All,
I hope everyone has been doing well these last few weeks. Life has continued to be hectic for me with trips and work. I am sorry I have not been able to put a ton of effort into each post but I am happy I am able to still do these ones.
April 25th, 2025
THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH BEING WRONG
"If anyone can prove and show to me that I think and act in error, I will gladly change it - for I seek the truth, by which no one has ever been harmed. The one who is harmed is the one whoa bides in deceit and ignorance."
― Marcus Aurelius, Meditation, 6.21
What is means: " Someone once attempted to argue with the philosopher Cicero by quoting something he had said or written. This person claimed Cicero was saying one thing now but had believed something different in the past. His response: 'I live from one day to the next! If something strikes me as probable, I say it; and that is how, unlike everyone else, I remain a free agent.' No one should be ashamed of changing their mind - that's what the mind is for. 'A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds,' Emerson said, 'adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.' That's why we go to such lengths to learn and expose ourselves to wisdom. It should be embarrassing if we didn't end up finding out if we were wrong in the past. Remember: you're a free agent. When someone points out a legitimate flaw in your belief or in you're actions, they're not criticizing you. They're presenting a better alternative. Accept it!"
Your Authors Take: They key to success is failure well handled. I have said it before in these blogs and I will say it again - a very important thing I work on often is the art of knowing what I do not know. I found myself, for a very long time, getting defensive anytime someone disagreed with my take on something or with an idea I had. It would go as far as even falsifying a narrative to present my thought or idea as better. This is a mistake. A major key to life is to know when you are wrong and to find alternatives to beliefs you have, even ones that are strong and you thought previously unbreakable. Life and opinions should be built on a foundation of facts and logic. NOT on the emotional response that is brought on by an idea. Emotion is important but should be tempered - it is crucial to let the initial outburst of emotion be tempered when making decisions so you do not fall into an action with less virtue. This will help you admit when you are wrong, even when you really do not want to be. We should always be open to changing our mind on something if the facts present differently than we originally thought - and we should always be willing to admit that we were wrong. I see this issue a lot in modern day politics, for example, and it never hurts to see how its effecting the country. On both sides of the system you have folks that refuse to divert from their parties beliefs no matter the facts laid out. They choose to stick with their original thoughts no matter the facts because of the emotion they feel behind it and often get stuck using confirmation bias. This has caused a massive divide in the population that I truly think would be fixed if people could just understand each others side and admit when one is wrong or right without villainizing it. This concept of accepting when you are wrong and understanding the angle of someone else, even if you may not agree, is the key to fixing this issue. Its simple, yet an undertaking too hard for those who do not wish to live their life to the fullest.
Thank you all
No comments:
Post a Comment