TINA (There Is No Alternative) and TATA (There Are Thousands of Alternatives)
"You think that is really going to work?"
"What's the point of comparing!"
"I've been doing it all along!"
"That kind of thing — no use even trying!"
"What would be the point of that!"
"I knew it!"
"It is too late now!"
"Isn't it all the same in the end!" (p.350)
There is something called the 'TINA' principle. It is the English abbreviation for "There Is No Alternative!" That 'TINA' blocks our thinking with the words I introduced above.
When I am trying to attempt something and someone next to me throws in words like these, I start having doubts about myself. Unease creeps in about my own thinking, and my conviction weakens. The thought "could it really be that this won't work?" starts to creep in.
What matters more, in fact, is the case when this 'TINA' is at work inside me. When I try to attempt something, and 'TINA' inside me tries to block my thoughts.
There is a method. It is the 'TATA' principle, coined by the French political scientist Susan George. It is the abbreviation for "There Are Thousands of Alternatives!"
When TINA blocks my thinking, I want to remember TATA and shake off, for a moment, the unease and doubts that have just appeared.
▶ Yeh Byung-il's Economic Notes — Twitter: @yehbyungil / Facebook: www.facebook.com/yehbyungil
