« What’s going to change in the next 10 years? » Versus « What’s not going to change in the next ten years? ». Which question do you think Jeff Bezos and Warren Buffet agreed to be the most important question? The answer is the latter. It’s an interesting experiment to capture the world at a given time and wonder what will stay the same for the coming years. By the way, I’m always impressed by how formulating just one little question differently can change our perspective of the world and our life.
We can pretty fast make wrong and negative assumptions about a single event. We often project our perception of the world and take shortcuts to make conclusions on what has just happened. In those situations of frustration, anger or surprise we often overlook options that might explain the situation and tend to focus on the negative by making a mean value judgement. « There can’t be a good reason why this person did what she/he did to me. », you might think in your head. As Shane Parrish describes in his article, « We often instinctively chose to assume the worst of people ». We selfishly react to the situation and we loose our ability to think clearly. Interestingly, you might have noticed how much more reserved we can be when we are not directly concerned by the situation. We might even think that the person directly involved in the situation is overreacting. True, right? But, despite that, it doesn’t mean we will better respond to the next situation we will be involved in. We don’t realize how easy it is to accumulate dangerous thinking biases overtime by always assuming the negative from the world that surrounds us. To invert this situation, there is a simple trick. When you experience a frustrating or annoying situation ask yourself: « What could have genuinely cause this person to do what she did »? There is a french expression that sums up this way of thinking: « Laissez le bénéfice du doute » which means: « Give the benefit of the doubt ».
I heard about this concept a few weeks ago, read the wikipedia page, got to the critics and thought it was not something worth talking about in the newsletter. But yesterday, I found myself reading my notes to prepare this weekly digest and thought I should persist and look for more content about it. I wanted to find content that would express this concept from a different perspective. And that’s exactly what I found on the Farnham Street blog. It immediately clicks in my head and thought it was finally an idea worth highlighting on cmdncmds! The Veil Ignorance, also known as the ‘’Original Position’’, is a thought experiment used for reasoning about the principles that should structure a society based on solidarity. The question asked in the highlight is very powerful and radical. It’s hardly conceivable to fairly and objectively reply to this question because as Shane says: ‘’our usual opinions regarding what is just and unjust are informed by our own experiences. We are shaped by our race, gender, class, education, appearance, sexuality, career, family, and so on.’’, but I think it’s a wise principle to keep in mind If you happen to be in a position where you have to debate or make a decision.
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What will stay the same?
« What’s going to change in the next 10 years? » Versus « What’s not going to change in the next ten years? ». Which question do you think Jeff Bezos and Warren Buffet agreed to be the most important question? The answer is the latter. It’s an interesting experiment to capture the world at a given time and wonder what will stay the same for the coming years. By the way, I’m always impressed by how formulating just one little question differently can change our perspective of the world and our life.