How you think matters more than what you think
— Philip Tetlock
Paradoxically, the more expansively we can see, the more simple truth seems …
People are truth-seeking missiles, but not many of us were encouraged to challenge our convictions and identities, except by writers and certain teachers, so we extracted meaning by selecting certain variables that agreed with our parents’ worldview. Yet the more variables we decide to include, the greater breadth of writing, the bigger bandwidth of truth, the more our understanding aligns with what truth is; paradoxically, the more expansively we can see, the more simple truth seems.
Anne Lamott, from Almost Everything — Notes on Hope P. 100
On Truth as Paradox
All truth is paradox. Everything true in the world has innate contradictions…
… and this turns out to be a reason for hope.
If you arrive at a place in life that is miserable, it will change, and something else about it will also be true. So paradox is an invitation to go deeper into life, to see a bigger screen, instead of the nice, safe lower left-quadrant where you see work, home, and the country. Try a wider reality, through curiosity,awareness, and breath. Try actually being here. What a concept.
Anne Lamott, from “Almost Everything – Notes on Hope” P. 19