Blinded To The Truth

Written by a human, for humans, always.

I remember being so angry when I received the paper back.

Let me go back to the beginning.

I was in college taking a literary traditions class...

Where you read books that have been deemed classics and write papers about them.

I remember we had an assignment...

To read a book and write a paper arguing something about what the author meant in their writing.

I do not remember exactly what I wrote about.

I only remember two things...

Being so proud of what I had argued about in my paper, feeling I did a great job on something I felt I proved well using the text...

And getting the paper back.

I looked at the grade...

C.

I couldn't fathom in the moment what could lead to that grade...

So I went through the paper to see what arguments I may not have done well enough on...

Or perhaps the structure of the paper was wrong...

But the entirety of the paper was blank...

Well...

Except for one comment at the very end...

"I do not agree with this."

That was it.

No further details.

Nothing about anything being wrong with the argument itself.

Only that tiny comment that felt painful.

When I read that...

I felt like it was an academic betrayal.

How could this teacher not grade the quality of my work?

How could they simply dismiss the entire paper?

How could they grade me a C based on "their" opinion?

What I took away from that in the moment was not to argue what "I" thought on a subject...

Only to argue what the teacher taught us to argue.

And when I did that, I passed with flying colors...

Even if it felt like what I argued was not relevant to my own beliefs.

However...

When I look back at that today...

I have come to realize something that was wrong in my own beliefs...

Which my teacher's comment failed to teach me.

I had, without realizing it, committed Intellectual Dishonesty.

To be fair...

I had been trained throughout my education to think in this way...

And I did not understand that it was a faulty way of thinking.

Now, if you are unaware of what Intellectual Dishonesty is, like I was at the time...

It "involves twisting facts, selectively omitting crucial evidence, or manipulating arguments to protect a personal belief, bias, or agenda rather than seeking an accurate conclusion."

What I had been taught to do...

How I had been taught to think...

Is to look at information that was presented to me...

And to find what "I" wanted it to say...

As opposed to seeking what was actually intended.

In my paper...

I may have made a brilliant argument...

But it was "my" argument...

Not the authors.

What my teacher was trying to say with their comment, "I do not agree with this"...

Was that they did not agree that the "author" was making the argument I was making.

I may have had a flawless paper from a purely technical perspective...

But I failed to understand what the point of the assignment was...

Not to think about what "I" believed based on what the author wrote...

But to discover what the "author" had intended to mean with what they wrote...

What the purpose of what they wrote was within the context they were in when they wrote it.

Now, am I wrong to have an opinion?

No.

Am I wrong to argue for things that I believe in?

No.

But it was absolutely Intellectually Dishonest to argue that the author was attempting to argue for something that "I" believe...

As opposed to me seeking what the author was trying to say.

Now, I may not have known that I was doing this...

I may have been trained, or perhaps even brainwashed, to think and argue like this...

But it does not change the fact that I ended up being Intellectually Dishonest in that moment.

Which brings us to the world today...

There are many people in the world who do this exact same thing.

I see it all the time on social media, in articles, and even in books...

Where people are making arguments for what "they" believe...

While utilizing other sources to argue for their beliefs in Intellectually Dishonest ways.

If you were to take the time to be Intellectually Honest...

You would discover that often, the original sources are not making the arguments that they are being portrayed as supporting.

That their quotes and work have been hacked and slashed in such a way as to become completely misrepresented.

Now...

I'm not saying that everyone who commits Intellectual Dishonesty is purposefully doing it...

It may simply be how they were trained to engage with the world...

Quite literally brainwashed into engaging with the world in this way.

I was.

Where you do not seek what others intend to say and mean...

But to force your own ideas and perceptions on others and "make" them mean what you "want" to believe.

However...

I have come to learn that this is one of the most dangerous ways to engage in the world...

Because it is often weaponized against us...

Used to shape our perspectives and push us toward specific beliefs...

Designed to create enemies where there are none and fabricate heroes who are really sycophants who are seeking more power...

And are willing to use what you want to believe as a weapon to create trust.

When this happens...

We become blinded to the truth.

The only way to understand the truth...

Is to dedicate ourselves to Intellectual Honesty

Instead of trying to defend what we want to believe...

We must actually deeply and sincerely seek what others are actually trying to say...

And be ready for it to say something completely different than what we think it is going to or "supposed" to say...

Because often, what we think things are supposed to say or what we believe that they actually say...

Is so vastly far from the truth...

Because we have unintentionally committed Intellectual Dishonesty our entire lives...

Or only learned from others who have also committed Intellectual Dishonesty...

Sometimes unintentionally themselves...

But sometimes purposefully for their own agendas.

I am not saying that you have to change your ideas or beliefs...

But what I will say is that your ideas and beliefs are not built on truth if they are built on Intellectual Dishonesty.

You cannot live in truth until you seek out the truth...

Dedicate yourself to Intellectual Honesty...

Understand what others are saying and meaning...

Understand why they say it from their specific perspective and context...

Without forcing our own ideas, perspectives, or contexts on them.

You may come to a different conclusion than others...

But you may also begin to discover...

That the world is vastly different from what you had believed...

And that there are other perspectives that are worth understanding...

As you begin to understand the truth around you.

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