Three Examples of Conventional Wisdom Holding You Back in Life
The world is complex.
No matter how hard we try, how many books we read, or how many seminars we attend, we’ll never understand 90 percent of it.
Why is it, then, that so many of us are hesitant to admit that we can only see the tip of the iceberg?
Because we *need* mental shortcuts, heuristics, and aphorisms to navigate — even survive in — this extraordinarily complex world. We simply don’t have the time, energy, or resources to fully analyze each person, event, and situation that we encounter on a case-by-case basis.
Imagine the first time man was mauled by a lion. What do you think his group did the next time they encountered one: did they stop to ponder and examine it, or did they apply their “lions are dangerous” heuristic and run away?
Among other things, shortcuts and heuristics help us to determine how to behave, who to trust, and how to approach certain situations. Without them, we would be far less productive.
It goes without saying that humans have an incredible weakness for shortcuts.
Make no mistake, I’m not anti-shortcuts — although it may seem this way as we progress through the article. Instead of putting myself through med school, I have no problem trusting what my doctor has to say.
That said, big corporations, media, and marketers understand very well that we use heuristics like a crutch.
While on the one hand it serves as a shortcut through the density of modern life; on the other, “conventional wisdom” makes us vulnerable to ploys put forth by said profiteers.
Today I’m going to point out three bits of conventional wisdom that get under my skin.
1. “Eat your vegetables, salt is bad, avoid sugar at all costs, and drink more water!”
First and foremost, with respect to one’s diet, just about anything is better than obesity. In this sense, vegetables are better than Oreo’s, whole foods are better than fast food, and water is better than Mountain Dew.
After all, addition by subtraction is often the best first step.
HOWEVER.
- Vegetables are not necessary for human survival — they’re just the leaves and stems that grow on plants. And plants produce toxic chemicals such as alkaloids and phenols to defend themselves from insects. Quite literally, vegetable are poisonous. They’re even rich in goitrogens which are substances that interfere with the production of thyroid hormones. The only case for consuming them as humans, really, is for the benefits of hormesis — and even then, they should be consumed infrequently and in small quantities.
- Salt deficiencies are often correlated with high blood pressure, heart attack, fat storage, mineral deficiencies, poor sleep, and bland tasting food. There’s a reason why we crave salty foods after vigorous exercise — our bodies need it! We fall into the trap of demonizing salt because it is often guilty by association with fast food. In addition to making your food taste better, a pinch of salt decreases inflammation, increases metabolism, and lowers stress hormones.
- There are two types of sugar: (1) good sugar and (2) bad sugar. Glucose, fructose, sucrose, and lactose, are the “good sugars” that we find in fruit, raw honey, and milk to name a few. In short, they provide energy for the body. Between 1980 and 2003 in Australia, sugar consumption decreased and obesity rates increased. This was called the “Australian Paradox” as it went directly against conventional wisdom that sugar is bad. In fact, there are studies showing that glucose and fructose negatively correlate with type 2 diabetes. Donuts, cake, and cookies have the “bad sugar” that makes us fat — but let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater!
- Let’s ignore the fact that our drinking water is often contaminated with runoff, pesticides, and fluoride. Overall, a gallon of water a day is better for you than a case of mountain dew. In fact, one of the best ways to lose weight is to stop consuming calories via liquid. However, by over-hydrating you are effectively flushing out the nutrients and minerals that you were so careful to consume in the first place. Too much water can also lead to brain fog. So there’s some nuance, huh?
2. “Always put *at least* the minimum into your 401(k)!”
Broadly speaking, there are two types of people: (1) those that buy liabilities with their hard-earned money, and (2) those that buy assets with their hard-earned money.
Poor people tend to buy liabilities — cars, new devices, jewelry — with their money. They care more about looking the part than being the part. And not only does this junk not produce more wealth, but most of it depreciates in value over time.
Wealthy people, on the other hand, “get it.” They tend to buy income-producing assets — rental properties, dividend paying stocks, bonds — with their money. Then, they’ll let those cash-flowing assets buy their next luxury item.
