Article June 13, 2016 Issue

Guided by Mind, not opinions

Kim Haig

Everywhere we turn we’re surrounded by a constant barrage of human opinions. Sometimes it seems that these opinions play an exaggerated role in influencing life, whether in regard to business, education, politics, or our personal lives.

Recently I realized the need to correct a tendency to indulge human opinions, which can often mask destructive or unproductive criticism of others. I was trained as an architect, so I have often justified critical thoughts on my part as being the result of my education, which taught me to judge whether something meets the standards of good design. Other times I have justified an opinion of mine as “good taste.” While adhering to high standards of thought and conduct is desirable, after years of being troubled by this critical behavior, I finally concluded that it was a bad habit, and not to be indulged.

Spend any time on the Internet, and you will see endless evidence of unkind thoughts directed at various people and groups. But is this kind of thinking inevitable? And what is the cost to us, and to our fellow man, of indulging these opinions?

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