what do you think of when you hear this?

Question

"We think too small, like a frog at the bottom of the well. If he surfaced, he would have an entirely different view"- Mao Tse-Tung


What is the first thing that comes to mind?



*No immiture answers please!

Answer 1

the first thing that comes to mind is the idea that our surroundings (friends, family, school, media, public opinion) control the way we see the world. we know nothing else because we can not see beyond this barrier. if it was possible to step out of these surroundings and observe the world through an unbiased perspective, everything would be very different. our opinions, our priorities, and our goals in life would be completely altered.

Answer 2

The frog thinks that the water in the well is all the water in the world. There are oceans like Pacific,Atlantic,Indian etc. We are too happy in our comfort zone and do not want to see whats beyond. In the most depressing/rock bottom moments I feel its better to be a frog in the well because there are more problems to deal if we see and hear more. Again it just takes a few hours to realize how wrong I was. Imagine how small I would feel if I was confined like the frog not knowing whats happening outside. How much I would be missing the exciting things in the world.
Good Question

Answer 3

What comes to mind are thoughts about basing our decisions on what perceptions our experiences in life have given us. It is often hard to "think outside of the box" or in Mao's words, to "surface". First, there must be a reason to motivate us to do so. Many people go through their lives living within the constraints of self-made boundaries. I think it takes curiosity, courage and often a sense of discontent to leave the bottom of the well.

Answer 4

I think of our smallness in the universe. I mean, humans are merely animals in a far out planet who are on top of the food chain. There are things we can't control, such as multiverses colliding and destroying us, or what others think. Also, there are many things we have yet to know, such as if we're truly alone in the universe, exactly where we come from, why we're here, what the purpose is, if we even truly exist, or when this'll all end; in other words, we don't have nearly enough knowledge as we do answers, we often have to use game strategy (predicting the actions of others), intuition, or knowledge relative to the situation, but we never truly know; we never even truly know ourselves. I mean, we're not a large thing in the universe, we overestimate ourselves.

Answer 5

I wish people like Mr. Mao would have been a little less visionary and stayed at the bottom of the well.

There are many examples in history of people who had grand visions and ended up damaging humanity more than they contributed.

Answer 6

People are more appreciative when they have been pushed to the limit,had a near death experience,or have just been miserable for a while and then brought back to the world they had before.In other words,they no longer take for granted what they have once they see that it could be much worse.

Answer 7

You cant accuse people of being ignorant if its all they've ever known. If, for example, you are raised by Neo-Nazi's (I know this is kinda extreme), then you probably will share their views. The frog, all he knows is the bottom of the well. If you asked him to describe his life, he would describe it from that point of view. The Neo-Nazi kid would share his views that were instilled in him through his racist upbringing.

Answer 8

I agree with the statement.
We tend to look at the world through our own interpretation, which can be tainted by past experience and learning.
If we look at things from different angles, we'll see there's more there than meets the eye at first.

Answer 9

The first thing that came to my mind regarding this statement is it's total inaccuracy. Even quotes that spring forth from great minds are often erroneous.

Answer 10

that you spelled Mao Zedong in the Wade-Giles romanization of Chinese Names