Indignation and ignorance
Through the excellent Recomendo weekly newsletter, Claudio Dawson shares the following quote:
If we could see the whole truth of any situation, our only response would be one of compassion.” — Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
As an aside, have a look at Recomendo. It's one of the few newsletters that I open with some anticipation every weekend when the email arrives. More often than not, there is something interesting in these digests of six stories. Recomendo's scope is 'tools', defined in their widest sense as 'anything that can be useful' (Kevin Kelly).
Back to the quote: it's perceptive and powerful. For complex subjects, the first impression can be one of wonder and disbelief. How can this be so? Upon a deeper look, we start to understand and see how things could be improved. There is rarely a silver bullet — the problem rarely goes away, but we learn how to manage it. Not the first but the seventh impression counts.
A great many subjects are complex, e.g. climate, energy, finance, health, information technology, policy, regulation, sustainability, etc. Even as experts, we know very little of these vast domains. A little humility contributes both to a better world and to mental health.
- 29-Nov-22: Initial post
- 30-Nov-22: Edit