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by vibrunazo
5201 days ago
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> The easiest way to open yourself up to accepting criticism is to realize you are not the smartest person in the room I think that's irrelevant. Every human being is stupid. Saying you're the smartest person on the room, in absolute terms, is analogous to saying you're the smartest termite in the planet. Even if you're much smarter than others, that's irrelevant. Suppose the smartest person on earth is right twice as often as other people. That might sound like you're brilliant relative to others. But looking at the bigger picture that just might mean that you're wrong ~80% of the time, and they're wrong 90% of the time. From this angle, even the smartest person on earth is stupid. And I don't think the real numbers are too far from that. Human beings are imperfect, our perception is incomplete, our sensors fail and our brain has more bugs than windows vista. You cannot trust yourself. You're stupid, and it would be even more stupid to not admit that. We're all stupid. But the smarter of us understand that, and often correct themselves. While the less smart, are the ones who think they're smart. And insist on their mistakes. |
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Irrelevant? It's my entire proposition in no absolute terms. Of course everyone is stupid and anyone with a modicum of critical thinking skills can understand this. My point was that it is often difficult to accept criticism because we're pressured to believe we need to be the best or at least better than everyone else we see ourselves competing against. Criticism then seems like a personal attack and makes it difficult to accept since it can lower your perceived position amongst your peers.
Humility is the easiest solution I put forth. Once we realize just how stupid we are we can look at criticism as a chance to learn something and improve ourselves. And maybe when we give some criticism we'll try to be more thoughtful and be constructive.