> It’s very important to not put your brain in chains too young by what you shout out.
From his speech at Harvard in '95, he's talking about how loudly proclaiming something, shouting about it even, locks our brains into this, making us resistant to contradictory ideas, regardless of evidence.
This observation has felt more and more important over the last decade.
A bit of a stretch to say Charlie didn't practice what he preached just because he [an extremely well known value investor] did not invest in cryptocurrencies [a market driven by hype and speculation and with unclear underlying intrinsic value].
It still seems too early to declare Bitcoin a success. It’s still primarily a tool for speculation. Buffett and Munger aren’t/weren’t fans of non-productive assets that fell into the realm of the greater fool theory.
That’s a great advice. I happened to learn that naturally and I’m thankful I did. Proclaiming things also creates expectations from others and people generally tend to be prone to fulfill those outside expectations. This effect seems to be particularly magnified by social media, where everyone assume a certain persona online. Seems to be at the root of bigotry, too. How can you change your mind if your entire networking is made up of people who confirms the biases you’ve been preaching for the longest time? There’s a great line of dialogue from the movie Millennium, where Daniel Craig’s character breaks into the house of the killer, only for him to show up at the next minute. Craig tries to escape but the villain notices him. They both know what the other is up to. But the killer is smart, and he pretends he doesn’t. So he invites Craig to come inside, and he accepts it. Later, when Craig is subdued by the killer, tied up and about to be killed, the villain reminds him of how stupid he was to have accepted the invitation, noting how this is a trait common to people, who go to great lengths to avoid letting others down, and that, in this specific scenario, Craig did exactly that even though he knew the danger, just so he would not pass for a dismissive character, just to maintain his status as a nice person. And even though I know that, I still find myself falling for that trap from time to time. It’s so hard to be true to yourself when we are social beings, ultimately dependent on others in various ways, for various reasons. Being true and truthful is so scary, as you risk burning so many bridges, but we hardly consider that by being true we may end up building other, better bridges, more aligned with who we are, or at least ought to be. Attachment is enemy with progress, Charlie certainly knew that. Rest In Peace.
I don't think you understand the quote if you're focused on being true to yourself. The whole point is your opinions change over time, there's no true self. Just keep a curious humble mind and keep going.
If there's something to be true to and then you'd find it, now you'd have validation to act shitty towards others in the name of being true to yourself. That's the type of brain chains "this is how I am" he means.
> It’s very important to not put your brain in chains too young by what you shout out.
From his speech at Harvard in '95, he's talking about how loudly proclaiming something, shouting about it even, locks our brains into this, making us resistant to contradictory ideas, regardless of evidence.
This observation has felt more and more important over the last decade.