Humans are fascinating creatures. Our brains are wired to solve puzzles, so we see them everywhere. In the news, in our relationships, in movies and foreign policy- we take the information presented, sift it all through our own perspective, biases, and understanding of reality, then come up with a conclusion that evaluates and passes judgment on it. We're each active filters, catching (even unconsciously) whatever the television is spewing or what our peers believe, filing those "facts" away for possible use later on. In nature, this made perfect sense; most of the time, what you see is what you get. Predators identified and predicted, tools analyzed and used, logical consequences recognized- that's what it means to learn.

But in modern society, things aren't so simplistic. Each of us are immersed not in the reality of life, but the new unreality of life. Most data we get has been cherry-picked, augmented, or is available simply because it's part of someone else's sponsored agenda. Oh, we can pick out the very obvious ones- most of us know that commercials don't have our best interests at heart, or even have the truth behind them; they're just trying to sell the latest laundry soap or this year's line of automobiles. Insincere advertising has become the norm, until it is almost expected that there's some hidden loophole or flaw purposely not being disclosed. However, what most people fail to take into account is the real power of non-obvious stuff.





Imagine your mind as a car. Every time you allow it to be filled with someone else's trash, you're stuck carrying it around. Sometimes forever, if you haven't learned how to responsibly recognize it, sift through it, and clean it out routinely. After all, anything your brain gets filled with becomes part of how it operates. Yet unlike cars, very few people are actively protective of their brains- or even aware that they have complete control over it. But you do. Everyone does, if one is willing to keep trying until they get practiced at it. That's really all confidence is- it's not about always knowing best, oozing sarcastic smugness, or proving other people's ignorance to build yourself up. That's simply being an asshole who childishly overcompensates.

True confidence is simply believing in your own ability to keep on learning and growing, whilst recognizing and rejecting the inevitable bullshit- even if we've previously been part of it. Yes, having the humility to admit to fault and correct it is a sign of intelligence, not weakness. To believe otherwise is to believe one never makes mistakes, which is actually a dangerous warning sign of delusion and mental illness. Yet many of these irrational individuals become strong magnets for others; masses wanting to share in the false security of this overconfidence to escape their own fear. Delusions of grandeur are just roadblocks for real personal refinement and cognitive improvement, making egoist demagogues dangerously empowered societal forces.

So how do we adapt our clever brains to this more complex challenge? Simple: question everything, believing only that which is proven. This often means serious self-reflection, as the environment we were born into often contains bad assumptions or cultural norms which may not serve us. Racism, for example, or any fear of those different than ourselves. A lot of unhealthy, inaccurate views are caused by fear, and fear is caused by ignorance. Remove the ignorance, you undermine the fear, and begin the path to calm understanding. I admit that might sound simplistic, but improving a society is done only by improving the individuals. Policy alone cannot overcome inherited generational stigmas and beliefs; it must be a personal choice.