The limits of the possible…

The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.

– Arthur C. Clarke, famous British sci-fi author and inventor

That statement is so very true. Many of us see impossible as the definitive end-of-line. Just look at your daily life. We’ll throw around the word “impossible” freely at times. And I’m not acting like I don’t. In 2005, my wife and I made a New Year’s resolution to severely limit our use of the word “impossible”. We found that most of the time, we let our frustration let things seem impossible in our daily lives. Our devotion to the resolution has helped us immensely. So we routinely jump into the “impossible” and have found the “possible” many times. Maybe we need to do a little more research. Maybe we need to call some experts. But we can do it. Talk about accomplishing something…

I think science is full of people saying impossible. Why? Do you know for sure? Have you found out everything? I submit that in science, there are infinite possibilites. The struggle towards the possible should never stop.

3 Responses to “The limits of the possible…”

1. triticale says:

   April 26, 2006 at 11:44 pm

   The self-help crowd has a saying that if you say you can do something you may be wrong, but if you say you can’t you’re sure to be right.
2. Dean Esmay says:

   April 27, 2006 at 12:10 am

   “Act as if it were impossible to fail.”
3. T-Steel says:

   April 27, 2006 at 9:14 am

   triticale: I think the self-help crowd sometimes concentrates too much on the can’ts. I went to a couple of self-help seminars a few years ago. I realized quickly that I can help myself.
   Dean: Yep!