You Build Your Life on Hand-me-down Knowledge: Your Opinions Are Not Your Own
Posted: Thursday, September 18, 2008
by Jeff Brown
Inner Projection
You have to make decisions all the time.
Your car has broken down, so you must take it to the garage. According to most experts, you'll get a fair shake 50% of the time. You pick the one who's sent you a coupon for a 10% discount on your next repair.
Your two-year-old has developed a lump in his skull. You must take him to an expert. But which one? According to one mother, she went to eight "experts" who told her, her son was OK. The last one said there is a problem that "We must operate immediately." Intuitively, she knew he was right. The operation was successful.
You are a brilliant man. Your parents are successful professors at prestigious universities. Growing up you spoke often about your love for God. Your parents being atheists, made fun of you. Now you live in the woods alone. You can't tolerate anyone, least of all anyone who speaks of religion. To avoid the problem you avoid everything.
Are you upset with most in the world? Often wonder why there are so many people who know nothing? Well, you're not alone.
Being one of infinite ignorance (that's you and me: humans), it is difficult if not impossible to be right about even a few things. Most people realize this and that's why we cling to our limited understanding, for it takes a brave and strong soul to kill off or let die inadequate beliefs that may have been in place for years. And, unfortunately, most of those beliefs are assumed to be correct or of the best understanding.
The majority of our influence comes generally from two sources: mom and dad. Our world of two-or in more and more cases one-creates understanding of the larger world. Because we have little understanding until much later in life that there are other opinions or ways of thinking, it's often too late because what our parents preached-or more accurately showed by example / action-has set our blueprint for understanding the world around us. And even though we may be aware of a differing of opinion amongst people, the knowledge of our source of "opinion" often goes goes unexamined because few are even aware of its source in the first place.
As we mature, in some cases we realize and accept that there are those who know more than us and that we must rely on their expertise: the mechanic, doctor, investment analyst, stock broker, pharmacist. This is because most if not all of us have limited "expertise" (even though some won't admit it to themselves or others) because we only have so much time in a lifetime to understand an insignificant amount of infinite existing knowledge. Because of human limitation, even "experts" in a particular field are only experts in a particular niche. For example, the computer field exists of experts in software, hardware, local area networks, desktop computers, mid-range systems, mainframes, and so on. Even within these niches are sub-niches: software experts can be broken down into experts in operating systems, game software, desk top applications, mid-range business applications, and so on. And even those experts may lose their expertise within a few months or years if they don't keep up with constant version updates.
But let's get back to us and what we can control in our lives regarding that which is paramount to our existence. First and foremost, we must get to know us: strengths, weaknesses, desires, talents, skills, and so on. At the core of our being is fundamental knowledge that we must understand in order to be successful in our dealings with career, relationships, family, and just a general understanding of what's important to us as a unique individual coming into this world at a certain level of intelligence, maturity, perception, learning ability, and so on.
Everyone has known and unknown or unexamined beliefs about the world. Oftentimes these "beliefs" are accumulated in our formative years, and we take them in and accept them without question, assuming that they are the best beliefs or beliefs that if challenged should be defended. These beliefs often exist without the believer ever coming to see the need for examination or change. They often exist covertly.
In critical thinking, assumptions in an argument or persuasive statement frequently go unmentioned, never mind not even being recognized or acknowledged by the speaker / author. For example, one may feel that the best alternative to fossil fuel is nuclear energy. What is ignored is that the advocate doesn't even consider the dangers of nuclear plants until one is built in his backyard. Understanding to a great degree is about perspective.
It is difficult if not impossible to have opinions that should never change. After all, how can they not when our understanding of most issues of complexity is incomplete and-taking it several steps further-even more incomplete considering all existing knowledge. At one time, slavery and the oppression of woman were seen as good ideas. At one time, the statement "Pluto is a planet" was a fact. Facts change. Understanding changes. At one time, in science paradox meant error. Since the advent of Quantum Physics, paradox is the norm. Light is both a particle and a wave. An electron is at rest and in motion.
But amongst all the seemingly endless reams of information and shifting knowledge you would think that people would be aware of this glaring fact and accept their imperfect understanding. But as we all know, this is not the case.
