What is it with people that drink their own kool-aid?
There are two things a person living in a ‘free’ country can choose to change with confidence: 1. Themselves, 2. Their surroundings. Trouble brews when you mistake an issue as resulting from the wrong one, and thus change the wrong variable.
When otherwise intelligent people never question their own motivations, I wonder how they grew up. I wonder what sorts of things their parents/grandparents taught them (good, and bad, intentional and otherwise). I wonder how, if and when I have a child, I could teach them to carefully examine themselves and their environment without unreasonable guilt, shame, or arrogance. And how to use their thoughts to push themselves in the direction they want to travel. I think about what sorts of examples from my own life I could share that would point to my own mistakes in either understanding what the problem was, or poor choices in how to react to that problem.
Moreso, I wonder where that divide occurs in people – some people only consider the repercussions and their own personal motivations in the most obvious circumstance, and others obsessively self-analyze (or analyze others) and come up with answers that never really existed in the first place (Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar after all).
I play around with that line of consciousness in my head, and consider the ways my flaws might change if I were either more or less thoughtful in my own situations.
The biggest barrier to change in one’s self is rationalization – turning straw to gold, and admiring your rotting treasure.
Cognitive Biases are something we all have to overcome, but the first step is even being able to identify them. Here’s a great link: http://healthbolt.net/2007/02/14/26-reasons-what-you-think-is-right-is-wrong/
Good stuff! :)
Cognitive Biases are something we all have to overcome, but the first step is even being able to identify them. Here’s a great link: http://healthbolt.net/2007/02/14/26-reasons-what-you-think-is-right-is-wrong/
Good stuff! :)
maybe it’s just me, but i don’t think about the people i know and love in such a cold and scientific way. yeah, i might wonder “WTF happened to them to make them this way?”, but that’s mostly my wondering why they’re thinking/acting differently than i want/expect. it’s not good or bad. it just is.
I definitely think it’s possible to both love people and think scientifically about people, especially when it comes to considering what goes into making a person who they are.
Why would this be bad, or incompatible with loving thoughts?
I’m confused as to what part you were speaking about. I did not at all say I was speaking about people I know and love when it comes to never questioning one’s motivations. I did talk about wanting to teach a (potential) child of mine a way of thinking, and doesn’t anyone who has a child want to do that?
I would want to teach my kid to be honest with him or herself, because I think that’s a really important part of shaping your own life. Not -my- shaping -their- life, mind you, but them having control over themselves and what they do with their years on earth. I think that’s a loving thing.
i realize i wasn’t exactly clear. i’m not implying that thinking about your people in such a way is bad or incompatible, i’m just saying that beyond the occasional “wtf..” *I* tend to not think about my friends scientifically or get too deeply into what motivates them. i try to focus more on what they bring to me, what i bring to them, the fun (and sometimes not fun) we have together, and the things that keep us together as friends.
Ah I see. *nods* Well, I think that makes sense – as I said, it wasn’t a friend of mine that had me considering it anyway. I think, if I were a parent, I’d have an obligation one doesn’t have as a friend.
I think delving too much into someone’s perceived motivations without asking them directly is just begging to misunderstand them in some critical way.
Ah I see. *nods* Well, I think that makes sense – as I said, it wasn’t a friend of mine that had me considering it anyway. I think, if I were a parent, I’d have an obligation one doesn’t have as a friend.
I think delving too much into someone’s perceived motivations without asking them directly is just begging to misunderstand them in some critical way.
i realize i wasn’t exactly clear. i’m not implying that thinking about your people in such a way is bad or incompatible, i’m just saying that beyond the occasional “wtf..” *I* tend to not think about my friends scientifically or get too deeply into what motivates them. i try to focus more on what they bring to me, what i bring to them, the fun (and sometimes not fun) we have together, and the things that keep us together as friends.
I definitely think it’s possible to both love people and think scientifically about people, especially when it comes to considering what goes into making a person who they are.
Why would this be bad, or incompatible with loving thoughts?
I’m confused as to what part you were speaking about. I did not at all say I was speaking about people I know and love when it comes to never questioning one’s motivations. I did talk about wanting to teach a (potential) child of mine a way of thinking, and doesn’t anyone who has a child want to do that?
I would want to teach my kid to be honest with him or herself, because I think that’s a really important part of shaping your own life. Not -my- shaping -their- life, mind you, but them having control over themselves and what they do with their years on earth. I think that’s a loving thing.
Also, I’m not angry in any way, or wishing people I know would behave other than the way they do.
Also, I’m not angry in any way, or wishing people I know would behave other than the way they do.
maybe it’s just me, but i don’t think about the people i know and love in such a cold and scientific way. yeah, i might wonder “WTF happened to them to make them this way?”, but that’s mostly my wondering why they’re thinking/acting differently than i want/expect. it’s not good or bad. it just is.
hey now. just because I’m a gun toting psychopath doesn’t mean my parents didn’t bring me up right. :-P
/mock drama.
*grin* I was thinking I should move in with you, so’s I have my own personal gun toting psychopath to protect me from all the other gun toting psychopaths.
*grin* I was thinking I should move in with you, so’s I have my own personal gun toting psychopath to protect me from all the other gun toting psychopaths.
good thing you didn’t shoot the dog!
how’s he doing?
oh, thats almost funny. Speaking of which, I’m going rant about that.
Thankfully I’m not a complete nitwit, and I managed to not riddle the dog with holes. So, aside from being stiff, he’s good.
oh, thats almost funny. Speaking of which, I’m going rant about that.
Thankfully I’m not a complete nitwit, and I managed to not riddle the dog with holes. So, aside from being stiff, he’s good.
good thing you didn’t shoot the dog!
how’s he doing?
hey now. just because I’m a gun toting psychopath doesn’t mean my parents didn’t bring me up right. :-P
/mock drama.