“I think the only way to really make progress on big questions of life is to make big statements and wait for other people to disagree with you.”

I’m going to have to quote you here because I LOVE this. ‘Tis a big statement. And I’m sure someone’s going to disagree with it! When I first got into politics, I knew SO, SO little. Like, pretty average American little! When I say “first got into politics,” I mean when I became passionate about it… it was this intensity, driving me to, indeed, make big statements. It was painful as hell going through madly believing in something and constantly questioning it and disagreeing with the whole wide world, but I learned so much because I just had this burning desire fueled by a belief I was mad to defend! My beliefs changed so much over time (it’s been more than two years), and it feels embarrassing to change your belief about something that once so defined you, but that time has so shaped who I am and how I view the world now. I think I have far more political wisdom than I would have without that time of trial and error.

Rather than aim to make mistakes, I find it useful to make distinctions between: myself, my ideas, and reality.

My ideas don’t define who I am. Therefore, I take no offense in being told that I’m wrong, or discovering that I’m wrong.

My ideas aren’t reality. There could be (and there often is) a gap between my ideas about reality, and reality itself. Since the two aren’t identical, I’m willing to consider evidence that reveals the gap, and hopefully help me build a bridge over it, so that my ideas are more consistent with reality.

I’ve made some massive ideological changes in my thinking, and these distinctions tend to serve me well in minimizing the risks of confirmation bias.

Know what your beliefs are, and cling to these things with passion. At the same time, understand that much of what you currently believe will change in the next 10, 20, 30 years.

People who find contentment have strong beliefs and can enunciate their reasoning clearly. They also maintain the stance of reasonableness, where they regularly reevaluate their beliefs based on all information available.

thanks for this great article, really got me thinking more about how im exploring my world.

It’s remain me when I was in college.. There are one poster in our class room, written “I’d rather confess I’m wrong and be right, than confess I’m right but be wrong”

It’s Learning on Steroids — here: http://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/learning-on-steroids-pre-launch-mailing-list/

Tristan,

For the most part I leave them as they are and simply update my writing in the future. Trying to ensure nothing contradicts in my writing would be an impossible task and I think somewhat misleading to a reader who assumes I’ve somehow come up with a final answer.

-Scott