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| (A Syn) |
Of all the people who haunt my dreams and thoughts, the worst are those who I thought brilliant and turned out to be stupid.
If you chase up their back-trail, you'll find that they became that way because they accepted lessons and examples around them without examining them. And these tend to rise up again and again (like a badly-cooked meal) so you can figure out what lessons you should be getting from these.
The Western humorist Will Rogers laid out the three ways a person can learn:
A person can get themselves educated.Since I deal with electric fences every day as I feed my grass fed cattle their next meal, you could understand that I have learned quite a bit about fences. (I started by reading the manual...)
Or a person can learn by observation.
But some people only learn by peeing on an electric fence and finding out through experience.
Stupid people never evaluate the lessons they are given, but accept them wholesale. Their life becomes a very long learning experience as others around them have to almost beat it into their head that certain actions cause certain other reactions.
Like being critical of others makes them leave you alone. And soon you have a very small circle of acquaintances who will deal with you - but few true friends, if any.
The underlying core approach is to let any identity or individuality go - and learn by first just observing what is going on. Simplest: Just Be.
Then take that idea and test it a dozen ways in your mind. If it still seems plausible, then test it in a real-world situation - or several.
Don't take anyone's word for it. Especially if they are a celebrity or arrogantly demand you look up to them (by being critical of other competitors.)
You want to take all advice (starting with this one) and test it against what you've already observed, and studied, and your own similar experiences. Only if they hold together as true through this can you then test it in the real world.
It doesn't matter how many glowing testimonials as person can accumulate, or rave 5-star reviews.
What matters is if any given datum actually is useful to you to improve your own life. That is the acid test.
And if you ever get the chance to sit down and start at the beginning of your own education, observations, and experience - to test each and every datum you have to see if it actually worked in the past and works now: take that chance.
Once you know for yourself exactly what works and what doesn't, then you'll know more about yourself than anyone could ever tell you. You'll know better what you are here for and what you want to accomplich, acquire, or attain. At that point, you can figure out what you should be doing, and how you need to be as a person - what identity is appropriate to do those acctions in order to get where you want to wind up.
Unless, in examining yourself, you've already arrived.
At that point, you can sit on that bliss-point forever - or pick out a new goal that looks interesting.
Your choice.
Let's just not be stupid from here on out, OK?
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