Wednesday Wisdom

“Every block of stone has a statue inside it, and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.”
— Michelangelo

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (1475–1564) was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the Renaissance period and is widely regarded as one of the greatest artists in Western history. He was born in, 1475, in Caprese, Tuscany, and grew up in Florence, a city at the heart of Renaissance culture. Trained as a teenager under the patronage of Lorenzo de’ Medici, he was influenced by classical art and humanist philosophy and set the aesthetic standard of Renaissance art and culture.

Michelangelo’s early fame came from sculpture, works like the Pietà (1499), showing the Virgin Mary cradling the dead Christ, and David (1504), a symbol of Florentine civic pride, revealed his mastery of anatomy, proportion, and emotional expression. In painting, his most celebrated achievement is the Sistine Chapel ceiling in Rome (1508–1512), which depicts scenes from Genesis, including the iconic “Creation of Adam.” Decades later, he returned to the Sistine Chapel to paint The Last Judgment (1536–1541) on the altar wall, a vast and dramatic vision of salvation and doom. As an architect, Michelangelo shaped the design of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, particularly its massive dome, which became a defining landmark of Rome.

The Michelangelo Effect is a psychological concept that refers to how close, supportive relationships, especially partners, can help people become their ideal selves, much like Michelangelo sculpting a masterpiece by revealing the form hidden in the stone. Named after Michelangelo Buonarroti, who believed that a statue already existed within the marble and that it was the sculptor’s job to reveal it. Psychologists use this metaphor to describe how people in close relationships “sculpt” each other toward their ideal self. Coined by researchers Stephen Drigotas and Caryl Rusbult the Michelangelo Effect suggest that partners support each other's personal growth, aligning behaviors, encouragement, and feedback with the other person’s own values and aspirations. Over time, this mutual support helps both individuals move closer to their ideal selves, not by changing who they are, but by nurturing what's already there and by creating a positive feedback loop.

The word “Pygmalion” comes from Greek mythology. Pygmalion was a sculptor who was disillusioned with the woman around him, so he carved a statue of a woman so beautiful that he fell in love with it. Praying to the goddess Aphrodite, she brought the statue to life in answer to his prayers.

George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) was an Irish playwright, critic, and social thinker, and one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. Born in Dublin, he moved to London and became known for his sharp wit and public debates on social issues locking horns at the Fabian Society with HG Wells, GK Chesterton and Winston Churchill.

Shaw wrote more than 60 plays, often blending comedy with serious social critique. His best-known works include Pygmalion, Saint Joan, Major Barbara, and Man and Superman. He challenged class divisions, gender roles, and the hypocrisies of Victorian society with both humor and biting criticism. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1925 and later won an Academy Award in 1938 for the screenplay of Pygmalion, making him one of the few people to earn both honors. My Fair Lady was a movie adaptation of Pygmalion starring Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn which won 8 academy awards in 1964.

George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion is a play about a professor who transforms a poor flower girl’s speech and manners to pass in high society, exposing themes of class, identity, and the power of language. This may be the most obvious example of the Pygmalion Effect, a well-documented psychological and sociological phenomenon. It refers to the idea that higher expectations lead to improved performance, based on the principle of self-fulfilling prophecy. The effect is rooted in the idea that people's performance is influenced by the expectations placed upon them. When someone expects more from an individual like a teacher from a student or a manager from an employee, they often unknowingly provide more encouragement, attention, and opportunities, leading the individual to perform better.

2025 - Oh, so relevant

Robert K. Merton was an American sociologist and Columbia University professor, widely regarded as one of the most influential social scientists of the 20th century. He is best known for concepts like the self-fulfilling prophecy, role theory, and the strain theory of deviance, which examine how social expectations, positions, and pressures shape behavior. His work bridged theory and practical observation, showing how social structures and expectations influence both individual actions and collective outcomes. His self-fulling prophecy concept set the foundation for the Pygmalion effect coined and proven in a classroom by Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson in their 1968 book Pygmalion in the Classroom. They applied Merton's idea to classrooms, showing that teachers’ high expectations can improve students’ performance.

“Dress for success” or “Fake it until you make it” are common phrases which describe the power of positive thinking. Ever hear the term “keep your chin up”? The “Placebo Effect” is another example were a believe that a treatment or medicine is helpful tricks the mind into healing, once again demonstrating the power of positive thoughts. While the concept may seem simple, it is also a well-studied in academia and science which validates its merit.

Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle’s work Nicomachean Ethics introduced the concept of “eudaimonia” or living well which explores the nature of a good life. Aristotle believed it’s a combination of rational action, virtues, and a positive attitude toward life’s experiences. Is it really this straightforward and simple when we delve into the complexities of epistemology?

Even in 2025, the timeless wisdom of the ancient Greeks reminds us why their texts continue to be studied and revered. As Michelangelo suggested, we are all a block of marble and given a little Pygmalion encouragement, we too can become works of art.

Thanks, Dad, for the gift of curiosity!

Philosophy is the art of thinking, the building block of progress that shapes critical thinking across economics, ethics, religion, and science.

METAPHYSICS: Literally, the term metaphysics means ‘beyond the physical.’ Typically, this is the branch that most people think of when they picture philosophy. In metaphysics, the goal is to answer the what and how questions in life. Who are we, and what are time and space?

LOGIC: The study of reasoning. Much like metaphysics, understanding logic helps to understand and appreciate how we perceive the rest of our world. More than that, it provides a foundation for which to build and interpret arguments and analyses.

ETHICS: The study of morality, right and wrong, good and evil. Ethics tackles difficult conversations by adding weight to actions and decisions. Politics takes ethics to a larger scale, applying it to a group (or groups) of people. Political philosophers study political governments, laws, justice, authority, rights, liberty, ethics, and much more.

AESTHETICS: What is beautiful? Philosophers try to understand, qualify, and quantify what makes art what it is. Aesthetics also takes a deeper look at the artwork itself, trying to understand the meaning behind it, both art as a whole and art on an individual level. A question an aesthetics philosopher would seek to address is whether or not beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder.

EPISTEMOLOGY: This is the study and understanding of knowledge. The main question is how do we know? We can question the limitations of logic, how comprehension works, and the ability (or perception) to be certain.