Put an ice cube in a hot oven, it will melt. Put your hot cup of coffee in the freezer, it will become solid. Let’s not get sidetracked by someone who says, “What if the power goes out, or you take the coffee out before it freezes?” because in those situations, the results will still be predictable.
We all have our personal preferences. We each decide what news sources we pay attention to. We get to choose who we hang out with and listen to, and those people help shape our beliefs and perspectives. We choose to be pro or anti, for or against, to believe in or not believe in, based upon our upbringing, education, and relationships.
You get to decide. Are things going to work out well, or badly? Are you going to point out what’s wrong, or what’s right? Do you think people are basically good, or bad?
While it seems important to know something about what’s going on around us, it’s important to evaluate what we’re seeing and hearing. Most news sources focus mainly on what’s wrong or bad. People trying to get elected to positions of power focus on what’s wrong with their opponents instead of what good they intend to do.
If most of the people in positions of power got there because of their desire for power, then their point of view will naturally be different from someone running a food bank to feed hungry people. Every now and then someone running a food bank will do it well enough to become influential, and then the challenge is to avoid allowing that potential power to change the way they make decisions.
Elite athletes become the best by focusing on their sport and skills so completely that they don’t always develop the social skills necessary to rent an apartment or write a cover letter. If they do well enough, someone else will take care of those details that the athlete doesn’t need for success on the court or field. This makes sense until someone expects that elite athlete to be an expert in microbiology or politics.
A basketball player who thinks the earth is flat may seem uneducated to an astronomer. And while that basketball player may not be the ideal physics teacher, he or she certainly understands physics well enough to consistently make three-point shots.
The skills we develop can prepare us to be the best at what we do. Sometimes becoming the best at what we do leads us to think we’re the best at everything. And while some skills are more universal than others, winning multiple Olympic gold medals in downhill skiing isn’t necessarily the optimal preparation for a career in the culinary arts or medicine. A successful career in acting may be an exception, since actors need to learn enough about their roles to play them convincingly.
So, our experience can shape our opinions, and our opinions can color how we see what’s going on. What’s going on is evidence. So, what does denying or lying about what’s going on indicate?