My Cousin's AR-15 and Other Convictions
From Nietzsche to Texas: A Meditation on Belief
Enemies of truth. Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies.
Friedrich Nietzsche
People do more harm with their strongly held beliefs that they refuse to question than they do by lying.
I argue that people with unwavering convictions are likely to perpetrate the most harmful lies if they support their viewpoint.
We can see this in history in all manner of atrocities. Crimes of empires, religions, and political theories have all depended upon the actions of people who never questioned that they were right.
On a societal level, in my own country, we can take the example of gun laws. I am from Texas. My family members own guns. Some of them hunt. Others just like to shoot shit.
I won’t even discuss handguns or hunting rifles. I won’t even touch my uncle’s pistol-grip pump shotgun.
But my cousin doesn’t need multiple AR-15s or the hand grenades he is looking into buying, but he hesitates because of the heavy taxes.
This is the absolute conviction in the right to bear arms. All types of arms.
I don’t doubt the people who too regularly shoot up schools in my country are “Just crazy people.”
If I am to stay with that language, I would simply point out that a “crazy” person armed with a handgun or a hunting rifle is less capable of doing the kind of damage someone can do with an assault rifle.
“But Ronnie I should be able to shoot shit with an assault rifle if I want to, or just have it in my house as decoration.”
I digress.
On a smaller scale, we see it in our workplaces. The boss who knows that her new initiative will make everything better, despite nothing actually being wrong or even data that suggests it would be at best a wash.
The colleague who is convinced that his other colleagues are idiots, lazy, unmotivated, and not worth knowing because they don’t work the way he does. They don’t seem to think the things he knows are important, are as important as he thinks they are.
He will be sure to let the boss know. And if not the boss, any other colleague who will listen.
The great thinker Isaiah Berlin once said that anyone who thinks they have the singular solution to life and society is usually willing to cause others pain. Because their convictions justify it.
School makes this problem even more common. We all tend to confirmation bias, but school actually makes us practice it and even become better at it. For example, when writing an essay in English or Social Studies class, students are most often asked to come up with their thesis first. Then they do research to prove that thesis. It becomes a Google search/AI exercise in confirming whatever conviction you have.
There are two simple antidotes to this problem.
Have strong opinions that are conditionally held.. You should absolutely have convictions. Defend the way you see the world. Let people know, but cultivate a mindset that says “This is what I think now, but that could change if there is compelling evidence in the opposite direction.” This needs to be a mantra if it is to take hold.
Whenever you realize you have a strong conviction, spend time trying to disconfirm it. This is a powerful way to make sure you are not led down a path of unnecessary conviction, you will be more clear-headed and less annoying. It works very quickly.
Conviction: Carbs make you fat. Disconfirmation: Asia.
Conviction: My way of life is the right way of life. Disconfirmation: All the people before, after, and during your life living meaningful existences that are not like yours.
Conviction: This educational initiative is the only way to go. Disconfirmation: All the different educational systems in existence that are successfully educating students.
Conviction: People are terrible. Disconfirmation: The vast majority of people who have never done and will never do anything mean to you. The multitude of people just trying to do the best they can with what they’ve got. The fact that most people are not robbing you, assaulting you, or interested in making you unhappy.
If you apply these two strategies as if they were laws, you will find that you make better decisions. You have access to a greater degree of calm. People become more interesting. You will be kinder. You will enjoy speaking with a greater range of people, and a greater range of people will enjoy speaking with you. You will have fewer strongly held convictions, but you will be more honest and less likely to lie.
You will be a wiser observer of reality, and you might even become more compassionate.
Brilliant.