Quote of the Day: Dealing with Delusions

Unfortunately, no matter how hard we try, most of our perceptions of people will be misguided a significant percentage of the time. It’s one thing to be off target occasionally, but quite another to be consistently wrong. That’s because the foundational principle of all other success principles is having an accurate perception of reality. Which means that great achievements are virtually impossible if one’s perception of reality is perpetually faulty.

The best antidote to this potentially fatal condition is to pay more attention to what people say than to what they appear to be. In other words, don’t be taken in by credentials, demeanor, or reputation. Hey, you can’t get much better credentials than being emperor of Rome, and just about everyone got misled by Caligula.

Likewise, just because someone doesn’t have great credentials doesn’t mean he doesn’t possess skills or wisdom. Some of the best insights I’ve heard over the years have come from “no name” people.

There is no magic way to sort out worthwhile information from junk. The truth of the matter is that it’s up to you to weigh the content of people’s words and make good decisions about them. And to do that, you have to be vigilant about not becoming mesmerized by superficial appearances or credentials.

In the words of Buddha, “Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.” It’s something to ponder as you go about trying to deal with the delusions that are being offered up by politicians, media talking heads, and so-called experts on a daily basis.

This is from libertarian and self development author Robert Ringer at his website