Last week, I graduated college. Coronavirus definitally took the exclamation point out of the ceremony, which I forgot to go to, but that doesn’t matter. At the very least, it represents a monumental shift in my life, where I’ll be moving into the working world and giving up a decent portion of my freedom. However, that doesn’t matter in the current moment.
Currently, I’ve gotten quite close with my 3 roommates, all of which have heterogenous backgrounds. They’re all interesting to talk to, but one question we were discussing one night piqued my curiosity: How do you know what to believe in? Tyler, as we’ll call him, was having a bit of a crisis, as he argued himself out of any given position, eroding his confidence to know what is right.
I relate on a very personal note, as in the past, I’ve been in the exact same boat. When discussing points with others, I could be easily swayed by the influx of new information, throwing out any preconceived notions that I may have had. It really was a boon to my life, as you could imagine. I’m not sure when the tipping point of this trend occurred for me, but I can formulate how I can at least have confidence in my beliefs, while also factoring in the quite real possibility that I can be wrong about certain, if not the whole, idea.
When I first create a new thought, I tend to explore the possible avenues of information about the subject. In the past, I merely read a few articles, then put that into my subconsciousbrainbox, where it would spit out X or Y. Having the baseline of a large amount of memory in a topic is crucial to better formulate a precise and thorough understanding of the opinions that you will have about the subject. It takes time, but for me, the more I read about a subject, the more confident I feel about my analysis towards the subject. This can obviously change, but for the point of this paragraph, it is vital that I conduct thorough research. To put it lightly, the more colors I have on my counter, the better picture I can create.
The CONFIDENCE is the most important part, as it really is more of a spiritual test rather than a test of wills. In general, I’ve found that on the charisma and intelligence scale (assuming 1-100), both numbers add up to a person’s overall impression. I could be a dumbass, yet confident, and I’d have more sway than a gigabrain without a shred of self esteem, assuming that the former’s score is higher. Obviously this is quite the platonification of this thought, but I also believe that there is validity with the simplest aspects of this concept. For example, we can look directly into Warren Harding’s dead body for inspiration.
A bit of a misdirection though. We all know that logos, pathos, and ethos are the basis to a persuasive argument, yet we also forget that we can internalize these same concepts to bolster our confidence in our ideas. I've noticed that there are many personalities that can "make it" within our capitalistic society, yet the one defining characteristic that we can see is the persistence that stems from the inner most layer of their hearts, which we can redefine as the confidence in their beliefs. Confidence in yourself is one of the most important ways to better bolster your self confidence in your ideas. For everyone, it occurs in different ways; I find myself to become more confident after learning more and more about it, which is why I'm not scared of being wrong at times. What works for me may work for you, but I have no idea who you are. Take some time (and maybe some acid) to determine what makes you tick, what makes you certain and inspired by your beliefs, and engrain that into your soul. If you have that, then you're in a good position. Find what makes you tick, when it comes to topics, and embrace it like how you would if you were a child. The more psychological barriers you can break down, the less friction will be in your system.
Let’s tie it back into the thesis of this post. As I finish college, and look back on my growth, one thing that I’ve found is a new found spring of confidence within myself. To my roommate, who will never know this post exists, I wish you well. When you come across a new piece of credible evidence that contradicts your point, incorporate it into your view of the subject. If it turns it on its head, then even better. The sunk cost fallacy runs deep within our souls. If I happen to run across a contrary piece of evidence, it piques my interest, rather than eroding my current viewpoint.
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