The importance of being extremely insignificant -a zero
on left -or Notes from an intellectual armchair adventurer (inspired by the thoughts of Peter
Trainin, Neko Vidal and others)
(I´m) just
rambling on as usual and putting my thoughts on cyberspace (formerly paper) by
listening to myself and others:
On
retirement I was told that I (someone who had teaching in his DNA) would be a
zero on left –
We are
taught to harbor false expectations from our birth…till our death; from the
cradle …...to the grave. I´m a spiritual
atheist…
Any good
book is a thinking man's best friend. Beware of the person who only reads ONE
book.
Turns of
phrase to retire to: Competences, incompetence, evaluation, assessment, marks,
tests, multiple-choice, exams, projects, all the latest buzz words and more.
… In
uniform these types (like some principal whose name I´d rather forget for good)
would be vocationally adapted, but they are not military, they are corporate,
plain clothes ordinary specimens and in utter submission to authority and the
law. Not physically dangerous, these
people are bureaucratically lethal. I am sure we all recognize the type. Not
funny people at all, at all. They are sad, mad and bad. They lack empathy and
become dangerous sociopaths. Eventually they´ll ascend the rat-race ladder,
helped by the chatterbox HMI or their kith and kin. I never took their authority
seriously since adolescence. In fact I harbor a visceral distrust, disdain and
repulsion for unfounded authoritarian sheepdogs and those who live in thrall to
them and their cider house rules. If anyone feels safer protected by cannibals
fine, but do not assume universal moral superiority. Those who live by imposed
arbitrary authority will die by it in a dark corner. Their minds live in a
separate world from reality (Like the emperor´s new clothes´ story).
Game over
for good. Came to a bad end like everything else in life…Brexit wrecks it.
.
More
bilingual palindromes: OXEN are NEXO, OXEN ERA NEXO; LAMINA ANIMAL; NURIA A I
RUN; OI RATON NOTARIO; ANITA ATINA;…
SPAIN´s
open wounds: Unmarked mass graves; the long shadow of dictatorship still fresh;
cultural and historical fantasies, selective memories, collective amnesia,…
Utopia and Realities “Just a few centuries ago, when a few people
first raised their voices in protest at the human indignity of one person being
able to buy others in the marketplace and treat them as if they were just
another commodity, not only were they called utopian, gullible and naïve, but
they were reminded with a certain (faulty) logic that what had been the custom
for thousands of years, since the beginning of mankind, would never
change. Today, the very idea of buying a
human being not only strikes us as loathsome but also seems absurd.
Exactly a
century ago, in the time of our grandparents, when a debate surfaced in
European parliaments about the possibility of extending the right to vote to
women, history repeated itself; those who proposed the change were branded
utopian, naïve and removed from reality for proposing the granting of rights to
that half of humanity, which had been unjustly excluded from decision making on
social issues. The conservatives of the
time, while insulting and mocking progressive men and women, maintained that
such a thing would never become a reality.
Today we think it so natural that women have the vote that not even
those on the extreme right dare question it.
Despite
affecting all human societies on the planet, these two social changes, possibly
two of the most important in the history of humanity, did not come about as a
result of a bloody world war, but primarily through dialogue.
We often
forget that our current representative but non-participatory, democratic system
has two centuries, born in the American and French revolutions, and our
educational system, emerged in Prussia two half centuries, both are obsolete
because they were created for companies, with most of the illiterate population
and half of it, women, without any social right”.
Surrealism is a very old trick. Accuse your accusers of what they accuse you.
Fake news
calling the inconvenient truth, like the gospel (allegedly good news -
euangelos-when in fact it´s –pseudoangelos-, fake news).
Unending
surrealism. Another invention by fellow humans to deceive us, fellow humans.
"Stop thinking of yourself as an ordinary human being who has ordinary
problems that need to be solved."
Our mental tattooing has installed disneyfied
nostalgia for a past that never existed.
In the year
1800 there were 8 times fewer people than now. And that was only 219 years ago!
But
ingrained reverence for mediocre authority figures, well versed in tangling logical
fallacies into their self-serving justification for perennial hegemony, has been
the engine of modern history, which equals propaganda.
It is
beyond some specific case of country or person. It is plain common sense which
has been anesthetized by ignorance, fear and greed for several centuries and
worldwide. Awesome!!!
