The sad irony (and mankind's true intellectual defect) is that we only ever seem to recognize our stupidity in retrospect. I admit, that's true of me. I'm never intentionally stupid. Just the opposite: I always strive to make the smartest decision about whatever. I think that's true of most people. We can only recognize our stupidity when we see the consequences of our past decisions and reflect on negative outcomes, and if we actually have the potential for intelligent behavior, we adapt our thinking and responses so we don't make the same mistake again. So people who have displayed stupidity in the past can learn to do better, but only if they have the capacity for self-reflection, which as I said previously is today an exceedingly rare trait.
I think my typical response to my stupidity is "It seemed like a good idea at the time." As time hurries on, I start to see where some well intended, well thought out, decisions, may not have been the best. I can find myself caught up in the moment, based on prevailing thoughts and currents, only to see afterwards, like some Twilight Zone twist, that there was more going on than I reasoned. But it is prevailing thoughts and currents, and attitudes, that direct us daily, and my own Pollyanna attitudes can only protect my outcomes just so much.
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Date: 2021-11-12 09:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-11-12 04:47 pm (UTC)