My Thoughts Archives

My Thoughts

What IS Wisdom Cultivation?

Growing in wisdom will keep us from drowning in knowledge fAs John Naisbitt says — “We are drowning in information but starved for knowledge.” I believe the real issue is that we are drowning in knowledge while starved for wisdom. Wisdom is an undervalued piece of our evolution as humans. Wisdom Cultivators is one of the first organizations to focus on supporting the growth of wisdom. Before we can get into explaining wisdom cultivation, we must attempt to define wisdom. If you ask 10 people “What is wisdom?” you will likely get 10 different answers, but connecting them are underlying themes, such as having a

November 23, 2021 No Comments

My Thoughts

Discourage Censorship: Promote Wise Reasoning

You’ve likely heard the news; YouTube is expanding its censorship policies to include a broader range of anti-vax content. You may think that YouTube is doing the right thing. I’m assuming they think they are doing the right thing- protecting us, but this is a dangerous solution. There are better ways to combat misinformation and bad ideas, and one place to start is with wisdom. Wise people don’t just accept another person’s version of the truth, they hone skills at discovering truth themselves. Hone Your Truth Finding Skills Instead of censorship, what if we began promoting wise reasoning? Imagine a culture where the majority

October 5, 2021 No Comments

My Thoughts

If “They” Led with Curiosity, We Might Trust Them

The “they” I am referring to are authorities, institutions and government leaders. I wish they could see that curiosity could be the value that transforms the world. A person who is a seeker of truth, won’t find it without being deeply curious. It’s the value that will keep you looking even after you suspect you’ve found the answer. What if all of our societal challenges could simply be solved by approaching life with a sense of curious wonder? I think they could. There is even evidence that those who approach life with a higher degree of curiosity, are more immune to partisan thinking. I don’t find

September 6, 2021 No Comments

My Thoughts

What Happens When Our Sense of a Shared Reality Erodes?

As humans, one of our core motivations is to share our inner experiences with others. Starting in infancy we learn to shift our inner states to attune with those around us, and throughout our lives, we rely on others to help us regulate our emotions. We are biologically primed to be moved by the emotional states of others and to seek the resonance that comes from shared emotional experiences. As adults, checking our emotional state with that of others can come in the form of a “reality check.” How often have you asked a friend to check your assumptions, help ease your possibly irrational

August 9, 2021 No Comments

My Thoughts

Hope is Not an Emotion; It’s a State of Mind

What comes to mind when you think about the word hope? For me, it’s wall art and mugs; “hope” written in cursive, accompanied by words like faith, love, and dream. It is not a positive association. As much as I love to feel inspired, I am not a fan of inspirational décor. It doesn’t suit my taste, and more importantly, I think it dilutes the meaning of words that are actually profound concepts. Reclaiming and connecting with the meaning of the word hope, requires a reintroduction. Defining Hope We often say we “feel” hopeful, but hope is not actually an emotion. It is a way of thinking or a cognitive

June 5, 2021 No Comments

My Thoughts

The Fundamental Flaw of How-To Self Development Advice

Have you ever noticed how much people seem to love self-help how-to articles? We are suckers for an interesting story about a clearly defined problem- one that personally resonates with us, and then we want to be told how to solve that problem with actionable steps. We want a quick and dirty list, a step-by-step map to becoming a better/happier/more productive human. The problem here is that suggesting action, without talking about what is getting in the way, is a half-baked solution. It can feel inspiring, but it is a backward and ineffective way to achieve inner growth. As a culture we are focused on “doing” (more, differently, better), but

May 31, 2021 No Comments

My Thoughts

You Need a Personal Manifesto: Here is How to Make One

Many of us humans live a life of constant comparison. Sometimes it is beneath our conscious awareness, and other times it’s painfully obvious. We judge our self-worth, success, intelligence, and attractiveness by comparing ourselves to others. This tendency explains why there is a whole website dedicated to photos of socially unacceptable Walmart shoppers- we feel better about ourselves in comparison to them. Unless you plan to forever surround yourself with people who have less desirable qualities than you, self-worth derived through comparison will never elevate you. This is a self-defeating way to live, one that will leave you adrift with a sense of never

May 10, 2021 No Comments

My Thoughts

Leave your Bunker of Certainty, and Find Truth in the Wilderness

In my work exploring the concept of wisdom, the ability to deal with uncertainty, and living with a sense of curiosity, are often identified as core traits of the wise person. They are also traits that are pervasively lacking in our current culture, and their absence may be fueling our cultural divisiveness. Let’s start with uncertainty There are many varieties of uncertainty. You might be uncertain about the future, uncertain about how someone feels about you, or uncertain about what to do with your life. You might just really hate the feeling of not knowing what will happen next- waiting for test results or

April 25, 2021 2 Comments

My Thoughts

The Delusion of Black and White Thinking

Us vs. Them, Good vs. Bad, Liberal vs. Conservative. In our increasingly polarized world, many of us see things in black and white, blind to all the shades of gray. We are designed to see things this way; our brains have an instinct for categorization. Without this instinct, we could not function, but the brain’s desire to simplify our increasingly complex world is creating division. Black and white thinking is creating delusion. With a brain that loves black and white, in a world that draws us to its loud extremes, gray is becoming endangered color. We don’t have the time to ponder the nuances

March 21, 2021 No Comments

My Thoughts

7 signs that we are Entering a Wisdom Renaissance

I want to introduce to you the idea that we are entering into a wisdom renaissance. Given all that has occurred politically and culturally over the last several years, this may seem like a crazy idea to some, but I am going to make my case here by pointing to some current cultural trends that are all ultimately aimed at cultivating wisdom. Keep in mind the findings of The Berlin Wisdom Paradigm, which identified these 8 traits of the wise person: They are open to new experience They are growth-oriented They are creative They are progressive and judicial thinkers (thinking critically, with an open

March 8, 2021 1 Comment

What IS Wisdom Cultivation?

Discourage Censorship: Promote Wise Reasoning

If “They” Led with Curiosity, We Might Trust Them

Hope is Not an Emotion; It’s a State of Mind

The Fundamental Flaw of How-To Self Development Advice

You Need a Personal Manifesto: Here is How to Make One

Leave your Bunker of Certainty, and Find Truth in the Wilderness

The Delusion of Black and White Thinking

7 signs that we are Entering a Wisdom Renaissance

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