Here are
those that read something and accept it without research and those that read it
and reject it without research.
The first
act out of spite for the authorities while the second act out of reverence for
authority and to spite the conspiracy theorists.
Truth here
is not relevant.
And then
there are the spineless sycophants who never had an opinion on anything that
was not dictated by their personal economic or psychological dependence on
conformity.
The
certainty mindset —wanting to have ‘the’ truth — can stop you from growing as a
person. Rather than discovering life, you get stuck in what it is familiar.
The world
is fluid and unexpected—life is always a surprise. You don’t need certainty;
but to be open to challenging your truths. That’s the path for personal discovery — to
seeing life sharply.
Certainty
can cripple your life
“There is
no certainty; there is only adventure.” — Roberto Assagioli
Being
certain doesn’t mean that you have the right answer.
The mind is
incredibly averse to uncertainty and ambiguity. When we don’t know something,
we create our own reasonable explanation. According to cognitive science, we
prefer to hold on to these invented justifications than to admit we don’t know
what happened.
Having an
answer is not correlated to seeing life sharply.
Social
psychologist Arie Kruglanski coined the term ‘cognitive closure’, to describe
our aversion toward ambiguity and uncertainty. We prefer having an answer as
quickly as possible rather than to discover the truth.
During
times of fear and anxiety the need for cognitive closure increases.
Studies have demonstrated that, after terrorist
attacks, society feels an urge to find who’s responsible. Fear feeds rumors and
fake versions — people share stories without any validation. The desire to
punish someone gets everyone out of control — it becomes okay to accuse the
first apparent suspect.
Being under
attack rapidly affects our logic. Anyone is guilty until proven innocent — not
the other way around, as it should be. That’s how the desire for certainty can
cripple our lives.
The need
for closure makes you see the world in black and white — you simply close your
mind to new information.
Skepticism is not being in denial
“Do you
want to know what my secret is? I don’t mind what happens.” — Jiddhu
Krishnamurti
Trying to
find an answer is not wrong — being blinded by the need for quick resolution is
the problem.
When we
overreact, things get out of hands. The medicine becomes more dangerous than
the disease we are trying to cure.
The
opposite of the need for closure is skepticism. Rather than taking the first
answer for real, you challenge the truth. You don’t let irrational fear dictate
your answers.
Skepticism
is not nihilism or being negative; it’s adding an extra filter. Rather than
taking anything for granted, you want to validate the truth. You don’t take
social constructs as true no matter how strong peer pressure is.
The need
for certainty can shape your perception — your own stories cloud reality. You
don’t do it on purpose, of course. We all fall victims to the mind tricks. Challenging your own beliefs
requires training your critical mind.
Developing
a critical mind will prevent you from taking the social constructs — rumors or
not — for valid.
That’s how
rumors get started in the office. One person creates the story and shares it
with two different people. Then they wait and see. When someone listens to a
similar story coming from two different ‘sources,’ the rumor is validated.
Being
skeptical doesn’t mean being rigid, dogmatic, hypercritical, or obtuse. You
simply understand that you cannot react to the first given answer, you want
more evidence before buying into it.
Skepticism
is not denial either. Anything is possible (or not) until proven the contrary.
Challenging a theory is how new lines of thinking are created. If you believe
that one idea is an absolute truth, you don’t leave room for incremental
improvement.
You can be
a skeptic without being a cynic.
Cynicism is
distrusting most information you see or hear, especially when our beliefs are being
challenged. Cynics are tricky — they have a strong argument to debunk other
people’s ideas, but have little support to justify their beliefs.
Cynics are
intolerant — they have inflexible thoughts that leave no room for additional
ideas.
Skepticism
is not thinking that beliefs are wrong, but that they may be wrong, as I wrote
here.
There are
two types of skepticism: negative and positive. By removing bad ideas, negative
skepticism allows good ones to flourish.
Positive
skepticism goes beyond the removal of false claims. The Greek word ‘skeptikos’
means “thoughtful.” While the need for closure is a reaction in the heat of the
moment, being skeptical is less impulsive. It requires inquiring and
reflecting.
Positive
skepticism fuels critical thinking— it encourages you to get a deeper
understanding of events or things.
Instead of
taking the truth for granted, you question it first.
