⚖️ TREE 698: Truth doesn’t have to be universal to be useful

Last week I listened to a conversation between Rick Rubin and Will Smith. Obviously, it was fascinating and fun. But also Will Smith said this thing about how God/the universe/source has crafted everything you go through in life as a curriculum to enable you to become who you need to be.

The dial on my bullshit gauge was pegged to maximum.

Because try telling that to a little kid who’s just lost a leg and a family because someone dropped a bomb on their house.

Try telling that to a victim of sexual violence.

Try telling that to an 19 year-old who’s been diagnosed with a terminal inoperable brain tumour.

Try telling that to someone who has dementia.

Try telling that to the billions of people who work hard every day to take care of their families but they never escape the grinding poverty they were born into.

This list could get very long.

And yet…

When I decide for myself that I’m going to use whatever happens to me as something which will further my personal growth, it works.

Just because a thing is only true in certain circumstances, doesn’t mean it’s not useful. In fact, when you recognise the reality that a lot of truth isn’t universal, you can get even more use out of it because you will have a better idea of when and where to apply it.

Jerome fervently believes that if you start with the right hat, the rest of the day will fall into line.

Truth with limited trueness isn’t only about personal growth, it’s the way we’ve come to understand the universe:

Classical mechanics provides accurate results when studying large objects that are not extremely massive and speeds not approaching the speed of light. When the objects being examined have about the size of an atom diameter, it becomes necessary to introduce the other major sub-field of mechanics: quantum mechanics. To describe velocities that are not small compared to the speed of light, special relativity is needed. In cases where objects become extremely massive, general relativity becomes applicable. — Good ol’ Wikipedia

Grow slowly
Jeff

P.S. Remember to say thank you by buying my book for every single person who’s ever taught you something.