Wednesday Wisdom: Learning to Think, Illusion of Knowledge, & Train of Thought
February 14, 2024's Wisdom
Welcome to Wednesday Wisdom, our 3x3 Newsletter where I distill worldly advice for better living by presenting three quotes, three observations, and three questions.
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Learning to Think
🤨 Quote
““Learning how to think” really means learning how to exercise some control over how and what you think. It means being conscious and aware enough to choose what you pay attention to and to choose how you construct meaning from experience.”
David Foster Wallace
Source: This is Water
Observation 🧐
Decision-making at its core is based upon beliefs each and every one of us holds. If we do not understand our own beliefs, then we cannot truly grasp the decisions we’re making, nor their repercussions.
We must therefore be willing to remove our hubris and admit there is more to learn, that we may not have all the answers.
The film and television producer Brian Grazer has, for the last 35+ years, met weekly with different people outside of his field to do just this.
These “curiosity conversations” as he’s called them have allowed him to learn about other industries, but more importantly, expand his worldview and see how others think and operate.
He states curiosity has to be tethered to two traits in order for it to be effective:
“First, the ability to pay attention to the answers to your questions—you have to actually absorb whatever it is you’re being curious about… The second trait is the willingness to act.”
The more curious we are, the more we allow ourselves to learn how little we actually know, and in turn, learn more ways to think.
🤔 Question
What is one area of study that, if you applied yourself and allowed yourself to learn from, you could 10X your knowledge and growth?