Just like any who have opinions, we emotion-based creatures believe, often unassumingly, that what is being learned in any backyard should be similar if not the same to our "best informed" perspective. Of course, there are those who give lip service to the ideal that they don't believe everyone should have the same opinion and that it's OK to agree to disagree, but even that "opinion" often goes unexamined as to whether the individual truly believes this or is merely mimicking popular opinion.
In order to truly understand ourselves, we must step back with considerable discipline, patience, and courage to examine our understanding of the world. An important point to consider is that this is not just a one-time event. It must be done over and over and over again, unless stagnation and lack of growth sets in. And far too often most people get into their teens and twenties and never get out. It is difficult to do the self- and world-examining required to maintain growth. Unfortunately, there are a great number of adults who are only so in chronological age. Emotionally the majority is regressive having not taken on the life-altering challenges needed for continual maturation.
It is so difficult not to be biased, prejudice, and to see what is really there rather than what is believed to be there. Few ever overcome their conditioned upbringing, changing their perspective based on what they've learned from family, culture, peers, and influential leaders within their small circle of influence.
For example, if I come from a culture that sees strangers touching never mind kissing as unacceptable, and a stranger from another culture attempts to embrace and kiss me on the cheek in my country because their culture does so as a sign of acceptance then you can why the situation may turn disastrous. This is exactly what happened when arrest warrants were issued for Hollywood actor Richard Gere and Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty because according to an Indian official their kiss at a public function "transgressed all limits of vulgarity." This difference in perspective is the main point behind the phrase "One man's garbage is another man's treasure."
The key to bettering communication to building a more complete individual, developing one's own insights, opinions, and understanding begins with awareness. Few are even aware of how they view the world. Success gurus will tell you that one of the key characteristics of the uber-successful is an open mind. In order to think well, we must take that open mind and take a courageous look at our opinions in conjunction with current, additional, and changing information and make the best decision as to what is correct within our limited perspective.
Sometimes when dealing with complex issues, we merely have to hold off opinions for some time while we do additional research and pondering. This has occurred to me on several occasions.
Currently, the jury is out on the issue of Global Warming. Since even scientists disagree as to whether or not it exists, how am I, a mere layperson, to form a definitive opinion? I have much more research and contemplating to do before I can put forth an opinion worthy of considerable merit.
A similar situation occurred regarding my understanding and forming of an opinion on Illegal Immigration. I heard what people were saying but my gut instinct (an important tool in understanding-just ask Donald Trump) was telling me that there's something going one here that isn't making itself known to me. So after studying the issue for several years and talking to hundreds of family, friends, and former students, it finally occurred to me what was at the core of Illegal Immigration and why it is such a hot button topic (see my article "Illegal Immigration is Not About Money Lost or Laws Broken"). And as you develop your critical thinking skill, you will begin to train yourself to see opinions or statements that are problematic. It becomes more of an intuitive sense than intellectual.
Case in point, one time I was listening to a business coach speak and he made a statement that caught my attention. In regards to the point he was making he said that, "Most people in the world have access to a phone." For some reason, my gut told me that this was not true. I have done considerable reading on world statistics and even though I knew nothing specifically about worldwide access to phones, something just didn't sit right. So I jumped on the Internet and did some research. Sure enough, there were the numbers. Only about 20% of the world has access to phones. Now it's not world shattering that my coach was wrong, but it goes to show how often people make statements based on assumptions or little or no facts at all.
Case in point, at an activity my wife and I attended, we were sitting with several women talking about various subjects. The conversation turned to people renting apartments, maybe because at the time my wife was working as an apartment manager. One woman piped up and said, "Yes, you don't need good credit to get an apartment." Where she got this information from may have been just spur of the moment self-informing. For whatever reason, maybe just to participate or to appear knowledgeable, she spoke misinformed. My wife immediately corrected her, telling her that having good credit was essential to being accepted for tenancy at any apartment complex.
Ultimately, to be good thinkers we must be thorough and rigorous in our thinking. We must be open minded and humble enough to know that our current opinion may need to be modified or given up on completely with additional understanding or new information. Far too often people cling emotionally to opinions that are inaccurate, subjective, and shifting and must be aware of their limitations and limited faculties for better and more complete understanding.
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