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| Enjoy listening to the waves |
I view the Twitterverse as a big ocean. If you pay attention to this ocean, you can see waves forming. Waves are topics of conversation. Some waves are violent with huge swells. Some form gradually. Some give you a jolt of energy that makes you want to ride the wave. But what is fascinating is how multiple voices appear to spontaneously develop the wave. Take Anthony Johnson's tweet.
"This is a fundamental, basic question that you are failing to ask and challenge"
Anthony is challenging a fundamental assumption people take for granted. Why do you want a relationship in the first place? If the answer is because "everyone does it" or "you don't want to be lonely", those are bad reasons to be in a relationship. Even answers like, "I want someone to take care of me" have underlying assumptions. For example, are you looking for a substitute mom to baby you?
Then take Black Label Logic's tweet.
"It constitutes a major problem when attempting to understanding something, because of shifting goal-posts."
He talks about how people conflate variables. Without a firm foundation, the goal posts keep shifting. Not only that but conflating variables leads to confusion on cause and effect. Examples of this confusion are found in nutrition, fitness, medicine, finance, economics. Take the infamous food pyramid. Thanks to the "experts", obesity and diabetes skyrocketed.
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| 11 servings of carbs. Endorsed by the USDA |
BLL's tweet reminded me of Wittgenstein's ruler from Nassim Taleb.
"Unless you have confidence in the ruler's reliability, if you use a ruler to measure a table you may also be using the table to measure the ruler."
In other words, if the deemed "expert" of information is not reliable, the statement reveals more about the expert than the information. Why aren't fundamental assumptions challenged more often? Throughout history, there are examples of those who challenged assumptions and were ostracized.
Take Ignaz Semmelweis. He believed that hand disinfection would reduce hospital mortality. His work challenged the fundamental assumptions of the established medical community. Doctors were offended at the suggestion that their hands could be dirty. Doctors conflated the idea that their higher social status meant they had cleaner hands.
A more modern example is Clair Patterson, The Most Important Scientist You’ve Never Heard Of. He was trained as a geologist. While trying to understand the age of the Earth, he discovered a new problem. All his samples were contaminated with lead and that lead levels in the environment were abnormally high. He soon discovered that leaded gasoline was the cause and that people were contaminated with lead.
At the time, the medical community believed lead in the environment posed no threat to human health and dismissed Patterson's findings. After all Patterson was a geologist, what did he know about biology? Since ancient times, lead use was prevalent. It was used in water pipes, cosmetics, and medicine. But just because something is prevalent does not mean it is natural or harmless. In addition, other scientists were not as meticulous in their research as Patterson.
"For decades, most experts rejected Patterson’s work because they carelessly tested corrupted samples and could not verify his data."
This goes back to the issue of conflating variables and Wittgenstein's ruler. If the data being sampled is contaminated, you will be chasing a false narrative. It is vital to get the fundamentals correct before building a system. This is related to something Craig James tweeted.
"That which is considered to be an acceptable standard of excellence is something that every man must determine for himself"
It is up to you to figure out what is contaminating your life. And you must walk the path alone to rid the contaminants and pursue excellence. The reason you must walk this path alone is because others do not know your authentic self. And relying on others gives the wrong diagnosis. Take Dylan Madden as an example.
He was told he had a learning disability. Think about the underlying assumptions in that diagnosis. Is there a right way to learn? Is our current education system an accurate measure of ability? Or is the ruler wrong? We know so little about consciousness that to be able accurately diagnosis learning ability is absurd.
"If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid"
Once you begin to understand the process of finding your own foundation, you begin to see the gaps in all areas of your life. Like what Tanner Guzy said.
"Once your eyes are open to the truth on one thing, all other lies become easier to spot"
All tweets were made within the past 2 weeks. This fascinating synchronicity drives home an important message. I look forward to the next wave that comes my way.
