WHY BELIEVE LATER?

 

BUILDING BETTER HABITS

A beautiful young woman struggling to believe /Photo Courtesy /John Diez

Empty Your Cup

If you don’t know something. And new information comes up. Information that sounds like news to you. Don’t doubt the messenger. Simply because the information was unexpected. The mere fact that you have your own assumptions. Does not make new information false. You don’t challenge the messenger or question the intelligence of the messenger because you are prejudiced. Don’t be quick to pick an argument. The messenger knows what is talking about. All credible messengers carry the correct information. And they don’t need to prove themselves. Because they are fact-checked, verified, and trustworthy. A messenger did not wake up to an assignment on that particular day. He/she has done this job before. And used his experience to clarify a misrepresentation, which led to new information.

And instead of listening. You challenged the truth. The truth that you did not have. Yet you consider yourself an expert in the matter. You doubt the messenger. Because you are hearing the new information for the first time. Yet, you consider yourself an expert in that particular subject. The new information shocked you. You should have come across such information first. Because you spend a lot of time on the matter. However, you missed the news. And since you did not see the information first. The messenger must be lying. So you need prove. And when the facts are verified. You still doubt because it does not align with your assumptions. So you declare the new knowledge as made-up. Yet, the messenger was just correcting a misrepresentation in your own area of expertise.

Prejudice prevents people from consuming new information. People reject new information because they have their own way of understanding. And sometimes, people have a difficult time letting go of obsolete ways of thinking. Those old habits become obstacles to making progress. People reject new things because they are used to a certain way. When new doesn’t fit into that ‘certain way.’ Information meant to educate, improve, and solve a particular problem is rejected. It is rejected not because it is wrong. However, people reject new information because they are ignorant. Normalcy is widely accepted as the correct way of doing things. Everyone knows it. It does not need an explanation. It is easy. It has been in society for a long time. And generations have been practicing it the beginning. So who are you to introduce change? Who are you to disrupt order?

Apathy

Adisgusted woman resisting change /Photo /Karola G

People are not interested in new information. People are comfortable with what they know. Whether what they know is misleading or not. It is what they know. And they want to keep it that way. Since, they have heard it before. It must be the truth. So who are you to correct a misrepresentation? You will definitely face resistance. They will resist until they are ready to learn. And until they are ready. You will be laboring in vain. You will argue until you run out of breath. And they will not be tired. They will still have ten different ways to challenge your intelligence. Their focus is to win an argument. To tell you that you are wrong. Because you are the only one who knows something different. And all these people have never heard of that new information before. So you must be wrong. They are the majority after all. And majority agree or know the same thing.

But listen. Rejecting a truth does not change the truth into a lie. The truth will always be the truth. Whether it is popular or not. Whether thousands accept it or not. A truth is a truth. Whether it is doubted now or believed later. It does not matter. The problem is the not the new information. The problem is the people and the things that are standing in their way. Ignorance, doubt, and resistance. These are the obstacles. And they can prevent innovation as long as it takes. People only make progress when they open up. New things have to be wanted to make an impact. Something can only be fixed. If someone thinks it is broken. And when people don’t see anything wrong. With their way of thinking or doing things. You cannot introduce change. Because there is no room for new information. People are not hungry. People are not interested in fixing. So don’t tell them that something is wrong.

If they doubted the first time. Their interest was not to learn. Their interest was to shut you down. Because they already have something else in their mind. And unless that something else is removed. There is no room for a new thing. People are not interested in making progress. People are interested in keeping routines. They are okay with what they already know. And they are comfortable with that. So nothing is getting in or getting out. And you don’t have to fight that. But share the new information anyway. The decision to consume or not to consume is not yours. Your work as a messenger was to convey the message. And you already did. How people respond or react to that message is none of your business. Whether you provide prove or not. The message is correct. You are a credible source.

Excited people receiving new information /Photo /Kindel Media

Remove the Fence

To believe or not believe is not the question. The question is, why doubt now and believe later? What is the difference between now and later? Did messenger suddenly become a credible source in the future and not the present? People who doubt and later believe are the problem. They doubt because they thought everyone is like them. And once they find out that you are not on the same level. They struggle with you being ahead of them. So their rejection is not necessarily towards new information. Their rejection is the messenger. They were not expecting that from him/her. People who are interested in winning an argument don’t care about the truth. They care more about being heard. And having the story their way. So they put up a spirited argument to have their way. Yet, the only requirement for the new information was to listen.

You were only required to listen. If you would have listened carefully. You would have understood where the misrepresentation came from. You would have learned something new that day. And that new knowledge would have done something to you. The new information would have unstuck you. And it would have opened you up for more new things. New things challenge people to change certain unhelpful habits. Progress only occur when people want that progress. However, if the attitude towards new things is casting doubt. Society will continue to struggle with certain things. Things that already have solutions. And since, people are not ready. They will just suffer and struggle where they should not be struggling at all. Because solutions are already within reach. Can you see that? Open up your eyes.