Funny how life works, serendipity has been my friend on many occasions. For instance, this morning I stumbled upon a BigThink.com essay by Nabeel S. Qureshi, that couldn’t be better timed for me as I’m finishing with my big project. It helped remind me of the principle’s I learned early on and that I have lived by, remain valid, even as around me most of our American values seem to be unraveling to a more primitive, chaotically harmful, brutalist state of mind: me against them.
A path that is guaranteed to make everything worse for all of us.
While I’m wondering, what’s wrong with accepting our pluralist American melting pot history,
along with freedom from religion’s corrosive influence,
and to finally start getting serious about dealing with the important issues honestly and constructively, …
Since we really do have much more pressing real world matters to focus on.
How to understand things
SMART SKILLS — FEBRUARY 18, 2025 - BigThink.com
{ This essay was first published on Nabeel S. Qureshi’s Substack, from which it was syndicated with permission.}
“I concluded that what we call “intelligence” is as much about virtues such as honesty, integrity, and bravery, as it is about “raw intellect.”
“Intelligent people simply aren’t willing to accept answers that they don’t understand — no matter how many other people try to convince them of it, or how many other people believe it, if they aren’t able to convince themselves of it, they won’t accept it. …”
“Related to this is honesty, or integrity: a sort of compulsive unwillingness, or inability, to lie to yourself.
“… Richard Feynman said … “you must not fool yourself — and you are the easiest person to fool.” It is uniquely easy to lie to yourself because there is no external force keeping you honest; only you can run the constant loop of asking, “Do I really understand this?”
“This is why writing is important. It’s harder to fool yourself that you understand something when you sit down to write about it and it comes out all disjointed and confused. Writing forces clarity.)”
“Understanding something really deeply is connected to our physical intuition. A simple “words-based” understanding can only go so far. …
“Reading popular science books or news articles is not a substitute for understanding, and may make you stupider, by filling your mind with narratives and stories that don’t represent your own synthesis. …”