If I asked you are you an intelligent person you will probably answer in the affirmative.
Obviously, no one will ever answer that he doesn’t think of himself as an intelligent human being.
But how do you know? How can you say that you are intelligent?
Even I don’t know the answer to that but let’s go visit the past for some wisdom on this question.
F. Scott Fitzgerald, the great American novelist who wrote The Great Gatsby once said:
The test of first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Now I think he was absolutely right.
The ability to hold two conflicting ideas at the same time in our minds is extremely difficult. Try it once. Take a topic on which you are passionate about and try to think of an argument against your views on that topic. It would take everything in your power to even come up with something against it.
What do we do when we face opposing views?
We immediately get defensive.
We try to find holes in that argument or point of view instead of looking at it objectively.
Hence, it is an extremely difficult thing to master. But if we do master this we will possess the ability to continuously improve our thoughts, values, and beliefs.
This ability then helps us to inculcate another critical trait of success in life i.e. learning, unlearning, relearning.
The world will be a much better place if we all have the ability to listen to an opposing view peacefully and if it’s right then allow it to change our views.
Rigidity in our beliefs is not to be something proud of.
Continuously seeking opposite views, thoughts results in a mind that is always in learning mode and never gets hardened by any opinion.
I write daily here on my blog. There is no limit to the word count. I am not focusing on any topic here. I want to build a daily writing habit. This is Day 14 of the Daily Writing Challenge in 2022.