RH
A note from Dr. Hendrix
A talk with a close friend about how an idea turns good or bad produced something he wryly called “The Crappy Idea Model,” which I have set down here in verse. I wrote it because after a lifetime built on ideas, I have learned that where you were raised, and who is in the room, shapes which of yours the world will call good.
— Dr. Roger Hendrix · We share these stories so you can know the family behind GreenTeaHP.
This week I was talking to a close friend about the nature of ideas. How does an idea become a good idea and how does an idea turn bad? He shared his version of what he called “The Crappy Idea Model”. I share it in poem form.
“The Crappy Idea Model”
I have accepted the fact
that my ideas put me in
the MINORITY.
I have accepted the fact that
WHERE I was raised influences
how I think and influences how
and why others think the way
they do.
I have accepted the fact that
my ideas are influenced by
the DECADE I was born in
and the same for others.
What I don’t have to accept is
a CRAPPY idea whether it comes
from my faulty thinking or from
others’ faulty thinking.
Crappy ideas get CRAPPIER
the more you defend them and
even when you attempt to reform
them.
How do you ensure that you
have good ideas? By thinking
HARD over your ideas.
The HARDER you think about
your ideas the more apt you
are to lean in a good direction.
Good ideas keep getting BETTER
as the number of conditions they
are introduced into increases and
number of problems they solve
grows.
What’s an example of a GOOD
idea?
The INHERENT equality of humans:
women, children; black, brown,
yellow people.
What’s an example of a CRAPPY
idea?
The inherent INEQUALITY of
humans: gays, lesbians, you
get my drift?
The more you lean in the direction
of inherent equality the better the
idea becomes.
The more you lean in the direction
of inherent inequality the crappier
the idea becomes.