(7 minute read)

(From previous post): Most of us do not consistently use these tools. We often rely on feelings or opinions formed by others (the stick snake from a previous article).

Using logic allows us to break the pattern and think outside the box of feelings or opinions. We are not relying on what we already know. We are also determined on finding what it is that we need to know in order to find the truth.

There are no cookie-cutter answers or one-size-fits-all solutions to problems. The same solution to a problem we had two months ago might not work today. It may not be a good solution for a similar problem we have now.

Be comfortable being uncomfortable.

Modern Aphorism

Being Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable

In a crises a quality that is appreciated is having a cool demeanor under pressure. Relying on reasoning instead of feelings keeps us from mistaking fiction for fact allowing us to embrace uncertainty. Not because we hold some secret solution. In fact, it’s often best to admit not having an answer at all.

Well, just yet, anyway.

No, our confidence is not in pretending to know all the answers. Instead, we believe that we can handle and tackle the problems as they arise.

There is nothing like working or being around someone that is confident. If that confidence is real, it is born from knowledge and experience. We have come up with solutions in a logical and rational way and we know what to do under pressure. It stops us from pretending that we need to know all the solutions. Instead, it lets others see us work through the problem towards a solution.

In American society, resentment toward experts is growing. There is a general mistrust for them (see “The Death of Expertise,” Tom Nicholes, Oxford University Press, 2017). It is unfortunate because it leads to a lot of misinformation, fiction, and falsehoods.

One of the warnings in Nicholes book suggests a reason for growing mistrust. The experts’ own actions contribute to this mistrust. Believing they are experts in one area many cannot help but weigh in on areas where they are not. This is usually true when attempting to make short-or-long-term predictions.

This is one area where we can learn a lesson. We should not be lulled into thinking that our knowledge and expertise is the final word. Buying into the label of “expert” can create a false sense of security. It can also distort our own ability to understand. No matter how many letters we have tagged at the end of our names we do not know everything.

The facade of pretending to know everything can be exhausting. We spend our time trying not to be found out because we have put up a fake front.

We all know people like that in our lives. However, if we readily admit that we don’t know everything we refuse to wear that mask. We make a deliberate decision that goes against the innate trait to make snap or rash judgments.

And that can often be an uncomfortable position to put ourselves in.

But if we can start out with this premise, over time we’ll learn to be comfortable being uncomfortable.

Doing this and embracing being uncomfortable is essential. It helps suspend snap judgments. It puts us in a position to make better and more informed judgments.

The Relationship Between Understanding And Behavior

Understanding is an act of comprehending something through mental ability. It can be used for developing simple and complex solutions to problems.

During our formative years we learn the ability to understand simple math problems (i.e, 2+2=4). We learn a formula to memorize. “Show your work,” we are told, to prove we know there is a relationship existing between the numbers.

Johnny has two apples. Sarah gives Johnny the only two apples she has. How many apples does Johnny have? How many apples does Sarah now have? It’s more than a rote 2+2 equals what(?). We understand the relationship. It is between the number of apples Johnny now possesses and the number that Sarah now lacks.

Understanding does incorporate formulaic ideas. However, it is also expected that we are capable of grasping more complex forms of understanding.

The question now being raised about understanding; is it enough to “show” understanding? Or should we be obligated to “show” it through our behavior? If establishing fact from fiction requires us to use complex ways of understanding, how do we truly prove our understanding? What do we produce as evidence for our understanding?

As long as we continue to experience, we constantly learn. We add to our understanding of how the world works. Our learning and experiences throughout life help us deepen this understanding.

Understanding, then, is not just the mental capacity to remember facts and figures.

Understanding is the process we use to show the relationship between things. It demonstrates how they interact and change. Additionally, it validates our worldview.

If we have settled for understanding to be only a sense of accomplishment, we’ve neutralized its relevance. It’s akin to collecting Pokemon cards. Understanding is reduced to diplomas or certificates to show we’ve earned the recognition for memorizing the information.

Many people wear their education like a super-hero cape. But, it has to be more than that.

For example. Do we understand how inequity functions in a society? Is it enough to show that we are aware of its presence? Or are we obligated to do more?

We are aware of a group facing stigma or disenfranchisement from the larger society. Yet, if we do nothing, can we claim to truly comprehend their disenfranchisement? 

We have insight into beauty. Yet, if we resist its challenge to our emotional or sensual routine, was the beauty truly revealed? Was it only acknowledged?

We have to reconsider understanding. The general answer to those questions and more is that we should not see understanding only as a commodity. It should not be something to be gained for the sake of having it. Instead, it should be something that encourages change and the way we interact with the world.

Listening – Understanding – Action

Understanding is a process and a catalyst. It can actively, even dangerously, interact and change whatever it comes into contact with.

The world is full of people who have made a difference. When they fully understood a problem, they were forever changed. They committed their lives towards a solution. Most of us will never reach the pinnacles of their accomplishments. We will not match their sacrifices for their cause. Some have sacrificed their lives. Yet, their examples are a beacon of hope for us to emulate.

One may stop at understanding as a sense of accomplishment. However, achieving understanding as a commodity in and of itself was NEVER meant to be the end result.

Establishing fact from fiction requires real understanding. The kind of understanding that requires we have the courage to follow it up with action. To do more. Always, to do more.

If there is some end of the things we do, which we desire for its own sake, clearly this must be the good. Will not knowledge of it, then, have a great influence on life? Shall we not, like archers who have a mark to aim at, be more likely to hit upon what we should? If so, we must try, in outline at least, to determine what it is.

Aristotle, Book I

Establishing fact from fiction is a worthy goal. But it’s not the end of the journey, only the beginning. Once we’ve understood what is real, our obligation is then to say what is true. We must also say what is false when it isn’t.

You are a truth-teller when you say something is true when it’s true. You are a truth-teller when you say something is false when it’s false.