The truth
will set you free “The truth will set you free, but first it will make you
miserable.” — Jim Davis
Our need
for certainty might overshadow facts.
People who
are certain of an opinion are more likely to act on it. The elections are a
great example. When people are confidently in favor of candidate X, they are
more likely to vote for that candidate than someone who is uncertain even
though they support the same candidate.
The surer
someone believes he/ she is right; the harder it is to persuade that person
that he/she might be wrong. When people feel sure, it’s harder to change their
minds.
Certainty
can get you stuck in a position; you shut down to new alternatives.
You have
the freedom to choose. But the truth is not optional, right?
Neurologist
Robert Burton argues that certainty is not a conscious choice, nor a thought
process, but a sensation — it’s the ‘feeling of knowing.’ Like anger or fear,
it doesn’t rely on a deep state of knowledge. The author explains how most
times we are wrong even when we’re convinced we are right.
Ulric
Neisser, the father of cognitive psychology, conducted the “Challenger study”
to question what he called ‘flashbulb memories’ — how shocking, emotional event
leave a vivid imprint on the mind. Students were asked how they’d heard about
the disaster, where they were, what they were doing at the time, etc. Neisser
collected information the day following the incident. He repeated the
experiment three years after. Students expressed high levels of confidence that
their false memories of the explosion were more accurate than the descriptions
they had written down one day after the explosion.
One student
commented, “That’s my handwriting, but that’s not what happened.”
The
autonomous rational mind is a myth. The answer, Burton argues, lies in
accepting the limits of our ability to know and in “playing by the rules of
scientific method.”
The concepts
of the self and free will are innate useful fictions that allow us to function.
As Samuel Johnson said, “All theory is against the freedom of the will; all
experience is for it.”
Modern
neurophysiology tells us our decisions are made subconsciously before we are
aware of deciding.
The way of
the skeptical mind
“In order
to seek truth, it is necessary once in the course of our life to doubt, as far
as possible, of all things.” — René Descartes
Embrace
positive skepticism
Turn
challenging the “truth” into a habit. Once again, I’m not asking you to become
a cynic and distrust everyone. Positive skepticism is about finding the other
side of the story.
To understand whether the sources and analysis
are impartial.
Listen to
both sides of a story. Look for heterogeneous sources. Set your conclusions
aside before read all the information. Ask: What if? In order to explore
different hypothesis.
Avoid
reacting as mobs do
Most crowds
belong to an identifiable group — the collective beliefs dictate the crowd’s action.
Fear and anxiety erase logic and rationality. All the mob cares is to find a
scapegoat.
Beliefs
blind individuals. When the mob is blind, the behaviors are even more damaging.
Try to calm the mob before things go out of hand.
Be open to
change your mind
It’s okay
to believe something and then, after reviewing the facts, realize that either
you were wrong or your memory was playing tricks. As it happened to the
participants of the “Challenger study.”
Changing
your mind is wise. People who get stuck to what they believe is true, stop
learning.
Turn
challenging truths into a healthy habit
Continually
question the truth, especially yours. There is never a 100% guarantee that we
are right. Burton suggests we use the words “I believe” instead of “I know.”
Admitting
that ‘your truth’ is actually a belief will set you free. It becomes easier to
challenge your interpretation of real events.
Adopt a
‘maybe mindset’
The world
is uncertain and continually mutating. What was right yesterday, will not be
okay tomorrow. Scientists are constantly discovering new theories that debunk
previous ones.
The same
happens with life events — what seems positive today might unexpectedly turn
into negative tomorrow. Truth is ‘provisional’ , adopt a ‘maybe mindset,’ as I
explained here.
We don’t
control life events.
Life is
about discovery, not about being certain. Being skeptical will prevent you from
taking things for granted — you will see life sharply.Increase Your Self
Awareness
Stretch Your Mind. Knowledge does not bring
wisdom, It brings a higher quality of ignorance.
The wilfull
ignorance of the lumpen is evident in
their arrogance.
The unwilling
ignorance of the bright is evident in
their humility.
Being
offended to defend the politically correct
is psychic cancer.
To comprehend
is not to learn.
To
understand is not to have insight.
To
inculcate is dog training. Ideological bromide.
To share
skills is deeply satisfying. Like being a true teacher. Synergetic love.
These are
loaded words. P T.
