The No-Go Ego
From the moment we are born, we are rewarded for being “right”. It is the fundamental building block of our educational system.
In fact, we grow up learning to actually fear being “wrong”.
We believe there is ridicule or shame in being wrong, and that there is vindication and reward in being right.
But think about it… When’s the last time you watched a political commentary show, pitting two opponents ‘debating’ an issue, where someone actually came away “right” or “wrong”.
These programs prey upon our own conditioned need to be right. A function of our EGO…that powerful sense of self-identity that is simultaneously the driving force of human achievement, and the root cause of violence and war.
The ego becomes so powerful as we grow, that it changes the way we view and interpret the world. When we are young, the ego is leveraged as a reward system. I suppose that is because educators once thought that humans needed to feel pleasure if they were to be compelled to seek knowledge.
Unfortunately, by constantly reinforcing the pleasure/pain dynamic of being right or wrong, we change our own ability to merely consider other points of view.
How many people have you spoken to, who you were absolutely certain were listening to what you were saying?
How many people have you spoken to, who you were absolutely certain were just waiting for their turn to tell you that you’re wrong?
Well…if they’re certain that they’re right, then you MUST be wrong. Right?
If we are to GO, then we are to go together, right?
But what if our journey depends on someone who has one basic need. To be RIGHT.
That’s a no-Go. No?
The famed investor Ray Dalio chooses to run his investment firm by what he calls an idea meritocracy. A system in which the best ideas are the prized outcome.
Utopian? Perhaps. At least in some situations.
But what if the structures of our upbringing and education were formed around the idea that truth could only be found when combined with the virtues of empathy and perspective.
What if the most esteemed voices in our lives (and in our heads) were those who sought not just their truth, but truly sought THE truth.
Seems like a simple concept. But I might be wrong.
No?
