Make new mistakes

we’ll chase the ghosts from those rooms

i’m rethinking my take on the nature of ‘making a mistake.’ it’s not clear to me that a mistake is simply a mistake or more a self-serving rationalization.

a quote from a recent article in the NY Times, “Go Ahead, Rationalize. Monkeys Do It, Too:”

“This self-delusion, the result of what’s called cognitive dissonance, has been demonstrated over and over by researchers who have come up with increasingly elaborate explanations for it. Psychologists have suggested we hone our skills of rationalization in order to impress others, reaffirm our “moral integrity” and protect our “self-concept” and feeling of “global self-worth.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/06/science/06tier.html

it may be a case of ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained,’ or opportunism gone wrong, but how and by what means do positions like these resolve themselves? these days i’m balancing the tension of a few dialectics; humility/hubris, compassion/pride, autonomy/intimacy.

we are human and animals. all too often it’s fight or flight. all too often we betray our differentiating gift to communicate.

if you’re true to yourself don’t be afraid of appearing like an ass because you don’t have anything to worry about