One of the last lessons my writing professor/advisor was to consider The Believing Game. Like all good lessons, it was difficult; I outright rejected it the first several times, but I kept on trying. Part of me trusted that the lesson had to be a good one, while another part was so vitriolically opposed to it. It never left my mind though, and eventually, I went through some personal experiences that made me understand it.
Periodically, it returns to me, The Believing Game, and it sticks with me. Last lessons have a way of having serious impact like that. I find I become more tolerant of many things with each passing year, and The Believing Game may have a hand in that.
In my first post on the subject (the one I linked to), I said that people are either cynics or faithfuls. They either choose to believe or to doubt. This is still true, but there is such value in trying to believe. Even though you have your initial doubts and some things may sound crazy, there could be some good stuff in there along with the crazy.
We are used to the saying, "hear me out." It's the same exact thing. It means you said something that sounds crazy, but you are assuring the listeners that it is not. If you hear something crazy and scoff, imagine the person immediately said, "Hear me out." Then continue listening, and really try to hear them out.
From Kevin's reminder notes:
Accept the crazy, so that you may determine if it is truly crazy. This is the believing game. Crazy ideas probably are not all true, but they may not be all wrong, either. But if you only focus on disputing it, you will never be able to understand it. If you only ever call it crazy, you do not let yourself see any wisdom.
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