Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Understanding

Understanding (noun):  1. The ability to understand something. (adjective) 2.  Having insight or good judgement.

Opinion (noun): A view or judgement not based on fact or knowledge.

Rumor (noun): A circulating story of uncertain or doubtful truth.

From time to time I am confronted by some memories of my past in which I am reminded of conflicts that I had with people. The conflicts arose from the inability to understand which are fueled by egotism. The fallout from these conflicts had profound effects on my life, many of them traumatizing.

NASA
I have spent a great amount of time in analyzing data* and to interpret things correctly you must let the data speak for itself. I have found that critical issues have many components and oftentimes very tight tolerances. All factors must be considered to arrive at a correct conclusion.

Altogether too often, people substitute opinions for facts and emotions for analysis.”
― Andrew S. Grove, Only the Paranoid Survive

Opinions are always interesting but seldom reliable. Opinions provide an easy answer which is the low road and to be quite honest is a lazy way to get an answer. Rumors are generally based in fantasy, they are the lowest on the truth scale and  they are circulated to elevate sagging egos.

I think to travel the high road, we must have intelligence and the ability to sift through mountains of useless information. We must know the difference between valid information and junk. It requires integrity and hard work.

Rumors are trash. Some opinions are hyper-critical and have large consequences. Use critical thinking skills and discernment before releasing your thinking, you will do your neighbors and community a big favor.

"Don't argue with the emotions, argue with the data" -Andrew S. Grove

*Data Analysis includes a minimum of 10,000 hours of financial market data from option pricing models to statistical arbitrage and many other things. 25,000+ hours in medical research and countless other hours in research, study and practice in a number of fields.

"It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt" -Mark Twain

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