When you type “10-speed bike reviews” into a search engine, you gave control to Google, Bing, et al. to show you (only) what they think is relevant. The same goes for the front page of Yahoo! or CNN.com, your favorite magazine or the evening news. Each of them pull together a selection of search results/stories for us because it’s too much work to sift through the information ourselves. This is what we asked them to do.
This is well and fine when we are searching Yelp! for really good mediterranean food within a square mile radius. This is when we need the convenience of curation. But what about more serious issues like what we believe about ourselves and the value our lives bring to society? Who do we trust to curate those beliefs?
For the most part, we handed those reigns over to the authorities in our lives. We listen to our parents, teachers, civic leaders and clergy for some insight into why we are here and what we should be doing with the life given to us.
But what do you think?
Have you asked yourself that question?
Do you think about what you believe about yourself? Do you go to someone else’s homepage (cable news, book, magazine, talk radio, sermon, blog, product release, etc.) so they can tell you what is important? Do you allow someone else to curate your beliefs for* you? We are so eager for others to tell us what is worth believing, but ignore the voice inside ourselves.
It’s true that we don’t have time for deep analysis of every decision we make. What we can do is this:
- Make an inventory of what we value greatly in life.
- Recognize what beliefs emerge from those values.
- Determine whether or not our actions align with those values.
- Adjust accordingly.
Let a website filter results for great hummus, but don’t rely on someone else to curate your core beliefs.