A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste
The world is always a democracy in times of flux, and the man with the best voice will win. Everybody thinks Hitler got to power because of his armies, because they were willing to kill, and that’s partly true, because in the real world power is always built on the threat of death and dishonor. But mostly he got to power on words, on the right words at the right time.
Chapter 9 Locke and Demosthenes, End.er’s Game, Ors.on Scott Card
Oh boy…
What a time to be a alive….
My opinions have been sooo unpopular lately…probably because I trust about 20% of what I read.
“News” isn’t news, it’s entertainment/posturing for clicks.
People are RIPE to be offended by any and everything…and would rather just be that instead of reading to find out the truth isn’t NEARLY as sensational.
Everyone is willing to take up causes that don’t require much of them marches facebook essays etc, instead of doing things that actually do more than raise awareness in echo chambers.
Everything really is a mess, but it doesn’t have to be.
For me, again I generally don’t trust someone because they say they’re something and don’t trust other people’s opinions of other people. I also don’t blindly trust authority or think much of anyone because they have “status”. People are fallible humans. Most are selfish. Most, sorry, aren’t that thoughtful and most do not like to consider things outside of their own world purview. They will ESPECIALLY vehemently defend the concepts they base their identities on concepts that are mostly manmade based on societal norms for example rather than personal ones they have learned through experience. It seems to be hard for people to accept that there can be more than one way to eat a Reese’s.
This quote exactly articulates my mental model :
I entertain a great deal of ideas and thoughts that I do not accept for the sake of expanding my realms of thought and understanding. I find it extremely useful to set my own beliefs aside in favor of thinking through opposing or different views. That being said, I think the root of this lies in the thought that, if something makes sense, you will believe it. If a belief that you do not hold is understandable and reasonable, then as opinionated beings, we tend to get frustrated. The idea that there is sometimes no right or wrong answer can be extremely frustrating, because it then becomes difficult to justify what you think or believe. We are creatures that enjoy being sure in ourselves and being able to give concrete reasons and arguments for what we think or believe. To entertain a thought that we don’t agree with is to admit that the thought has some measure of merit, thus seemingly devaluing the thought or belief that we hold by placing it into jeopardy. If we don’t entertain those other ideas, then we may rest in assured peace in the accuracy of our own thoughts and beliefs through the lack of knowledge of the opposing idea’s validity.
- Jennifer Pritchett
That said…
Lately, it iggs SO MUCH that everyone is sharing clickbait news articles with super provocative titles and article content “twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools.”
The facebook essays and marches…again echo chambers. Maybe call/write your government representatives. Maybe get involved and join their committees. Maybe run for office yourself. Remember they work for YOU. Even if your candidate didn’t win, you need to find a way to tell them why your causes are important. That is not by going radio silent and refusing to participate in things you don’t agree with, or doing the generic marches so you can pat yourself on your back for agreeing with people who already agree with you, or by boycotting companies who are part of the “enemy’s” administration. A lot of times those in leadership positions don’t know what they don’t know. Appeal to them personally using THEIR mental model and generally they will listen. A march isn’t going to do that. Personal appeals with actionable plans will. Don’t come with a bunch of questions and complaining, come with iterative steps to ease forward progress.
To me the marches say “THIS SUCKS! FIX OUR PROBLEMS FOR US EVEN THOUGH YOU DON’T SEE OUR PROBLEMS AS PROBLEMS BECAUSE YOU HAVE DIFFERENT PRIORITIES AND YOUR DIFFERENT PRIORITIES ARE SEEN AS PERSONAL AFFRONTS RATHER THAN MINIMIZING GOVERNMENT.”
Which doesn’t seem productive at all.
Like, if work sucks, I’m not going to sit there and complain all day on facebook. I’m going to detail how it sucks , make an actual feasible plan to transform things so they don’t suck, and then present that to people who can help make make things better so I can move forward with implementing the plan. Even the people who are causing the issues will get that same plan presented to them in a way that makes them look good…because at the end of the day, they are driven by ego and just want to be celebrated as a hero.
But…whatever what do I know.
Just…kind of tired of all this talking and saying nothing….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31rwry9iRFs
