I saw some recent Quora posts about the “Top 10 things that we should be informed about“. The responses were mostly depressing. There is some good content and information that could be gleaned from what was said, but most of it seemed either obvious or somewhat worthless.
Many of the items people mentioned sounded like the cryptic scribblings of a self-help guru:
- Happiness is a conscious choice
- Right here, right now. Mindfulness extends life infinitely
- Self-awareness is the lubricant to all social friction
- You both need and don’t need other people
They were sometimes self-centered:
- Know how to talk to rich people
- If you cannot picture your life partner making you laugh 50 years from now, bail out
Some just seemed to be a sounding-board for chips on shoulders:
- The best way to judge any religion or sect is to observe countries that it has dominated for at least a century
- No matter what you do, you will never be able to fix your parent’s problems
- If you don’t get into university or if it’s just that you don’t want to go, don’t sweat it
- Being Average is OK
Some lists were at least more focused on the conventional wisdom of the day and were trying to emphasize the importance of virtues of some sort at least in a humanistic framework:
- Your health, not just now but in the future is critical. Take care of it.
- Honesty, integrity, reliability, decency, kindness, and the like, should become givens in your life where others can easily see them.
- Understand the power of science
Here is my list. I realize that this list is somewhat arbitrary and could of course be different if I were to have written this 5 years ago, 5 years in the future or even next week:
- Seek wisdom, but understand that although knowledge is important, it is not the same as wisdom
- Do good, but realize that doing good does not make you or the world a better place by itself, but you should still do it
- Love people, but know that loving is not the same as agreeing with
- Pursue truth, but realize that although truth is objective, how one believes things to be true is interpreted individually
- Respect authority, but be willing to stand up to it when it is wrong
- Live for God’s glory, but be aware that you will always be fighting the temptation to replace God with yourself
- Help others, but not because you ever expect them to help you
- Question your motives, but don’t be paralyzed by your imperfections
- Defend the defenseless and stand up against injustice and evil, but realize that many who you join forces with are doing so for bad or selfish reasons
- Determining your own success should consider not just this life you live now but more importantly, eternity
