Jordan Peterson - To better discern truth, first stop lying

6 years ago

Sometimes you might do something and you don't know whether it's right or wrong. Let's say you're ignorant, and you might be making a mistake and you don't know it. But - and I think this is a universal human experience - people know sometimes that what they're saying isn't true. And people know sometimes that what they're doing is wrong. And they state the untruth and do what's wrong anyways. And one thing you can do is stop doing that. That isn't the same as telling the truth, exactly, it's ceasing to utter and enact falsehoods. And you can define the things; that's what's interesting about that. It's a game you play with yourself. "For some reason, I know that what I'm about to do is wrong." Stop doing that. You clean up your vision - that's a matter of taking the beam out of your eye. You clean up your vision. And as you do that progressively, your capacity to discern truth from falsehood grows. And that means your capacity to operate effectively in the world grows, because there's no real difference between those things. So I would say the place you start - this is why it's become an internet meme; I tell people to clean up their rooms. To put themselves in order. If you're in disorder, and you know that there are things that you could do that are even small that would improve things to some degree, do them! And keep doing them! And that works across time. It's also humble, in the sense of proper humility. Start where you are. Fix the things that you can fix. Quit saying things that you know make you weak and are lies. And if you do that for a reasonable period of time, it will transform you completely. And anyone can do that, I believe. You can start wherever you happen to be.

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