Truth hurts

"Ignorance is bliss", as Cypher so succinctly put it in the Matrix, after he describes how Knowing spoils his dinners. He was probably inspired by Thomas Gray's "Where ignorance is bliss, 'Tis folly to be wise". Not knowing Cypher lived in an artificial world would have preserved the joy of eating food. Knowing that he did, spoiled it all. He bemoans the fact that he Knows.

The Search for Self is a murky path, full of unpleasantness. You will find things about yourself that you dislike, weaknesses and imperfections, things you did or were done to you and do not want to be reminded of, or choices you made that had unhappy outcomes. It might make you feel depressed, angry or sorrowful, or perhaps even spirals you down into self-destructive behaviour. Compare that with a lot of people who have a skewed Sense of Self, yet are perfectly happy in their bubbles and even perform well in society. Why then do we still doggedly pursue this knowledge? What is so great about it?

There are a couple of reasons. Knowing thyself...
... paves the way for improving yourself
... helps you to prevent disadvantageous situations
... helps you to determine a career path
... makes you stronger, because no one can tell you anything about you that you did not already know
... helps to manage expectations about what you can and cannot do
... allows you to better understand other people

On a company-level, self knowledge becomes even more critical. The temptation to see life through rose-tinted glasses is enormous. Optimism is often seen as the driving force for a venture. I say here and now that optimism is overrated and even dangerous -- a culture of optimism disallows bad news to be merged into painting the big picture, therefore always putting decision makers on the back foot.

Optimists often have short-term success, but know not how to deal with setbacks. They disbelieve, ignore, deny, and do basically anything to keep their world view intact.

Any company is much better served by a good sense of what it can and, more importantly, what it cannot do. It can set ambitious, yet attainable goals for itself, that boost morale in a way that pep talks and speeches could never accomplish. It sets its goal and then does it.

On a society level, the refusal to Explore Self, or discuss that what happens is well known: Political Correctness. An affliction that seeks to, as biologist Matt Ridley puts it, "argue from ought to is". Political Correctness is carried by none less than all those sweet and well-intending people who want the world to be a good place.

To prevent all that nastiness from entering decision making, it is ignored. Euphemisms, censorship, and looking the other way are all manifestations of Political Correctness. The consequences are that a society is unable to deal with wrongs that it even fears to identify.

So instead, we retreat inside a safe bubble that tells us life is good, people are good and we are good. No pain, just bliss.

And that is just the truth of it.