I was talking to a friend the other day when he said, "Oh, I've been wrong. But I'm never uncertain." It was pretty funny. And I think it explains how most of us operate.
I wonder what our world would be like if we could only talk, post and tweet about subjects we actually knew about. I don't mean things we've seen on the news or articles we've read on all of those "reliable" websites.
I mean, subjects we have actually studied. Let's set a pretty low bar. One hour. How different would our world be if we only engaged others when we had researched a subject for one hour.
How would life be different if someone asked, "What are your thoughts about global warming?" and we said, "I don't know."
We've all seen the news about it. We've probably read articles about it from whatever bent we lean toward. It's either a disaster or a non issue, because that's what someone, who shares our preconceived ideas, told us to think about it. How many of us have actually dug into the research?
The crisis in Syria, ISIS, migrants into Europe, Muslims, the national debt, immigration, election reform, inequity in the economy, raising the hourly wage, the future president of the United States. Everyone seems to be an authority on all of this stuff.
Most of us, myself included, should simply be saying, "I don't know."
These are important issues. Issues we should care about and debate. The problem is, we seem to care more about being heard, than understanding the subject matter.
I need to study more and speak less. Read about it, think about it and even pray about it, before I offer an opinion mostly based on emotion.
These are complicated issues with even more complex solutions. I can not formulate an informed solution after reading the first five paragraphs of an article on CNN. But we all seem to have them.
I need to have fewer opinions. I need to be more thoughtful. I need to have the humility to say, "I don't know."
I wonder what our world would be like if we could only talk, post and tweet about subjects we actually knew about. I don't mean things we've seen on the news or articles we've read on all of those "reliable" websites.
I mean, subjects we have actually studied. Let's set a pretty low bar. One hour. How different would our world be if we only engaged others when we had researched a subject for one hour.
How would life be different if someone asked, "What are your thoughts about global warming?" and we said, "I don't know."
We've all seen the news about it. We've probably read articles about it from whatever bent we lean toward. It's either a disaster or a non issue, because that's what someone, who shares our preconceived ideas, told us to think about it. How many of us have actually dug into the research?
The crisis in Syria, ISIS, migrants into Europe, Muslims, the national debt, immigration, election reform, inequity in the economy, raising the hourly wage, the future president of the United States. Everyone seems to be an authority on all of this stuff.
Most of us, myself included, should simply be saying, "I don't know."
These are important issues. Issues we should care about and debate. The problem is, we seem to care more about being heard, than understanding the subject matter.
I need to study more and speak less. Read about it, think about it and even pray about it, before I offer an opinion mostly based on emotion.
These are complicated issues with even more complex solutions. I can not formulate an informed solution after reading the first five paragraphs of an article on CNN. But we all seem to have them.
I need to have fewer opinions. I need to be more thoughtful. I need to have the humility to say, "I don't know."
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