lesson 20: delusions of thinking

"So, eventually you started University."

"Yep. And it was more than what I hoped for. I loved it."

"Did you feel... older than the other students."

"Kind of. I think that the time I spent working made me really want to work at better jobs so it made me appreciate why I was there. Of course now I know that there were some misguided notions associated with this assumption... but yes, I really loved school."

"What was your favorite class? Something artsy-fartsy I bet."

"Believe it or not, it was my first year philosophy class."

"I don't believe it."

"And, it was my one 8:30 am class."

"So what, you went half the time, and slept in the rest?"

"No, I actually went. I got kind of excited by the notions of critical thinking and it made me really reexamine a lot of my beliefs and ideas about the world."

"It got you excited? Sorry man, that's just weird."

"Not like 'turned on' excited, just ... it just made me think."

"Did you get all philosophical on everyone's ass."

"Excuse me? That sounds petty weird after the excited comment."

"Hehe, yeah. Good joke. So did you?"

"Embarrassing, I started thinking I was being profound 24/7. Which was decidedly not the case. I have some pretty... um... pretentious journals from those days. This isn't to say, don't doubt things, or don't think things through. Instead, that I should have stayed more humble in the process. I had delusions of brilliance I think."

"Not like now."

"No, definitely not like now."

"What did you learn?"

"New ideas don't necessarily mean that you are smart, just that you think you are. In some ways, I just replaced some sets of misguided ideas with others. Stay open to what other people have to say, or else you will look like an arrogant idiot instead of a brilliant thinker shining your knowledge and wisdom to a dark world."

"What-ever. You could of stopped after the first two sentences."

"Probably. You know that was intentional don't you?"