Intelligence begins where self-deception ends
The one skill that keeps you unbreakable when things fall apart.
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Einstein had a curious mind. He knew the limits of his knowledge but was intellectually curious enough to discover amazing secrets about our universe. “I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.” He said. Einstein learned physics because he had an open mind. He was very observant and enjoyed asking thought-provoking scientific questions.
The Wright Brothers never graduated from high school.
Walter Pitts, who laid the foundations of cognitive sciences, taught himself mathematical logic, psychology, and neuroscience.
Charles Dickens started self-learning at the age of 15. He wrote 15 novels and hundreds of short stories in his lifetime. By the 20th century, he was recognised as a literary genius. Susan Fowler, Anna Wintour, Henry Ford, John D. Rockefeller and hundreds of other global influencers learned to be experts on their own.
They knew the limits of their knowledge but most importantly, how much they could learn on their own. Knowing what you don’t know is the beginning of both knowledge and wisdom. “The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool,” physicist Richard Feynman said.
Once you accept your ignorance, you can define the best path to move forward. And you can design your self-learning to help you grow or improve yourself. Knowing what you don’t know opens up a lot of learning opportunities. You become more curious and embrace a growth mindset.
A better understanding of your knowledge and skills blindspots can open up new paths for improving your intelligence. It can also give you a better perspective on what to learn in the short or long term. With the right kind of knowledge, you can become a better version of yourself. Improving our intelligence starts with intellectual humility . The consciousness of the limit of our knowledge and the ability to acknowledge our cognitive blind spots.
“The brighter you are, the harder it can be to see your own limitations. Being good at thinking can make you worse at rethinking,” writes Adam M. Grant, the author of Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know.
People who think they are never wrong don’t value growth. Better or improved knowledge matters less for them, even though their mental growth depends on it. You can only arrive at a better understanding if you are open to objective reasoning and make room for intellectual growth.
Your knowledge in any field can be improved — gaps or blind spots can be reduced. But you can only get better if you don’t protect what you know (which can sometimes be wrong).
“An ignorant mind is precisely not a spotless, empty vessel, but one that’s filled with the clutter of irrelevant or misleading life experiences, theories, facts, intuitions, strategies, algorithms, heuristics, metaphors, and hunches that regrettably have the look and feel of useful and accurate knowledge.” Steven Novella said.
Many people are convinced that what they know is the only truth. The ugly truth is, reality can sometimes be subjective. To improve your intelligence, keep an open mind and learn to change your mind when presented with better knowledge.
The wisdom of ignorance
“There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don’t know. ”— Donald Rumsfeld
Knowing what you don’t know is more valuable than holding on to what you know. Many people hold on to their perceptions, behaviours, skills and opinions for too long, without thinking about the many ways they can improve their world-views.
Truly intelligent people are looking for opportunities to prove themselves wrong. They don’t hold on to their assumptions without questioning them. They listen more and refuse to jump to conclusions.
They stop assuming everything is black or white, true or false and think rationally about every point of view. They learn to appreciate curiosity. What you know today can be the stepping stone you need to upgrade your intellect.
When you gain a better understanding of topics you care about, don’t stop. Learn more from others. The paradox of knowledge is that the more you know, the more you understand the level of your ignorance. It’s humbling if you are prepared and willing to acknowledge your blind spots.
The simple recognition of your limits can help you ask better questions, find more intelligent sources of knowledge and engage in deeper rational conversations. Socrates was right, “The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.”
In all your “gettings”, get understanding.
It’s a great source of wisdom. Learning opportunities expand when you know what you know but challenge yourself to improve what you don’t know.
Bill Perkins on the value of experiences
“Since the whole point of money is to have experiences, investing money to get a return with which to have experiences is a roundabout way of having experiences. Why go through all that when you can just invest directly in experiences—and get a return on experiences? Not only that, but the number of actual experiences available to you diminishes as you age. Yes, you need money to survive in retirement, but the main thing you’ll be retiring on will be your memories—so make sure you invest enough in those.”
Source: Die With Zero: Getting All You Can from Your Money and Your Life
Shane Parrish on the self-accountability mindset
“Self-accountability means taking responsibility for your abilities (developing your abilities), your inabilities (managing your inabilities), and your actions (using reason to govern your actions) … Self-accountability is the strength of realizing that even though you don’t control everything, you do control how you respond to everything. It’s a mindset that empowers you to act and not just react to whatever life throws at you. It transforms obstacles into opportunities for learning and growth. It means realizing that the way you respond to hardship matters more to your happiness than the hardship itself. And it means understanding that the best path is often just to accept things and move on.”
Source: Clear Thinking: Turning Ordinary Moments into Extraordinary Results
Charlie Munger on hindsight bias
"You can't really know anything if you just remember isolated facts and try and bang 'em back. If the facts don't hang together on a latticework of theory, you don't have them in a usable form." People can't be persuaded by what they don't understand. We underestimate the importance of giving people a reason. It is often easier to get people to change with a well-explained reason backed by solid evidence. Tell them so they understand why a specific action is needed, what the expected objective is, and why you think the action is right.
Source: Seeking Wisdom: From Darwin to Munger
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Food for thought from me (free read on Medium)
The One (Tiny) Decision That Quietly Controls Your Entire Life
“If every day looked like today, what kind of life would you be creating?” The answer might terrify you. Or inspire you. Either way, it’s useful information. Existentialist Albert Camus said, “Life is the sum of all your choices.” Choose your tiny action.
Then choose again.
That’s your life.
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Until Next Week,
Be Well.
Thomas
Fantastic article. So much wisdom.