I am almost illiterate insofar as the concepts of mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology are concerned. I have even not considered reading any guide for dummies to understand some elementary things about these concepts, though many times I have felt the need for this. The consequence is that whenever anyone uses these concepts to explain a practical situation to me, I have only two options – either believe that person fully and accept the explanation offered by him or reject his explanation completely and leave the problem unresolved. Usually, it is not the explanation offered by that person, which governs my decision to accept or reject. It is my faith in that person itself. If I trust that person, I accept his explanation in full; and vice versa.
When I see people blindly following (or even
refusing to hear) some religious preacher, politician, business leader, domain
expert, investors, trader, etc., I fully appreciate their behaviour. It is
primarily due to (i) total refusal to entertain unassimilated ideas; and (ii)
faith in such a person.
I have also learned that the tendency to
outrightly reject the ideas that do not conform to our belief system, prejudices
and preconceived notions is an obstruction in the process of our evolution in
life. The resistance to entertain ideas that we do not assimilate immediately
often deprives us from the opportunity to break the linearity and take a leap
forward.
I recently read in a BBC article that “A
healthy human eye has three types of cone cells, each of which can register
about 100 different colour shades, therefore most researchers ballpark the
number of colours we can distinguish at around a million. Still, perception of
colour is a highly subjective ability that varies from person to person.” (see
here) Obviously, different people see the world differently. And this “ability” to
see things differently from others is what makes this world worth living, in my
view. Else, we humans will be no different from machines that yield the same
output from the same input.
There is another natural phenomenon that needs
to be assimilated well. Nature has endowed us with a special vision mechanism.
Our vision spectrum is designed in a way that we can vividly see the things
that are placed closer to us. However as the things go further our vision
begins to blur and after a point we see only the illusion of horizon. Only a
few human beings acquire the ability to see at longer distances through
perseverance. These Able people or Visionaries guide the ordinary mortals, with
limited visions, to the future.
Besides, a conscious effort is made by the
vested interest groups to further limit the natural vision of the ordinary
human being by making them wear blinkers of ignorance, prejudices, morality,
hunger, duty, responsibilities, bigotry, etc. It is just like we limit the
vision of horses with blinkers so that they focus on the directed path and do
not get distracted or spooked.
I find these thoughts also useful in
formulation of investment strategy. To make a successful investment strategy,
an investor must:
(a) Not
reject unassimilated ideas outrightly.
(b) Accept
that different people see the same thing differently and all of them could be
right from their own perspectives.
(c) Become
a visionary through perseverance or put on blinkers and be guided by the
experts.
