Have you ever been laughed out of a room metaphorically or literally?

I have.

Most people hate it. They tend to feel sheepish, angry, embarrassed, foolish… the list goes on.

But worse, they tend to stop exploring the thing or idea that was laughed at, dismissed, or told was a bad idea.

I hope to be laughed at. In fact, the more people laugh at me or tell me I’m wrong the stronger my conviction becomes. Because the majority is almost always wrong.

In fact I’ve found I become uncomfortable now when too many people agree with me, and I start re-evaluating my position.

The only thing that takes less effort than dismissing someone else’s ideas is agreeing with the masses.

Think about that for a moment.

How easy is it to tell someone they are wrong, dismiss what they say, poke obvious holes in their ideas with very little upfront thinking?

It takes almost no effort.

But it’s even easier to nod in agreement. It’s why mainstream news is so popular. People love to be told what to think.

I think it’s tough to develop this skill early in life. You’re impressionable and you think older people know something you don’t. It’s probably only been in the last 5-10 years that I’ve learned this lesson, and it’s probably been the most valuable tool I’ve developed.

But be careful. It’s not as easy as, “everyone thinks I’m wrong so I must be right!”. There are times when you can be too close or personally invested in something to see clearly, especially when you’re young. That person you’re dating that everyone says, or hints, is no good for you? They may just be on to something.

You get the idea.

The last couple years have popularized financial speculation as entertainment for many people, largely, in my opinion, to being trapped at home due to COVID. And while that hasn’t been true for the last twelve months or so (being trapped at home), it seems we’re still weening ourselves off the speculative rush.

Along with speculation as a hobby came the culture of “apeing in” which is simply jumping into a position or bet with a large amount of money, usually more than is prudent. It reminds me a lot of the guy that sits down at the poker table and plays uber aggressively, bullying the table with a high frequency of all-in bets.

It works every time until the last time.

I like trends. In fact I’ve started largely focusing my writing on this blog around that entire idea so I can help think through the major trends I see in the world around me. Whether that’s technology, narratives pushed on us by media or society in general, markets and investing, etc.

But the most important trend we should all be paying attention to is ourselves and whether we’re on a trend of becoming better people. It’s always something that’s been in the back of my mind, and I’ve been putting in a lot of work lately to bring it to the front.