For the former group, 401(k)’s are a solid investment vehicle. For the latter group, not so much. I’ve gotten into an argument or two over this topic, so let me explain my thought process:
401(k)’s are confusing. They have a lot of weird rules. One of them is that you cannot withdraw your money from them without a penalty until you’re 59.5 years old — this is terrible liquidity. Another one of them is that you’ll pay a 1–3 percent fee to Wall Street every year on each dollar that is under management. Moreover, they only provide a 5–8 percent annual return on investment which is nothing compared to the levels of inflation we are expected to see in the 2020's.
Make no mistake, 401(k)’s are probably better than doing nothing and definitely better than buying liabilities that depreciate over time (like cars and new technology). By contributing on a monthly basis you are exhibiting disciplined spending habits and a rudimentary sense of financial literacy.
HOWEVER.
What they don’t tell you is this:
Simply saving more money and investing in a 401(k) plan can’t get you out of the rat race…
You *must* learn how to invest — there’s no way around it.
3. “Study the lessons and *then* take the test!”
This one in particular really hits home.
You see, in school we are first taught a lesson. Then, we do the homework that was assigned to us to practice said lesson. Then, we are told to study for the test. And finally, we take the test.
When we do poorly on the test we are taught that failure is bad. So, naturally, our fight-or-flight response kicks in. If we’re a good student, we’ll fight harder on the next test in hopes to earn a better score. If we’re a poor student, we’ll learn to accept failure and become indifferent with the results. Both are extremely detrimental. Let me explain:
It begins to dawn on the poor student that they’re not smart. Because they’re indifferent about the Pythagorean theorem and don’t value its applications to real life, they may lose confidence in themselves over time when their test scores shout “you’re not good enough” in their faces.
The good student in this scenario is taught that failure is BAD, EMBARRASSING, and WEAK. By the time the next unit rolls around, they are full of anxiety and fear. They over-prepare, over-study, and over-worry. And they ace the test. But the thing is this:
That’s not how the real world works.
In the real world, you take the test first and THEN you learn the lessons.
In the real world, you take failure off the chin first and THEN you learn how to fight.
Recently, Jeff Bezos said that there are two kinds of failure — experimental and operational — and you should only tolerate one.
Operational failure should not be tolerated by anybody. This would be akin to any disaster such as the explosion of a power plant, the non-fulfillment of an order, or peeing your pants in public. In layman’s terms, operational failure is when you don’t live up to your promise.
Experimental failure, on the other hand, should be welcomed with open arms. This kind of failure is akin to running an experiment or approaching a problem from a new angle only to find out that it doesn’t work.
“If you’re not failing, you’re not pushing your limits, and if you’re not pushing your limits, you’re not maximizing your potential.”
~ Ray Dalio in “Principles”
Mind you, Dalio’s net worth is nearly $17 BILLION. The crazy part? He attributes much of his success to making a lot of mistakes and spending a lot of time reflecting on them.
It’s beginning to dawn on me that the name of the game isn’t preparing for the next test; it’s all about accumulating as many small failures as you can along the way and learning from them.
I say this a lot, and I’ll say it again: everything has a cost. And in this case, the cost of going from ‘Point A’ to ‘Point B’ is that we need to put the “error” in “trial-and-error.”
My favorite quote of Napoleon Hill’s is as follows: “Most great people have attained their greatest success just one step beyond their greatest failure.” It reminds me a lot of a certain meme…
In Conclusion
If we spent all of our time analyzing conventional wisdom — like I just did — then we wouldn’t make much progress in life.
Hence, shortcuts and heuristics are absolutely necessary because this world is messy, dense, and opaque.
That said, we need to be aware of the source providing us with said wisdom:
- Are they merely profiteers?
- Do they have skin in the game? Meaning, is your dietitian in good shape? Is your financial adviser well off financially? Does your dentist have good teeth?
- Are veggies just a marketing ploy to sell otherwise useless crops?
This world is complex. Spend a little bit of time — but not too much — analyzing the heuristics you subscribe to and from whom you heed advice on a daily basis.
You might find that some of them are misaligned.
And you might be realize they’re holding you back.
