Facing Insurmountable Opportunities
Jim likes the phrase "insurmountable
opportunities", and he finds more than enough ways to use it.
I don't know where or when I first came across the
phrase "insurmountable opportunities". Quotations such as "We are confronted
with insurmountable opportunities" are often attributed to Walt Kelly in his
comic strip
Pogo,
and it seems like the kind of wit that Kelly was known for, but I've seen claims
that no such statement can be found in the archives of
Pogo.
Though its origins are clouded, I've come to appreciate the phrase in the last few years. It sounds like an oxymoron, as opportunities are like open doors, quite the opposite of the kind of obstacles that are usually described as insurmountable. Still, we may be fortunate enough to be able to choose paths from a whole set of opportunities, and it's these choices--rather than the opportunities themselves--that can be real obstacles.
Sometimes the difficulty is simply that there are many more opportunities than you can possibly take advantage of. There are more books than you can hope to read, more music than you can ever listen to, more recipes than you can try, more destinations than you can visit--and more examples than you'd want read here. As communications technologies advance, many of us are lucky enough to have access to huge arrays of alternatives to choose from in certain domains. How can we make the most favorable choices?
Complexity can also make choices difficult. When you're trying to choose among complex products--such as mobile phone plans, or plans for Medicare Part D--the options available may be both complex and differently structured, so that comparisons are difficult. Uncertainty imposes another difficulty. How many phone calls will you make each month? What prescription drugs will you need during the next year? Which books will you enjoy most?
So the choices can be difficult, and it's often quite impossible to be sure of making the optimal choice. In that sense, opportunities can be insurmountable. But it may possible to make choices that are good enough. Viewed this way, the phrase "insurmountable opportunities" isn't an oxymoron, it's just hyperbole.
Opportunities are good things, though ever-increasing numbers of opportunities yield diminishing improvements, and can cause difficulties and frustrations. In this complex world, I seem to find more and more situations where the "insurmountable opportunities" description seems appropriate, if overstated.
Though its origins are clouded, I've come to appreciate the phrase in the last few years. It sounds like an oxymoron, as opportunities are like open doors, quite the opposite of the kind of obstacles that are usually described as insurmountable. Still, we may be fortunate enough to be able to choose paths from a whole set of opportunities, and it's these choices--rather than the opportunities themselves--that can be real obstacles.
Sometimes the difficulty is simply that there are many more opportunities than you can possibly take advantage of. There are more books than you can hope to read, more music than you can ever listen to, more recipes than you can try, more destinations than you can visit--and more examples than you'd want read here. As communications technologies advance, many of us are lucky enough to have access to huge arrays of alternatives to choose from in certain domains. How can we make the most favorable choices?
Complexity can also make choices difficult. When you're trying to choose among complex products--such as mobile phone plans, or plans for Medicare Part D--the options available may be both complex and differently structured, so that comparisons are difficult. Uncertainty imposes another difficulty. How many phone calls will you make each month? What prescription drugs will you need during the next year? Which books will you enjoy most?
So the choices can be difficult, and it's often quite impossible to be sure of making the optimal choice. In that sense, opportunities can be insurmountable. But it may possible to make choices that are good enough. Viewed this way, the phrase "insurmountable opportunities" isn't an oxymoron, it's just hyperbole.
Opportunities are good things, though ever-increasing numbers of opportunities yield diminishing improvements, and can cause difficulties and frustrations. In this complex world, I seem to find more and more situations where the "insurmountable opportunities" description seems appropriate, if overstated.
Posted: Sun - February 4, 2007 at 08:23 PM by email
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Published On: Feb 25, 2007 07:18 PM
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Published On: Feb 25, 2007 07:18 PM