Humans Have a Way of Spinning the Narrative to Fit Their Motives
Critical Thinking, Emotional Intelligence, Listening Skills, Situation Management
Critical Thinking, listening
By Starla
July 1, 2020
Minute Read
This meme made an appearance on Facebook last week and it reminded me of the saying, "Trust, but verify."
"Trust, but verify" has always been a rather peculiar statement to me. If you trust something, then there shouldn't be a need to verify it, right? And if you feel the need to verify it, that probably means you don't fully trust it quite yet. So which is it? Do you fully trust it? Or do you need to verify it?
"Trust, but verify" has always been a rather peculiar statement to me. If you trust something, then there shouldn't be a need to verify it, right? And if you feel the need to verify it, that probably means you don't fully trust it quite yet. So which is it? Do you fully trust it? Or do you need to verify it?
Blindly trusting everything we see and hear can be a recipe for disaster for one simple reason: humans have a way of spinning the narrative to fit their motives – the narrative they tell themselves that aligns with and further reinforces what they want to believe.
Everyone does it, and right now, during this pandemic, it's happening all around us. Now more than ever, with everything we're seeing, hearing, experiencing, and potentially acting on, it is critical that we are thoughtful and deliberate with our decisions to either trust or verify.
A great way to do this is to always maintain a healthy level of skepticism.
Blindly trusting everything we see and hear can be a recipe for disaster for one simple reason: humans have a way of spinning the narrative to fit their motives – the narrative they tell themselves that aligns with and further reinforces what they want to believe.
Everyone does it, and right now, during this pandemic, it's happening all around us. Now more than ever, with everything we're seeing, hearing, experiencing, and potentially acting on, it is critical that we are thoughtful and deliberate with our decisions to either trust or verify.
A great way to do this is to always maintain a healthy level of skepticism.
- 1Listen and take it all in.
- 2Ask questions for clarification and deeper understanding.
- 3Be as objective as possible and explore all perspectives.
- 4Be aware of your emotional response and do your best to regulate it so it doesn't cloud your judgment.
- 5Listen to your intuition.
In doing so, you'll...
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