Young Know-it-alls

Go pick up some books and you'll be good.

says the pre-eminent young know it all of the board.

Shitloads of ramen, and a couple bad relationships that seem like good ideas at the time.

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"I know some of you are going to say 'I did look it up, and that's not true.' That's 'cause you looked it up in a book. Next time, look it up in your gut."
-Stephen Colbert

Yeah, I can remember when I was your age I felt so well rounded and my outlook was so 'right' that I honestly thought that every one else was stupid.But, then one starts to gain more experience in evaluating ones own actions and one begins (at least I did) to see that the evidence you percieived as pointing to ones own beliefs being 'dead on' accurate is in fact a cognitive distortion.We need this cognitive distortion to be biased towards our 'righteousness' when we are in our youth; otherwise we will get beaten down by the pressures of this difficult period of life.Imagine how we would fair with our university chums if we did not stick up for ourselves (even when as an older person we may conceed the point).At some points in our life we need to be brash and unappologetic.This builds self confidence and gives a locus of control to oneself, not everyone else our environment.It sounds like you are starting to question if you are being as rational as you could be. This leads to us evaluating our assumptions and core beliefs.Once you start self-evalution you are on the right track to adpating your attitudes and beliefs and this is totally appropriate.If we don't formulate and reformulate our cognitive strategies for interacting with the world (as it seems you are starting to by actually righting this post) you may as well read a book on what attitudes and beliefs to have and stick with that inspite of any feedback you recieve.

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The odds that you're in for no more surprises at age 23 are low, to say the least. Are you married? You're in for one there, let me tell you.

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LOL!Truer words...

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I used to know everything too, but I've forgotten a lot.

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Heh. I never believed that I knew everything, but in college I did honestly believe that I was the only sane person left in the world.Now I know that there are no sane people left in the world.

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This world can take my money and time/ But it sure can't take my soul. -- Joe Ely

I'll be brutally honest. In this day and age, one can go through life being a know-it-all and not suffer any consequence. Just on this forum alone, there are at least 3 examples that I can think of of very old people being know-it-alls that don't quite know it all by periodically posting impressive messages for the easily impressed. Their posts sometimes resemble the posts made by the typical know-it-all teenager that thought he could impress everyone with the 2 words he memorized from his biology text book.So no, apparently you can go through a whole lifetime's worth of experience and still remain a know-it-all without being penalized. I say if not being able see any flaw in your line of thought and thinking you know it all makes you happy, then go for it. Everyone, and I do mean everyone, went through this know-it-all stage at the beginning of his social life. Some people learn how to grow out of it sometime right after their teen years. Unfortunately, most people seem to remain a know-it-all throughout most of their lives.But more importantly... Right away, I can see a fatal flaw in this sentence. The flaw itself is a matter of life and death. It's "a lot" not "alot".

Maybe there are none.Maybe your thinking is flawless at this stage yet subject to further development. Thinking is how we consciously process data and the outcome depends, in part, on the data base. The more we know, the more refined our judgments may become. I expect you will, in time, come upon data which your thinking cannot satisfactorily processs. This can be upsetting and may result in an evolution of how you think.We grow and change and hopefully get wise.Enjoy the omniscience of this moment.There will be plenty opportunity to feel stupid.

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Theology is the science of Dominion.
- - - My God is your god's Boss - - -

It was about ten years after graduation that I began to see the substance of my education and how my perspective on the world was different from that of the "huddled masses." Never made a lot of money, like the recruiters suggested I might, but did capture a feel for the world which those around me do not seem to have. Out in the real world, away from the hallowed, ivy covered halls of learning, you may find yourself in the minority, You will come to know what you have done, how your mind has been altered for the good.Let's hope you can cash in on that investment.

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Theology is the science of Dominion.
- - - My God is your god's Boss - - -

Well, I thank you all for your input. I think I'll revisit this thread in about 10 years, maybe 20 - and we'll see just what kind of fool I will call myself for having started this thread in the first place!Edited by Drewsky, : Spelling

The true fool never questions his beliefs IMHO!So, out of curiosity, what are your future dreams or ambitions?Edited by RickJB, : No reason given.

2 plus 2 is 22.This statement is as impeccably logical as yours.
Premises make all the difference.___

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ArcherAll species are transitional.

See... you've learned something new already Joketime!J0N1CU5 M4X1MU5

Not so. Everyone knows 2+2=5, at least for sufficiently large values of two...

Ambitions? Dreams? It's odd: I have a future, probably a good one, but I have no real preference as to what it might be. Do you know what I mean?My actions are habitually short-sighted and I'm notoriously lazy and against planning. I literally live my life one day at a time. lol.I've been offered a job at a motion graphic design house in Kuala Lumpur, so I guess I'll do that. That's about as long-term as I tend to think!This probably works against me, though.@Archer Opterix:

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2 plus 2 is 22.

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This statement is as impeccably logical as yours.
Premises make all the difference.

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While I see the point your making, I really think arguing about semantics has little to do with the fact that the value of Two added twice still equals Four.@Quetzal:

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Everyone knows 2+2=5, at least for sufficiently large values of two...

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He's right. I checked on windows calculator. "Standard" mode? "Scientific" mode? Bah, my calculator has an "Arbitrary" mode, how about yours?