Are You a Fool?

Mistakes are not fooldom

We make mistakes because we attempt something new, enter a relationship, speak before we understand, or simply lack information. A mistake can be evidence of a life in motion.

A more useful fool is someone who protects the same error from every chance to become wisdom. Two habits make that protection especially effective.

The First Fool: avoiding truth

A child covers their ears and sings “la-la-la.” Adults learn more impressive methods: deflection, defensiveness, changing the subject, and attacking the person who brought the fact.

The First Fool values the comfort of being right over the discomfort of learning. Watch for arguments about who said something rather than whether it is true. Facts do not become false because they came from a person or group you dislike.

The Second Fool: owning the only truth

After escaping denial, we can fall into certainty. The Second Fool believes their present understanding is complete and forces relationships to bow before it: my way or the highway; accept my belief or lose my love.

Feeling strongly is not the problem. Refusing to let reality revise you is. When your truth requires controlling a friend, partner, or child, pause and ask whether certainty has become another hiding place.

Value truth over being right—and leave room for truth to surprise you.

The smartest person in the room

The moment you feel certain that you are the smartest person present, activate both alarms. What reality might you be avoiding? What have you treated as absolute because questioning it would open an inconvenient door?

Active open-mindedness is not indecision. It is the strength to hold a view, test it honestly, change it when reality asks, and remain whole. That is not foolishness. It is the work of consciousness.