If You Spot It, You Got It
According to one definition, epistemology is “the branch of philosophy that investigates the origin, nature, methods, and limits of human knowledge.” It seeks to discover where knowledge comes from (origin), what knowledge is (nature), how we know what we know (methods), and how much we can know (limits).
When I wasn’t falling asleep in Professor Bueno’s philosophy class at Morehouse College, I remember him saying that one of the core principles of epistemology is that “like is known by like.” In other words, it is impossible to know something outside of you unless it is also inside of you. I thought that was an extremely valuable bit of information, and adopted it as permanent plank in my personal philosophy of success. Of course I Joseph-fied (I made that word up. It means to filter an idea through the sieve of my uniqueness) the concept, and if you spend enough time around me you will eventually hear me say to someone “if you spot it, you got it.”
I usually use this expression in response to a compliment. If someone compliments me, I will thank them and then almost immediately respond “if you spot it, you got it.” I say that because in complimenting me, my complimenter is actually complimenting themselves. It is my recognition that the ability to appreciate an attribute, a quality, or an aspiration in others is an indicator we possess that attribute, quality or aspiration ourselves.
Consider a biblical example of this proposition. Joseph is one of the seminal characters of scripture. His story is told over 13 chapters in the book of Genesis, by far the largest amount of space given to any other character in the book. He was the love child of his parents, and the favorite child of his father. Jacob’s affection for Joseph was so intense that he gifted him with a multicolored coat, which indicated his status and signified his exemption from labor. The scripture tells us that Joseph’s brothers hated him because of his coat. But that isn’t the only reason they hated him. We are also informed that they hated him for another, more compelling reason: Joseph was a dreamer. In one of his dreams, Joseph saw his brothers bowing down to him, and he had the naivete, the boldness, or the gall to actually tell his brothers his dream. Then he had another dream even grander than the first one. Genesis 37:9-11 tells us that
And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me. And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth? And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.
What is interesting to me about this story is the different reactions of his brothers and his father to Joseph’s dream. His brothers envied him. But after initially rebuking Joseph for such an extravagant dream, we are told that his father “observed the saying.” As my mother would say, he “put a pin in it.”
Joseph’s brothers were not dreamers, so they dismissed his dreams as the arrogant imaginations of a spoiled child. However, Jacob was a dreamer—so he paid careful attention to Joseph’s dreams. Jacob had first hand evidence of the power of dreams. Twenty years earlier after having made a terrible mistake, Jacob was forced to flee from his hometown. En route to live with his uncle Laban, Jacob spent the night in the wildnerness underneath an open sky, and had a dream. According to Genesis 28:11-15,
When he came to a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had gone down. He took one of the stones from that place, put it under his head, and lay down there. He had a dream in which he saw a stairway set up on the earth with its top reaching up to heaven. He saw the angels of God going up and coming down on it. The Lord was standing above it, saying, “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give the land on which you are lying to you and your descendants. Your descendants will be like the dust on the earth. You will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. Through you and through your descendant every family on earth will be blessed. 15Remember, I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go. I will also bring you back to this land because I will not leave you until I do what I’ve promised you.”
Jacob knew better than to dismiss Joseph’s dream, because he was a dreamer himself. He was living proof that dreams are real—and that they come true. So his reaction to the dreams of his son was not envy. It was one of understanding and appreciation. Cuz if you spot it, you got it. The ability to appreciate an attribute, a quality, or an aspiration in others is an indicator we possess that attribute, quality or aspiration ourselves.
Pay attention to what you pay attention to. We are always looking for clues in our environment and among our associations for our identity, our purpose, and our assignment. But you don’t notice everything. You don’t notice everyone. But whatever and whoever you do notice is a sign that what they have you already possess.
If you spot charisma, you’re charismatic.
If you spot wisdom, you’re wise.
If you spot style, you’re stylish.
If you spot creativity, you’re creative.
If you spot ingenuity, you’re ingenuous.
If you spot the anointing, you’re anointed.
If you spot it, you got it.
Deep always calls unto deep.
Like knows like.
If you spot it, you got it.