When I was a kid I used to love the TV show, “Kung Fu.”
Now, looking back in retrospect, it was kind of a goofy TV show. Not the kind that goes down in history as classical drama. Especially since they had a white guy playing a Chinese guy (even though in the TV show he was supposedly half white).
But one line from one episode struck me, and I’ve remembered it ever since.
I don’t even remember what the plot was, but the hero was talking to the villain, who had been terrorizing some small western town. Only the villain didn’t know he was being a villain.
Come to think of it, maybe that was the plot. Instead of beating up the bad guy, he convinces the bad guy to change his ways since he doesn’t know that everybody sees him as the bad guy.
Which, in and of itself, is a pretty common theme in pop culture.
A bad guy thinking he’s the good guy, until he realizes that everybody thinks he’s the bad guy.
It usually involves somebody or some situation forcing him to see himself as everybody else truly sees him, instead of how he thinks or wishes they are seeing him.
Anyhow, the line that stuck with me was:
“If you plant rice, it will grow. If you plant fear, it will grow.”
Meaning that people will make HUGE assumptions about who you are, and what you’re capable of based only a very small bit of evidence.
It’s amazing how much our minds tend to “fill in the blanks” based on only a very small amount of information.
That girl you like doesn’t return your smile, and all of a sudden you’re life is doomed to lonely desperation.
Or maybe you get an extra long gaze from that friendly checker at the supermarket and you’re king of the world.
Knowing what “clues” people look for, on a subconscious level, can be extremely beneficial if you are consciously trying to project a certain image.
Just like a farmer, you plant seeds based on what you want to grow.
Since most people plant seeds in a completely random and haphazard manner, they get completely random and seemingly haphazard results.
But you know better.
Learn more here: