What's In The Box?

“Words can be twisted into any shape. Promises can be made to lull the heart and seduce the soul. In the final analysis, words mean nothing.
They are labels we give things in an effort to wrap our puny little brains around their underlying natures,
when ninety-nine percent of the time the totality of the reality is an entirely different beast.
The wisest man is the silent one. Examine his actions. Judge him by them.”
― Karen Marie Moning

The current sociopolitical climate has me thinking about the consequences of labeling things, creating boxes, and simplifying ideas into news-ready headlines.

 

via Se7en

With more news sources than ever and less attention span than ever, you see ideas packaged into the attention-grabbing parts. The focus isn’t on education on issues anymore, but getting the click, making you stay on their page longer, sending you to a new article completely unrelated to the reason you clicked to the page.

Complex issues are simplified not even into their most basic forms – but instead into their most divisive forms because there's no money in the middle.

 

via Quote Investigator.

The amplified voices are those on the fringe of the average constituents' beliefs because those are the ones who are often the most outspoken.

Issues that should be bipartisan have been made "us" versus "them," or "liberal" versus "conservative," or "right" versus "wrong."

  

via BrainyQuotes.

In psychology, heuristics are mental models whose purpose is to help you make decisions easier. They’re a starting point to save mental bandwidth, allowing you to spend more brain cycles on the important stuff.

That’s a great use of "boxes" and "simplification" … but shouldn't preclude deeper thought on important issues.

In an ideal world, we would all have the bandwidth to view each individual case of an issue as a whole issue within itself. Most things in this world are various shades of grey, and when you change your vantage point, you can change your answer.

I recognize that’s not realistic.

Instead, I encourage you to remember to continue to think and learn ... even about things you already know.  Confirmation Bias is one of the more common forms of cognitive biases.  Here is an infographic that lists 50 common cognitive biases.  Click to explore further.

 

via VisualCapitalist.

Important issues deserve extra research. New insights happen in between the boundaries of what we know and what we don't.  Knowledge comes from truly understanding the border between what you are certain and uncertain about. 

I challenge you to look beyond the headlines, slogans, and talking points you like most. Look for dissenting opinions and understand what’s driving their dissent. Are they really blind or dumb (or are their value-systems just weighted differently)?

Not everything needs to be boxed. Not everything needs to be simple.

 

Applying This Lesson  

“I am ashamed to think how easily we capitulate to badges and names, to large societies and dead institutions.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance

I love learning a lesson in one space and applying it to other spaces. It’s one of the cool things about AI. An algorithm can learn rules in the construction space that may help in the medicine or trading space.  Everything’s a lesson if you let it be.

In that vein, the lesson on labeling also applies to yourself and your business.

Many things are true because we believe them to be, but when we let go of the past beliefs, the impossible becomes possible, and the invisible visible.  

The past doesn’t define the future, and your personality isn’t necessarily permanent.

We are our choices ... and you can make choices today that change who you are (and what you or your business is capable of) tomorrow.

Hope that helps – Onwards!