I was at the grocery store this morning and saw a child wearing an outfit with wings and I began to contemplate why it was completely acceptable but for an adult it is not really (well at least any place but SF and burning man).
I came to the conclusions that maybe it was motive. A child wearing wings doesn't really have a motive besides to enjoy themselves. An adult when they are wearing wings would have a hard time convincing you that they don't have a motive. Many adults have reached the intellectual place where they can reason about what they wear. This means that choosing what they wear probably involved weighing the consequences and benefits of each outfit. Eventually they can come to the conclusion of "Why the fuck not?" but that is not common as society has shown that people rarely engage in things that are outside of "norm". Probably because we have egos.
Motive comes across pretty well in humans. I was watching videos by tom nestor and my uncle, robb thompson, yesterday (ex. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L59a1JPJgWE) . It is obvious in that video that tom is trying to sell you something. His motives immediately seem disingenuous, with the title being "how to quadruple your income"(Why isn't he quadrupling his income? And if he is everyday he should have all the money in the world pretty soon!). Watch his facial expressions, it is obvious he is acting. Motive comes across in your speech especially when giving public talks.
I think this is important as a Scientist or Teacher. People can tell your motives. I used to be really nervous before speaking and sometimes still have a little nerves. It is usually when my motives are different from how I truly feel. Then I have fear of being found out. Most people give talks because they want to impress people. Sure, you can build up a huge ego and that helps overcome the fear of public speaking but so does having a true motive.
Now when I give talks. I give them to tell people about things I am excited and passionate about. Things I enjoy and love. It is hard to be nervous then. People usually want to share in that passion and love. Very very few people responded negatively to love and passion in that situation.
I think about my motives alot. Why do I have blue hair and piercings? Is it because I want them or because I want to portray things to other people? I think it is because that is how I see myself but why do I see myself that way? Maybe I just want to be punk. I think this self-evaluation is always a good thing. It helps me to have genuine motives. Though let's be honest I am not always genuine. But at least I don't look and act like someone such as tom nestor.
