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J Boss's avatar

MWD,

Each post of yours I read, I am convinced your conclusions and axioms are exactly the same as mine. Multiple times throughout, I am fascinated to finally have discovered someone who's life view/outlook is so close to mine that I can't imagine it being less similar. And then a few paragraphs later, you say something new that is also identical. Long ago, I learned I'd struggle with which of my beliefs I could share with whom and in how much detail. Most people cannot tolerate nuance or complexity, but I thrive on it. Reading your posts has been one strange, exciting, and eerily mystical trip....

Of all the things you've shared, two of the axioms have helped me the most in life:

1) Trust but verify. (- Ronald Reagan) But life is short, can't verify everything. So I try to expend only as much energy in the verification as the difference the outcome will make in my life. (You said it much better.)

2) This: "I believe one of the fundamental things that has allowed my own knowledge to develop as far as it has was my decision to derive enjoyment from discovering an axiom I carried was wrong and instead become excited by learning there was a much broader or complex truth I was never before aware of. "

I just want to know the truth, learn more, and achieve the best outcomes for me and mine. Other than you, I am the only person I know that "derives enjoyment from discovering an axiom I carried was wrong..."

I will also speculate that that "world view" resulted from the drive to learn the truth. They're linked, at least for me. The excitement from correcting a mistaken conclusion literally means to me I've learned more truth, which seems to be the fundamental pillar of my psychological existence.

Of course, that all links to the awareness of the nuance and that the black/white paradigm is insufficient. If one truly seeks truth in things without concern for violating one's axioms along the way, decades of that honest pursuit really can't lead to any other conclusion. If it does, the pursuit isn't honest and you're no longer purely looking for truth.

It's a joy to read your posts. Keep writing!

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Tardigrade's avatar

"when a complex issue is framed as two opposing simplistic truths, it makes it possible for the mass media to continually keep Americans in a state of outrage"

"Let’s You and Him Fight: Can We Overcome a Manipulated Conflict?" https://coronawise.substack.com/p/lets-you-and-him-fight-can-we-overcome

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