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Your Knee-Jerk Reactions Sabotage Personal Growth and Meaningful Communication
So… stop!
We live in the Age of Outrage and, quite often, the Age of Stupidity.
Nuance is disappearing. Patience is dwindling. Wisdom is becoming extinct. And people are more inclined than ever to react rather than listen or reflect.
We see this manifested especially on the Internet and social media. People react far too often with snap judgments, closed minds, and often bitter vitriol.
Quality communication takes time. And it requires patience, humility, and wisdom — virtues very much in short supply these days.
Most consumers (especially in the West) are, of course, encouraged to have quick reactions and make snap judgments. One sees this in how today’s “news” programs are scripted and produced as well as how disagreements are handled on social media (and even here on Medium).
Ancient wisdom warns us against these tendencies. Here are just a few such warnings from the biblical Book of Proverbs:
- “How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?” (Proverbs 1:22, KJV)
- “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.”…
