A Penny's Worth of Thoughts: Our Own Worst Enemies

In my history of observation, very few things have outright bothered me.  Are there things I disagree with?  Sure, but those can typically be explained as a difference of perspective, and require an understanding.  However, if there is truly one thing that has the tendency to bother me the most, it is the thought that because one thing is correct, everything else must be incorrect.

It's a notion you see everywhere these days; whether it be the discussion of vaccine versus mask, an old debate internet on the color of a dress, or something as simple as how one plays a game.  Search long enough nearly any discussion and you will find, somewhere, a perspective that believes, resolutely, that they are right, and everyone else is wrong, usually to the point of ignoring all discussion otherwise.

My belief has always been that there are routinely many solutions, one must simply approach the problem from a new angle.  Is it simple? No, not in the slightest.  And, usually requires quite a bit of grey area discussion.  Some people have had nasty reactions to medicines, including vaccines, and so choose the avoidance option because, for them, it is safer.  Others may have a disadvantage, one that, in the case of the dress, prevents them from being able to accurately perceive certain colors.

Gaming can often be the biggest exposure to this particular dispute, however.  You can find sources all over the place of "Run this character this way" or "This plus that equals victory", often to the detriment of either the readers or followers, all of whom have various skill levels and preferences of play.  And it bugs me on just how many of those get lost due to them following the crowd.  Giving in to that urge to belong, even if it doesn't feel right.

We truly are our own worst enemies.

Just a Penny's Worth of Thoughts, for those who feel swept up by the flow.

A Penny's Worth of Thoughts: The Traps We Forget

 It's possible to read that subtitle and ask "How?"  How do you forget about a trap?  Surely it had a purpose, right?  But, sometimes those purposes change or, perhaps, get lost with time.

I think that some of what we see nowadays could be old traps being triggered, perhaps even by people that didn't even realize they were traps.  Bad situations with no real "good" outcome, brought about by a few too many ingredients being at the right place at the wrong time.  Even as I step warily around it myself, I can already feel the polarizing nature, minds snapping to this situation or that experience at just the words, an easy trap to find.

Then how was it forgotten?  The simple answer is that times, and people, change.  It is the kind of trap laid by "think first" people for "act first" people.  Two groups that are hard to get to communicate, for obvious reasons.  The more challenging, and perhaps more true, answer is that it is the kind of trap, born of experience, that becomes second nature.

A bit like a bad experience with an animal.  They can seem aggressive, hissing and growling, when they are simply being defensive.  And yet, how many people do you know that have ignored those warnings, been bit or scratched, and from then on simply decide that those particular animals just "don't like me"?  Maybe even continue to confuse those creatures as being aggressive toward them specifically?  A personal trap, in comparison, no?  Those are easier to set than you might think.  Have you ever convinced yourself you dislike something you would normally have liked, for one reason or another?  Perhaps the opposite?  Was that reason controversial in nature, say akin to missing characters in a game, or poor quality from an otherwise beloved developer?

It is, in my opinion, as easy to trap ourselves with our biases as it is to trap someone else with theirs.  But, once we have those traps, they are not easily removed to begin with, and our memories of why may fade over time.  So, how to remove them?  For some, we cannot without triggering them, snapping it quickly and, ideally, as safely as possible.  Something that is rarely so easy.  A personal bias, some small, defensive attachment for the off chance our past returns to haunt us... only to have it be why the past returns.

There are reasons we were always told to heed our histories.

Just a penny's worth of thoughts, for those trying to avoid being snapped at the ankle.

A Penny's Worth of Thoughts: Confidence

It's always surprising to me how a matter of perspective can change even our understood definition of words.  Take today's subject: Confidence by the dictionary is defined as having a belief in the powers, trustworthiness, or reliability of a person or thing.  I don't think there's very many people who would dispute that, true.  However, if I were to ask you to identify an example on sight?  I'm sure there would be a variety of answers.  Of people or items, perhaps with "Old Faithful" monikers and tales of how they earned the title.

In fact, it can go even further.  A person's self-confidence can depend on certain situations.  Some may need it for work every day.  Other's for a competition or an event.  Plus, it could come and fade, depending on the day or situation.  And, sometimes, just like any other topic of mine, a different perspective could make all the difference.

I was recently in conversation with some recent friends of mine, and had let slip my old endeavors on Youtube.  For me, at the end of that trial period, it had seemed like a losing battle.  I had neither the equipment nor the prowess to fulfill what I had hoped to achieve.  Not too mention, if I'm being completely honest, my non-scripted motif likely didn't help either.  It was one of the reasons I rarely, if ever, asked for likes, comments, or subscriptions; which you see all over the place, even back then.  I wasn't confident in my work, and thus, didn't feel like I had anything worth asking people to do those things for.

What surprised me, as I proceeded to begrudgingly link my channel while calling out my subpar content, was that, in their eyes, it wasn't nearly as bad as I felt it was.  I had received supporting notions for nearly a decade's old work that I felt like I didn't deserve, back in the day or now.

We can often be our own worst enemy in such things.  We objectively point out our mistakes despite them going unnoticed, quite nearly because we know those mistakes, almost as if it taunts us to see where our system struggles to keep up, or that a self-built figure may be attached backwards.  Or, we could fool ourselves into believing the opposite, that a gimmick is overshadowing a sound strategy simply because we want it to mean something, whether for ourselves or the ones watching us.

It can be a bit like polarized screens or optical illusions.  From one angle, you see an opaque or jumbled image, but then you start to tilt your head, if only to watch how it changes as you do.  Sometimes, you see that hidden face.  Occasionally, you find just the right spot for a mirrored reflection.  The question to ask?  How about this: Which viewpoint makes you the most confident in what you see?  Are you more certain with the elderly lady or the young woman?  The mirror or the black screen?

And further more, do you base the confidence of your answer on yourself, or on another?

Just a Penny's Worth of Thoughts, for those confident in the words.