Idea Rocks

If I was a character in a book, my description would be something like ‘Rachel did not believe in the black and white of things.  Her mind lived in the gray area and she was often hesitant to fully commit to any particular view point because she was always weighing all the opposing viewpoints of a situation.’  There are few absolutes in my life; I have some core beliefs but everything on top of that is a constant churn of views. 

One of the reasons I enjoy to write so much is it allows you to examine a topic from so many angles.  You can view something in the shoes of someone else, and be completely safe while doing it.  It’s like trying on another pair of clothes to see if they fit.  You can get into the mind of a character who is diametrically opposed to your beliefs on something, and see if from their perspective.  Maybe they will still be wrong, but maybe you will have learned something along the way or maybe it will further help to reinforce your beliefs. 

An idea starts out like an ugly rock.  When you first come to think of something it is not well formed.  It is usually taken from something you read or heard from another person but it strikes a chord and you take up either confirming or disagreeing views of it.  If an idea permanently stays at this state it is like a stranger, you don’t know it or understand it.  You don’t see the nuance to the coloring in the rock, understand its composition, or see the imperfections that exist.  When you discuss it with others, examine it privately in your mind, and research it thoroughly, you come to understand all these things.  You learn the makeup of it, you wash the dirt away and see the flecks of red you hadn’t known were there, you see the crack on the bottom although you realize it’s small and not enough to destroy the rock itself.  The more you work the rock the smoother is gets as the extra pieces are broken off.  You realize the arguments and beliefs you don’t need for the core of it, and let those fall away in time.  After a long process the rock is smooth and you have a thorough understanding of it’s good and bad points, and can see it for what it is.  An idea or belief is the same. 

Now imagine you had that same rock, and as you worked it, you tried to keep the extra jagged pieced attached to it even as they were now no more than dust.  You also ignore the small crack in the bottom and in doing so, you allow that area to be over worked and the crack grows.  Eventually you find you are left with a handful of dust and a rock broken in two.

This is why I am such an advocate of learning and reading.  I believe every person should always be reading or discussing nearly their entire day.  Perhaps they know nothing of the topic, or they know it well, the more information you can gather, the more you learn about your idea rock, the more you understand it, and the more refined it becomes.  A topic or person should never be avoided because of disagreeing view points, but those perspectives should always be carefully examined and studied.  Our own minds should be reevaluated daily to see if our perspective has shifted, new evidence brought to light, or to better understand how others see it. 

When we only expose our idea rock to opinions that we know and are comfortable with, we never see it for all its pieces and yes even flaws.  The flaws will not go away by hiding them, they will only serve to make you look foolish for ignoring them.

An excellent piece I read recently, that you can find here, does an excellent job discussing confirmation bias and why it should be avoided.  I will not attempt to rehash but I would advise that you read it.  We will never be able to each fully understand every topic and issue, but with continued learning and curiosity we can begin to understand that which we otherwise may not have. 

My challenge for you is this, go pick up a book you may not have read normally, and see what comes from it.  Does is help you understand another way of living, a topic you never fully dug into, or help you to see in a new light?  My favorite way to do this is to go to the sales or bargain section of Amazon and pick up a few discounted books.  If they aren't any good I'm out a couple of bucks, but more often than not, you can find brilliance in an overlooked cover and it may even change your mind.

It all simply boils down to, you don't know what you don't know, and if you don't put yourself in a position to figure that out, you never will.