9Targets and the Mirror
Mirror, mirror, on the wall,
Who in this land is fairest of all?
From Snow White by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm (1812)
Within today's world, an immense amount of data is available. How well we make use of the available data and analytics directly impacts our success. Understanding the data landscape with intelligent analytics to support decision making is becoming one of the primary tasks in navigating a changing world. The understanding of data related to individual engagement is at the heart of the infrastructural work required for learning in the flow of work.
The Great Civilizer
We have had mirrors for almost as long as people have walked the earth. So the story goes, the first mirror was formed when the waters of a small stream in the Himalayas paused ‘as if considering which way to turn’ and whilst the waters were still they reflected the image of a passing girl who had herself paused to glance into the stream.
Perhaps the best-known story of fascination with our own reflection is the Greek myth of Narcissus; the beautiful hunter so fascinated by the face he sees in a pool that he cannot pull himself away. Unlike his Himalayan counterpart, he fails to realize it is his own reflection he has fallen in love with, and so pines away on the riverbank.
Even Socrates had something to say on the usefulness of seeing our reflection. We are told by Diogenes that he recommended young people should ‘look at themselves in mirrors so that, if they were beautiful, ...
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