Questioning. The very nature in which we learn in life. Socrates, the famous Greek Philosopher said that disciplined and thoughtful questioning helped one think logically and validate ideas. To question the world is to live in wonder.
As children, we questioned everything. My mother, sisters, and father would be driven mad by the amount of questions I asked as a young child. Why is the sky blue, what is out there, does this car get good gas mileage, why do people do the things they do, were some of the questions I would ask as a 5-7 year old.
As adults, we don’t live in wonder of the magical world around us, but our mind shifts. We begin introspective thoughts about ourselves and others. Who can I trust in the world, should I take one’s word for it, how can I improve myself, how am I going to pay the bills this month?
Questions lead us all down avenues, zigzagging through life, but the shortest path between two points is a straight line. This straight line is what we wish to get to, and we get there through questioning ourselves and others, learning from our experiences, and thinking logically about past ideas and events, and replacing them with absolute truths we eventually come to.
Cognitive Dissonance is the inability for someone to replace past ideas or truths when overwhelming evidence is presented to us. To hold onto the past and past ideas build up inside of us, and we refuse to let them go. Such actions lead us to become stuck, unwilling to listen to anyone but oneself no matter the cost it is to self and to others.
For example, the mind of a drug addict falls into this category. No matter the insurmountable evidence there is to the nature of their problem, many refuse to acknowledge their problems and are dissonant to their very life.
I remember my college days when I had a professor who was also a politician. One afternoon our class discussion grew heated. Sitting a few seats away from me was a twenty-year combat veteran, a disciplined man nearly twice my age. As the conversation unfolded, the two began to wrestle with words about facts and ideas. The veteran calmly laid out his reasoning point by point. Many of us in the room quietly nodded along as he spoke. Yet when he finished, the professor simply leaned back in his chair and replied, “No… you’re wrong.” In the end, absolute truth comes from questioning the world, listening to others, and having open dialogue to come to life’s truths about the reality of the world.
Just like life, science is a discipline centered around questioning. Edison failed 100’s of times before inventing the light bulb, Tesla failed countless times in his endeavors to develop, scientists all over the world fail constantly yet their questioning about their failure leads them to change one variable and try again.
In my early to mid 20’s, science was what fascinated me, I thought about it all day, everyday. As my knowledge grew, I would have conversations with friends. Even though they would say, “Sean, you’re much smarter than me,” I would listen to what they said and replace irreverent or completely wrong interpretations and start anew.
I remember back to a few years ago I got a random email from a Physicist in another country about my videos on Feynman Diagrams and quantum entanglement. He said he was inspired by my video, yet I was slightly wrong about what I said. Although I was down for a minute, I took it for what it was worth and replaced my knowledge with what was more correct.
Even though we as individuals can’t change the way we learn, we can certainly change the way we think. The brain’s neural-plasticity and science specifically state this fact. The brain over time, rewires itself over time as we grow and learn. To stop the natural process of life and the way the brain works is like withholding growth for oneself.
Ego plays a significant role in such trains of thought. To hold onto one’s ego through such questioning, is to do a disservice to oneself and others. In the end, this is the nature and reality of life as humans, we are quick to talk, yet slow to listen, and replace what is wrong with absolute truths. Stubbornness is meant for the mule, not for man.
No comments:
Post a Comment