Wednesday Wisdom: Rethinking, Collective Illusions, and Defaulting to Truth

February 7, 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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Rethinking

🤨 Quote

“Most of us take pride in our knowledge and expertise, and in staying true to our beliefs and opinions. That makes sense in a stable world where we get rewarded for having conviction in our ideas. The problem is that we live in a rapidly changing world, where we need to spend as much time rethinking as we do thinking.”

Adam Grant
Source: Think Again

Observation 🧐

One of the main reasons, as we discussed in our Monday Meditation, for why we refuse to let go of our beliefs is that they’re tied to our identity. We want to maintain a coherent view of ourselves for others.

But by refusing to change our beliefs to support our identity, we miss out on much of the world. We also very quickly get left behind.

Think about all the change that has happened within the last 100 years. We’ve seen planes to flight, skyscrapers be built, have running water and electricity in every home, computers be engineered, have portable phones, and turn then in turn those phones into a one-stop-shop for nearly all one’s needs.

Imagine if we’d kept our beliefs and thinking to the previous generation’s beliefs. Would we have all these changes? All this progress?

If we’re not constantly updating our beliefs, if we’re not actively seeking out information to better our beliefs and our understanding of the world, then we are left behind.

In a world of exponential change and growth, that is the equivalent of death.

It is through rethinking, retooling, and remastering existing systems and beliefs that new ones come to be.

🤔 Question

What is the last belief I had that I changed? What did it take for me to change it?