| Do you believe in the power of your | | | | that crucial sense of humor and humility. The |
| convictions?It's time to lighten up.People love | | | | more we know, the more we get a clue about |
| attaching themselves to ideas. We can get pretty | | | | how much we don't know. At least, that's the |
| feisty when one of our beloved beliefs is | | | | way it's supposed to work. You probably know |
| challenged. We're too busy defending to spend our | | | | people who haven't quite come around to that |
| time analyzing.Truth has a tendency to get in the | | | | realization yet. Get there now. Accept it, celebrate |
| way of our beliefs. We like having our rules to live | | | | it, and keep on thinking.#3 "Believe those who are |
| by, our reasons for feeling righteous, and our | | | | seeking the truth; doubt those who find it." Andre |
| excuses for ending intellectual exploration. Just as | | | | Gide, French writerYour best bet is to hang out |
| we climb up a ladder, we like counting on certain | | | | with those who are happy to admit that they |
| rungs to hold steady. Thinking about cracks just | | | | don't have all the answers. As friends, co-workers |
| makes us uneasy.That approach works if your | | | | and party guests, they tend to be a lot more fun, |
| goal is to reach the top, but it doesn't allow for | | | | anyway.#4 "Chase after the truth like all hell and |
| much examination or lateral growth. Plus, there's | | | | you'll free yourself, even though you never touch |
| always the risk that you'll come crashing | | | | its coattails." Clarence Darrow, American |
| down.Quick quiz: What fills you with more | | | | attorneyPlay the game and have some fun with |
| satisfaction--being right or discovering the truth? | | | | it, even if you never score. Remember playing |
| Of course, the best scenario is discovering that | | | | games with your friends way back when you |
| you knew the truth all along. Validation is a huge | | | | were five? You didn't have a clear sense of the |
| motivator. That's why we find it more exhilarating | | | | rules or even the point of the game, and neither |
| to win an argument than to learn more about the | | | | did anyone else. It didn't matter. The reason you |
| other side.It's kind of like that whole "life is about | | | | were playing was to simply enjoy the game, even |
| the journey" concept. The thrill is in the seeking. | | | | if that meant making it up as you went |
| We've forgotten that. It's as though we went on | | | | along.Approach truth-seeking like a five-year-old |
| a treasure hunt, stumbled upon what we thought | | | | playing a new game. Don't get caught up in the |
| was the hidden booty, and now we've become | | | | regulations, and don't keep score. Who cares |
| complacent.What if what you found wasn't the | | | | who's winning?#5 "And we should consider every |
| real treasure? What if the whole point was to | | | | day lost on which we have not danced at least |
| keep looking?Thinkers have been wrestling with | | | | once. And we should call every truth false which |
| the concept of truth for ages. Socrates was fond | | | | was not accompanied by at least one laugh." |
| of saying that there are only two kinds of beings | | | | Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopherNietzsche |
| who do not need philosophy: the gods, who are | | | | saluted the creative force that feeds us. Despite |
| already wise, and the fools, who think they are | | | | a life of ill health and misery, he recognized the |
| wise. We want to be in that large middle group of | | | | value of joy in the seeking of truth. Most of us |
| people who recognize their lack of wisdom and | | | | have it a whole lot easier than Nietzsche. We |
| continue their quest for truth and knowledge.It's | | | | have no excuse for not laughing.#6 "Truth is |
| helpful to be reminded that our role as humans | | | | mighty and will prevail. There is nothing the matter |
| isn't to figure things out--it's to KEEP ON figuring | | | | with this, except that it ain't so."Mark Twain, |
| things out. Don't take my word for it. Here are | | | | American writerTruth doesn't rise to the surface. |
| some truisms about truth from some formidable | | | | You've got to dig for it. Truth doesn't |
| thinkers.#1 "The fact that an opinion has been | | | | automatically rule; fallacies with excellent public |
| widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not | | | | relations campaigns tend to dominate in our |
| utterly absurd; indeed in view of the silliness of | | | | culture.Truth isn't easy, but it isn't supposed to be. |
| the majority of mankind, a widespread belief is | | | | If you want to dive into the human experience in |
| more likely to be foolish than sensible." Bertrand | | | | all its glory, you're going to be wading through a |
| Russell, British mathematicianCan't think of any | | | | lot of ideas masquerading as the truth.Think for |
| widely held absurd beliefs? You're not trying hard | | | | yourself, and have some fun with it. Look for |
| enough! Fashion, pop culture, politics, (gasp!) | | | | truth in the unlikeliest places. Find the absurdity in |
| religion, and virtually every other arena of modern | | | | every idea. The best philosophers have loads of |
| life is full of examples of ideas that have | | | | laugh lines. Start creating yours. You'll become a |
| somehow taken hold but defy logic. Good Thinker | | | | better thinker, a happier truth-seeker, and a more |
| rule number one is simply this: Never accept an | | | | excellent human.Maya Talisman Frost is a mind |
| idea just because everyone else does.#2 | | | | masseuse in Portland, Oregon. Through her |
| "Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a | | | | company, Real-World Mindfulness Training, she |
| judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by | | | | teaches fun and effective eyes-wide-open |
| the laughter of the gods." Albert Einstein, | | | | alternatives to meditation. |
| American physicistLeave it to Albert to maintain | | | | |