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Thursday, May 20, 2010

Loudmouth

We tend to think that if we are louder about something, it makes us more right. This is absurd. The louder we say something bears no correlation on the accuracy of the statement. So why do we continue to think that? It's because it seems to work.

I know by experience that the more confident you sound about something, the more confidence others will have it what you say. I've used this strategy to my advantage on a number of occassions, regardless of whether or not I've been right. It has also backfired on me. It has, in fact, backfired more than enough times for me to have learned my lesson and stop being so loud about everything all the time, but I have found this easier said than done. Sometimes I just have something to say that's so important I have to share it with everyone around me as quickly as possible and at as high a volume as possible.

But why do we think that when something is loud, it's right? Why do we put faith in the loudest thing we hear? Maybe it's because most of us are so afraid of looking like idiots and so afraid of being wrong that--thinking that everyone shares this insecurity--we (wrongly) conclude that for someone to make such a confident proclamation, they surely must be right. In other words, we underestimate the number of obnoxious morons in the world.

The cure for this is simple: stick to your guns! Most people who appear to be good at life are in fact only good at pretending to be good at life. In fact, it's often those that don't spend so much energy on looking like they know what they're doing that know what they're doing. Unfortunately, society tends to notice the first group. So what good could possibly come from knowing something if you can't make people pay attention to you? Well, if you are like plenty of other people who will readily deny they are this way and judge the quality of your life based on the opinions of others, nothing. However, if you are unique like the aforementioned people will try to tell you they are, and judge yourself without the input of your peers, the answer is simple: you do it because you want to.

I am in the shallow group of people who care what others think of them. For this reason, I will continue to be loud and confident and wrong until I either die or suffer a dramatic mid-life crisis. Stay tuned.

1 comment:

  1. Very deep, raz.... very deep. Things that make you go "hmmmmmmmmm"

    ReplyDelete