Philosophy, I need it! - Chapter II

"Abscond from charlatans and deceivers as thou wouldst from venomous snakes!" - G. V. Desani, All About H. Hatterr, 1948.

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Warning: The following post contains shocking language. Any resemblance to any person living, or dead after reading this post, is purely intentional.

Chapter II:
 
(Read Chapter-I here, do not proceed ahead if you haven't read it.)

This post is dedicated to those imbeciles who ask of me the following inane questions:

1. Earlier you used to say / do one thing, now you say / do something different, why?
2. You quit the very Whatsapp group you started, why?
    
   Note: Participating in Whatsapp groups is these days a matter of great pride for nincompoops and layabouts, a frigging social benchmark! It was once an instant-messaging app. Today, it is a constant-messaging app. If you don't post 'Good Morning' messages, Santa-Banta jokes, a picture of Sunny Leone seductively holding a fruit, memes, or hoax messages, the members take it as a personal affront. And if you leave the group (assuming some febrile mind has not already chucked you out), you become a target of derision and calumny. Tut-tut, such depravity, such mediocrity! For me it is unconscionable to waste time that could be spent pursuing dreams, learning, mastering hobbies and all that - sources of lifelong felicity. It takes all kinds to make a world, forsooth. To each his own, amen!
    
3. Earlier you used to talk to me, now you've blocked my number, why?
4. *?!#%^+<>$, why?

My guru, Charlie Munger (Warren Buffett's business partner), once said: "Acquire worldly wisdom and adjust your behaviour accordingly. If your new behaviour gives you a little temporary unpopularity with your peer group then to hell with them!"
To hell with them, indeed!

Oh, monsieur! oh, ma-sewer! following are the reasons or the circumstances under which I would prefer to change my behaviour. It's not an exhaustive catalogue, but it outlines the major reasons :-

1. A man who does not learn from his mistakes is a fool. Mistakes are what provide us with experience. Rather than regret them, I prefer to learn my lessons and apply them in my quest for a better future. This means I will alter the way I do things i.e. change my behaviour. It is the 'art of continuous learning' that has gotten the human race this far, not denial or stubbornness.
    
2. The legendary economist and investor, John Maynard Keynes, once famously remarked: "When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?" This is self-explanatory and common-sensical. But the majority of people I know of do not practise it, perhaps, out of the fear of: 'what will people think if I change my opinion?' In the stock market, it is often the ability to grasp and internalise this simple principle that separates the successful from the dregs. In social life, too, we may learn things about people / events / situations which, hitherto, may have been unknown to us. Why shouldn't we alter our behaviour then?
    
3. We are not only known by the company we keep, we are also influenced, positively and negatively, by the people we come in regular contact with.
   
   
   "When you sit with someone who’s calm, you can become calm. If you sit with someone who’s agitated and hateful, you can become agitated and hateful." - Brother Phap Dung, Thich Nhat Hanh's senior disciple
   
   This is all the more important in the prevailing environment of intense political ideologies and religious bigotry - an environment where people first label you as anti-this / pro-that and then proceed with the conversation, an environment where even people who call themselves our friends are perfectly willing to abuse us if we are not in their camp.
   
   If we are on the quest to excellence and happiness, then we must choose our friends wisely. My idea, one borrowed from Warren Buffett, is to, as far as possible, seek the society of people who I like, trust, and admire (note the presence of an AND operative).
    
4. Many of the reasons previously outlined in Chapter I.
    

Many people will dismiss these four reasons as some kind of bohemianism or heresy. They will do this because: either this kind of thinking was never a part of their upbringing or envy!

Important Note: The above discourse is certainly not intended to communicate that we must change our behaviour over every trifle, every wriggle, every new fact that we may encounter in life. My rule is: only when I assess that the subject is important and not changing my behaviour is likely to cause me harm, would I elect to alter my behaviour. It also does not apply to one's moral scruples.

Tinkerty-tonk!