What do we need to do avoid disaster?
We need to avoid error.
I’ll start with a quote from Voltaire which sums up the point I want to make better than anything I could say myself.
Twenty years are required to bring man from the state of a plant, in which he exists in the womb of his mother, and from the state of an animal, which is his condition in infancy, to a state in which the maturity of reason begins to make itself felt. Thirty centuries are necessary in which to discover even a little of his structure. An eternity would be required to know anything of his soul. But one moment suffices in which to kill him.
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The point I want to make in this article is that it is important to avoid error. I’ll sum up by saying that it is at least as important to preserve past gains as it is to attain new successes and that it is much easier and faster to destroy than to construct.
This applies as much to individuals as it does to nations and large corporations. For example, a doctor may spend twenty or more years of his life getting the necessary degrees and building his career but it only takes one error and one malpractice suit for his reputation to be destroyed.
The fact that civilization is functioning means that, by and large, it has managed to avoid catastrophic blunders. Similarly, there are any number of prosperous people in this world for whom the same can be said.
But how do you avoid errors?
This is a very large topic beyond my scope and expertise and I will confine myself in this article to some general principles that we can use when we think. What I have to say is this:
- The first point is that if you avoid error then thinking clearly as to what to do is relatively simple. It is not easy to learn to think clearly but it is simple. The following link explains how you can learn this skill.
- But avoiding error is difficult because of the ego and our old habits of thought. It is difficult for the ego to admit to itself that it has made a mistake when a course correction is required. I remember when I was young, I behaved in eccentric ways. I was unwilling to face up to the fact that I was behaving badly. When I finally did (a lot of) introspection my behaviour changed dramatically for the better and for good.
- Old habits of thought may cause you to react to situations and not respond to the challenge facing you. There is a difference between reacting and responding. Reacting is from the ego and responding means understanding your situation or challenge and doing what is appropriate. So you need to be sufficiently self-aware so as to not be enslaved by old habits of thought.
I recommend that you start here because unless you free yourself of the ego (even if temporarily) it is not possible to think clearly. Buddhist meditation practices teach self-awareness. Try Vipassana as taught by SN Goenka or the teachings of the Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh.
Side by side you can teach yourself how to think clearly. I can recommend the following books (in addition to Sherlock Holmes):
I have browsed through this book and know that it is good. If I was thirty years younger I would read it repeatedly until I digested the concepts.
The second book is:
I have this book on my shelf but haven’t read it. But the author is a Nobel Laureate and in this book he shares a lifetime’s worth of wisdom.
I’ll end here. Please share this article on WA, FB and Twitter and let me have your comments. Feedback from my readers keeps me going.
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