Our best qualities are non-verbal. They come from things like compassion, from introspection. And introspection, from experience, is not verbal.
If you try to understand yourself with words, you will never succeed. There is a place where you need the words, but the deepest insights, they don’t come from words. And you can’t write about it.
Yuval Noah Harari in Lex Fridman podcast
I rarely see reviews on Google for any shops or services in my hometown.
It goes against the culture of megacities like Bengaluru. There are reviews for almost everything there.
Most of the people in my hometown have reasons to stay for the long haul. They are aware that they may have to confront each other again, despite their previous unpleasant encounter. In small towns, even if you are dissatisfied with your experience, you should think twice before posting negative feedback online that is visible to the public.
Even if they are on the wrong side, people are often offended when they receive criticism. In their story, they are the hero with an excuse of every wrong doing.
Another reason could be a lack of options in small towns. When my car breaks down, I may have to contact the same guy I gave negative feedback to. And he definitely remembers the public shaming we attempted.
Hell and Heaven used to be clearly distinguished from one another, and they were both located far from where we now dwell. The only route there was through death. It was once believed that your style of life would judge and determine your fate.
As awareness and education increased, the next generation became aware of the atrocities committed by the previous generation in the name of religion, and the justifications offered in the name of heaven or hell. Younger generations started to establish both right on the land where we live, moving away from the unproven concepts of hell and heaven.
I work extremely hard. My manager is the one who consistently fails to notice.
I ride pretty well, and I blame the roads for my bike’s poor condition.
This neighborhood is so dusty that I can’t keep my house clean and tidy.
I rarely have time to read literature because of my office work.
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We are obviously very good at finding faults in others. But how valuable are we when we analyze ourselves? How much do we at least admit to ourselves that we make mistakes or have made one?
When we are solely to blame, we resort to lame excuses to defend ourselves.
Because we are the heroes in our stories, it is difficult to put ourselves in the shoes of the perpetrator.
The hero rarely makes mistakes; instead, he corrects the world and leads it in the right direction.
Only when we admit we have made a mistake in committing to something can we make a mistake a part of our past.
~ Greg McKeown
