But people love them because of the comfortability associated.
“Echo chambers contribute to the death of growth.
But the reason people love them is because they make people feel ‘right’ & affirm biases which negate the need for critical thinking (that contributes to growth).
If you want to grow, you have to get out of the comfort box.”
-Ray Zingler on X
It feels good being right, doesn’t it?
I’m not too holy or afraid to admit that it does.
But “needing to be right” all the time is dangerous.
It’s a self-imposed sanction on our own personal growth if we’re being honest.
But the reason we constantly seek being right or to be around people who agree with us is because it feels good.
Constantly aligning ourselves with like-minded people who think, look, and act the same way we do feels superior to the vulnerability associated with having our viewpoints challenged.
So, to protect our fragile egos, we tend to avoid being challenged at all costs.
I spent many years in this comfort box.
I read the same stuff as the guys who agreed with me. I only listened to or followed the guys who agreed with my thought processes or the way I went about things.
I lived my life assuming that I was always right, and my way was best and it was justified because “he” thought so, too.
But then I noticed stagnation in my growth. And it wasn’t “the world’s” fault, it was my own immaturity’s fault.
I spent so much time trying to turn the tables in my favor so that I could be right, not even realizing I was hamstringing my growth potential.
Once I became self-aware of this, I adjusted my sails.
While I still have strong belief systems and philosophies, I have gone from trying to “prove myself right” to “trying to prove myself wrong.”
Again, it’s not that I desire to be wrong (even though I am a lot), it’s that I want to ensure that I open myself up to the opportunity to learn and grow.
I’m not just going to jump on the flavor of the month because some guy on the internet who is smarter than me told me to..
But can I hear him out? Can I adapt my mindset (even it’s just a little bit)? Can I open myself up to new ideas? Can I test theories that I would have otherwise written off from the jump?
Getting out of your own echo chamber is critical.
Feeling the need to be right all the time is the most limiting belief a human being can have.
Growth > comfort.
