27 Comments
User's avatar
John's avatar

"The identity becomes a prison constructed from language, maintained through social reinforcement, defended through selective attention to confirming evidence."

If there was a score for information density of language, this would be 10/10. Absolutely fantastic.

Sascha's avatar

Apart from the wonderful message of the overall posting, there was so much specific, sage wisdom in each "I hate" paragraph to unpack that I will have to read this a few times over.

Stefan Lundgren's avatar

More precision when describing your feelings is an antidote to polarisation.

Dave Williams's avatar

I feel like I live on an alien planet and just found my brother. So much to unpack here. Clarity creates truth. The word hate itself excludes any shades of subjectivity. And yet when we try to be precise, we're forced to speak in the imprecise cliches and phrases of society to mimic reality and avoid that heartbreaking response: "You know what I mean."

Roger Thorn's avatar

A great read, and an excellent article. I completely agree with John. An articulate, well written, informationally dense and insightful article. Definitely a 10 out of 10.

Language is the lens we form that shapes and brings into focus the world around us. It is an emotional catalyst. It is the single greatest determinant for how we emotionally ingest the actions of others, and ourselves. It shapes our personal reality and is a primary force in the development of our self-identity.

Kyle Shepard's avatar

Another great reframe post!

Faserenilac's avatar

This resonates with me a lot. I used to feel like I wasn’t really a “math or physics person” because I tended to avoid them and didn’t fully face them, they felt a bit intimidating. So naturally, I focused more on the things I enjoyed and felt comfortable with.

But looking back, I realize that might be part of what kept me feeling stuck in math and physics. Thank you for sharing this. It really made me reflect🥲

Reza Matheka's avatar

God gave us the sword but we must swing it precisely.

Chao's avatar

I love this piece. Insightful.

Gina Goldie's avatar

This is powerful:

“Once you’ve declared “I’m not a math person,” you have psychological investment in that being true. Evidence that contradicts it feels threatening rather than liberating.”

marcusaudu dibal's avatar

This is an awesome piece.

Mahiyasi's avatar

Thank you so much for this 🙏

Mason's avatar

I am new here. I really liked the message. When I read it the thing to keep popping my head was how this relates to your inner voice and how we speak to ourselves

Chris Rowe | Signal & Noise's avatar

For me it was, “I am bad at math.” Thank you for this piece.

Calibrated Chaos's avatar

Harsh reality, Hard truth