arcticorangutan on Nostr: Wisdom is the tolerance of cognitive dissonance: I first heard this said by Josh ...

Wisdom is the tolerance of cognitive dissonance:

I first heard this said by Josh Waitzkin, former chess prodigy and Tai Chi Chuan world champion and it stuck with me.

It is possible to verify this in one’s own experience. Wisdom is being able to hold two competing thoughts and recognizing that the true answer is never one-sided and never conceptual.

It can both be true that climate change is real and that the right response to it is not to try to reverse it. It can be true that the acts of Hamas were horrific and that Israel’s response is not justified. It can be true that Donald Trump’s presidency was a low point in American history and that one should not vote for Joe Biden.

In Zen, Koans are a way to resolve cognitive dissonance.

Every once in a while we should look at the world as if it’s a Zen Koan.