Friday, June 15, 2007

the corrections

I bowled in a league one year in like sixth grade. Sometimes kids would have this thing where they wouldn't follow through straight and their ball would veer to the left every time. So their solution would be to stand farther to the right. This would just lead their ball to veer more dramatically to the left, until they'd be standing all the way on the right side, and still sometimes bowling into the left gutter. Instead, what the kid needed to be doing was move farther to the left, as then this would cause them to alter their follow-through in the right direction.

I've been surprised at how many times I've since returned to this experience as a internal personal metaphor in one situation or another. "This is just like bowling. If your ball goes left, you need to move to the left--not to the right," I think. Including a recent circumstance, but not one I can blog about.

9 comments:

Ribs said...

I'm needing an example.. I'm unable to think of a situation where this can be applied. I just don't know what everything represents.

Tom Volscho said...

an example...when you are backing up a truck with a trailer

brayden said...

This is pretty much how I play golf. I have an awful slice that I've learned to correct in a half-assed way by turning my club toward me. My dad chastises me everytime we play (which isn't often enough). I feel like I'm back in little league.

jessica said...

I know this isn't what you're talking about, but I definitely recommend that you eat more ice cream! Trying to over-compensate by eating two pounds of carrots a day can't be a good long term solution to overcoming Cold Stone addictions.

AK said...

I am trying to think of an example where one might find this metaphor useful. Here's one: two people have really different styles of dealing with conflict. One yells, one quietly represses. They have a disagreement, and can't reach a resolution. The yeller yells louder, the bottler-up gets quieter, each trying in his/her own way to deal with what is going wrong, but basically making matters worse.

I find myself in this situation more often than I would like (as a yeller) so maybe next time I will think of bowling.

dorotha said...

this is a difficult metaphor for me to understand. i'm not sure that i consistently veer in one direction. can your aim be wildly off in different directions without ever correcting?

Kieran said...

This is a Tocquevillean idea. The solution to the problems of democracy is more democracy. Also a libertarian one. The solution to problems of the market is, more market liberalization, not less.

me said...

I'm sad if trolls made it so you can't explain the recent circumstance, especially since I too don't get the metaphor. Cold Stone is the best ever, by the way.

dorotha said...

the more i think about this, the more i don't really get it. i know you won't explain this on your blog, but could you in an email?