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When we hear bad ideas from people, we typically assume that they are stupid. Or perhaps we put them in an box in our mind labeled as "bad people". But let us talk about that, and how that shouldn't be the case.
EINSTEIN'S BLUNDER
During Einstein's work on general relativity, through his calculation he already found that the universe is unstable. Versus the known idea in that time, which describes the universe as static and constant. He thought this was problematic, so he tweaked his calculations to fit a static and constant universe. This remained a belief until Hubble observed signs that the universe is expanding. Einstein regarded this as his greatest blunder.
Even Einstein, a smart man, fell prey to the human tendency to hold certain ideas as sacrosanct. We can assume that most of us is not as smart as Einstein, so we are all vulnerable to holding bad ideas, very specially once we put some of them to a status of high value.
NO ONE LIKES BAD IDEAS
Contrary to our misunderstanding against them, people who believe in bad ideas do not like believing in "bad ideas". They truly believe that the ideas are good. If it was just possible to fully understand their perspective, it is the opposite idea that is bad for them.
That is what's dangerous about bad ideas. It does not reveal its identity. Even to a point that these ideas are used to perform atrocities to our fellow human, the holder of the idea can still justify it. And this is not only a "them" problem, as this includes all of us.
Here is something to ponder on. Not everyone is gifted equally in argumentative capability. Imagine a not-so-smart person with a good idea debating with a smart one with a bad idea. Do you think you will be capable enough to side with the good idea or will you be more inclined to believe the good argument?
WHICH TO CRITICIZE
We are in an age of communication. Through this connectedness, we can easily acquire both good and bad ideas. And it is also equally accessible to find criticsms against them. Comment sections and forums has provided us a means to put the ideas out there to be subjected to scrutiny. But which ideas should we criticize? Commonly we criticize the "bad" ideas, because that is what seems intuitive. But what is the point doing that? If it was already assigned as "bad", you probably don't hold the idea. Ideally, we should be criticizing the "good" ideas. Simply because these are what we hold, and these are the ideas that contains beliefs that we ourselves hold sacrosanct. And just like Einstein, these are the ideas that will be capable of misleading us - and the only way out is accepting that we may be wrong, by humbling ourselves to a different idea.
Otherwise, we will be stuck in echo chambers that affirms our belief over and over again, to a point that it becomes our second nature.
This is how smart people can have bad ideas. Doesn't even matter how smart you thought you were. We have to stop and think: Are We In Control of our Thoughts?
Thank you for reading.
EINSTEIN'S BLUNDER
During Einstein's work on general relativity, through his calculation he already found that the universe is unstable. Versus the known idea in that time, which describes the universe as static and constant. He thought this was problematic, so he tweaked his calculations to fit a static and constant universe. This remained a belief until Hubble observed signs that the universe is expanding. Einstein regarded this as his greatest blunder.
Even Einstein, a smart man, fell prey to the human tendency to hold certain ideas as sacrosanct. We can assume that most of us is not as smart as Einstein, so we are all vulnerable to holding bad ideas, very specially once we put some of them to a status of high value.
NO ONE LIKES BAD IDEAS
Contrary to our misunderstanding against them, people who believe in bad ideas do not like believing in "bad ideas". They truly believe that the ideas are good. If it was just possible to fully understand their perspective, it is the opposite idea that is bad for them.
That is what's dangerous about bad ideas. It does not reveal its identity. Even to a point that these ideas are used to perform atrocities to our fellow human, the holder of the idea can still justify it. And this is not only a "them" problem, as this includes all of us.
Here is something to ponder on. Not everyone is gifted equally in argumentative capability. Imagine a not-so-smart person with a good idea debating with a smart one with a bad idea. Do you think you will be capable enough to side with the good idea or will you be more inclined to believe the good argument?
WHICH TO CRITICIZE
We are in an age of communication. Through this connectedness, we can easily acquire both good and bad ideas. And it is also equally accessible to find criticsms against them. Comment sections and forums has provided us a means to put the ideas out there to be subjected to scrutiny. But which ideas should we criticize? Commonly we criticize the "bad" ideas, because that is what seems intuitive. But what is the point doing that? If it was already assigned as "bad", you probably don't hold the idea. Ideally, we should be criticizing the "good" ideas. Simply because these are what we hold, and these are the ideas that contains beliefs that we ourselves hold sacrosanct. And just like Einstein, these are the ideas that will be capable of misleading us - and the only way out is accepting that we may be wrong, by humbling ourselves to a different idea.
Otherwise, we will be stuck in echo chambers that affirms our belief over and over again, to a point that it becomes our second nature.
This is how smart people can have bad ideas. Doesn't even matter how smart you thought you were. We have to stop and think: Are We In Control of our Thoughts?
Thank you for reading.
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