a belief or expectation influences a person’s behaviour in such a way that it brings about the expected outcome. It doesn’t matter if that belief is true or false. You may just assume that something might happen. But it causes you to behave in a way that makes the outcome more likely.
II. Self-Licking Ice Cream Cone
My 5-year-old can’t wrap his head around a Self-licking Ice Cream Cone. Ice cream is meant to be eaten by people. Preferably by him. An ice cream cone that consumes itself has no purpose. He’s not wrong. But blessed with ignorance about bureaucracies and other organisations that sustain themselves without producing anything useful.
The metaphor of the Self-licking Ice Cream Cone is about such self-perpetuating systems. Systems that only exist to justify their own existence rather than to fulfil any meaningful purpose.
A government agency might build a large sports stadium on a sparsely populated Australian island. Not because it’s needed. But because they can make a “big announcement” and continue justifying their own relevance. The system, like a self-licking ice cream cone, keeps itself going without serving an external purpose.
👉 How does this dysfunction come about? Check out my essay on Pournelle’s Iron Law of Bureaucracy and Government Dysfunction.
III. Self-Demonstrating Article
A Self-Demonstrating Article is an article that, through its own structure or content, demonstrates the very concept it explains. It serves as both an explanation and an example of its subject matter.
Think of Gary Provost’s rhythmic article in which he demonstrates how to write with rhythm. To create a sound that pleases the reader’s ear. To not just write words. To write music.
Or take what you’re reading right now, a self-demonstrating article about self-demonstrating articles. It not only defines the concept but also showcases it by being an example itself. By reading this, you are experiencing the explanation in real-time. 🐘
Have a great week,
Chris
themindcollection.com