People do not question their ability to think well and discern enough or at all.
Without this basic 'noticing you got it wrong' structured thought, then evaluating how you came to the wrong conclusion, then putting new thinking structures in place to avoid this failure of thinking again, then you are doomed to keep getting it wrong and to keep making decisions based on faulty thinking.
Is it me... Because I really did think this is obvious and didn't need pointing out.
When the Hunter Biden laptop story broke, I avoided the usual noise and went and looked into it. Probably took me circa 3 hours.
At that point, I realised it was obviously true, and how deep it went couldn't be assessed yet. And I moved on, amazed at how many people failed to do basic discernment on a subject that should have meant Joe Biden was at the very least, probably not a safe pair of hands anymore.
However, if you didn't reach this very simple, and very obvious conclusion, then how can you trust your current ability to think well and discern well...
Simple, you can't.
If you got it wrong then, you are going to be getting it wrong again and again. Yet have you gone and looked at how you got it wrong?
No. You’re too busy to look at something you now simply accept. You see no value in you having been wrong and noticed it.
What’s going on is your fragile little ego doesn't want you to look at you getting it wrong. It doesn't want you to evolve into a rational-thinking person who can discern well. It wants you trapped in a faulty thinking mode, where you fail to advance and evolve.
It wants you stuck, and incapable of thinking well and it wants to ensure you don’t discover the benefits waiting for you in looking into why you got it wrong.
Correct thinking and highly conscious thinking are all about being almost happy when you get something wrong.
Why? …Because that way it presents an opportunity for growth.
You get to adapt your thinking, learn from the mistakes you made, and become 'sharper' and more 'honed’ going forward.
In this situation errors in thinking are a very good thing if the consequences weren't too bad.
Me, I look forward to making mistakes in my thinking, as it gives me an opportunity to improve it. Whereas most look to not be wrong, and 'hope' they are right.
Because I like being right, I only make big calls when I have carried out adequate discernment. If not enough data is in yet, then I simply don’t make the call.
This way of thinking means that unfortunately, with every failure of thinking I am presented with fewer and fewer opportunities to learn... Because I am rarely wrong.
So I don't have to rely on 'hoping' I'm right when we only have a little data, my honed thinking skills mean I can see clearly with very little evidence based on countless previous correct calls.
This level of comfort in the world is what waits for all who are willing to notice when they get it wrong, evaluate why they got it wrong, and come up with ways to prevent them from getting it wrong in the future.
Unfortunately, there just aren’t enough people following this process, despite it being ‘bleedin’ obvious.
Or if thinking about why you got something wrong is too hard and dysfunction, depression, lifelong disappointment and low levels of consciousness sound better, then just consider me a Trump-loving racist, anti-semite gay-hating white man and your ego will help dish out some endorphins. Then you can quickly go back to your non-player-character role.
Personally, I choose growth rather than stagnation, or decline because if you ain't busy growing then you are already busy dying.
The only downside to thinking in this structured way is, you become a smart arse who almost always gets things right…
Which again provides an opportunity for growth in learning not to be so much of a smart arse. This is where I fail this level on an ongoing basis and as yet have no plans to grow up :-)
So if you are looking for growth from this rather than just mental stimulation, then the answers are…
Consider where you have gotten the current narrative wrong…
Consider why you got it wrong…
Consider what you could do in future so you didn’t get it wrong…
Consider looking forward to getting something wrong in the future… How does this make you feel…
If none of this works, then I suggest re-reading A Bug Free Mind, and my articles on discernment.
Best wishes,
Andy Shaw
How Appreciating Being Wrong Changes Your Thinking
Always good to hear from you Andy. That couldn't have come at a better time, with what's happening in my life right now. Thank you.
Very nice to hear from you Andy. Thanks so much. I always appreciate you're trying to rattle my brain