'Call me Trimtab' - A most important concept for humans to make a difference: Skillful means (video)

Buckminster Fuller's gravestone
says "Call Me Trimtab.

“Call Me Trimtab” is inscribed on Buckminster Fuller’s tombstone. Here is how he described the Trimtab concept:

“Something hit me very hard once, thinking about what one little man could do. Think of the Queen Mary — the whole ship goes by and then comes the rudder. And there's a tiny thing at the edge of the rudder called a trimtab.

It's a miniature rudder. Just moving the little trim tab builds a low pressure that pulls the rudder around. Takes almost no effort at all. So I said that the little individual can be a trimtab.

Society thinks it's going right by you, that it's left you altogether. But if you're doing dynamic things mentally, the fact is that you can just put your foot out like that and the whole big ship of state is going to go.

So I said, call me Trimtab.” - R. Buckminster Fuller

Most people believe that we can steer the great ship named Bucky Fuller named Spaceship Earth using governments, corporations and other organizations, but nothing could be farther from the truth. Currently, we have hundreds of government and organizational leaders trying to do that, and they are not succeeding because their actions are like many people all trying to push a huge oceanliner from different places along its hull.

Very few, however, have noticed that the ship can be easily steered using very little effort with its trimtab. This is also true of our everyday activities at work, home and with any group of people.

For example, it is more effective and efficient to put an article on Facebook, or publish it in online or write a book than it is to try sharing that idea with one person at a time. Using Bucky’s Trimtab Principle, which the Buddhist call Skillful Means, we can communicate with and influence hundreds if not thousands of people with nearly the same effort as it takes to communicate with a single person.

That is not to say that we should not continue our intimate communication and experiences with one individual or small groups. Rather, when we want to shift the experience of large numbers of people, Trimtab is the way to go. This is particularly true at this critical moment in human evolution.

We need to shift many things to create a world that works for everyone, and nothing is more effective than Trimtab in doing that. Bucky proved that throughout his life.

May we all learn to use the Trimtab Principle on behalf of the welfare of all sentient beings.

To receive the Buckminster Fuller Quote of the Day click on the SUBSCRIBE button at the top of this page and subscribe to this column.

What do you think about this?  To comment, click on the COMMENT button at the top of this page and share your thoughts.  I read them all. 

What do you think about this?   Write your comments below.   I read them all.

More Buckminster Fuller Quotes of the Day

'I seem to be a verb' - Humans are evolutionary changing beings in support of all life on Earth

What are humans? Why are we here? What can one individual do to make a difference? (video)

Bucky Fuller's quest to find 'Nature's Pencil': We live in an abundant Universe

War is obsolete as we shift from weaponry to livingry: We are all billionaires (video)

Haiti: Itsn't it time 'we the people' do what needs to be done there? (video)

Only integrity is going to count if humankind is to survive and succeed (video)

‘Call me Trimtab’ - A most important concept for humans to make a difference: Skillful means (video)

One individual making a difference in a world where politics and war are obsolete (video)

‘Roam Home to a Dome:’ Bucky Fuller song in praise of the geodesic dome: He sings it (video)

More Stories of Interest:

Robert Harrison uses ordinary items to capture space photos that impress NASA (video)

Lights go off to mark ‘Earth Hour’: In support of the health of Spaceship Earth (video & pictures)

Krishna Das, Deva Premal & Miten Chant Super-Tour energizing & entertaining  (video)

Joe Biden says ‘the F-word’ when congratulating Obama on health care: Who cares? Everybody (video)

Plastiki catamaran built of 12,500 plastic bottles sets sail from San Francisco to Australia (video)

Artist Kseniya Simonova wins ‘Ukraine’s Got Talent’ using her hands & sand: Emotional impact of war

Shamanic Whistling Vessels provide a unique healing, manifestation experience

Steve McNair – Sahel Kazemi murder summary: Details but no conclusion (video)

Michael Jackson's image seen in tree stump: People are seeing him everywhere (video)

Wedding party dances down aisle: Video worth watching seen by nearly 5,000,000 (see video)

Native American Indian dog takes baby from crib and hides him in woods (video)

Celebrity ghost sightings like Michael Jackson are common, especially at Roosevelt Hotel (video)

Russian woman has the world's strongest vagina: Anyone willing to challenge her? (video)

High school senior denied diploma for blowing kiss to his mother (video)