arcyallen
Recycles dryer sheets
- Joined
- Apr 29, 2022
- Messages
- 212
One of my favorite benefits of being retired is being able to deep-dive into topics that I thought I had a firm understanding and opinion on. More often than not, once I do more research and more contemplation about it, I find out I was at least partially wrong.
How great is that!
Because here's the deal. I don't know everything. You don't know everything. But together...well, together we know almost everything there is to know. But it takes me listening to you and you listening to me to get to that point. We still may not change our minds or agree on things, but at least we can learn new facts. And, most helpful to me, we can try to understand other people's viewpoints and ideas. If you ask a Conservative to describe what a Liberal thinks (and vice versa) they'll often be wrong. It goes with almost any two seemingly conflicting viewpoints. We often misunderstand and then mischaracterize others. But just in the last few years, I've adjusted my viewpoints on:
-Racial justice
-Index fund investing
-Liberals
-Working during retirement
-Policing
-Buying apparently low value items
-Taxes
-Conservatives
-Full service brokerage firms
-Fox News and MSNBC
I know a lot of these are political, and I have no interest talking politics here or online (although I'm happy to Zoom with people and actually do). My point is in all of these topics I was quite confident of my knowledge and opinion a few years ago. But, after intentionally setting aside my preconceived notions and trying hard to understand I often realized I was "a bit" wrong. I don't always agree, but I strive to reach understanding. And honestly, I find it very exciting to find out I was wrong about something. Because, I WAS WRONG. And now, I get to actually be right and not just feel right. Or, at least closer to right. It's one of the reasons I'm love this site. Most people I've read and interacted with have appeared reasonable and open to ideas that they don't currently hold. That's exciting. That's a group of people willing to grow. And I'm part of that group.
So let's keep listening, and thinking and talking. All the knowledge is out there, we just have get it from each other!
“I never allow myself to have an opinion on anything that I don’t know the other side’s argument better than they do.” - Charlie Munger
How great is that!
Because here's the deal. I don't know everything. You don't know everything. But together...well, together we know almost everything there is to know. But it takes me listening to you and you listening to me to get to that point. We still may not change our minds or agree on things, but at least we can learn new facts. And, most helpful to me, we can try to understand other people's viewpoints and ideas. If you ask a Conservative to describe what a Liberal thinks (and vice versa) they'll often be wrong. It goes with almost any two seemingly conflicting viewpoints. We often misunderstand and then mischaracterize others. But just in the last few years, I've adjusted my viewpoints on:
-Racial justice
-Index fund investing
-Liberals
-Working during retirement
-Policing
-Buying apparently low value items
-Taxes
-Conservatives
-Full service brokerage firms
-Fox News and MSNBC
I know a lot of these are political, and I have no interest talking politics here or online (although I'm happy to Zoom with people and actually do). My point is in all of these topics I was quite confident of my knowledge and opinion a few years ago. But, after intentionally setting aside my preconceived notions and trying hard to understand I often realized I was "a bit" wrong. I don't always agree, but I strive to reach understanding. And honestly, I find it very exciting to find out I was wrong about something. Because, I WAS WRONG. And now, I get to actually be right and not just feel right. Or, at least closer to right. It's one of the reasons I'm love this site. Most people I've read and interacted with have appeared reasonable and open to ideas that they don't currently hold. That's exciting. That's a group of people willing to grow. And I'm part of that group.
So let's keep listening, and thinking and talking. All the knowledge is out there, we just have get it from each other!
“I never allow myself to have an opinion on anything that I don’t know the other side’s argument better than they do.” - Charlie Munger